Eco Child’s Play

When a baby is born, it is so pure and natural, yet will soon be exposed to all of the harsh chemicals of the modern world. It is true that babies are exposed to some toxins in utero and through breastmilk, but this exposure is limited and mostly out of the control of parents. What is in the control of new parents are the kind of products they use on their baby, and of course, green products are better for baby.

As a new parent, I was very concerned about swaddling my newborn in synthetic, petroleum-based polyester blankets. Conventionally grown cotton baby blankets are not much better, as they are grown and produced with pesticides and chemicals. The solution: organically grown baby blankets. Unfortunately, six years ago the only organic fiber blanket I could find was a dull green color and unattractive. Today, babies can be swaddled in stylish, luxurious organic baby blankets by Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics, the perfect gift for baby.

After the recent barrage of recalls, many parents are looking for items made in the USA. Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics baby blankets are not only made in the USA, but the cotton used to make the fleece is also organically grown in the USA. The demand for non-food organic products is growing (27.5% in 2006), as people realize that it is not only the food we eat that comes into contact with our bodies. Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics are optimistic about this trend. Cofounder Susan Doris explains, “Part of our goal … is to help educate people about the impact on the environment from purchasing different fibers, and how they can really make a difference with what they buy.”

Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics baby blankets are very beautiful and soft to the touch. The organically grown fleece is lined with silk, and worry-free for green parents. As cofounder Robbie Mahlman states, “Our blankets make green gorgeous.” I can’t wait to give one to my new niece Tessa! All this green luxury comes at a price though, but as I have said before, sustainability is expensive in comparison to superstore shopping. The demand for cheap goods is one reason our environment is in its current condition.

What do you get for buying a sustainable company’s beautiful baby blanket? The company is honest in describing the green strengths and weakness of their product. They call this “baby steps” as they “try to run our business as sustainably as we can.” The blankets are made of 100% certified organic cotton, grown in Texas, milled in South Carolina, and trimmed with natural silk. They are colored with low-impact, azo-free, non-heavy metal dyes. The company’s receipts are printed on seeded lotka paper, and all other paper products, such as hang-tags and stationary, are 100% post consumer fiber. The decorative tissue is handmade from kozo fiber. Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics uses plastic bags in packaging only when the destination expects wet weather. That is an awful lot of “baby steps,” in my opinion!

There are a few areas the company identifies as needing sustainability improvement. Their labels are made from polyester fibers, because there are no US sources for woven cotton labels. The shipping boxes contain 55% recycled fiber content, rather than 100%. Furthermore, Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics would like to move from natural silk to “peace” silk. I have to admit, I had never heard of peace silk, even though I have taken many fiber arts classes. During conventional silk production, the silkworm is killed as it is boiled and the fiber unwound. Alternately, peace silk lets the moths emerge from their cocoons and complete their full life cycle before the silk fiber is removed. This product is rarely available for commercial uses.

You may not care about the life cycle of a silkworm, but Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics does, as they take “baby steps” towards combining sustainability, elegance, and beauty in their baby blankets. The company also cares about 15 pesticides used on cotton crops and their ecological impact. They care about providing green babies luxury, comfort, and health, something CEO Robbie Mahlman calls, “earth friendly elegance for discerning parents and their babies.”

Any toy that can encourage a child to help with household chores is a good toy in my opinion. Add quality wooden construction, and I am sold! Magic Cabin offers a Child’s Cleaning Set that contains real cleaning tools. The set includes a metal dustpan and broom, string mop, and a broom; all child-sized!

We have had the Child’s Cleaning Set in my preschool classroom for four years now, and it continues to be one of the most popular play items. Children often use the mop for fighting fires (perhaps they have heard the term “mop up” after local forest fires), and they use the broom to clean up sand from the sand table. Cleaning up your own messes is a natural consequence for spills, and the most effective way for children to learn responsibility. Learning life skills, such as cleaning, is also part the Montessori philosophy for early childhood education. According to Michael Olaf, an amazing source for Montessori materials,

I have heard parents exclaim in dismay that their child is “wasting time cleaning in her new Montessori school when she should be doing math!” However, math and all other intellectual work requires the ability to move carefully, to focus, to complete sequential steps, to concentrate, to make intelligent choices and to persevere in one’s work. This is exactly what is learned during practical life work. As a result of periods of time spent concentrating on such a task a child becomes calm and satisfied and, because of this inner peace, full of love for others.

Perhaps an even more important result of this work is that the child sees himself already as an important and contributing member of the group, and as an intimate friend, when he is welcome to participate in the work of the adult.

