Green Options

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Jennifer wrote about Kee Ka yesterday here on Eco Child’s Play, and I thought I would add a few more kids clothing ideas to the mix.  The monkey ensemble she highlighted was actually one of our favorite outfits we received as a gift for our son when he was born last fall.  It was a true breath of fresh air.  You see, here in Texas, we like our boys dressed in clothes that reflect real manly values.  Tools, trucks, sports logos, and cowboy gear abound on clothes for our sons, and that’s as it should be…

…unless you’re a parent that hates looking at tools, trucks, sports logos, and cowboy gear, in which case you’re up a creek.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for all of the hand-me-downs we’ve received since our son was born last fall.  Passing clothing down from kid to kid is an American tradition that’s thrifty and environmentally responsible at the same time.  I’ve also had a great time going through resale shops and thrift stores and I’ve found some good stuff.  Blue jean shorts for $1?  Sold!

However,  since kiddo isn’t old enough to care about his own clothes yet, we are actually the primary viewers of his wardrobe and we are starting to get a bit tired of all the “All Boy All The Time” look - and it is darn difficult to find anything else unless you buy new.  I know it isn’t any easier on the other side. Announcing “it’s a girl!” seems to trigger a pink clothing avalanche.  (Also see Amy’s post on GirlMogul for some alternatives.)

So if you’re on the hunt for something to break the mold and liven up your babe’s couture, here’s a list of 20 eco-friendly shirts that don’t scream boy or girl (or cowboy).  Use the money you saved on the jean shorts to splurge a little, or drop a few hints to the grandparents.

Hah! Another completely misleading title from me. I refuse to eat this because it’s baby food and, frankly, my kids are bigger and I’ve done my time. If you’ve got a baby though, you’ve got to get some of this goo food for him/her.

My neighbor has an infant who is just adding solids (squishy ones) to her diet. Like many other really great parents my neighbor wants to feed her daughter good organic foods. She loves the idea of making it herself and freezing it all into little cubes a la Martha Stewart.

But she’s too farking tired.

In any event, the UPS guy came and brought her this.

My children have always reminded me of little monkeys. Maybe it is evolutionary or maybe it is my fondness of Curious George.  When I discovered this Kee-Ka’s little organic monkey onesie sold by Manhattan Living Baby, I thought it would make the perfect gift for my new little cousin Avery. Avery is doing little monkey tricks earlier than most babes, and she will look adorable in this organic outfit.

Kee-Ka is named for the sweet babbling of babes, and the company is devoted to eco-chic apparel for little ones.  Eco-chic translates to fair trade, fair wage, 100% certified organic, low impact dyes, social responsibility, charitable contributions, and ecological responsibility.  Of course, babies don’t care about their fashionable onesies, but their bodies deserve only the purest organic fibers against their skin.

Guest Contributing Writer Philip Proefrock is more frequently found writing about green building and design issues at our sister blog Green Building Elements. His wife, Stacia Proefrock is a homebirth midwife, doula, and fertility consultant and is a member of the Michigan Midwives Association organizing committee for the MANA conference.

The Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) annual conference will be held in Traverse City, Michigan later this October. MANA is a professional organization for midwives throughout North America. “MANA’s goal is to unify and strengthen the profession of midwifery, thereby improving the quality of health care for women, babies, and communities.”

You can help support the work of midwives.  MANA is working to push legislation in a number of states where the practice of midwifery and homebirth is not fully legal.  While some states have laws that support and encourage the practice of midwifery, many other states are less supportive.  MANA is also advocating for insurance companies to allow homebirth options as a safe, less-expensive and less resource consuming alternative to standard hospital births.

When I started cloth diapering, I didn’t realize how many types of cloth diapers were out there. It really does take time to build up your stash and find diapers that work for your baby. Some are stretchier on the thighs which is good for chunky monkeys like mine. Then there are some that’s uber stylish that it’s pretty sought after by almost all cloth diapering mothers. One of the ones I reach for first is my Sustainable Babyish Cloth Diapers from Erin Nau. It’s no surprise that Sustainable Babyish has taken over cloth diapering site, Diaper Swappers by storm; Erin used to be a fashion designer working in New York City before she became Work at Home Mom (WAHM) and diaper connoisseur.

