Sunday, December 19, 2010

Ecos Laundry Detergent

So I found a new company (a tip from a friend) called "Ecos". They make all sorts of products for your house that are really great, pretty inexpensive and all natural and earth friendly. So far I have tried the lavender laundry detergent. It is dye and perfume free and is scented only with essential oils (in this case lavender). The lavender is a natural flea repellent so as we wash all our clothes and bedding in it everything will naturally become flea free. Not that we are covered in fleas but with a dog and cat in this house it happens. I don't like to use chemical treatments with a baby in the house and so we use lavender oil a lot. Having a laundry detergent that uses lavender oil in it is just perfect for us. It was super cheap. The one I bought was just over 9$ for 128 loads. They even make baby detergents for young babies and toddlers laundry. The main cleaning ingredient is coconut oil. I will be buying more of these products. So far I am excited about this and I will let my readers know how it works. You can find their website here: http://www.ecos.com/index.html

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Happy Flute Diapers vs SunBaby Diapers

So for anyone who follows this blog you will know that I am a HUUUUUGE proponent of cloth diapers. I will go out of my way to do just about anything to help a family make the switch.. from advice to showing them where to get the best and least costly all in ones, to how to prep diapers... and so on. That being said I must now retract a good review I did for a diaper company. Happy Flute Diapers  sold by goodseller003 on eBay are not good. The diapers themselves are fine and wicked cheap but the seller is difficult to work with and not helpful at all. We ordered three orders of diapers from her one of 4 one of 3 and one last one of 5. The set of 5 never came. After 45 days of waiting and being told repeatedly to just keep waiting and to "not bother her" I opened an eBay case about it. Eventually eBay paid me back for the diapers and I then searched for a new vendor of homemade cloth diapers that used tracking numbers. "Fool me once...." This time I was not going to use a company that didn't track my package for me. The diapers were slightly more expensive but this vendor I found SunBaby Diapers or vendor Sunbabydiapers on eBay not only used tracking numbers but instead of ordering 5 separate diapers and having her ship them all separately like Happy Flute did, she has it set up so you pick the colors and patterns you want and the ammount and it's all one order. It was quick and simple. I was very happy but not as happy as when I got them. These unlike most adjustable grow with baby pocket diapers which have usually three settings "small, medium and large" these have four settings "NB, small, medium and large". They also use the softest fleece I have ever felt as the inner layer and the liners are made of that too. The patterns are equally cute and the fit is snug and the are really absorbent. They aren't as absorbent as the Happy Flute diapers were but that could be solved by using a different liner or only using them during the day... they work great for daytime.
This shows the four different sizes that the diapers can be adjusted to. Right now my son is on the third one and he is 25 lbs and 35 inches tall so they fit most size babies. 
Here all five we bought.
In case you can't tell the patterns are Skulls, Plaid, Cars, Animals, and Stars.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Baby Wearing

So thinking back to my son's Mai Tai carrier gave me an idea for a post. Baby Wearing! What carriers are best, at what age are they great? What are the benefits of Baby Wearing?
For our son I had all intentions of baby wearing. My friend had made me a Mai Tai and and Ring Sling. They matched and were very adorable. She owns a company called Coopadilly Creations. You can find them on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1521833261 ). I had every intentions of using the ring sling from NB on and the Mai Tai to fill in. Instead I gave birth to a almost 10 lbs baby, so the ring sling killed my back in the NB position. I tried the Mai Tai and found I liked that so much better. As he got older though and could sit up and hold his head up I found that the Ring Sling was much nicer. I could wear him on my hip and not only did I feel secure but it didn't hurt my back. Unfortunately just as I had made this discovery, no more than a few months later he began walking. Now he insists on walking everywhere, so I think my baby wearing days are over at least until our next one.
Here is a picture of of the three main ways we tried baby wearing. I couldn't find any good pictures of us baby wearing. The two main ones we used were the Mai Tai and the ring sling side toddler hold.