Magic Cabin’s Child’s Cleaning Set is made in the Netherlands, so no need to worry about Chinese manufactured goods with this purchase. The optional tool stand is made in the USA. With the holidays approaching, the Child’s Cleaning Set would make a great, practical gift.

The air we breath sustains our lives. Air pollution has many negative effects to the human body, and young children are especially vulnerable. In fact, air pollution has been linked to birth defects.

According to the LA Times,

“the harmful effects of dirty air can extend even into the womb. More than a dozen studies in the United States, Brazil, Europe, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan have linked smog to low birth weight, premature births, stillbirths and infant deaths.”

Of course, automakers, the steel industry, the US Department of Energy, etc. question the results. A 2001 UCLA study found that even women living in areas that met federal standards for carbon monoxide and ozone, “were three times more likely than others to have babies with cleft lips and palates and defective heart valves.” Hmm, perhaps this is the reason for my son’s congenital heart defect (CHD) and the fact that 1 in 200 babies suffers from some form of CHD. According to the study, the greatest risk from pollution occurs during the second month of pregnancy, when major organs and facial structures are forming. Air pollution reaches unborn fetuses through the umbilical cord. Furthermore,

“A study by scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Basel in Switzerland concluded that as many as 11% of infant deaths in the United States–about 3,000 per year–may be a result of microscopic particles in the air.”

In addition, carbon monoxide has has been linked to low birth weights and particulate matter to premature birth.

“Another study by UCLA researchers, which was published last year and focused on Southern California, concluded that mothers are 20% more likely to have a baby prematurely when exposed to elevated amounts of microscopic particles in the final six weeks of pregnancy…In a 1998 study of pregnant women in Sao Paulo, Brazil, scientists found that women exposed to high levels of nitrogen and sulfur oxides were 18% more likely to have their pregnancies terminate in stillbirths.”

Recently, it was reported that pollution cuts life expectancy in Europe.

“Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe are dying prematurely because of air pollution, it said. “The estimated annual loss of life is significantly greater than that due to car accidents,” the report said.”

If it is happening in Europe, I am sure it is happening here. Pollution doesn’t just affect the environment and climate change, but it affects our health. We need a healthy environment to live in, and we need to have healthy habits to protect our environment. It is a symbiotic relationship.

I stumbled upon this image on the web, and I thought it was very thought-provoking. It amazes me how young children begin to recognize labels and logos (called “environmental print” by educators) and use them to make choices. What would our lives be like without such brand knowledge?

Do you know about StumbleUpon? StumbleUpon is a fun way to surf the internet based upon your interests and those of the friends you make. It is the only social bookmarking site I have ever been able to understand and enjoy using. If you decide to start stumbling, please visit my page and add me as a friend. I haven’t had time to stumble lately, but it is a great way to promote your blog and favorite sites, as well as discover new sites and post fodder. Happy stumbling!

“Be a force of nature” is the motto of Xeko, a trading card game created by the Matter Group in collaboration with Conservation International. This eco-game asks children (and adults) to take on the critical mission of creating the strongest ecosystems in the threatened hotspots of our planet. By playing Xeko, children learn about the complexities of ecosystems while trying to save them.

Xeko doesn’t just talk the eco-talk, though: it walks the eco-walk. All of the playing cards are made of recycled stock and printed with soy inks. In addition, players are encouraged to return their card wrappers to the company and earn Green Star points, which can be traded for free downloads. Furthermore, four percent of profits are donated to Conservation International for work to save the hotspots. What are hotspots? Hotspots provide the setting for Xeko missions, and are “the most threatened and species-rich places on Earth.”

Currently numbered at 34, the hotspots contain 75 percent of the planet’s most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians while covering just 2.3 percent of the Earth’s surface. An estimated 50 percent of all vascular plants and 42 percent of land vertebrates exist only in these hotspots.

I found Xeko somewhat confusing to play, but I have never been one to enjoy games with complex rules (I don’t even know how to play chess). Players begin by matching their species cards to the hotspot card. If two species come into conflict, the players have a turf war. The species with the highest energy number wins, but boost cards can be played to increase your species’ energy number. There are other cards, too, like Xeko cards, that also come into play in the game. The game ends when one player runs out of cards; eco-points are totaled then to see who wins the game. I had to modify the rules and simplify the scoring to play the game with my six-year-old daughter. She enjoyed playing the game and asked to play over and over again. The game is definitely geared for older children, and I could see it as a fun way to learn about different ecosystems, such as Madagascar and Indonesia, in a science classroom.

Besides confusing directions, I dislike the fact that Xeko is a competitive game. I would like to see an eco-game along the same lines that was cooperative in nature. Part of why there are hotspots on our planet has to do with the competitive nature of business. The only way ecosystems will be protected is through cooperative effort, thus I feel the game should reflect this aspect of conservation.

