Try, Try Again

I decided I would do something very selfless and giving...I would try a bunch of eco-friendly products for the sole purpose of reporting back to you on their quality.  Not at all because I wanted an excuse to buy some great stuff.  I can be so giving...

PURE ORGANIC REUSABLE COTTON ROUNDS
★★★★★  out of ★★★★★
I'm in love with everything about these guys.  You can buy them at Amazon.com or www.betterforbabies.com.  These super soft cotton circles will replace any kind of disposable cotton product you use for eye make-up removers, toners etc.  They are velvety smooth, organic, fair trade, and come with their own hemp washing bag so you won't lose any in the laundry.  I would say the one and only downside is that you couldn't use them to remove nail polish...big whoop.

HANKY BOOK
★★★★★
Everyone warned me that when I stopped breast-feeding my daughter would get sick more.  They weren't kidding!  My little one had maybe one cold her first year on earth, but this month she got the never ending illness; ear infection, cough, sinus infecting, fever.  I felt so terrible wiping her red, irritated nose all the time.  While on vacation I happened upon the best thing ever...the Hanky Book!  It is slightly bigger than a credit card, has an adorable fabric cover, and pages upon pages of soft, organic cotton to wipe baby's nose with.  When one page gets messy, you turn to the next.  Then just pop it in the washing machine!  It felt good to know be pressing rough tissues against baby's tender nose.

GRAB GREEN BLEACH ALTERNATIVE
★★
Well, I"m afraid I have never been able to find a good bleach alternative.  If anyone knows one, please pass it on!  This product comes in pre-measured pods and is environmentally friendly.  I will say it brightened my whites, and it is safe on colors, but it won't take out stains and well, bleach your laundry like bleach does.  It's not terrible, but it's no bleach.

KUHN RIKON MAGICCOVER
★★★★
I bought this on a whim because it was on sale at www.reuseit.com.  It is a silicone lid that creates an airtight seal.  It is meant to replace plastic wrap, foil, and plastic containers.  Here is the truly amazing thing about it: you can refrigerate it, freeze it, microwave it, and put it in the OVEN up to 500 degrees.  That's craziness!  I used it to cover a bowl of left over soup, then put it right into the microwave when I was ready for it.  When it was done heating I used the lid as a trivet...perfection!  Here are the only downsides:  You would need a lot of these in various sizes, and that could get expensive at the onset.  It does create an airtight seal, but if there is any food or moisture on the rim of what you are covering it will not work.




If you know any great products, feel free to share them!  And I will do my best to keep trying new things, for your benefit only :)


totally depressing environmental fact:
conventional cotton uses more pesticides than any other crop on earth


totally uplifting environmental tip:
if you have a choice between glass or plastic, always choose glass.  it is easier to reuse and recycle, and takes less to produce!

Dispose of the Disposal

After reading my last post, Anne asked if garbage disposals were eco-friendly.  I honestly had no idea.  I always assumed it was a better choice to putting my food scraps in the garbage where they would be hauled miles away buy gas-guzzling trucks.
Turns out I was wrong!

I found this fantastic article on treehugger.com:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/is-my-in-sink-garbage-disposal-eco-friendly.php

Apparently, not only is the water we use to wash the food down the drain with wasteful, but oil clogs are the number one cause of sewer overflow and blockages.  This costs cities billions of dollars a year.

The best choice, of course, is composting.  But it looks like the second best choice is just throwing it away!  I'll remember that next time I find a two-year-old bottle of blue cheese salad dressing lurking in my fridge.

totally depressing environmental fact:
According to a 2005 California Energy Commission report, 19% of California’s electricity use, and 32% of its natural gas use is for pumping water and wastewater! So, not only is water a scarce resource that should be conserved, but pumping it requires a lot of energy and, in California at least, contributes a significant amount to global warming.


totally inspiring environmental tip:
(found this great thing in the treehugger article:)
NatureMill indoor automatic composter. This product, made from recycled materials, includes a small heater and mixer (uses only $0.50 of electricity per month) to maintain industrial-grade composting conditions. This means that you can even compost meat, dairy, and fish in it, which is typically a composting faux pas. The unit fits under your sink or on your fire escape, so even the most urban of us can avoid sending food waste down the drain while producing up to 120 pounds per month of rich organic compost each month.
Perfect for apartment dwellers!
I looked it up and it seems AMAZING!