So what are the benefits of baby wearing?
Babies cry less. Research has shown that babies who are carried cry (on average) 43% less overall and 54% less during the evening hours (1). In cultures where babies are carried almost continuously, babies cry much less than those in non-carrying cultures (2-6).
Good for baby's mental development. Babies spend more time in a "quiet, alert state" when carried - the ideal state for learning. Their senses are stimulated while being carried (yet there is a place to retreat too). When carried, your baby sees the world from where you do, instead of the ceiling above his crib or people's knees from a stroller. And the extra stimulation benefits brain development.
Good for baby's emotional development. Babies are quickly able to develop a sense of security and trust when they are carried. They are more likely to be securely attached to their care-giver/s (7) and often become independent at an earlier age (8).
Good for baby's physical development. By being so close to your body's rhythms, your newborn "gets in rhythm" much more quickly. Your heartbeat, breathing, voice and warmth are all familiar. Research has shown how this helps newborns (especially premature babies) to adapt to life outside the womb (9).
Good for babies whose mums are depressed. Babies who are not held need more verbal interaction and eye contact, just to be reassured that you're there. Carrying your baby is a great way to connect with her (and provide stimulation too) without the "burden" of having to interact (10). Of course your baby is "right there" to enjoy whenever you feel like snuggling, kissing or talking.
It's great for other people who look after your baby:
Partners who work away from home, relatives and babysitters all have a ready way of connecting with and soothing your baby when they wear him too!
(from thebabywearer.com)

    1 year

    So this blog hit 1 yr old on the 9th of this month. I have been so busy I forgot until today. In honor of that though and in honor of Thanksgiving I am going to put something I am thankful for green related or not in here everyday until Thanksgiving.
    I am thankful that for one year now I have been able to reach even a few Mommies and either helped them become greener or at the very least gave them things to think about. It's been a really crazy year. It's hard to believe that a year ago I had the idea to start this blog while my NB son was strapped to my chest in his mai tai carrier and we were walking around a crafts festival talking to local green producers. It's also hard to believe that my little tiny baby is not the hulking 3 ft tall walking, talking, running, toddler I see before me now. So for all you Green Mommies out there, I hope that your holidays are lovely and that in the coming year we all continue to be Green.

    Wednesday, October 13, 2010

    Green things you can do too!

    So some of the Mom's on the Green Mommy Group were posed the question: What do you do to be Green?
    Here were some of the responses. It's all really simple stuff that anyone can do. Maybe it will help other Mom's see being green is not hard at all.

    1. Breastfeeding
    2. Cloth Diapers
    3. Walking instead of driving
    4. Water bottles instead of bottled water
    5. Water purifiers
    6. Showering together
    7. Bathing kids together
    8. Unplug unused things
    9. Only cook what you will eat
    10. Don't waste food
    11. Recycle
    12. Make your own baby food
    13. Use cloth grocery bags
    14. Buy used clothing
    15. Compost
    16. Garden
    17. Bike
    18. Buy Local
    19. Buy Organic
    20. Energy Star Appliances
    21. CFLs
    22. Use woodstoves and heaters

    I hope that helps! These are real answers from real Mommies like you. :)

    Green Mommy on Facebook

    So the Green Mommy has a FB page and a FB group that you can join. Check them out!
    Group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_161648073863305&ap=1
    Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Green-Mommy-Blog/119625848090125

    I have been so blessed to be able to share what I love with so many other people. I have been asked about cloth diapering a lot lately and also have enjoyed sharing my love of helping our planet with friends and total strangers. This blog is almost a year old now. I started it last November. If anyone has any ideas for celebrating the birthday of this blog let me know.

    Tuesday, October 12, 2010

    Cloth Diapering Guru? :)

    So lately I have been trying to really help out a ton of Mom's who want to start using cloth. The top reasons they tell me are, 1. rashes, 2. cost, 3. better for the baby. The funny thing is even before you get into the aspects of it being better for the environment, there are already so many benefits. More and more I am seeing Mom's pop up who want to cloth diaper. I am loving it! So as a result I have sort of inadvertently become a cloth diapering guru. I have met many Moms and Moms to be that have emailed me or come to me looking for some help. It is so much fun to help more Moms learn about cloth diapering and make that important step for themselves, their babies, and their planet. So if anyone needs help, just email me and I would be happy to help!

    Thursday, October 7, 2010

    Cloth Diaper Info

    So a Mom to be emailed me with a ton of questions about cloth diapering and so I tried to answer them all for her. I decided to post my reply to her so that you all can get the info that I gave her. Have a happy cloth diaper day. I hope this helps a lot of Mommies!