Along with our Xeko game, we were given the cutest plush hairy-eared dwarf lemur. The lemur is made of soysilk, a material made from the proteins in soy. The hairy-eared dwarf lemur (Allocebus trichotis) was discovered in 1875 and considered extinct until 1966. It lives near Mananara, Madagascar, and its current population is estimated between 100 and 1000. It is listed as endangered due to deforestations and local inhabitants eating them. I hope the folks at Xeko will continue producing soysilk plush toys of rare creatures to accompany their trading card games. Endangered species toys are a great way to introduce young children to the diversity of our planet. I would also like Xeko to develop similar games for younger children.

The benefit of breastfeeding for children and their mothers is common knowledge, but is breastfeeding better for the environment? I was recently asked this question in response to Bill Maher’s criticism of public breastfeeding and Facebook’s refusal to post pictures of breastfeeding mothers. In honor of today’s Breast Fest, hosted by the League of Maternal Justice, I will explore the issues of breastfeeding and the environment.

According to EcoMall, “Breastfeeding is probably the most overlooked means of contributing to the health of our planet” and parentingweb states, “Breastmilk is actually the most ecological food available to humans.” Wow, those are pretty strong statements. Mother’s milk is completely natural (minus the toxins present from environmental contaminants), is produced without using resources (except for the resources used to produce the food the mother eats), and it creates no pollution. Breast milk comes from the mother’s body and bottles are not required, unless a mother is pumping because of work schedules, etc. There is never any waste with breast milk, as healthy mothers produce the right amount of milk a child needs based on the principle of supply and demand.

In contrast, the production and packaging of infant formulas uses natural resources and takes up landfill space, all of which contribute to climate change. According to Dia Michels, author of Mother Nature Loves Breastmilk, “If every child in America were bottle-fed, almost 86,000 tons of tin would be needed to produce 550 million cans for one year’s worth of formula.” Furthermore, these tin cans can leach BPA into the formula. The Environmental Working Group tested infant formula and found, “For 1 in 10 cans of all food tested, and 1 in 3 cans of infant formula, a single serving contained enough BPA to expose a woman or infant to BPA levels more than 200 times the government’s traditional safe level of exposure for industrial chemicals.”

Most infant formulas are dairy or soy-based. The dairy business uses tremendous amounts of resources and land, as well as creates pollution. Cow flatulence produces 100 million tons of methane every year, approximately 20% of the earth’s total emissions. Chemical fertilizers used to grow feed pollute soil and ground water. Deforestation occurs to create grazing land for cows. Soy-based formulas aren’t much better. Soybeans require high amounts of fertilizers and water, as well as are responsible for deforestation for cropland in countries like Brazil.

Preparing infant formula uses water and energy. Bottles must be sterilized and formulas must be heated to the proper temperature. Breastmilk comes from the mother’s body safe for consumption already at the perfect temperature with the perfect mix of nutritients for the child. In contrast, there have been about two dozen recalls of infant formula for health and safety issues, including seven recalls that were classified as potentially “life threatening”.

It is true that some breastfeeding women use plastic baby bottles; however, typically formula fed babies use far more plastic bottles than their breastfed counterparts. The production of such bottles uses vast quantities of energy and natural resources, as well as contributes to pollution. Plastic baby bottles are made from nonrenewable petroleum resources and are part of the larger plastic industry. According to the Green Guide, “Toxic releases from the plastics industry represent 7% of the 5.7 billion pounds of toxic chemicals released or transferred by all manufacturers each year.” Furthermore, plastic feeding bottles, nipples, and pacifiers in our landfills can take 200 to 450 years to break down. Your child’s baby bottle will outlive your child!

There is also the issue of a breastfed versus formula-fed baby’s excrement and the environment. If you have ever changed a diaper, especially a cloth diaper, you know the difference! Breastfed baby’s waste is much easier to wash from a cloth diaper, as well as the odor is less offensive. When considering the energy and water involved in washing cloth diapers, breast is definitely best!

There is overwhelming evidence that breastfeeding benefits children, in fact the American Academy of Pediatrics urges mothers to breastfeed for at least a year and beyond, “for as long as mutually desired.” For my children, this was about two and half years. Not only does breastfeeding benefit children and mothers, but the environment wins as well. As Mothering Magazine states, “Breastfeeding is not just a lifestyle choice; it is a health issue for mother and infant, a social issue, and an environmental issue…Because of the far-reaching positive ecological, health, and social impact breastfeeding can make on our planet, it is imperative for anyone interested in protecting our children and our environment to do whatever possible to support, protect, and promote breastfeeding.” Celebrate Breast Fest today and view The Great Breast Fest Montage!

