For many, Memorial Day weekend signifies the official start of summer - here in Florida, it’s been scorching hot for weeks, but we’ll take the long weekend all the same! This is the time to hit the beach, the trails, backyard barbeques, and many other places where bugs are just waiting to eat you and your kids up. So, to celebrate bug season, I thought I’d highlight some new natural bug repellants and sunscreens I’ve seen making their way on the market lately.

Burt’s Bees - We use a lot of Burt’s Bees products in our home, and I love their sunscreen. My kids can’t stand the sunscreen sprays - they’re sticky and messy, and if I reapply it outside, it usually sprays everywhere but their skin. That being said, Burt’s Bees line of 100% natural sunscreens contains titanium dioxide, a natural sunscreen, as well as a blend of oils and plant extracts to keep skin from drying out. They also have an Herbal Insect Repellent with rosemary, lemongrass, and citronella oils, as well as a camphor and tea tree oil Bug Bite Relief stick for the bites that annoy even the toughest kids.

California Baby - Who doesn’t love California Baby’s signature bubble baths with wands? California Baby also has a wonderful line of sunscreens and insect sprays that are natural, hypoallergenic, tear free, waterproof, and made with essential oils. Many of the products are completely fragrance free, for sensitive kids, and come in either sprays, lotions, or even sticks. Check out their Suncare Basics Tote for a great sampling of their outdoor products!

Don’t Bite Me! Patch - I’m getting a sample of these babies next week, so I’ll do a more detailed post about it then. What’s interesting about the Don’t Bite Me Patch is, instead of an additional spray to pile on, it’s a clear, transdermal patch you wear. Vitamin B1, a natural insect repellant, is absorbed into your skin and covers your whole body. It’s DEET free, safe for kids, waterproof, and lasts over 24 hours. That being said, we’ll be wearing ours soon!

Liquid Net - billed as “The Ultimate Insect Repellant,” Liquid Net is 100% DEET free, non-greasy, and comes in really convenient towelettes and pocket-sizes that you can carry around with you!

Growing up, the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat always struck a chord with me. Maybe it was the treehugger in me, or maybe the holiday is what made me this way, but I have always had a thing for gardening and giving back to reforesting and nature organizations. When I was 13, I made it all the way to Israel and hand-planted trees for my grandparents. It was a momentous trip that will always connect my love for nature. Monday night and Tuesday marks the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat, or the New Year of the Trees, the Jewish Arbor Day, OR, according to my kids, the Birthday of the Trees. For two weeks at school, they’ve been planting seeds, making green “tree” cupcakes, and overall studying nature and literally hugging trees to help give back to the Earth for what it gives to us.

Originally, Tu B’Shevat marked the ‘fiscal year’ of trees, the date used for tax purposes for farmers. Now, it takes a more immediate, even urgent feel. Planting trees brings more food to the hungry; more shade for the overheated; better air quality. It might sounds like a strange holiday to celebrate in the middle of winter - in the US. In Israel, however, the rainy season has brought the trees to bloom, and to celebrate, we eat fruit and grains from the “Seven Species” of Israel - wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey. We eat a meal to taste all these foods, and to really get ‘back to nature’. It’s a very easy holiday to share with children - nature still holds a big fascination, and to get hands-on through planting and eating brings the idea of Earth cycles, well, full circle.

So, even if you’re not Jewish, eat some fruit on Tuesday and think about the tree or plant it came from. Here’s a website with coloring pages and Tu B’Shevat activities. And if you’re feeling particularly charitable, here’s a list of organizations where you can ‘plant’ trees, in honor or memory of someone. I often plant trees in honor of births, or to mark special events in my families lives. No matter if you’re planting for someone else or yourself - the earth is the real benefactor!

Jewish National Fund - planting trees in Israel since 1901!
Eco-Libris - love to read? Donate $1 for every book you read (or your kids - a great incentive!), Eco-Libris will help plant a tree in a tree-needy country. They’ll even send you a sticker for your book!
The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation - aiming to plant 18 billion fruit trees worldwide - three for each person in the world!
Trees for the Future - helps teach communities how to plant trees and rebuild their environment.
American Forests - helping to replant wildfire sticken areas.

This is not a post defending McDonald’s, believe me. As a kosher woman trying-my-hand as a vegetarian AGAIN, the only time we set foot in McDonald’s is for ice cream cone with friends. And if you do frequent there, this is not a post about Mickey D’s artery clogging, waste-creating, plastic-toy peddling ways. It’s about bees. Turns out, Old McDonald had some bees, too…

This all started with a post I wrote this week for ecorazzi about “Bee Movie” being slapped with a trademark infringement suit by BeeCeuticals, an organic body care line made with holistic honey. I didn’t even write the word “McDonald’s” anywhere in the post. The article did, however, prompt a vehement tirade of comments (ok, one) by a woman who made the jump from “Bee Movie” to Jerry Seinfeld to Jessica Seinfeld to hidden vegetable book to hypocritical McDonald’s promos. How could Seinfeld bee be so heartless?