The Eco-Friendly Renter

My friend Adriana made an excellent point in her response to my last post.  You have far less options for living earth-friendly when you are renting or living in an apartment.  You are at the mercy of what the building owners decide is appropriate for you building.  We are apartment-dwellers and understand this all to well.  We enter the elevators and are bombarded by the smell of harsh cleaners, we have to use wasteful, old appliances, and there is the most annoying scent dispenser right outside out door that every half-hour sends a synthetic, powdery smell into the air.

So what do we do when we want to live as gently as possible, but are thwarted by where we have to live?!?!

Let's break it down:
We know what we do have control of:  In our own apartments we can use gentle, plant-based cleaners; separate and recycle everything that your building's waste management will take; wash our clothes with cold water and use a drying rack to dry; use power-strips and unplug or turn off all electronics when not in use; take shorter showers and don't always wait for the water to get hot-hot-hot before we use it.

And we know what we don't have control of:  If the building chooses to recycle or compost; the types and conditions of appliances; the kinds of cleaners and building materials used.

If you live in LA and your building doesn't recycle, let your building manager know that it is now COMPLETELY FREE to get pick up for recyclables.  Even offer to make the call and set up the appointment if they can't seem to be bothered.  Here's the website to get you started:
http://www.larecycles.org/

Do you want to compost?  You can do it in your apartment!  Us LA-ers are fortunate that most of us have balconies or porches.  We purchased a compact composter and it lives on our tiny balcony taking up only about 2'x2' of space.  The key to getting food to compost in a tiny composter is....WORMS!!!!  These little beasts will help you go through trash 80% faster than just letting it sit in a composter.  Here is where we got our worm factory:

www.urban-worms.com

You can buy worms by the pound at many farmer's markets or go to the following website:

This is what we have on our balcony

http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Organics/Worms/WormSupply.htm

If you don't have ANY outdoor space at all, the worm factory can live in doors.  But to be completely honest, there is no way I would ever do this.  When my friend Katie found out I had a worm factory, she said the following to me:
"My sister has one of those...It's the closest thing I've ever seen to a real-life horror movie."

Worms!!

If you want the building management to consider making some green changes in your building.  I think it's best to educate and request all at the same time.  Make a letter that states how you would love them to consider using greener cleaners, most of which can be found at inexpensive prices, and include in your letter resources where they can find these.  You might also mention that a building that prioritizes being green may lure in a better clientele!  And cutting down on energy costs will help the bottom line.

Another option...

Until we all the the money or ability to own our own home, with which we can live as green as possible, maybe let's look at apartment living as a way to share our views and educate our neighbors (without being that person who lectures so much that people avoid you when they see you in the laundry room).

totally depressing environmental fact:

the number one cause of landfill waste is fast-food containers...check this out....

http://www.thegreenestdollar.com/2009/05/how-long-our-garbage-lasts/

totally inspiring environmental tip:
when you compost, you are exposing your food scraps to air, which help the food biodegrade without any atmosphere-hurting methane!!

Bad Versus Evil

Hey all of you fighting the good fight; using cloth diapers instead of disposables, flushing all of that poop down the toilet, emptying stinky laundry bags into the washer, folding loads of cloth diapers week after week after week.  I have AWESOME news for you!  I recent study found that using cloth diapers is just as damaging to the environment as using disposables.  What the WHAT?!?!?

Here's the deal: If you are using hot water to wash the diapers, the dryer to dry them, bleaching them and not doing full loads, then yes, it is just as bad as using disposable diapers.  What the study did not take into consideration was using cold water, high efficiency washers, line-drying, and eco-friendly cleaning products.  There is a definite demand out there to re-do the study.  I admit, my first thought when I read this was, "disposable it is!"  Cloth is so time-consuming that any indication that all my hard work is for naught will send me right to the grocery aisle to buy some pampers.  So this report can be quite damaging if it is not looked at thoroughly.

So if you are swathing your baby in cloth, remember to do it right, or it's really not worth the time and effort.  Using cold water and line-drying will also help your power bills and prolong the life of your diapers.

If you are a big fan of gDiapers as I am, you may want to re-consider flushing them.  The recommended two flushes to get the diapers down the drain may be worse on the planet than throwing them away.  But remember, they can always be composted!  Who doesn't want a giant diaper pile in their back yard next to their vegetable patch?