You may have noticed a new affiliate in our side bar: Tea Collection. Tea Collection offers unique fashions “for the little citizens of the world”. This inspiring San Francisco company is founded on the belief that,

“There is no better name for our brand than Tea. Tea, the drink, is shared in nearly every culture around the world—offering inspiration, warmth and mindfulness…We want to bring the beauty found in cultures around the world into the lives and homes of families in our own backyard. We believe that if the foreign is familiar – it is no longer foreign. It helps us remember that we all more alike than we are different. We design beautiful lifestyle collections that introduce a subtle, but important global perspective: colors, textiles, or silhouettes that are undeniably beautiful. In that beauty, we can all find a common ground of respect, awe and inspiration. ”

Tea Collection graciously sent us two sample products, a beautiful sweater (Llama Jacquard Zip Sweater) and pair of cargo pants (Tacna Ticking Stripe Cargo Pants). The fabrics are luxurious and I truly wish they came in my size. After washing these items, they felt soft and durable, like they would still look new after many, many launderings. Tea Collection clothing is well made and truly worth the investment. As I wasn’t sure on the sizing, I requested sizes too large for my son, or else you would see him pictured here in the beautiful outfit they sent. The sweater has a classic design, including elbow patches reminiscent of college professors. The fabric of the pants is so beautiful, with fine pin striping juxtaposed with cargo pockets. I covet this fabric and wish these pants were mine!

Tea Collection is a socially responsible company, supporting many organizations. They have teamed up with the Global Fund For Children in creating the Little Citizens collection. 40-50% of all profits from the Little Citizen’s Collection are donated to the Global Fund For Children! That is a high percentage demonstrating Tea Collection’s commitment to their “goal to reflect warmth and a generosity of spirit in our products, actions and interactions.”

My favorite items currently offered by Tea Collection are the Inca Hooded Pullover for boys and the Journey Canvas Jumper for girls. Although Tea Collection’s prices are more than I am used to paying for children’s clothings, they are so well made, I am convinced they will last through several children’s hand me downs and still look good! The website does offer sale items too.

One thing I have become aware of recently is that cheap prices create the concept of fast fashion in this country, which is not good for our environment. According to the Daily Grist,

“A globalization-fueled glut of cut-price clothing has inspired many consumers to think of their duds as disposable. It’s a phenomenon some are calling “fast fashion” — the apparel equivalent of fast food. Most fast fashionistas are oblivious to the downsides of the trend, including the energy-intensive, polluting process of creating synthetic fabrics; the fact that cotton fields are heavily water- and pesticide-dependent; the emissions implications of sourcing labor overseas; and the health effects on workers of processes such as blue-jean distressing. The average American throws away more than 68 pounds of clothing a year, and castoffs that aren’t tossed often end up in developing countries, where some worry they interfere with local textile economies.”

For more information about fast fashion, its environmental effects, and some graphic images, visit “Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry“.

Many people are aware of the dangers of BPA, and this issue has been explored extensively in the parenting blogosphere regarding baby bottles and sippy cups. But did you know that tin/steel cans used for food and some aluminum beverage cans are lined with an epoxy resin that contains Bisphenol A (BPA)? This lining’s purpose is to prevent corrosion and contamination of the food, but what about BPA contamination of the food/beverage?

Should we be worried about BPA leaching into our food? According to bisphenol-a.org, the answer is no, “an average adult consumer would have to ingest more than 230 kilograms (or about 500 pounds) of canned food and beverages every day for an entire lifetime to exceed the safe level of BPA set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” bisphenol-a.org is an industry group, and somehow, I think their information may not be impartial.

Hmmmm, what about children? The Environmental Working Group tested canned food for BPA contamination. EWG states,

“Canned foods are thought to be the predominate route of BPA exposure…Two of six cans of infant formula tested contained BPA. The exposure that an infant might receive from canned formula, given his or her small size and limited food sources, makes the level of contamination in these cans particularly disturbing…For 1 in 10 cans of all food tested, and 1 in 3 cans of infant formula, a single serving contained enough BPA to expose a woman or infant to BPA levels more than 200 times the government’s traditional safe level of exposure for industrial chemicals…we found that significant fractions of women who regularly eat canned food would exceed safe levels of BPA exposures on average throughout pregnancy.”

