During tough economic times, you’d expect parents to be working longer hours to make ends meet and family time would suffer. A recent poll conducted by the New York Times and CBS News has found quite the opposite: “More Americans are spending more time with family and friends and less time shopping during the recession.”
What exactly are families doing together? According to UPI:
Meanwhile, the poll found that while some Americans are working longer hours, a larger proportion are spending more time than before with family and friends and pursuing such hobbies as gardening, cooking, reading and watching television.
The Times said the poll results mirror a poll performed by the Department of Labor, whose latest time-use surveys indicated that Americans spent less time in 2008 buying goods and services and more time cooking or taking part in “organizational, civic and religious activities” compared with 2005.
[read the full article...]
by Jennifer Lance on October 24, 2009 · 9 comments
For parents who were suckered into Disney’s Baby Einstein concept, the company has announced they will give full refunds on up to four videos. The basis of the refund is to compensate parents who actually believed the videos would make their children smarter. UPI reports:
The move comes after Disney’s Baby Einstein Co. last month announced “enhanced consumer satisfaction guarantees” after lawyers had threatened a class-action suit for false advertising. “The Walt Disney Company’s entire Baby Einstein marketing regime is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial for early childhood development,” a letter from the lawyers reportedly said.
[read the full article...]
The world is not such a magical place when chemicals, including the carcinogen chromium 6, are being dumped into groundwater.
A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges that Disney has been dumping the waste from their on-site cooling systems since 1998. According to the suit, brought by Environmental Worldwatch, Inc and local residents, the company,
supplied, dumped, released and deposited and continues to supply, dump, release and deposit vast amounts of chromium 6, air cooling water and residues, and other various toxic waste materials.
The Disney corporation has so far declined to comment on the specifics of the case but are denying any wrongdoing.
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Earth Day is a fantastic holiday. I’ve heard folks say that it’s the most celebrated secular holiday ever.
This year to celebrate Earth Day Disneynature, Disney’s new independent film label, will release their first film, Earth. Earth is narrated by James Earl Jones and tells the remarkable story of three animal families and their amazing journey across the planet we all call home. Earth combines rare action, unimaginable scale and impossible locations by capturing the most intimate moments of our planet’s wildest and most elusive creatures. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the acclaimed creative team behind the Emmy Award-winning “Planet Earth” series combine forces again to bring this epic adventure to the big screen, beginning Earth Day 2009. To celebrate the film’s theatrical release, Disneynature will be planting a tree in the endangered Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest in honor of every person who sees the film during its opening week! [read the full article...]
We get a lot of press releases from companies big and small touting their green initiatives. I usually dismiss the ones from major corporations like Disney and Barbie as greenwashing, but I still pass them on to our writers. After much prodding and persuading from my online friends, I usually take up the issue myself, as I just can’t help myself. Disney….it’s your turn.
Disney has just issued the company’s first ever comprehensive corporate responsibility (CR) report. For a company that was founded in the 1920s and is the largest media and entertainment corporation in the world, this report is a long time overdue!
The long term environmental goals outlined in the report are:
- Zero waste
- Zero net direct greenhouse gas emissions from fuels
- Reduce indirect greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumption
- Net positive impact on ecosystems
- Minimize water use
- Minimize product footprint
- Inform, empower and activate positive action for the environment
[read the full article...]
by Jennifer Lance on February 25, 2009 · 0 comments
Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”
Vacationing with children – it just about killed me. Our sleeping schedule was wacky, the stuff we had to pack and organize, and my daughter got sick and the money. Oh, my goodness the money to go to Disney and Sea World and shucks rent a car and eat for two weeks – I know why we don’t vacation often. My son got to experience flying and he loved climbing the mountain in Arizona, seeing his grandma (the highlight of our trip), eating some great fondue from the Melting Pot, shaking Buzz Light Years hand and riding his first roller coaster. I just hope he remembers it all. My daughter, well she played and played and enjoyed swimming and being with mom and dad. She won’t remember anything but we gave her some experiences to help her development and best of all (besides seeing grandma) she loved Sea World. [read the full article...]