Keep up the fight!!!! (But do it right...)


totally depressing environmental fact:
although all cosmetic talc is supposed to be asbestos-free, it is not always 100% pure. use of talc has been linked to respiratory problems and ovarian cancer.  talc mining is also extremely tough on the environment.

totally uplifting environmental tip:
organic milk is not only better for your body, it uses 1/3 of the energy to make it than non-organic milk.

Don't Call it a Comeback

The little girl in action

Well, remember when I took November off from blogging...
And then December...
And then January...

I have be wracking my brain trying to figure out what happened that I have absolutely no time to write.  The answer was right in front of me.  Well, it was in front of me, but now it's in the living room.  And now the kitchen.  Wait, it's moving into the bathroom and getting in the cabinets.

Everything went to pieces when Phoebe started walking.

In November when I took a few weeks off from writing because I had gotten a lot of work, I was waving goodbye to my daughter to leave for the day and out of nowhere she stood.  Just like that.  Not holding on to anything.  The next day she took a few tentative steps, and from there on out our lives have been totally different.  We have become those parents that you feel sorry for at backyard barbecues and restaurants; chasing their kids around and keeping them out of trouble while everyone else drinks wine and has a great time.

A few months into the walking (and now running) we are starting to get a handle on it and I'm back to making the blog a priority!  We are as green as ever and I have tons of new thought and questions I would love to share with everyone.

So I hope the handful of you that liked reading this are still out there!  Thanks for reading...
And I PROMISE I will be back soon with more!

totally depressing environmental fact:
does your kid wear those shoes that light up when they walk?  if so, it is illegal to throw them away.  you must take them to a place that disposes of batteries or electronics.  the batteries in the shoes can contaminate a landfill.  i guess nothing can be fun.

totally inspiring environmental tip:
just because there is not a recycling symbol in your trash, doesn't mean it can't be recycled.  aluminum cans, glass and Hershey's Kiss wrappers are all things that can be recycled with no label to indicate so.  for a full list of what can be recycled in your area go to www.earth911.org

Break Time!

Times are tough when you can't even take a moment to write a post that you don't have time to write a post.  I have so much work this month that I decided to take the month off from blogging.  But I couldn't let the whole month go by without mentioning two things:

1. Los Angeles County has voted to BAN PLASTIC BAGS!! This may be the happiest day of my life after the birth of my daughter and my wedding day. Plastic bags are one of the greatest contaminants to our wildlife and waterways.  By July 2011 all grocery stores will require you bring your own bag or pay 10 cents for a paper bag.  By 2012 they will be banned in all stores and only legal for restaurant take out.

2. As Thanksgiving comes closer consider buying as much locally as possible.  Hit the Farmer's Markets (Sherman Oaks tomorrow from 4-8!) and if you decided to get a Turkey try to get a hormone-free kindly treated one at Whole Foods or a similar store.  I also just read a very interesting article on food waste.  Every day American's waste enough food to fill the Rose Bowl.  The amount of fuel that goes in to producing the amount of food we WASTE is 70 times the amount that was leaked into the Gulf of Mexico this year during the BP spill.  70 TIMES!!!  So make less and eat all of the leftovers!


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  BLOG YOU IN DECEMBER!


totally depressing environmental fact:
recently PETA released a video showing the treatment of Turkey's at factory farms.  the videos included farm workers stomping on the animals and twisting their necks.

totally inspiring environmental tip:
the vegan diet is the most energy efficient diet on the planet.  so eating less meat will result in far less greenhouse gases!

Happy HalloGreen

Just hangin' with some pumpkins

Really, truly if we are looking to have an eco-friendly Halloween we really need to only be concerned with two things:  Costumes and candy. (Holiday decorations in general will be dealt with in a future post).

The easiest way to go green on a costume is to make it out of clothes and supplies you have around the house, or use a hand-me-down.  Some of the women in our mom's group got great costumes on consignment.  And the little ones are so, well, little that it doesn't take much material to get creative.  The worst choice you could make is to purchase a new costume out of synthetic materials...this is what we did.

Shame on us!  I am very crafty, but the thought of constructing a costume was just too over-whelming this year.  And when we looked online at the adorable, and I mean adorable costumes available for babies I just got caught up in the whole thing.  We bought her a peanut.  Not just the nut, but the whole shell.  But not Mr. Peanut.  She has no top-hat, monocle or cane.  Though I wish...a baby with a monocle would be awesome!