    Ok "S" let's start with the first thing. Do you want to use prefolds or all in ones, or pocket diapers. First of all most of your questions sound like you are talking about prefolds.
    Prefolds are these:

    Now prefolds are really helpful when they are really little like NB to 4 months. After that though, while easy in a pinch it can be really tough to wrangle a older baby or toddler into those.
    As far as prefolds go, the Gerber ones are fine, but like all brand new prefolds they must be stripped. Cotton is not absorbent on it's own. It actually repels water so you need to strip them by boiling them in a large pot with about ten drops of lavender oil for ten minutes. Another method (though it takes a lot longer) is to wash them about 5 times in a washer and dryer. Wash/dry five whole times.
    Now with prefolds there is the question of diaper covers. Now the wool ones are great (just don't wash or dry them in a washer or dryer). Fleece ones are great to but not all that water proof. The vinyl ones work great  and with those you can get any brand. Ours are all different. PUL ones are the best. They basically turn a prefold into a all in one. As for doubling up at night we actually double up always when using prefolds. When they are super tiny you have to fold it all tiny and funny so sometimes you don't need to double up but when they get older you might need to.
    Now for closures I highly recommend snappis. Snappis are these:
    They are very simple to use and very safe for baby. Diaper pins can really hurt a baby if they accidentally poke them or like in my Dad's case with my sister pin the diaper to the baby. (ick)
    Now ok before I start answering all your other questions I would like to advise you on the world of all in ones and pocket diapers.
    This is an all in one:
    They are just like disposables except they are cloth, usually cotton or fleece with a PUL liner on the outside and snaps to close it. A pocket diaper is pretty much the same except it has a pocket where you insert a soaker insert in between the fleece and the PUL liner. This is a pocket diaper:
    Now the problem with these is they are pricey. At the cheapest end for a good quality one they are 5$-7$ a piece and at the high end 17-25$ a piece. You don't need a ton of them though. 15-20 is about all you need. That will get you through 2 days with a toddler and then you can wash them all. These are great for so many reasons. First of all most of them convert from NB to Toddler. This allows you to use one diaper all the way up instead of buying new sizes. This also is good if you have 2 kids in diapers. They can all wear the same diapers. They also are easier for people not used to cloth to understand. They work like a disposable just with snaps to close. If you decide to go this way I found a really inexpensive seller on ebay who makes the cutest diapers. I will send you her info.
    Ok question answering time:
    How to keep used diapers separate and unsmelly  when you aren't home?
    Well if you really want to be green then a PUL "wet bag "
    is the way to go. If you are really more concerned about smell they make plastic scented diaper bags.
    These you just toss in the diaper and with the wet bags you zip it up, the plastic ones you tie and when you get home just drop the plastic ones straight into the diaper pail to be dealt with later or the wet bag take the diaper and put it in the diaper pail and then rinse it and hang it to dry.

    What kind of Diaper pail?
    Ok diaper pails. Most diaper pails today are designed for disposables and that can make it hard to find one that works for your purposes. If you are washing them within 2 days you can rinse the poopy ones when you go to wash them. Just dunk them in the toilet shake out the poop and put them directly in the washer. Now point of fact, this is only after you start them on solid food. NB poo is too runny to rinse off and comes off fine in the washer. So you can just put them directly in the wash. I found these pails and I have two. One for the nursery and one for the bathroom. They don't hold a ton of diapers but they are perfect for cloth.
    We found ours at Big Lots, I think Walmart sells them too. I would greatly recommend finding one like that. The plus side is it doesn't use liners it is just a pail, you can use it dry or wet. It rinses and you can even put a deodorizer in the top.

