Zion Lights - The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting

Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party

More and more parents are thinking not just about what they can give their children as individuals, but about the kind of world they are creating for them. Zion brings together the latest peer-review science, looks at it practically and calmly, without being judgemental or preachy, simply helpful. I hope many parents will find this useful and reassuring.

David Bond, Director of Project Wild Thing

The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting is a refreshingly clear-headed and well-researched practical guide to environmentally friendly parenting. Zion Lights is a wise, calm voice for new parents. She debunks the myths, and reminds us what is really important: children need care and time not tonnes of stuff to make them happy. Finally, a crystal-clear case for what many have suspected for years: green parenting is not for sentimentalists. It is the smart way to think about bringing up children if you care about their (and your) happiness.

Jay Griffiths, author of Kith: The Riddle of the Childscape

A book of glorious clarity, offering parents the great tool of evidence-based wisdom.

Raffi Cavoukian, Member of the Order of Canada, singer, author, founder of the Centre for Child Honouring

In the climate-change era, our children need green parenting and this well-researched book shows how to do it. It offers easy-to-read, science-based options for greening the family. Kudos to Zion Lights for this comprehensive, informative, and indispensable green guide for parents!

Tim Gill, writer on childhood

Theres no such thing as the perfect parent or the perfect environmentalist (I speak from personal experience). But by doing a better job of caring for the planet, we can also do a better job of caring for our children. This is the argument of The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting, and it makes a clear, thought-provoking and persuasive case.

Bill McKibben, 350.org, author of Deep Economy

A science-based account of the ways we parents might be more green, and raise healthier children in the process I was especially glad to see the detailed chapter on why one wants to vaccinate ones children. The whole book is written with a view to the larger society, which is good, since thats the society our children will have to live in.

George Marshall, author of Dont Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change

As if being an ethical parent was not challenging enough, we are plagued by self-appointed pundits playing on our insecurities. So hoorah for Zion Lights, who applies the latest research evidence to even the most intractable myths around sleeping, diet and vaccination. The result is an indispensable guide loaded with sound advice.

Dr Marc Bekoff, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, author of Rewilding Our Hearts

Zion Lights new book is a must read for people of all ages and all cultures. The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting is a very practical, fact-filled, wide-ranging, and easy-to-read book and parents, teachers, and youngsters will learn a lot about how to make the best and most sustainable/green choices for themselves and for future generations. Topics range from green birth to travel to diet to toiletries and I continued to be amazed by the breadth and depth of Ms Lights latest work. I learned a lot from this forward-looking book and I hope it enjoys a wide readership. We really cannot continue to live as we do and expect the very best for our children and theirs. I often wonder what the world will be like for youngsters when theyre my age or even half my age, and this book made me hopeful that the future of our challenging, demanding and rapidly evolving planet could indeed be a very bright one if we pay close attention to the choices we make and if we serve as good models for current and future generations.

Scott Cooney, Adjunct Professor of Sustainability in the MBA program at the University of Hawaii, author of Build A Green Small Business

Zions book cuts straight through the noise and presents the best available science on green and naturally healthy parenting. The best part is that its done in a practical, humorous and easy-to-read way that any parent concerned about the environment and about their childrens health can understand.

John Cossham, compost expert and childrens entertainer, winner of the Oxfam Carbon Footprint Competition in 2008

I enjoyed reading The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting so much I didnt want to stop. Parents like me have been waiting for this sort of sensible and wide-ranging book, and Im just disappointed it wasnt published when my teenagers were babies. I believe it will appeal as its based on sound science, and is well researched and referenced. Zion Lights outlines the available evidence where there are debates about a subject. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on travel, as, although its a parenting book, much of the content applies to all of us, whether parents of young children or not.

About the author

Zion Lights is a writer with a passion for science and the environment. She writes for and co-edits Juno magazine and is a blogger for The Huffington Post and Green Living Ideas. Zion is active on social media and can be contacted via her website zionlights.co.uk or via the Twitter handle @ziontree

Acknowledgements

It goes without saying that my thanks go out to the superb New Internationalist publishing team who put this book on the shelves, and the many dedicated scientists who have studied and continue to study the important topics covered in this book. Gratitude is also due to the fantastic green community that I am fortunate to be part of, particularly John Compost Cossham, John Stumbles and Sharon Liming for their invaluable support.

Thank you also to everyone who provided feedback on chapter drafts, to Andrew Glynn for being the best friend a writer can have, and to my partner Aaron Cleland for constant ideas-bouncing and for putting up with a sleep-deprived zombie after endless hours spent writing and researching. Finally, thank you to my children Arwyn and Raven, who made me a green parent, and for whom I labour to make the world a better place.

The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting

Published in 2016 in Canada by

New Internationalist Publications

2446 Bank Street, Suite 653

Ottawa, Ontario

K1V 1A8

newint.org

and

Between the Lines

401 Richmond Street West, Studio 281

Toronto, Ontario

M5S 2R4

www.btlbooks.com

First published in 2015 by

New Internationalist Publications Ltd

The Old Music Hall

106-108 Cowley Road

Oxford OX4 1JE, UK

Zion Lights

The right of Zion Lights to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1998.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the Publisher.