To market, to market! Looking for a fun family activity for Memorial Day? One that your local snow peas can also enjoy? Gather your baskets and sunscreen, and head to your local farmers market. In 1994, the United States had about 1,755 farmers markets nationwide. Today, that number has almost tripled to 7,100. The United States Department of Agriculture expects that farmers markets generate more than $1.3 billion per year. Phrases like “food justice” and “buy local” are tied to the tongues of KI parents everywhere, creating a positive feedback loop of buying local, supporting local farmers, and making quality food more accessible and affordable for more people.  The Farmers Market Coalition has an excellent online resource library we recommend you explore. But for now, try this idea with your family.

You: “What would you all like for dinner on Saturday?”

Little Johnny: “Hot dogs and hamburgers!”

Little Sally: “Strawberry pie!”

Mom or Dad: “Tangerine salad, artichoke dip, turkey sausage, and Sauvignon Blanc!”

You: “Great! Let’s have an ingredient scavenger hunt! Each person research what ingredients they need beforehand. Then we’ll go to the Kalamazoo farmers market, and each person can take turns leading our team to get their ingredients. Then we’ll all go home and cook!”

And your results? Pretty tasty!

When reading your favorite book, it’s unlikely that you consider the hazards behind the words you see on the printed page. But we do, because our books end up in the hands of children. Many printer inks are made of Plasticol, which is essentially comprised of plastics that are melted during a curing process and that can emit toxins. Since 2009, we have been using soy and vegetable based inks on most items printed domestically. This provides a safer product in the house and in the landfill or recycling center. We are also proud to use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified stocks for all domestically manufactured children’s books and print items. We understand that sustainability starts at the very beginning of our product manufacturing chain. The FSC’s rules for paper-related deforestation allow us to regulate how our paper comes to us. Among these rules, the FSC prohibits the conversion of forests or any other natural habitat, ensures ethical labor practices, and ensures appropriate management of areas needing special protection, like sacred grounds or habitats of endangered species.

Anyone driving in San Francisco right now? Clear the car, hop on your bikes! Today is Bike to Work Day in San Francisco. Bike to Work Days are springing up in cities across the country.  Communities are spinning their wheels to address issues of school commute safety, obesity, and fuel emissions by initiating their own Bike to Work and Bike to School days.

In "Why Johnny Can't Ride," David Darlington explores the issue of safe routes and how heroic young bicyclists, like Adam Marino (pictured), are pedaling for what's right.

But we have small children; is this safe? Biking is no longer the mode of Ed Bagley extremists et al, school boards, parents, kids, even Michelle Obama, are pedaling. “By walking or biking to school, students, parents, teachers and administrators all across America are getting active,” said the First Lady promoting her “Let’s Move!” Initiative. “[Biking] also helps kids get a head start on being active for 60 minutes each day, the goal set by the Presidential Active Lifestyle program.  I know that by getting students moving, we can help ensure they will live full and healthy lives, and that is why I am so encouraged by all the events going on across our country this month.”

Thanks to Lady O, the National Center for Safe Routes to School has helped over 160 communities fund safe commuting routes and programs for families. Find success stories (and how to how to apply for grants!) in your state here.

Want to get in on the party? To find out when your city is celebrating Bike to Work or School Day, visit the BikeLeague.org. And for more information on biking to school, visit the League of American Bicyclists, who are championing this movement. Know what you know and already ready to go? Map your bike route here!

What if your favorite animal story, The Jungle Book or Make Way for Ducklings, featured you and your family? Try this weekend craft project: use cardstock pages, copies of family photos, magazine cut outs, and other add-ins, to make your own eco storybook.  Use a hole punch and ribbons to bind. Whether you superimpose your face on Baloo the Bear’s body in The Jungle Book 2.0 (goofy is key!), or have your child write and illustrate his or her own wily tale, this is a great exercise guaranteed to flex brain muscles and the giggle impulse. Turn on the tunes to stimulate creativity, fill a “treasure chest” of recycled odds and ends for craft supplies, and turn your story tellers loose.

Another wildly successful law: The Endangered Species Act. Signed by President Richard Nixon in 1973, the Endangered Species Act is valuable both for what it has done to save endangered species and, like the Clean Air Act, as a unique piece of legislation. “It is one of the few laws that expressly values non-human life,” says Peter Galvin, conservation director, Center for Biological Diversity. Non-anthropocentric legislature is certainly rare. Since its establishment, the no ESA-protected endangered species has gone extinct. Six great success stories of species who have ditched the endangered list and successfully repopulated include: the red-cockaded woodpecker, peregrine falcon, grizzly bear, Florida panther, and bald eagle. From R.I.P. to V.I.P., these animals are making a comeback!