So what’s the big deal about BPA? The Green Guide writes,

“Recent research suggests that BPA’s effects extend beyond the reproductive system. A growing number of scientists are concluding, from animal tests, that exposure to BPA in the womb raises the risk of certain cancers, hampers fertility and could contribute to childhood behavioral problems such as hyperactivity. A January 2006 Environmental Health Perspectives study on mice indicated that BPA alters the function of mouse pancreatic cells, which produce insulin, suggesting that the chemical may enhance the risk of developing Type II diabetes…panelists from the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction failed to reach any conclusions about the chemical. But recent tests by the Environmental Working Group found high levels in infant formula and chicken soup”

According to the Food Poisoning Law Blog,

“Scientists have detected BPA in breast milk, serum, saliva, urine, amniotic fluid, and cord blood from at least 2,200 people in Europe, North America, and Asia. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently detected BPA in 95% of nearly 400 U.S. adults and children.”

I contacted two major manufacturers of organic canned food. One of them responded (anonymous), and the other did not (Eden Foods). One of them claims to have BPA free tin cans (Eden Foods), the other did not (they wish to remain anonymous). According to a marketing employee of the anonymous company,

“I am told by the various can suppliers – shrinking number of can suppliers as with most industries in the US – that all commercially produced cans – repeat – all commercially produced cans – have Bisphenol A in their lining…that this is what they use to keep the to keep the metal of the can from leaching into the food…

So as I said, I have received a few inquiries about this, “out of the blue” in the past few weeks, and one of the consumers that I sent the above information to wrote back to me and said, “Eden Foods says they don’t use Bisphenol A in their cans.”

Now, I have made it a policy over the years not to comment on what other companies say or do, or allegedly say or do…but…

the skeptic in me looks at the above statement and alarm bells go off and I want to say, “yes, THEY don’t use Bisphenol A – the cans come with the lining already in them…”

I have to say that I agree with the skeptic. If you were the only food company to have BPA free cans, wouldn’t you plaster this across your label? That being said, I still have switched to only purchasing Eden Foods for the few canned items we buy. I have searched Eden Foods website on numerous occassions looking for this BPA-free claim. The only place I can find it touted is in the right sidebar here. They state,

“Avoiding Chemicals in Plastics & Cans:
• Choose soups, milk and soy milk packaged in cardboard “brick” cartons, by Tetra Pak and SIG Combibloc, which are made of safer layers of polyethylene (#2) and also recyclable.
• Choose canned beans from makers who don’t use BPA, such as Eden Foods”

Don’t forget about the bottle/sippy cup risk. Stating a study done by Environment California, the Grist reported back in February and March that,

“when run through a simulated dishwasher 50 to 75 times, name-brand baby bottles leach the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, in levels that have caused reproductive abnormalities in lab animals…”This is one of the highest-volume produced chemicals in the world,” says Fredrick vom Saal, a Missouri biology professor and BPA researcher. “It’s in everybody’s bodies, and it’s a very potent sex hormone. It’s just nuts that it’s being used the way it is.”

Z Recommends has issued their own Z Report on BPA in baby bottles, as well as pacifiers.

First, we hear almost everyday about toxic toys coming from China being added to the recall list, but the Chinese toy horrors don’t end there. Disney is also violating Chinese labour laws, which are not the best to begin with in the first place. The Chinese toy problems go beyond lead in paints to the rights of workers.

According to Breitbart.com,

Workers at a Chinese factory making Disney toys are overworked, underpaid, exposed to dangerous toxins and forced to live in filthy conditions…factory workers complained they were forced to work 28 days a month and up to 15 hours a day.

Staff at Haowei Toys in southern China also are not allowed to take time off during peak seasons, according to the report released by the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM).

“The conditions at Haowei reflect the failure of the Disney system to monitor and respond effectively to violations of the Disney code of conduct and the workers’ rights the code professes to defend,” the report said.

Staff are paid 2.5 yuan (32 US cents) per hour, 62.5 percent of the legal minimum wage of 4.02 yuan, while overtime premiums are also below the minimum required by law, said the report compiled from interviews with 35 employees.

The study charges that managers fine workers five yuan for toilet breaks that exceed five minutes and 10 yuan for refusing to do overtime work.

How do I explain this to my daughter who covets Disney princess crap? I have tried to shield her from much of the commercialism of childhood, but she knows how to read Disney and it is her dream to go to Disneyland. Why can’t corporate America be socially responsible?

Gandhi’s birthday was on October 2.

“A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.”

“A principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice.”

“A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.”

“All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothing lives in this world but Truth.”

“I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist and Confucian.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

“Be the change that you want to see in the world.”

My life is my message.

“My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him.”

“Those who know how to think need no teachers.”

“Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.”

“What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.”

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end they always fall—think of it. Always.”

– Mohandas K. Gandhi
(October 2, 1869–January 30, 1948)