And here’s my point. I actually received an email from the Director of Corporate Communications and Marketing for Conservation International, a US-based non-profit organization which is committed to “conserve the Earth’s living heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.” Bees are having a rough time right now. Over the spring and summer, reports of entire colonies of bees disappearing from farms were baffling bee farmers and scientists. Turns out, a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder was taking place, from stresses to the bees such as viruses, pests, and possibly pesticides. This has become a worldwide problem, one in which CI had been fighting for a while.

Conservation International was psyched when McDonald’s approached them about getting the word out about bee conservation. I mean, more kids can recognize the golden arches than most of the US Presidents, right? From a PR standpoint, Conservation International saw this as an amazing opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

Here’s the deal. There are three major components to the CI/McDonald’s partnership:

-A donation from McDonald’s to support two Conservation International projects in South Africa and Mexico to protect bee habitats;

-Direct environmental education through McDonald’s, including those pesky liners on the trays as well as an on-line presence through the “Bee Move” website;

-Promote the “Bee Good to the Planet” Pledge you can join through Conservation International’s very yellow bee website or through HappyMeal.com (did you know this even existed? Oh, and it’s yellow too).

Kids can go online to read about the plight of the honeybee, play some games, and find out valuable bee-themed information. Yes, there are toys, and yes, there is a movie tie-in. If you don’t feel that it’s appropriate for your kids to see something tied in with McDonald’s, The Daily Green has a wonderful article about what kids can do to help “Save the Bees,” including eating locally made honey, putting out water (bees need to drink too!), and being kind to bees, even if they think bees aren’t so kind to them.

Thanks to Jason for his wealth of information!

After writing about the Fundy Play Table this morning, I decided to investigate the Bay of Fundy that spans Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. I can’t believe I have never heard of this place - and I’m from the East Coast! Turns out, the Bay of Fundy is an incredible eco-attraction, an unusual place where the extreme differences in low and high tides results in the ability to walk at the bottom of the ocean, do some serious sea-kayaking, and witness eight species of whales, dolphins, seals, and birds in action. They actually boast the highest tides in the world!

The website Family Travel Files has a comprehensive list on where to explore, stay, and eat. You can find great travel packages and a ton of information. A perfect place for kids who love outdoor adventuring, whale-watching, and who love to be near the ocean! When my kids get beyond picking seashells for four hours at a time, I am so there.

These plastic-y, funky looking things are a little, well, funky. What do they want with you? Are they taunting you? Look closer…these are Plant-Me Pets, a latex, compostable, fully growable series of characters with seeds for eyes. Comes in cantaloupe, tomato, or pumpkin plant varieties. This is great for kids, and I think adults might secretly like it too. I always get a laugh looking at those little legs sticking out of the dirt. Makes a great gift for kids, hard to shop people, or design freaks who love the, well, funky.

Plant-Me Pets are on sale (HALF OFF!) at Sprout! Get them before they’re good and buried!

Two things I absolutely love are farmers markets and San Francisco.  Now, combine the two for a match made in heaven!  If you’re in the area, take your kids to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, a California Certified Farmers Market run by CUESA, the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture.  Bring your kids not only to taste amazing, locally grown food at its freshest, but to meet the farmers who actually grow the food!  You mean food doesn’t come from supermarkets? (I got that question yesterday…).  The Market is located at the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco, and is open Tuesdays from 10am to 2pm and Sundays from 8am to 2pm. There are also tons of cooking and speaking events, and a list of farmers are on the site so you can find those perfect Pink Pearl or Black Twig apples you’ve been craving…

One thing I miss most about Florida is living a stone’s throw away from the beach.  Boca Raton, specifically, has an amazing number of parks and recreation centers to teach kids about nature and conservation efforts.  One of our favorite weekend spots was Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, located across the street from the Atlantic.  Gumbo Limbo is a modest environmental complex, but it’s full of eco-education (ok, and fun too), inside and out.  They have saved many turtles and other fish, housed in large tanks around the center.  Walk through the nature trail, sit in the butterfly garden, watch a shark feeding or browse the eco-friendly gift shop. 

Now is a very special time of year at Gumbo Limbo.  From July through September, GL offers turtle hatchling release evenings for the general public to share (one of only three places in Florida).  It’s an incredible sight to see a group of tiny turtles make their way out to sea.  They tag and track the turtles to see who comes back in 20 years!  Check the calendar to find a class or lecture perfect for your little naturalist!

 Lady Bird Johnson is being celebrated this week as the first ‘green’ First Lady.  A champion for the beautification of the earth, Lady Bird was directly responsible for over 200 legislative initiatives to clean up highways, preserve and create new parks, protect wildlife, and plant flowers wherever there was room.  Lady Bird partnered with Keep America Beautiful for the last 40 years; she truly wanted to spread her message of beauty for the Earth…

That being said, we love the matchstick garden.   This is quite possibly the simplest way to plant flowers and herbs with your kids!  The seeds are already mixed to grow, and are contained at the end of the matchstick.  Instructions - 1) open the matchbook, 2) tear out a matchstick, 3) place the matchstick tip down into soil, 4) wait for the fun to begin!  There are 10 ‘matches’ per book, in either wildflowers or herb edition.  Grow on, get ‘em…