What makes Sustainable Babyish more wonderful is that it’s GREEN! How is it green? Erin uses Eco-friendly textile such as hemp and Organic cotton. Hemp is great because it is a renewable resource and gentler to the planet. This wonder fiber is also ultra absorbent. Sustainable Babyish takes it a step further and uses Organic cotton which uses sustainable practices in cotton farming, a definite plus. Erin also utilizes fair trade labor by employing WAHMS in the United States. Her diapers, especially her soakers are sold out within minutes of being stocked. It’s incredible how a mother can change the world one diaper at a time.

I’m a big fan of California. I’m almost as far from the state as I could be, here in Vermont, but I usually wholeheartedly agree with the environmental and public health decisions made by the California legislature to protect their citizens.

The ban on phthalates for one. The chemical and toxin labeling law (hence all those “May Cause Cancer in the State of California” labels you see all over cheap goods from China). And the higher fuel efficiency standards, which have considerably reduced smog. Then, they were poised to ban BPA (bisphenol A and PFOA (a chemical in food wrapping). No dice.

What happened? In a close vote, the California legisture voted not to ban BPA and PFOA.

When I attend trade shows and green festivals, I’m always on the look out for products for my family. Sometimes these are simpler greener options, often they address safety issues.

Any parent today is getting used to having the bejesus scared out of them every time they turn around so I guess I’m no different. Since, it seems quite impossible to throw out everything we own; repaint the house…no tear down the house; buy all new appliances; and only eat organic…I make smaller changes.

Most of my big concerns center around ingestion of toxic chemicals, so food, drink and dishes are high on my list of things to ensure are really safe. Oh, and drinking cups.

Bwah hah. Made you look.

Okay, folks it’s been 8 years of me apologizing. Really, I’m sorry about the whole W thing. We’ll do better next time. In the interim, our President has signed a really important bill into law.

Lead is now banned from children’s toys. Can we all do a happy dance?

Guess what?

The bill also bans a chemical called phthalates that is widely used to make plastic products softer and more flexible. I am positively swooning. Then I did a little research and stood still.

The biggest learning curve for me as a cloth diapering newbie was how to clean up all the mess my little one made. There were lots of trial and error, but I think I finally got the hang of it. I know many parents are put off by the output of their offsprings, but for some reason; the baby daddy and I didn’t seem to mind scraping off poo off of the cloth. We even felt cheerio about it. Of course, there was the occasional face when things got out of hand. We even attempted to cloth diaper without having our own washer and dryer. However, we got to really know the coin laundry attendant REAL well. So without adieu, here’s the simple way to clean cloth diapers.

To cloth diaper full time, I recommend anywhere from 24 to 36 diapers. The 24 if you want to wash every other day; 36 if you don’t have your own washer (could do without the dryer if you utilize the clothes line) or wash every 2 to 3 days. It does take time to build up your stash so in the meantime you might want to consider chlorine free diapers like 7th Generation or even Gdiapers (didn’t work out for me but seems to be favorite among many green moms).

There is NO NEED TO USE WET PAILS. I repeat, NO WET PAILS. It’s a drowning hazard and the modern washing machine has gotten so good, there’s no need to dunk or let the diaper sit in poopy water. Either use a dry pail, nylon bag, or throw them in the washer. When the diaper bag, pail, or washer is full.. here’s a quick and simple way to wash cloth diapers.

We are spending the week with friends in Maine, and they have a beautiful 6 month old baby boy who is getting his two front teeth. He is suffering so, and reminding me of the same process with my two little girls.

I would give them frozen bagels, organic cotton rattles and lovely little wooden teethers. Most of the time, they threw them down in 2 seconds, found the limited plastic in the house, and bit that. No matter how hard I tried. I eyed those chewy plastic teethers in the grocery store, you know, the ones laced with phthalates, vinyl (the poision plastic) and other chemicals? When your child is in pain, it is hard to resist something that might help. But I did, and they cried and cried (and sometimes so did I).

When it seemed like other countries *cough* CANADA *cough* were leading the way in banning unsafe chemicals from toys and baby products, the US Congress finally joined the 21st Century and banned phthalates, with state bills being credited for leading the way.

As my Cool Mom Picks co-founder Liz Gumbinner stated last year, 2007 was definitely the “Year of the Recall,” as too many toys to count were taken down from shelves (well, at least they were supposed to be) due to high lead levels. But the improbable has now happened and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act has passed “with a veto-proof majority.”