    How to get others to support your wishes to use cloth even with Church Nursery or Day Care?
    We had this issue too, when we would go somewhere for the day, or church, or anywhere. I started packing disposables. Our reason was everyone was pushing disposables to the point where they bought me tons of disposables. So we had a lot of disposables that I felt like we HAD to use up and I hadn't realized I could stand up for myself. Now I stand up. We gave away all the rest of the disposables and started making sure people watching Aleks knew how to change him. If anyone had an issue (like at church) I told them to come and get me if he needed to be changed and I would do it. I would rather miss a minute or two of church then bend my principles. I like that you said you are stubborn. You have to be. Very few people respect cloth diapering. I wish honestly that at least if people are too lazy to do it themselves that they would at the very least respect those who do.
    Should I use disposables when they are really small? Will they leak?
    There are preemie and NB sized all in ones and pocket diapers, there are also ways to fold the prefolds so they fit the NB. We had no issues. Cloth does leak sometimes.. but so do disposables. Honestly diapers just leak. That is part of being a parent that people don't always tell you about. Once my son was about 2 months and he pooped in his car seat and all of a sudden I saw yellow running down the coffee table and onto the floor. He pooped everywhere. Sometimes these are the things... parents just have to deal with. We were forced to use disposables at the hospital because they won't use cloth anymore at my hospital. They said we could bring our own but that we would have to bring them home with us and wash them so that meant we would need to go home and already have most of our diapers dirty. So we just gave in. When we got home though we immediately switched. He transitioned into cloth really easily and after a few nights hubby even got the hang of it and now he is a pro!

    Good luck "S" and to all Mommies who want to cloth diaper!

    Tuesday, October 5, 2010

    Compost Bin

    So in the footsteps of my Mom and Dad I am finally going to attempt a compost bin. I am going to be really careful though. My Mom used to always throw everything in there if it was food... but putting anything meat in there brings in maggots, flies, and animals. I am going to avoid that like the plague. My little Bug was watching Bob the Builder this weekend and the episode was on making your own compost bin. Although his plans wouldn't work very well in the village since it was very open but I did find some plans for one using a large plastic trash bin. You take a trash bin with a locking lid like this one.
    Now you drill holes in the bottom, for drainage and so worms can get in. Then you drill holes in the sides and top for air to get in. Now just add composting items to it.
    Things you can compost are:
    · Coffee ground and filters
    · Fruits and vegetables
    · Egg shells
    · Grass clipping
    · Leaves
    · Nut shells
    · Shredded newspapers
    · Fireplace ashes
    Here is what you should never put in your compost:
    · Meat or fish bones
    · Yard trimmings that have been treated with chemicals
    · Pet waste
    · Plants that are diseased

    So have fun! After I set mine up I will keep you guys updated on it.

    Monday, September 27, 2010

    The Great Debate- Circumcision

    To cut or not to cut.... that is the question.
    When we found out we were having a boy the first thing I asked my husband was "Should we circumcise him?" My husband was actually against it at first. He said he wished he hadn't been and he didn't want to do it to his son. I was actually for it. I said even if there is no medical reason it will look more 'normal'. We discussed and discussed. We didn't know who to talk to though because all our friends and family had had girls. We were alone.
    So I did research. I found out that not only is there no medical reason in today's day and age but that the numbers of baby boys getting it done have fallen from 80% in the 70's to 60% in 2000 to 32% today. So actually what is more 'normal' is NOT having it done.
    After our son was born we were still wavering. However in NY hospitals you are required to watch a video on the procedure before making the final decision. By the end of the video my husband and I were both sobbing and holding our newborn son. There was no way we would ever put him through that.
    The decision is one every parent of a boy must make but in my opinion based on the advice of medical professionals and research that is is medically not needed, no longer the 'norm', and a brutal and sadistic procedure that alters the way your baby was created naturally. I often wonder what people would say if someone suggested that baby girls have there clitoris removed at birth... because in a way that is what you are doing to your son, removing a sensitive part of his penis and altering the way he will look for the rest of his life.
    Our son is not circumcised and neither is my nephew and my cousin who is expecting a boy in February is also leaning towards not. In fact I don't think any of the baby boys I  know are circumcised. In my oppinion the trend towards not circumcising is a big step in the right direction.

    Sunday, September 26, 2010

    The Green Mommy Has Been Busy!

    Well between school, my son's first birthday ( I can't believe he is already 1!!!), Farmer's Markets, knitting hats and plarn bags, jam making, and harvesting my herb garden I have been a very, very busy girl! I am sorry that the blog has taken a bag seat. So I will update you guys on what I have been up to in the world of green mommying. Unfortunately I was just too busy to be a part of the Sustainability Fair. It turned out to be the weekend after my son's birthday and between exams and other things I couldn't go. I think I will write them though, apologize and ask them to keep me in mind for next year. I am sure it was great though.
    For Bug's birthday my mother i law and I took him to a local farm. He got to go on a hay ride, feed cows, learn about farm life, see baby piglets and calves, and buy locally grown produce. We had a blast!