Put your dukes down! We know the plushest punching bag for aggrieved environmentalists is always the government. Despite some wonky executive decisions (Deepwater Horizon, Hurricane Katrina?), there are many legislative gems that need mention. Here are some feats from Capitol Hill to which we tip our hats, and burry our boxing gloves.

The Clean Air Act. Not only did this act ban pollutants like lead gasoline and acid rain-causing nitrous oxides, the many amendments made since President Lyndon Johnson first signed the bill in 1963 show continued effort for improvement and consideration for a dynamic scientific systems. But get this. Since 1970, the Clean Air Act has prevented 205,000 deaths and the loss of 10.4 million I.Q. points in children. Those are the kind of numbers that make KI parents and educators shudder… really shudder. Another 11,700 lives have been saved from carbon monoxide-related deaths, related to banning lead gas, according to the Journal of American Medical Association. Also by eliminating lead-gas, the percentage of children with high concentrations of lead in their blood dropped from 88 in 1970 to 4 in 1998. Talk about a (deep, air-infused) sigh of relief!

Or Leaders for Environmental Action in the Future, is run by the Nature Conservancy with support from the Toyota USA Foundation. In their words, LEAF “is an ambitious effort to empower the next generation of conservation leaders and equip them with the skills and knowledge to address our world’s most pressing environmental challenges.”

By offering paid internships for students in over thirty U.S. high schools, LEAF exposes students in urban areas to the environment, gives them critical life and professional skills, and puts them on track to pursue further environmental education and career options.

Sounds super, right? See for yourself!

Guilty as charged! We’ve been posting a little too much “gloom and doom” lately. Good parents and Kindermusik educators know that smiling is the strongest teacher. Positive stories encourage positive action and positive leaders, as you’ve told us before.

Environmentalists are working on smiling more too. Smiling about the state of the world might be a “stretch” in many cases, but there are many concrete, unsung human accomplishments worth celebrating. According to a study by Stephen T. Garnett and David B. Lindenmayer, “Conservation science must engender hope to succeed,” mainstream “gloom and doom” tactics are reducing public responsiveness to environmental issues. It seems like the more we know, the less we care. Knowledge must incite positive power, not resentful malaise.

So, this week we’re bringing you a smile a day to keep the carbon away! We’ll post two reasons to smile – a positive result of human action to improve the environment – every day until our smiles grow as big as this guy’s!

Reason One: Polar bears! (Yes, really!) We learned from this MotherJones Report that researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology recently found lower PCB levels (polychlorinated byphenyls, or highly toxic benzene chemicals) in polar bears on the island of Svalbard. Levels have dropped by 59 percent in cubs and 55 percent in adults between 1998 and 2008. Why? International PCB bans must be working, and working well. Go humans!

Reason Two: Land! (Still not kidding). The earth’s protected areas have surged exponentially in the past two centuries. Of course, human land and marine use has surged exponentially as well. But according to the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), 12.2 percent of the Earth’s land area, and 6 percent of marine area is protected and unscathed. That’s more than eight million square miles of protected area — the equivalent of two Canadas. Go humans, again!

In Kabul, Afghanistan, more people die from air pollution annually than from combat. More than 3,000 Afghan deaths from pollution alone. Cities are pumping out more weapons, and more insurgent planes are droppings more bombs, smothering the stoic beauty of the Himalayan backdrop and creating dense smog pockets in valleys.

It’s an unusual twist of consideration: how does war change the natural landscape? Usually we focus on its distortion of the societal landscape. But bombs don’t just kill humans on isolated impact, they fatally alter the environment. And for a nation ravaged by 30 years of war – the sixth poorest in the world, with the average life expectancy just 44 years – managing this damage is a far greater challenge.

In June 2011, Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave a speech on Afghanistan’s newly established National Environmental Protection Agency and its role in mitigating war pollution. NEPA was established in 2005 and is providing a focal point for war-related environmental issues.

“Every time planes fly, they make smoke,” Karzai said. “Our people are killed, but also our environment is damaged.”

Says reporter Helena Malikyar, “The environment is not a priority for the government. It’s not even included in the national strategy. Now the Afghan Environmental Protection Agency is trying to convince the government to consider the environment a vital asset. I expect that President Karzai’s support will bring good changes for environmental protection in this country.”

“Kiva mixes the entrepreneurial daring of Google with the do-gooder ethos of Bono.”– Knowledge@Wharton report, Forbes

Last Christmas we made Kiva loans and encouraged you to give the gift of giving. Here’s a word from Jessica Jackley, Kiva Co-Founder, on why the microloan model is so empowering, psychologically and pragmatically, both for the giver and the recipient.

Watch the TED Talk here.