Eco Child’s Play

Say hello to eco-friendly non-stick cookware and goodbye to toxic Teflon coated pans that off-gas hazardous chemicals into the air and who knows what they put into your food.

Cuisinart has a new line of non-stick cookware that is non-stick while being  PTFE and PFOA free, which means it has none of the nasty chemicals that Teflon (and similar coatings have).

The Cuisinart GreenGourmet pans are petroleum free, they have a hard anodized interior, an aluminum alloy core, and a Cuisinart Ceramica (TM) interior that makes the pan non-stick.

So what does all this mean, you may be thinking? Keep reading to find out. Read the rest of this entry »

I had my first child in August of 2003. Although that was a mere 6 years ago, no one was talking about the safety of baby products, synthetic fragrances, petroleum-based oils or parabens. How fortunate for new mothers and moms-to-be that so much has changed in just a few years! I can now say I’ve tried almost a dozen natural and organic baby products, and many of them are simply amazing. My current favorite in the pack is Erbaorganics, a 100% natural, nearly 100% organic affordable line of skin care for mother and baby. Read the rest of this entry »

I had the pleasure of seeing Alec Loorz speak and show his film at the Telluride Mountain Film festival, a documentary film festival chock-full of disturbing and inspiring content from around the globe. Alec is fourteen and is quickly becoming the Al Gore of his age group. In fact, he is now the youngest trained presenter for Al Gore’s The Climate Project.

Alec, a resident of Ventura, CA, founded Kids vs Global Warming when he was 12 years old after watching Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth“.  Since then, Alec has spear-headed multiple global warming education projects around Ventura County and inspired hundreds of other kids to do the same in their communities across the nation. One project, cleverly named S.L.A.P. (Sea Level Awareness Project), educates people on what future sea levels will look like in coastal communities due to global warming. To do that, Alec and a team of volunteers posted signs throughout Ventura beach and city to show people what areas would be under water by when. S.L.A.P. is now expanding to coastal areas in Washington DC, NY, and throughout CA.

Alec also authored the “Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuels“, available for people of all ages to sign on the website.

Most impressive is Alec’s film “iMatter“, an eye opening, entertaining, and informative short built to inspire youth to action-and his Gore-like (for kids) presentation.  Alec got a standing ovation from the audience at Telluride Mountain Film. Watching this confident, optimistic 14-year-old kid fire up a room of 600 people with his talk and film gave me hope that the next generation might actually have a chance at reversing some of the damage ours has done. Alec is now The Climate Project’s youngest trained presenter.

Alec, keep up the good work. Can I ask your parents a few questions on how they raised you?

A 10 year old created clean up and recycling programs in her area, an 8 year old wrote and illustrated a book about butterflies that he sold then donated the money to the World Wildlife Fund, a 12 year old in Abu Dhabi created an awareness campaign about camels who die because of trash in the desert, a 15 helped create a garden and open air classroom that produced over 1000 pounds of organic produce that was used for school lunches and donated to needy families in the area. Another 15 year old in California devised tests for air purifiers that changed California legislation.

And that’s just a sample of what the winners of AFN’s 2009 Young Eco-Heroes Awards have done.

Read the rest of this entry »

Many of the regulars at Eco Child’s Play chimed in to discuss a feminist’s disregard of breastfeeding.

Breastmilk’s benefits don’t outweigh that of formula, she claims, or at least there are only tiny benefits.

While almost 74 percent of babies in the U.S. are breastfed at birth, only about 21 percent are breastfed through the recommended year. That means many, many parents turn to formula at some point.

But a new comprehensive British study shows that formula-feeders are poorly informed and supported,

Mistakes in preparation of bottle feeds were common.

Now, while we could pull the, “Well, I never measure how much I breastfeed wrong” holier-than-thou stuff, we have to recognize that some parents will formula-feed. We don’t want them to do it wrong!

Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Most people would love to buy “green” or “organic” foods, but choosing organic foods can be a pricey proposition. If you think your budget cannot afford 100% organic, here is some simple advice on making the most of your GREEN GROCERY dollar:

Eat organic at the top of the food chain: Livestock eat pesticide-laden feed and are dosed with antibiotics and hormones. This all of this ends up in the package at the super market. There is no way to remove or reduce the contaminants. Purchasing organic dairy, egg and meat products is a great place to begin.