I couldn't even tell you what this peanut is made of.  It's some sort of dense foam layered over some sort of polyester.  I don't know what possessed us.  But I can try to turn it in to a positive by keeping the costume in great condition and giving it to baby after baby to prolong its life.

Luckily Phoebe is at an age where I don't have to be concerned about candy.  But none-the-less I wanted to do a little research and find out what the greenest candy options were.  When I did a random google search the first thing I came across was an article about green things to give out a Halloween.  They were the following:

Pennies

Apples

Books

Pencils

Yikes!  I mean, I love pennies, apples, books and pencils, but it's Halloween!  It's Candy Day!!! And can you imagine how heavy our little plastic pumpkins would get if we went around collecting pennies or books from every household?

Then I found an article on making vegan candy corn.  Aye yi yi.  If I don't have the energy to slap a red onesie on my daughter and draw some black dots on it so she can be a lady bug, I am not shaping minuscule pieces of maize.

Third time is a charm, because I found actual candy!  The following website http://ecofabulous.com/ecoguides/the-ecofab-guide-to-halloween-candy/ 

shows you different options you can order online and hand out including the "ultimate mixed bag of natural candy."  

You can also go to this website: http://www.globalexchangestore.org/Fair-Trade-Trick-or-Treat-Action-Kit-p/gp5400.htm 

and get a Halloween Fair Trade action kit.  Not only does it come with candy, but it is educational.

Great!  These are, of course, way more expensive than Kit Kat bars, so I wanted to find out what the best option would be for run-of-the-mill commercial candies.  This was a real challenge, because none of them are good for the environment in their packaging or production.  But here are a few things to keep in mind if you can't afford the organic stuff:

Anything packaged in cardboard is better than plastic.  You can recycle the cardboard, but those tiny insidious wrappers won't biodegrade.

If you are going with chocolate, Cadbury has just announced they will begin using fair-trade chocolate, and while Hershey's is NOT fairtrade, you can actually recycle Hershey's Kiss wrappers.

Avoid wrapping you little candies in a bigger plastic bag.  I know they are cute as can be, but they just get thrown in the trash.

Use a natural-material bag for candy collecting.

Most of all, walk the neighborhood instead of driving!  This is the most eco-friendly choice you can make on Halloween.

Don't forget to stop by and Toys-R-Us or Babies-R-Us and pick up your free little Unicef box to Trick-or-Treat with.  A donation as small as 7 cents can get a child clean water for a day.

And finally, I found this great website:

www.greenhalloween.org

It is fantastic!  It tells you all sorts of things you can do from solar halloween lights to a national costume swap.  In fact, this whole blog entry could have just been, "Go to www.greenhalloween.org."

So check it out!  And (said in spooky Vincent Price voice) Happy Halloweeeeeeeeen!

totally depressing environmental fact:

200,00 children in West Africa work under forced labor on cocoa farms

totally exciting environmental tip:

If you own a cat (black or otherwise!), get some of these more earth-friendly litters:

- Silica gel pearls (made from sand, no dust)
- Recycled newspaper that's been compressed into pellets
- Ground corn cobs
- Extruded straw pellets
- Pine sawdust from lumber waste
- Kenaf plant pellets (a fast growing hibiscus)
- Other products made from cellulose fiber

Used cat litter can also be used in your garden as a mulch or fertilizer

So Sorry...

Phoebe bawling her eyes out because I sat her
down on a hill and she fell on her face...
and even worse I took a picture of it

Oh brother I am behind on this blog.  Which is great, because I was really looking for something else to feel guilty about.  What is it about being a new mother that has us feeling guilty about something ALL THE TIME?  Well let me take this moment to tell you this, and print it out and post it on your fridge; if you are loving, protecting and nurturing your child you have NOTHING to feel guilty about EVER!
There.  Now let's move on to all the things that make us feel guilty.

I can't tell you how many conversations I have had with my fellow parents that start with, "I feel so terrible, I..."  Most recently a friend shared with me her struggles with breastfeeding.  Although she went to amazing lengths to keep nursing her baby, but for medical reasons she had to switch to formula.  She truly had no choice but still manages to be wracked with guilt.  I feel guilty when I turn the television on around my daughter.  For the most part she ignores it, but there are those mornings when she wakes at 6 AM and all I want is a little "Today Show" to keep me from falling asleep at the high chair.  Somehow even though I have woken up with her, nursed her, changed her, snuggled her, played with her and given her home-made organic food, at the end of the day all I can think is how the background TV noises and images must be rotting her brain.  How could I do that to my child?

