Green Options

So you’ve decided to try babywearing — perhaps you’ve read the Babywearing 101 series, or Baby Essentials That Aren’t, here at Eco Child’s Play.  As a green-minded parent, you may now be wondering what options exist for slings and carriers made of organic and eco-friendly fabrics.

You might be pleasantly surprised.  From small-business WAHM handmade slings, to big-name brands, there is a wide selection of organic baby carriers out there to choose from.  Whatever style of carrier you prefer, organic options in natural colour-grown fabrics and vivid naturally-dyed colours abound.

Here is just a partial list, to help get your search started.

It appears that our “New Economy” has made people take a good look at needs vs. wants.  These days, more people (as much as 1/3) feel that a dryer is no longer a necessity, rather its a luxury and an expensive one at that!

Line drying used to be the standard and we are trending toward that again (We’ve doubled the number of people who say the dryer is a luxury in the last three years).  Here’s how to fire your dryer which will result in lower energy bills (good for you and the planet) and happy clothes (the dryer is hard on clothing).

No matter the climate you live in, you can air dry clothing.  Read on to learn how to fight restrictive CC&R’s for  your right to dry and ways to circumvent such silly ordinances.

Inside me I’ve got:

world peace

2 rainbows

light from 4 stars

green stuff

milk

some dog hair

and

a

raisin

Simply Chickie Clothing makes 100% organic cotton clothes for little ones.  Designed by Gwendolyn Gardner, a direct descendant of The Scarlet Letter author Nathaniel Hawthorne, the baby clothes are whimsical, humorous, pesticide free, and made in the USA!

My kids keep outgrowing EVERYTHING.  I hear this is normal, but sheesh… would someone slow them down so my wallet can keep up with their clothing needs?  With five children (16G, 9B, 9G, 7G, 4G) to dress, it becomes even more important that I choose clothing which will last and is cost effective.  My Fall clothing budget is around $100-$150 per child (with the older ones taking a larger chunk of the overall spending because the younger girls get lots of hand-downs).  When nine pair of undies can run $20.00 (or more!), I have to be very careful with our funds.  I also want to purchase items which will hold up well to kid wear and tear so that it can be saved for the next child (or passed on to a friend).  If you are looking for a new backpack, check out Wenona’s post. Here’s how we do it.

Where did July go? I can’t believe it is almost August. This always happens. The 4th of July comes along then all the sudden summer is over. I know there’s still August, a whole month before school starts but it is going to be busy with appointments and trying to squeeze as much out of summer as we can before it’s gone.

One thing I am dreading is school shopping. All the stores are already doing their sales. Both my school age kids need new backpacks (among other things) since theirs have fallen apart. So I’ve been researching eco-friendly backpacks. So far here’s what I have found.

The new monkey moccasins from Nowali are the cutest things. Part sock, part slipper, and all cute my little guy fell in love with them as soon as he laid eyes on them.

If you follow my writing you know my three year old is bananas about monkeys so anything I can find with monkeys on it goes to my very own little monkey man. Now thanks to Nowali he can even have monkeys on his feet.

Indigenous Designs is a fair trade, organic clothing company with apparel for the whole family!  I personally love the double layered skirt, but for my son, the organic Havanna shirt is super cool!  Made in Guatemala, this fair trade organic shirt is just like the grown up version, making your little boy look like a little man. My son will be wearing his Havanna shirt to his fifth birthday party this weekend!

Indigenous Designs is committed to:

• Supporting and preserving fair trade wages and artisan cooperatives
• Investing in natural and organic fibers and environmentally-friendly dyes
• Spreading the beauty of handmade, eco fashion

Many people eat organically grown food, but when it comes to their clothing, they forget natural and organic fibers clothing is just as important for our planet as it is for our health.

You absolutely must forgive me. It’s be en eons since I’ve posted here. Frankly, I’ve been busy enjoying the summer. Last week I met a couple who has an incredible infant clothing line that is all organic cottons and well thought out. The clothing is both durable and attractive and by using only organic cottons they are reducing the pesticide use worldwide.

Go take a look at the Baby Clothes.

Now, get ready because Organically Grown is giving away a unisex mini wardrobe to one lucky reader.

After I wrote a review of the Fuzzi Bunz One Size cloth diaper, a few people commented that they still preferred organic.

I get it, folks. If you’re going to use cloth, you might as well go super-eco and go for organic cloths. Especially when it comes to your baby’s precious skin.

So I did my research, and found a very interesting organic CD: The Gro Baby. I am so excited about this soft, eco-friendly diaper!

I have high standards when it comes to CDs. So let’s see how this one measured up to my bum snobbery, shall we?

Ecozoo backpacks from Ecogear are the perfect eco-friendly bags for short summer trips or for a fun bag to fill with summer boredom busters like books, games, art supplies or a multitude of other kid stuff.

I received the Panda as an awesome review product and my two youngest kids are fighting over who gets it, that’s how cute it is.

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.