    We also have been spending every Saturday at the local Farmer's Market, where some days we only buy an apple but usually come home with lots of locally grown produce.

    My plarn bag has also been put on the back burner but it is almost finished so I feel somewhat accomplished there. I did however buy 2 lbs of fresh picked Concord Grapes at the Farmer's Market yesterday and so today I whipped up about 3/4 pint of fresh Concord Grape Jelly. I also whipped up some old fashioned style apple sauce using molasses instead of sugar. Less sugar for my Bug.



    So that's how we have been. So in the spirit of the Green Mommy I also have a few tips. As always I am continually promoting North Country Neighbors, as they are my life blood. What better way to shop local and reuse and recycle then buying at a giant flea market. My latest finds were a Nicole Miller bed set with a queen size comforter and a toy chest for Bug. 


    We also found a used furniture store which in addition to having everything, and great prices, they take Bear Express (campus money) and have layaway! It was an amazing adventure. The name of the store is "It'll Do Furniture". I would absolutely recommend going. Save a tree.. and buy used furniture!



    Wednesday, September 15, 2010

    I wouldn't be a Green Mommy without first becoming a Mommy

    So this has always been a special time of year for me. The leaves change, apples fall, harvests are brought in, kids go back to school. On top of all that though I was born this time of year many moons ago. In fact my birthday is this coming Saturday. So since I was a little girl September always meant celebrations and presents and cake and fun. It is almost always sunny and warm and there is always crunchy leaves under foot.
    However last year on my birthday I was 40 weeks pregnant. My due date was my birthday. I spent the day with friends hoping that I would go into labor that day. I didn't. I did however end up in the hospital that night because my husband had an infected tooth. So of course when we went in the doctors thought we were there for me and tried to whisk us off to maternity. That night (my birthday) started our 4 day journey to our son's birth. We came home from the hospital and spent that Sat and Sun getting prescriptions and dentist appt for my husband. He had  to stay home from work on Doctor's orders. Monday morning I went in for one last ultrasound. They called me afterwards and told us to call into work and come to their offices. The dreaded C word was not only brought up but told that it was really our only option. Our son was too big.
    So we went in, talked to the doctor and figured out that we would be going to the hospital the next morning at 5 AM.
    So Tuesday the 22nd our son was delivered by c-section at 8:17 AM. So 1 week from today will be his 1st birthday. I can not believe that he is almost 1 year old. I am just utterly blown away with how fast this year went. He is my everything. My inspiration and my life. I just simply adore him! Happy almost birthday my little man!

    Monday, September 6, 2010

    Thoughts On Campus

    Sorry the Green Mommy hasn't posted lately but I have been on Campus back in school. Being back in school is equivalent to being smashed in the head with a hammer if you actually listen to conversations around you. Rather than getting annoyed though I smile at their ignorance, remember they are on average almost 10 years younger than I am and laugh it off.
    On a Green note though I was very pleased to see several attempts to promote Greener living right here on Campus. First of all the bookstore issued a new policy. They distributed free cloth reusable bags that zip into themselves forming a small wallet sized pouch that is easy to carry. Further more if you bring them back each time you shop, you receive 5% off your total. Also I have seen a surplus of bike racks. The amount has risen form on every two or three buildings to one on every side of every building. My bike has never had it so good! They also are making a concerted effort to go paper free. Several of my professors even emailed me the syllabus. Lastly they sell really nice reusable waterbottles and coffee mugs, which you can have filled at any eatery just as you would a disposable cup. So go you SUNY!!!

    Friday, August 27, 2010

    Plarn part 2

    So i had so much fun making my ball of Plarn that I have decided that I am going to knit a tote bag with it. I am going to give it away for free to whoever write the best comment describing something great that they have done to help the environment.
    Used grocery bags












    Plarn ball I made!













     The start of the tote bag!

    Plarn!

    Today thanks to another green blog I am going to show you how to make "Plarn" or Plastic yarn. This is something I am super excited about because I think that there is nothing that gets wasted as much as plastic grocery bags. Now I have been using reusable tote bags for groceries for some time now but every once in a while I forget. We do have a recycling for grocery bags and I recycle them a lot but we still end up with a ton. By making this plarn you can not only reuse plastic bags but knit or crochet some interesting and sturdy things...such as a reusable tote bag lol (ironic).