And then there are the actual times we inadvertently put our child in danger.  Like when I was cutting grapes for Phoebe and absent-mindedly handed her the grapes the the hand also yielding the sharp knife. Or the time I reached down to pick her up in her car seat and my heavy purse slipped off my shoulder and landed squarely on her face.  Or the time on vacation when I strapped her in to her car seat, only to realize as we arrived at our next destination that I never secure the actual car seat to the car.  I was heavy with guilt for days after that one.

Every so often I like to ask myself, "What would the world be like if everyone lived like I do?"  I think this is a good barometer for your daily life.  If everyone was like me there would be no plastic bags, an over-population of farm animals, and when a new line opened up in the grocery store every would say, "You were already ahead of me, you go first!"  People would always use turn signals and compact car spaces would be taken up by only compact cars.  We all might have type 2 diabetes from our sugar consumption and we would have higher-than-normal water bills because of our luxuriously long showers and incessant hand-washing.  But if we encountered a piece of trash on our neighborhood walk we would pick it up and the earth would be spotless!  And most importantly all of our children would be nurtured and loved.

The number one thing the Dali Lami will tell you to meditate on is compassion.  But some how we don't include ourselves in our compassionate mindset.  We are loving to our families, our children and the environment, but hard on ourselves.  I recently read an article where a woman asked each member of her family, "How can I love you better?"  What if you asked yourself the same question...

totally depressing environmental fact:
20% of preschoolers and 50% of all children are obese due to unhealthy food choices and sedentary lifestyles

NEW!  In addition to our totally depressing environmental fact, I will include an Uplifting Little Tip on how you can do something positive!

uplifting little tip:
if you can't afford a water-saving toilet, just put a brick in the water tank to lessen consumption.

The Sound and The Fury

I would be lying if I said I didn't have a moment where I leaped over the coffee table (replay it in your mind in slo-mo) to stop my mom from opening a SunChips bag because I knew the sound could wake the baby from her nap.  Unfortunately it seems too many people have had this experience, and SunChips announced it is discontinuing it's compostable bag.  This is such depressing news!  And while part of me gets it (there was a whole facebook page dedicated to how noisy it was!) the other part finds it infuriating.  We really can't live with a noisy bag to lessen pollution?

Back when Phoebe was only a few weeks old I was desperate for sleep.  I was reading everything I could on getting a baby to sleep longer or more often.  At the time I was averaging four to five hours a night and would spend my waking hours wondering if someone could actually die from lack of sleep.  I came across something, somewhere, and once I read it I had a complete paradigm shift.  It basically boiled down to:  What makes you think you deserve eight hours of sleep?

Hold on.  But...I do!  I'm...so sleepy....(tears, tears and more tears)...(dry the tears)...(think about it)...

That statement truly changed me.  We, and by "We" maybe I mean "People living in 2010" or maybe I mean "Americans" believe we have the right to certain things.  Like I have the right for my Internet connection to be fast or I have the right to not have my Trader Joe's stop selling that one product I love.  But the truth is these are all conveniences.  And once we get out of the mind set that we deserve our lives to as easy as possible, the easier it becomes to deal with life's annoyances.

[Side note: I was watching the movie "Summer Place" on Friday.  It was made in the 50's and a woman in the film keeps referring to her toilet as "my convenience."  I love it!!]

While shopping at one of my favorite stores, Green and Greener (http://store.green-and-greener.com/servlet/StoreFront), the owner told me about Fresh Kills Landfill.  I had never heard of it.  But apparently it is the largest man made structure that can be seen from outer space.  So I guess we have to make a choice; either keep filling the landfills, or wake your sleeping baby because you needed a salty snack.

totally depressing environmental fact:

Opened as a "temporary landfill" in 1947, The Fresh Kills Landfill covers 2200 acres, can be seen with the naked eye from space and is taller then the Statue of Liberty, at a height of 225 ft. It is situated on the western shore of Staten Island and is made up of four sections which contain fifty plus years of landfill, mostly in the form of household waste. The waste disposed at the Fresh Kills Landfill and the decomposition products of this waste contain numerous chemicals. The chemicals can enter into the environment in a variety of ways: releases into the air from barge unloading and garbage trucks unloading; the cement crushing trucks releases chemical dust into the air; and into the local groundwater by leaching.

