Category Archives: Eco Friendly Parenting

My Big Green Goal for 2009 – Greening Baby

I can’t believe I’m nearly 8 months pregnant. Where does the time go?

In terms of being green, there are a lot of things I like to do. But in 2009, my focus is pretty much going to be on greening my baby experience.

Some of it will be pretty easy. I already have the minimal driving habit, although we are going to need a second vehicle. Our current car won’t hold the entire family after the baby comes, and with all the doctor appointments babies need, calling on family for a ride just won’t cut it. It would be necessary too often.

But we are looking used, and fuel efficiency is a big consideration along with budget.

Clothes and many other supplies aren’t a big issue. We have tons of handmedowns coming. We still own our original cradle and crib.

A king size pillowcase makes for a wonderful sheet for a cradle mattress. They’re the perfect size. Just a little trick my mother taught me that saves trying to buy cradle sheets. Crib sheets, on the other hand, may need to be purchased, although I think we still have some in decent condition.

I still have to actually buy my cloth diapers. Time to just buckle down and get the research done so I can finalize my decision.

Then the fun part of explaining them to my mother-in-law. Oh, probably my side of the family too, but I know who tends to be the most vocal about when I do something out of the expected. But cloth diapers really aren’t what they were when she had kids, and I expect that by the time baby is 6 months to a year old, she’ll get it.

At least, that’s how long it took for her to quit complaining about me breastfeeding my first. She does understand the benefits now, though, and is a huge proponent of it. Just took a while.

We’re also looking at making baby food at home. We already own a VitaMix, although I will have to teach my husband to clean it really well. He’s rather trusting of a quick rinse on too many things. Soap and hot water, dear, especially when cleaning something to make it safe for making baby food! Better safe than really, really sorry.

Green Gift Experiences For Green Children

Even for children, Christmas gifts don’t all have to be about the toys. You can get them plenty excited about experiences, or special times with their families. Think about the experiences you and your family could share that will help your children to continue to grow and love the environment.

I’ll try to avoid experiences that absolutely require travel out of your local area. The idea here is things that will be very affordable with minimal concerns for the impact of doing them. It’s for parents who are trying to encourage green behavior, after all!

1. Zoo passes.

Not everyone likes zoos, but modern ones do a lot of work toward conservation and have helped to keep certain species alive.

The best zoos to get passes for, of course, are the ones that have modern cages that put some serious effort into making life comfortable and interesting for the animals. I remember going to the San Diego Zoo as a child, when the cages were pretty dull for the animals. These days they are much more complex, with appropriate scenery for many animals, and lots for them to do. They’re also far more beautiful than the old style. They’re still working on improvements too.

2. Snorkling or SCUBA diving.

You can often rent rather than buy equipment if you aren’t going to be doing this regularly. This would be great fun for kids who really love the ocean.

3. Visit to local nature centers.

The availability of nature centers may vary widely by where you live. I can think of a few nature preserves in my area. Some are free to get into while others do charge a small fee.

These can be great for hiking, and some may include educational literature so you can learn about the wildlife your family is seeing.

4. Camping trips.

Whether you go to a National Park or a local campground, camping is a great time to get in touch with nature. If your child has a favorite place to go camping, make up a gift certificate for a trip there at an appropriate time of year.

5. Gardening supplies.

Pick them by the space you have. Even an apartment can often support an herb garden in the kitchen window, patio or balcony.

My kids love learning about herbs, and during the growing season know which plants they are allowed to pick leaves from to eat, and which they must ask first… plus, of course, which plants they simply may not touch at all. You do have to be careful about the eating part with young children, and emphasize the rule that they have to ask about specific plants, not just what they think the leaves look like.

If you have the space, a back yard garden is great for the entire family. Growing vegetables in your home garden is a great way to get superior quality produce.

Don’t forget appropriately sized garden tools. You can get a decent quality of tool for children too.

6. Birdwatching.

You may have to pick up some binoculars for this if you don’t have them already. You can spend quite a bit or just get an inexpensive pair appropriate for a child’s use. A book on bird identification can be helpful as well.

If you’re lucky, this can be done in your back yard. If not, start keeping an eye on local parks, fields and nature centers where you might get to see some interesting birds.

7. A Library Card.

Sure, you should have one already for your kids, but if not, get one and commit to going to the library regularly! Free access to books and even movies at many libraries. And all it costs is time.

Will Natural Toys Be Almost Illegal?

A new rule from the Consumer Products Safety Commission will bring this awfully close to the truth. The rule is called CPSIA, and I was first alerted to it by this post on Eco Child’s Play.

The problem is that this rule mandates third party testing for all toys, and labeling with a date and batch number. The testing would be up to $4000 per toy.

This is overkill. The problems with lead paint and such haven’t been so much with toys made by individuals, or toys made in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The rules for manufacturing toys in many of these places make such testing unnecessary, and quite burdensome to smaller companies.

What can you do?

Write to your Congressperson here, Senator and the CPSC. Tell them what you think. The Handmade Toy Alliance has a sample letter that I found linked at the Eco Child’s Play site.

All of this is so frustrating to see. We have the FDA doing a lousy job protecting us, and now the CPSC going into overkill, which will be bad for small businesses. Sometimes you just can’t win either way. But you can register your disagreement and try to make a change.

It’s Amazing How Things Change Through the Years

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how differently my husband and I are talking about starting things out with this baby. First time around, there was no way he would even discuss cloth diapers. Now he’s all but insisting on them.

He’s also finally getting it about why I want to make our own baby food when the time comes. It’s more of a cost savings thing for him than anything else, but I’ll take what I can get. He’s always been a fan of my food mill for the second stage foods, but this time he understands about making it throughout.

At least he’s always understood my insistence on breast feeding.

It’s fun having an influence on someone, helping them to understand why they should make green choices. In addition to the changes for baby, he’s learned to appreciate composting and using natural fertilizers on the garden. No more chemicals.

What did it take?

Persistence, but not nagging.

Sharing information.

Making it easy for him to give it a try.

And of course, looking at the two children we have already and wanting it to be better for them. It’s hard for a good father to want anything else.

Loving My Daughter’s Klean Kanteen

A couple of weeks ago, I got tired of replacing my daughter’s reusable drink bottles I was packing in her lunch. She proved to have quite the talent for breaking the bottles we purchased for her at the local Henry’s. Most often she’d crack the lid, but sometimes it would be the bottle itself.

painted kleen kanteen

I replaced three bottles this school year before deciding that it was flat out time to cough up the money for a Klean Kanteen. So far, we’re loving it.

We bought one with a sports bottle top, so that she doesn’t have to open it very much to take a drink. I figure you can count on most first graders to spill their drinks pretty regularly if they’re open and they’re in a crowd of other kids their age. Too much goofing off going on. It’s just 12 ounces, which is small for a Klean Kanteen, but since it’s the only size that fits in her lunch bag and she has some juice left over each day, I would call it the perfect size.

We had some paint pens sitting around, so I let her try decorating it after I painted her name on it. Something like this I want to be sure can be returned to her if she ever forgets it at school. I hope the paint sticks well, but I know metal can be tricky.

The nice part is that if she should somehow manage to crack the top, I can buy a new top, not a whole new bottle. Even the top looks much more sturdy than what we had been buying before, though.