Green Options

Thanks to Organic Baby Products 101, I discovered Satoko Asai is the impressive designer for Sckoon, a division of Nagyar Group, Inc. The company has been making baby clothes at least six years from Demeter-certified 100% Egyptian organic cotton.

The Demeter Egyptian cotton is super-soft, absorbent and breathable. Plus it’s the rarest, most luxurious fabric in the world. Both individuals and retailers are invited to shop online for baby clothes, toys, diapers, and women’s menstrual pads.

Zia & Tia Pure Luxury Organics offers collections for babies and toddlers. The passionate design team directed by owner Julie Jonas is loyal to everything sustainable in Montreal.

These hand-knit items are made from the finest 100% certified organic Merino wool, spun entirely from unbleached, 3 ply or 8 ply un-dyed Merino fleece. No harsh chemicals are used in dying processes and garments are BIO-GRO certified.

For women of Afghanistan, pregnancy and delivery are dangerous.  The war torn country has the “world’s second-highest death rate in women during pregnancy and childbirth”, second only to another war torn country Sierra Leone. The medical journal Lancet reports that 78% of these maternal deaths could be avoided. The New York Times reports:

For every 100,000 births, 1,600 mothers die; in wealthy countries the rates range from 1 to 12. In one remote northeastern province, Badakhshan, 6,507 mothers die for every 100,000 births, according to a 2005 report in the medical journal Lancet. In all, 26,000 Afghan women a year die while pregnant or giving birth. The main causes of these deaths are hemorrhage and obstructed labor, which can be fatal if a woman cannot obtain a Caesarean section. Even if the mother survives, obstructed labor without a Caesarean usually kills the baby.

I gained a lot of weight with both of my pregnancies, and one thing I did religiously was drink lots of water and apply essential oils to my belly. The result:  I have very few stretchmarks that are not noticeable. Belli Elasticity Belly Oil is the perfect natural product for preventing stretchmarks during pregnancy.

Belli Pregnancy is concerned about the products women put on their skin while pregnant.

Most pregnant women know that what they put - or don’t put - in their bodies is important to the health of their baby…Most of us slather on layers of lotions and creams every day, but we don’t think about what might be being absorbed into our bodies through our skin. With a growing baby in your belly, this is a necessary concern.  There are many considerations one should take into account for pregnancy skin care products…Some products may contain ingredients that can potentially cause birth defects or fetal abnormalities…Belli is the only company in the world to perform teratology screening of our ingredients to help guard against birth defects.

I get really excited when I find a new kids’ company that gets it…really gets it.  Barley and Birch is one of those companies!

Barley & birch is a scientist-created and artist-designed children’s clothing line. All aspects of our business are carbon neutral, including everything from the energy used by our computers to the energy used in the production of our garments. All of our pieces are made in the U.S. by using 100% certified organic cotton. Our business is largely paperless, and all paper used is 100% recycled. We go beyond the level of convenience in order to be fair to our customers and to our planet.

More bad news for television:  “Television exposure during infancy is associated with language delays and attentional problems,” according to Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Of particular concern are homes in which the television is on all the time, which amounts to 30% of all households! In these situations, less interaction, critical for infant language development, occur because of the interference of the television.

Christakis and his colleagues studied 329 two-month to four-year-old children and their parents. Children were monitored for two years recording what they heard or said for 12 to 16 hours.  Researchers did not calculate whether the children and their parents were actively watching TV or if it was just on in the background during the research.  The results, according to Live Science:

Analyses of the recordings revealed that each hour of additional television exposure was linked with a decrease of 770 words (7 percent) the child heard from an adult during the recording session. Hours of television were also associated with a decrease in the number and length of child vocalizations and the back and forth between the child and an adult (called a conversational turn).

Growth charts in the UK have not been updated since 1990 and were originally created based on the physical development of formula fed babies.

New guidelines are being introduced that reflect the slower growth rates of breastfed babies.

Using the new growth charts, more children will be classified as overweight.

Last month, we shared with you a folk art eco-friendly lunch pack by Print*Pattern*Paper.  This month, we are featuring a green giveaway of a signed 5″ x 7″ folk art print by Print*Pattern*Paper founder, CEO, artist, and designer Rebecca Peragine.  To enter, simply visit Print*Pattern*Paper’s art page, select your favorite print from the 30 prints featured, and leave a comment to this post with the print’s name.  On Wednesday, March 11, 2009, a random winner will be selected from the comments, and the lucky person will win the print of their choice!  This contest is limited to residents of Canada and the United States.

You care about the environment and also your family’s health. So it’s time to embrace eco-friendly child care!

Many daycare and child-care centers around the U.S. are embracing eco-friendly ways, and it’s not a day too soon. That’s why we’re building a huge directory of eco-friendly child care centers around the country. We have over 120 listed so far and we’re adding more every day. Check them out! And if you know of one you’d like to add, please send us an email to feedback@lowimpactliving.com.

The State of Oregon’s Environmental Council has taken a pioneering role in certifying child-care centers with their Eco-Healthy Child Care program.  Child care facilities qualify as “Eco-Healthy” by completing a 25-element checklist that highlights 25 steps facilities can take to ensure a safe place for children. Eco-healthy child care centers commit to reducing a child’s exposure to toxins and other environmental health hazards.

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!”

When my daughter was born (May 2007), I bought and used the well-known products that most parents use, the common brands of lotions and soaps, the standard baby furniture and linens, the cute clothes that were given as gifts. I planned to make my own baby food, and maybe even buy organic foods, but I was totally unaware of the toxicity of everyday name brands and common personal care products, even the ones that claimed to be “natural.”

One day, when talking to a friend about homemade baby food and buying organic, she recommended a book to me called Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care by Dr. Alan Greene. I checked it out at the library, devoured it, and decided I needed to buy it to have on hand as a resource. The book opened my eyes to simple ways and reasons why to de-toxify and pointed me to where my little green revolution really began: Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep Database, and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

I’ve seen some nasty diaper rash in my day (thankfully those days are over). My only solution was bare buns for awhile, but sometimes you got to put a cloth diaper on the rash covered bum to head out of the house.

Many parents rely on diaper rash creams and talc, but the solution to diaper rash is much easier and cheaper in the long run if you use cloth wipes.

Bummas has the solution!  What are Bummas?  Bummas are:

Bummas are small soft, luxurious baby-sized cloths made especially for drying baby bottoms, as well as blocking those surprise squirts. And with a little douse of water, they can also replace wet wipes for clean up of sensitive bums. They are small enough to conveniently carry on the go and durable enough to wash over and over again and won’t pill shrink or fade. We think you will find Bummas to be an indispensable item in your diaper changing regimen.