    So here it is thanks to "Textiles4you" at http://textiles4you.blogspot.com
    First gather up all your plastic grocery bags. Cut off the handles and the bottom. Now cut the rest into 1 inch loops. Now loop the loops together. Make a string of them and ball it into a ball like yarn. Now crochet or knit with it.
    If you would like to see pictures here is the original link. http://textiles4you.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-make-plyan.html
    I am going to go try this right now and I will post my own pictures.

    Wednesday, August 25, 2010

    Recycled clothing

    So one of the easiest ways to save a little green and be a little green is to buy second hand clothing. For kids this is especially important because children's clothes are expensive and most children grow out of their clothes before they even get a chance to wear them. By selling/ donating your used baby and children clothes to a second hand store you are helping people recycle baby clothes. By buying baby clothes second hand you save a lot of money and can often find really unique and adorable pieces, and of course you are taking clothes that would otherwise end up in a land fill.
    A local store in my town that sells secondhand children's clothing is the "Kidz Closet". It is an adorable little boutique that sells really nice clothes. They are usually barely worn. I can almost always go in with less than 20$ and walk out with several outfits. Yesterday I took my little man down there because he achieved the monumental feat of going poopy in his potty for the first time at the amazing age of 11 months. I told him he could pick out a toy. So we ended up finding for less than 15$ we found a really nice toy, a shirt and 4 pairs of pajamas.


































































































    So go out and buy used! Recycle clothes!

    Sunday, August 22, 2010

    Exciting News

    So I have some cool news! The Green Mommy has been asked to have a booth at the Sustainability Fair this September. I just need to get some info together. I am thinking a poster and some hands on stuff like a few different kinds of cloth diapers, some compost tea, maybe some cloth wipes.... My head is already a buzz. So In that spirit the Green Mommy Blog is going to really get cracking on some good informative entries. So far I have been focusing mostly on Green Mommies with babies... since that is where I currently am in life, but there are a lot of ways to get older kids (4+) interested in being Green. So I will keep posting some cool activities you can do with older kids.


    Today's experiment is to test your local rainwater for acid rain. This is best tried on a rainy day, since you need rain water.
    The things you will need are:
    1 bucket (clean)
    3 jars
    tap water
    vinegar
    masking tape
    pen or marker
    red cabbage
    coffee filters or white printer paper
    bowl
    scissors


    Before you do anything set the bucket outside where it can collect rainwater.
    First take the cabbage and the bowl and cut the cabbage into little pieces into the bowl. Next pour very hot water over the cabbage. Let an adult do this part. Let the cabbage water sit until it is dark purple. Then take the cabbage pieces out or pour the water into a new bowl. Throw the cabbage away and keep the purple water. Then dip the filter or the white paper into the purple water. Let it dry. After it is dry cut it into strips. Now you have made your own litmus paper. Litmus paper lets you tell if something is an ACID or a BASE. 
    Now into one of the jars pour just tap water. The second one pour half water half vinegar and label it "strong acid" with the masking tape. The third jar pour mostly water and just a little vinegar. Label that "weak acid". 
    Now dip a strip of litmus paper in each jar. The two with acid in them will turn pink. 
    Now dump out the jar with just water and label it "Rainwater". Pour some of the rainwater from the bucket into the jar. Test it with the litmus paper. Compare that strip to the other three. Does it still look purple like the tap water strip or is it just a little pink like the weak acid or very pink like the strong acid? This will tell you how acidic your rainwater is.


    Acid Rain: Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to damage of trees at high elevations and many sensitive forest soils. In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage. Prior to falling to the earth, SO2 and NOx gases and their particulate matter derivatives, sulfates and nitrates, contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health.



    What Society Can Do About Acid Deposition:
    Understand acid deposition's causes and effects
    Clean up smokestacks and exhaust pipes
    Use alternative energy sources
    Restore a damaged environment
    Look to the future
    Take action as individuals
    Turn off lights, computers, and other appliances when you're not using them 

    Use energy efficient appliances: lighting, air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.
    Only use electric appliances when you need them.
    Keep your thermostat at 68 F in the winter and 72 F in the summer. You can turn it even lower in the winter and higher in the summer when you are away from home.
    Insulate your home as best you can. 
    Carpool, use public transportation, or better yet, walk or bicycle whenever possible 
    Buy vehicles with low NOx emissions, and maintain all vehicles well. 
    Be well-informed. 

