The first runner-up is Tina Bossy for Bossy Baby and the second runner-up is Rachel Hart for Miss Sugar Pops. Be sure to read the related posts below to discover all the terrific nominations.

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What’s really fun about taking nominations is to read favorable comments. Carrie’s got a fan club. Read on for testimonies.

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GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with green blogger, publisher, and supermom Jill Fehrenbacher, founder of green design blog Inhabitat.com and its new eco-parenting sister site Inhabitots.com.

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The newborn collection is designed for babies with sensitive skin. The organic cottons come in subtle pastels and natural cream colors. Baby nursery rhymes come to life with her signature embroidery. You can choose the rhyme that suits your little one best.

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Meet Jennifer Murphy. She is a Chicago resident who lives with her husband, daughter, and son. They hold a family passion for farm animals and the future of our environment. Jennifer’s mission is to improve the lives of others through her talents, creativity, intuition and knowledge. She produces modern fun baby and toddler clothes from sustainable fabrics.

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That’s what happened to Rachel. So she decided to create exclusive and unique hand sewn or stitched garments with plenty of spunk and pizzaz. Her passion started and continues from vintage treasures. Durability was also important to Rachel, so each item is made to last.

Vintage pieces are incorporated into designs that bring a little from the past into the present. Her favorite materials to work with are tulle, velvet, speciality ribbons, laces and  good quality silk flowers. That’s recycling fun!

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Wool is the most hydrophilic of all fibers and wicks away excess moisture, drying quickly. It’s a natural fire retardant that can resist flame without chemical treatment and wool is a renewable resource that regrows on the sheep after shearing. It is biodegradable and kinder to the environment than oil-based synthetics that contribute to global pollution. Wool is durable, remarkably elastic for growing children, and is free of dust mites.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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