Avoid the following unless they are organic: Pesticides levels vary in produce. The Environmental Workers Union found that you can reduce risks of pesticide exposure by as much as 90 percent by avoiding what they call “the dirty dozen”. Here is the list: Apples, Bell peppers, Celery, Cherries, Grapes (imported), Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Potatoes, Red Raspberries, Spinach, and Strawberries. Read the rest of this entry »

As of yesterday, I am the mother of a happy, healthy one year old girl named Emerson. In my year of motherhood, I have figured out a few things including what products I absolutely love and want every other mommy to have. We haven’t had to buy much thanks to our generous community of hand-me-downers. When we do buy, we do as much research as possible on function, toxins, and quality (so that we can hand them down someday). The following products are items that meet some eco criteria. All have made life easier, look great in our small space, or are loved by Emerson.

1. Born Free glass bottles

My husband and I are completely freaked out by plastic-even BPA-free plastic, particularly when heating it. We used only Born Free glass bottles for those middle-of-the-night expressed milk daddy feedings (thank goodness we’re not up at night anymore). We heated them in the First Years bottle warmer or in a pan of hot water (we’re freaked out by microwaves too) and had no issues with cracking. As an avid breast feeder, Emerson loved the stern sucking required from the flow-controlled nipple too.

2. The Svan high chair

This product is expensive ($250), but well worth the price given its look, quality, functionality, and long life. The Svan’s flexible design works as baby’s highchair and continuously morphs to fit “baby” through toddlerhood, childhood, and teenage hood. We live in a small space so it is nice to have a compact, nice looking piece of furniture in our kitchen and it’s easy to clean to boot.

3. Sophie the Giraffe

The word is out that Sophie the Giraffe is one of the most loved squeaky, fun teething toys ever. This classic French toy, made in the Alps with non-toxic materials is a happy distraction from shoes, electrical cords, and everything else nasty that baby tends to chew on when teething.

4. Natursutton All-Natural Rubber Orthodontic Pacifier

Luckily Emerson found her thumb early, but every now and then she loved to suck or chew on a pacifier. Again, due to our fears of toxic plastics, phalates, and BPA-full products, we found these fantastic natural rubber pacifiers, and Emerson loved them!

5. The Orbitz toddler car seat and stroller combination

We were given a handed down infant car seat. Given that our baby is huge, and now one year old, we started researching toddler car seat options. The first place we went is healthycar.org to see what the lowest toxin car seats were (toxic off-gassing in a small car compartment is a big problem). The Orbitz was one of two seats with a green rating, meaning it is made with the lowest amount of toxins. Next, we looked at a variety of consumer product ratings around the web and the Orbitz was a five star product from a user perspective on every site. In addition to being comfortable, convertible (it can go backward or forward and lasts up to 50lbs), it is the only toddler car seat I’ve found that fits to a stroller. We’ve always worn Emerson in the Bjorn or Ergo, but the girl is getting heavy and having an easy car seat stroller combo started to make sense. This is another pricey product, but, because of its many qualities, we’re going for it (well, OK. Grammy’s getting it for Emerson’s first birthday).

As a conscious consumer, I am thrilled to find more and more products that combine great design, quality, and eco-characteristics. I’d love to hear from readers what their favorite products are too.

Today, my firstborn child turns 4 years old.

When I was 15 weeks pregnant, I left his father, my fiancé, and spent most of my pregnancy preparing to be a single mother.

I also readied for a natural birth.

Though I was nervous about the impending step into parenthood, I had a midwife I adored and a host of incredibly supportive friends.

In honor of my Little L, I thought I’d share his birth story with you. I believe in natural birth. And in sharing our stories, hopefully we can empower other women to trust in their ability to bring babies into the world peacefully and without unnecessary interventions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Most of my photos get stored on the computer, on flash drives and DVDs. I sometimes get creative and make some photo books or do a little digital scrapbooking. However the grandparents always want photos…and they aren’t as digital savvy as some other family members. Email about does them in, don’t ask them to download, upload or do anything else technically advanced. That means I have to make prints. I found a site that offers eco-friendly printing options, Lifephoto.com. Read the rest of this entry »