    Sunday, August 15, 2010

    Crafting

    Another way to be green is my hand crafting your own clothes, hats, scarves...and other items. You can recycle old clothes into blankets or new clothes. You can use up some old balls of yarn to make a new hat and scarf.
    I wanted to share some things I have made over the past few years. I am thinking of starting my own Etsy store and wanted to showcase some of the things I make. I am going to keep it to the Mommy related stuff though. If people want to see all my costume and clothes and purses I can post more pics.

    This is a cloth diaper I made. I haven't made any more yet but I plan to soon.
















    These are 2 hats I made for 2 about to be 1 year old kids. The left one is for my son. It is a replica of the famous Jayne hat from Firefly. The girl's hat is for my son's friend Olivia who loves butterflies.










    This is a wet bag for carrying wet cloth diapers. I lined it with vinyl.
















    This is a wreath I made for our front door. It is about 2.5-3 ft wide.















    These are curtains I made for my nursery.














    This is a wreath for our living room.














    These are our family stockings. I made them all free hand no patterns.

    Thursday, August 12, 2010

    Another great Mommy owned company: Blue Dinosaurs

    Here is another great Mommy owned and run company for Green Mommies to peruse and hopefully buy some of her wares. The company is called "Blue Dinosaurs".





    It can be found at http://hyenacart.com/BlueDinosaurs/
    The owner and creator is an old acquaintance of mine. She and her husband went to the same Inter Varsity group as me as well as the same church. Now they have 2 children, 1 of whom is in diapers still. I am not sure if she herself cloth diapered with both kids but she makes not only cloth diapers but bibs, toys, wipes...ect. The cool catch with her company is that since she and her hubby are both of the geeky persuasion (which is great!) and her hubby is a video game creator,  a lot of her patterns and creations are game themed or geeky themed. She said she plans to dive deeper into that genre soon. I would love to see more of that personally!
    The items she has for sale currently are all bright and colorful and just great!
    The above pic is an example of her work, a space themed bib. She mentions in her intro to her store about how plastic snaps work best for cloth diapers and bibs. I couldn't agree more. I honestly have pretty much given up on bibs because of velcro and am currently in the process of switching out all of my sons velcro diapers for snap ones. 
    Here are what her diapers look like. 


    Her prices aren't bad. They are higher obviously than some places but for great quality craftsmanship and made at home, mommy made, mommy approved products.. I would say the prices are pretty reasonable. I love her site and am planning on buying a few geeky bibs for my son ASAP. (Probably for Christmas!)
    This site is all owned and created by a Green Mommy and certainly gets a thumbs up from THIS Green Mommy! 
    GO BLUE DINOSAURS!!!!

    Edit: The owner of Blue Dinosaurs recently gave birth to her third child. Welcome into the world little man.

    New Diapers: Happy Flute Diapers


    So recently our friends who gave us their diapers to borrow until they had a need for them back, needed them back (and that's all I am saying :D ). So since Aleks' diapers were about 1/3 prefolds (bought by us) 1/3 borrowed all in ones and 1/3 all in ones bought by us, this cut his diapers down by a third. So I went looking for new ones. We don't have a lot of money right now so the first place I looked was eBay. I found a China based company on eBay that sold pocket diapers made with fleece and PUL with a thick inner liner.


    The company was called Happy Flute Diapers.
    At first I was very skeptical about a company based in China but the lady who runs it seemed very up and up. It seems to me that it is more of a family based company using eBay as a way to reach outside there borders and in a round about way is very Fair Trade since the money goes to those who make the products.
    That being said I was very very impressed both with the price (5$ each including shipping) and the quality of the diapers. They are designed to be just like "Fuzzibunz" brand diapers in that one diaper fits from newborn to potty training.
    This picture shows the small medium and large settings.
    However "Fuzzibunz" retail for about 20$ a piece. These have solid construction and are quite pretty too. They come in an abundance of colors and even designs and soft fuzzy covers.




