Four Questions with Dr. Alan Greene: Part I

by Wendy Gabriel

Dr. Alan Greene is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, an Attending Pediatrician at Packard Children’s Hospital, and a Senior Fellow at the University California San Francisco Center for the Health Professions. He has authored a number of books including Raising Baby Green.

Dr. Greene loves to think about challenging ideas, he eats only certified organic, wild or home grown foods, and, perhaps most importantly, he wears green socks.  What follows is the first of a three-part series.

How do you make your day-to-day life a little greener?

One of the things that we look at in healthcare is the nature of relationships between living things. From my perspective, green is a symbiotic or mutual relationship between us and our ecosphere where we both benefit. Too often humans have been parasites on our planet, depleting resources and leaving a trail of toxins. And in turn, our planet has become our predator, triggering a host of increasing environmental illnesses.

Why is being green important to you?

Illnesses arise from interplay between our genes and the environment. But when you look at all the conditions on the rise in kids – problems such as asthma, ADD, high blood pressure, childhood cancers, diabetes – you can’t blame our genes. These conditions have increased so rapidly in the last 30 years that we know the environment is the problem, which means that the environment also holds the answers. The book (Raising Baby Green) gives people – whether they value being green or not – practical suggestions for tilting the odds in favor of their children.

What is one green tip you would like to share with us?

Every step in a green direction can make a difference. One of the things I talk about a lot is leaving your campsite better than I found it, and that relates to the relationship between us and our ecosphere.

What is your next green project?

I’ve just finished writing my next book, Feeding Baby Green.  It will be out in the fall of 2009 and I can’t wait to get to share it with women who are considering becoming pregnant, are currently pregnant, or who have young children. I think this book will have even more impact than Raising Baby Green and I’m very excited about that book.