Poor Baby

Commercials are powerful.  They can convince you you need things you already have, or want things you never knew you wanted, or even think in a new way.  I was pulled in tonight by a commercial.  "Real life" people were talking about how their cars did these amazing things: The car woke them up when they were falling asleep behind the wheel, or slammed on the breaks before the driver even had a chance to react.  "I need this car!"  I thought.  "I need to keep my child safe in this car!"  So, let's just wait till the end of the commercial to see what it is so I can get it ...okay... still waiting...long commercial... I think this is John Hamm doing the voice over....oh....okay.  It's a Mercedes.

For those of you who know me, you know there is no way I can afford a Mercedes.  And that is fine with me.  I could care less what kind of car I drive.  I chose my car for the gas mileage and airbags, not because I thought people would envy me cruising past them on the highway in my sweet Scion XA.  But this commercial wasn't about status symbols, it was about safety.  And there is nothing that will make you feel worse about your parenting than thinking you can't afford to keep your child safe.  It occurred to me yesterday when I was speaking to some other mothers about convertible car seats.  These range in price with the safest being the most expensive.  So, if you can't afford the safest one, does that mean you don't care about the safety of your child?
What a terrible decision for a parent to have to make.

So I wanted to share with you an essay I wrote for Momversations while I was pregnant.  It has nothing to do with being green, but if you are in a similar financial situation you may be able to relate...

POOR BABY!

SERIOUSLY, MY BABY HAS NO MONEY

by Rebecca Sage Allen

I was never that girl that dreamt about having babies.  I never needed to hold anyone’s baby or peek in a baby carriage or thought that all babies were cute.  Once in a while I would meet a baby that really got to me, and I would think it was special, simply because I didn’t have the urge to ignore it.  I love my friend’s and family’s babies, and knew I would love my own if and when I decided to have one.  But just because I didn’t lie in bed dreaming of nurseries and mommy–and-me groups, didn’t mean I didn’t picture what it would be like to be a mom.  You just assume that if and when you have children their childhood will be similar to your own.  They grow up in a house, they play in a yard, they are not spoiled but they want for nothing.  There is no debate over, “can we afford to get this ice cream?” or “”are you sure you can’t squeeze into that jumper one more year?”  Life takes care of itself because you are financially comfortable.  In the picture…but in reality…

You are five-months pregnant and you are not in a house, you are in a two-bedroom apartment, setting up your babies room/guest room/home office and hoping that the neighbor somehow decides to quit smoking between now and the wee one’s arrival so that smoke doesn’t keep billowing in from their windows directly into your babies’ crib area.  You have asked your upstairs neighbor a half a dozen times to please stop manically spitting off his balcony as it travels past your windows and you are tired of thinking, “Is it raining?  Oh, no, that’s the neighbor’s phlegm.”  You stare out your living room window at the building next door, a Department of Water and Power “station” and wonder what goes on there with all the “Danger: High Voltage” signs and hope that none of this is silently giving you and your unborn child some terrible disease.  And that yard that you grew up frolicking in has been reduced to a 3x5 balcony, big enough for a few plants and two tiny folding chairs.  This is not the motherhood you imagined.  You thought you would be like the Cosby’s, but it turns out you’re Roseanne.

My parents were wonderful.  And their greatest service to me might have also been their greatest disservice.  They always encouraged me to follow my dreams.  They paid for my degree in musical theater, supported my move to Chicago, a city I had never once visited in my life, to pursue improv and sketch comedy, and were 100% behind me when my husband and I decided to take the leap and move to LA.  And although we have been extremely successful by our own standards, that success never came with a big paycheck.  We are frugal; we have savings and no debt.  But we never know where the next paycheck is coming from, or how much it will be, or how long it will be for the next one to follow.  All this was perfectly acceptable to us, the couple, until we found out about this bun in my oven.  Now along with all the other pressures that cram a pregnant woman’s brain I am feeling the most force from the mighty dollar.  Will this kid be able to go to a good pre-school?  Will she be fluent in sign language and French by kindergarten?  Will our Christmas cards have a montage of black-and-white photos of her at a beach, and a raspberry farm, and a pumpkin patch?  And how will I be able to deal with other mothers who have the money I don’t have?  Like last year, before I was pregnant, when my old boss said to me, “I’m taking the family to France next week.  Can you believe Jayna has never been to Paris?”  