    The only draw back that I could see is that shipping can take 2-3 weeks and also you may not always get the color you order. I ordered baby blue and got white... but I am not miffed. I will probably be ordering several more. I want at least 5 more.
    I really recommend this company. Here are all 4 diapers I ordered.

    Thursday, July 22, 2010

    Herb and Veggie Garden update!

    So just about the best thing you can do to be a Green Mommy is growing your own veggies at home. This allows for your family to have fresh organic home grown fruits and veggies and lessens the amount of consumers buying from large mass produced farms.
    If you don't have a green thumb than you can always buy local from co-ops or farmer's markets. This does the same thing without actually having to grow them yourself.
    I recently started gardening again. Where we live it is too hard to garden in any large amount since we live on the main street of town with people walking by our house every few minutes who love to pick/trample gardens. I have planted flowers but I don't like to try and plant vegetables and fruit where we live. When we move to a quieter part of town again I will start gardening in large quantity again.
    However I have sort of found a way around this. This year I began pot gardening. I currently am growing Tomatoes, Mint, Rosemary, and Basil. It is actually going quite well. Today I transplanted the herbs from the terrarium to pots to bring outside. They weren't doing very well indoors. I am hoping that full sunshine and proper drainage will turn that around. The tomatoes though are doing amazing. I already have several large tomatoes hanging on the vines.
    Here are some pictures.




    Thursday, July 8, 2010

    New Vendors to Check Out!!!!

    So every once in a while the Green Mommy (Me) will try to post about local vendors that I like. These are usually people who hand make, weave, sew, cook, knit, or otherwise craft things from Earth Friendly materials or simply to buy local. I want to make it my mission this summer to post about several of these.
    This weekend is my town's annual Summerfest. I usually find the normal fare of plastic toys no one really needs, candy, sno cones, and of course all the normal merchandise that the stores have that is now "on sale". What I don't normally find is crafters except the last day in the park when there is an actual craft fair. This year though there was a group of three girls, one of which I just happened to go to high school with, who were selling the most beautifully handcrafted and vintage items. It looked like a booth lost in time. I could have spent all day there talking with these girls. I ended up buying the most alluring necklace and I have a picture of it to show you.

    I am sorry to say that I do not have a name to tell you yet. I forgot to write it down or get their Etsy store name. The booth was titled "Three Umbrellas" or something of that sort. I will however be going back and I will be taking pictures and posting more about them.. so keep an eye peeled.
    In the meantime though I do have the Esty store name of one of the girls (the one I went to High school with). She hand weaves the most beautiful scarves and shawls.
    http://www.etsy.com/shop/LyndsiJayne?ref=top_trail
    I really recommend checking her out.

    Edit Update: The name of their booth was Three Crow umbrella Project. The other girl who has an Etsy shop can be found here. http://www.etsy.com/shop/tatterdamelion

    Wednesday, June 30, 2010

    Baby Food into Toddler Food

    So as a Green Mommy I think about 3 main principles when caring for my son, healthiness for my baby, cost, and Earth friendliness. Earlier in the spring I posted about making my own baby food and freezing it so my son could eat fresh healthy baby foods made fresh at home for a fraction of the cost of baby food from the store. Recently though my son decided he was ready for more whole food and started to refuse pureed baby foods. So I had three or four meals left in the freezer and didn't want them to go to waste. I also didn't know what to start feeding him. For a few weeks now we have just been feeding him yogurt, dry cereal (chex, cherrios) and small pieces of our meals (shredded chicken, peas...ect ect). Recently though I found the Gerber meals for toddlers in the grocery store. Some looked healthy but most were macaroni and cheese or spaghetti-ohs. To me that is just not what I want to feed my son. Not to mention the price is 2.00 per meal. That would be about $50 a week. Which is about $200 a month.
    So I thought... "Hey I can do that!". So I bought a few boxes of fun pasta (tri-colored rotini, wagon wheels, ect.) I took fresh peas, the pasta and the pureed baby foods and made a few different kinds of baby meals. I made "rotini, sweet potatoes, peas and chicken", "rotini, shredded corned beef and carrots", and "rotini and peas in a pureed peas sauce". I was able to make enough meals for about a week and a half for $3.60. They are healthy, earth friendly and cost effective!
    Here are some pics of the end result!


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