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GLENN: Fatherhood.gov. Taking time to spend with your children always pays off. Get involved, even in the smallest ways. Fatherhood.gov is a site for dads that has tips and resources. All right. Here we go, let me just — take the time to be a dad. Today's tips. Experience the joy of reading without the cost of buying books. Visit your community library and get a card for each member of your family. Oh, that is great, isn't it?
PAT: Uh huh.
GLENN: Gather your already read books and donate them to the local library, school or shelter. The books will be enjoyed again and you'll reinforce to your children the value of reading, and they will gain a better understanding of the importance of giving to others.
PAT: Donating them really helps them understand the value of reading rather than, I don't know, reading to them. So I think that's a really good idea. Donate over reading to them is a really good — that's good. I hadn't thought of that before.
GLENN: From fatherhood.gov, next tip: Turn off the water while you brush your teeth in the morning and before bedtime. You can save up to eight gallons of water a day.
PAT: I knew a father who didn't do that.
GLENN: And his kid's in prison now?
PAT: His kid's kid is a drug addict, murdered three children.
GLENN: Next one, many electronic devices and appliances use power even when they are switched off or not in use. You can save money and energy by unplugging the items that aren't being used.
PAT: Boy, if there's a memory I have of my dad, it's when he would walk around the house unplugging everything.
GLENN: Earth friendly cleaning products are widely available and kinder to our air and water. Or you can make your own cleaning supplies with white vinegar, lemons, baking soda and other basics you probably have in your kitchen already.
PAT: Didn't you and your dad used to do that all the time?
GLENN: Check online in your local library for the step by step cleaning green?
PAT: At the bakery you would make your own cleaning products? Remember that?
GLENN: For Father's Day let your family know that you'd like to share a family activity rather than receive gifts. Instead of collecting another tie, take a photo of yourself and your children enjoying time together.
PAT: Good idea.
GLENN: Eliminating the wrapping paper. And if you take a digital photo, if you take a digital photo, it will generate less waste on Dad's special day.
PAT: Wow.
STU: So fatherhood is about saving wrapping paper.
PAT: Yeah.
STU: If you can just eliminate the wrapping paper.
PAT: Well, and unplugging. I mean, don't oversimplify this too much.
GLENN: Visit a farmers market.
STU: Unplugging appliances, too.
GLENN: Or a farm where you can pick your own produce.
PAT: Yeah, yeah.
GLENN: Locally grown fruits and vegetables do not need to be shipped which contributes to reducing carbon emissions.
PAT: I actually did that with my mom, not my dad.
GLENN: Bring your own bag to the grocery store. You can probably pack more items per bag and many stores offer a discount for using your own bag.
STU: What does this have to do with fatherhood?
GLENN: Fatherhood.gov recommends instead of buying Halloween costumes, help your children create them using items you already have at home or ask a group of friends to join you in swapping costumes. Recycling the ones the kids wore for previous Halloweens.
PAT: We don't wear a lot of Halloween costumes in June, but —
GLENN: Fatherhood.gov recommends
PAT: I don't know.
GLENN: Another tip for dads, buy compact fluorescent light bulbs.
PAT: CFLs, uh huh.
GLENN: Last about five years and use less energy. Switching just one standard bulb to a CFL can help you reduce your electricity bill by as much as 75 cents per month.
PAT: 75 cents! Woo hoo, that's some serious savings, boy.
GLENN: Now so you know —
PAT: That adds up.
GLENN: Fatherhood.gov goes on to say, Spotlight on Dads. Spotlight on Dads' resources are designed specifically for dads and for programs to be able to share with fathers. Spotlight on Dads helps dad think about ways their involvement affects the lives of their children. Each contains a suggestion on books or movies that the government would like to recommend that can be used by Dad to learn more. And a page of discussion and thought provoking questions to further think about each issue. These tips and our tips for green dads are designed for dads to give a quick and easy suggestion on ways you can get involved with your children every day. Fatherhood.gov.
STU: I like the fact that you can, you can save energy and you can save 75 cents a month with the fancy light bulbs but then, of course, you have to spend that immediately on the green cleaning products that are much more expensive that you have to use for the other part of fatherhood.
GLENN: May I just point out, we could have the planet a lot greener if we didn't have kids.
STU: Wow, that's — that's the best path to fatherhood right there, no kids.
GLENN: Fatherhood.gov would like to recommend get rid of those bratty, snotty kids. Stop having so many kids.
PAT: You know the resources they eat up?
GLENN: Not as many resources as this federal government eats up on wasteful things like fatherhood.gov.
[NOTE: Transcript may have been edited to enhance readability - audio archive includes full segment as it was originally aired]