Jayna was seven.

Lately I’ve been saying to my husband, “You know, we’re rich.”  If I close my eyes to all the material things around me I honestly believe this is true.  I have a fantastic, healthy family.  My husband is the greatest gift on the face of the planet.  My in-laws are magnificent.  We live in a free country, in a warm city a car ride from the ocean, in a safe, all-be-it small, apartment.  And our tiny baby girl is growing just fine inside my thrift-store-maternity-shirt-covered belly.  Regardless of what we earn we will make her feel like the richest girl on Earth, even if she hasn’t seen the City of Lights by the time she’s entering first-grade. 

Now, I am off to my prenatal yoga class!  And by prenatal yoga class I mean doing some general stretching on my living room floor.  Those classes are $17 a pop!  Don’t get me started on that…

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

I heard a song this morning that took me back to a specific time in my life.  In fact, to a very specific moment. I was in my twenties (ugh, just by writing "in my twenties" solidifies the fact that I am, indeed, no longer in them) and traveling alone from London to Amsterdam.  I had taken a night-time ferry to a train that had me arrive in Amsterdam at 4:00 AM.  I was nursing a broken heart at the time, thinking that the man I was in love with was in love with someone else, and found this journey to be just the perfect amount of dramatic for me.  And now, in my thirties, as I look back at that moment, instead of thinking what a wonderful adventure it was, all I can think is, "I would never, EVER let my daughter travel alone to Amsterdam in the middle of the night!"

So, let's talk about Earth-friendly traveling, shall we?

I've said it before that convenience is the enemy of eco-consciousness.  But so is stress.  When preparing for our August trip to Michigan, thinking about the two flights there, the two flights back, the car trips in between, etc.  I thought my brain might implode by adding cloth diapers into that equation.  Plus, the last time we flew with Phoebe she was four-months-old and 100% breast-feeding, so everything was easy peasy.  How does one bring home made, organic baby food on vacation?  And toys?  And books?  Aye-yi-yi!  Well, here is how.

First of all, if you don't have an awesome mother-in-law and sister-in-law, go out and grab some.  I know I am ruining every modern cliche but I absolutely love my in-laws.  They did everything they could to make this trip as easy as possible on us.  Regardless of how you feel about the people you are visiting, lean on them to help you get thru this.  If they can provide pack-n-plays, strollers, etc, let them.  If they don't have any baby accoutrement or you are vacationing alone, there are plenty of websites that rent baby equipment so you don't have to bring your or buy it new.  Just put in the the town you are visiting and baby rental into a google search and it should pop up!

If you are feeding your baby homemade food this is a bit tough.  My Mother-in-law bought us a little food blender intended to make one-serving smoothies and it worked perfectly!  The first day of our trip we went grocery shopping, bought a bunch of organic veggies, steamed them, blended them and stored them.  I have this little contraption called "Zoli" that I love.  It is little food or formula bowls that all screw together that you can serve from.  I'll put a link below.  We brought our own multi-grain baby cereal since it is super light and travels well.  Along with a few spoons and a few empty bottles we were all set!

If you are a cloth diaper family I cannot say enough good things about the diposable gDiapers for travel. You can flush the inserts or just throw them away.  I hate to say it, but I think cloth diapers on the road are nearly impossible.  Or just, truly the greatest, stinkiest pain.  If you go the gDiaper route, bring lots of back up covers and liners.

Our trip happened to take us to a fairly remote part of the country.  The one grocery store (actually called "The Mercentile") didn't have much of a selection.  So we brought a few jars of organic store-bought baby food to get us thru.  Also, half way thru the trip we ran out of  gDiapers.  I had to buy...I can't believe I am even writing this...huggies.  It truly broke my heart.  So if you happen to be on an adventure far from civilization and don't feel like  bringing the entire nursery with you, consider having a box shipped with your supplies.  Either do it yourself or order straight off of Diapers.com, Amazon or whatever your favorite baby website is.  With baggage fees being what they are you probably won't spend any additional money on the shipping.  Can we take a moment to discuss the scam of baggage fees?  The price of gas has gone down airlines, stop making us pay because you are running your business into the ground.

And, speaking of taking advantage of the customer.  Do you know when you have a baby you can bring bottled water with you on a flight?  I claimed it was for "formula" even though I was breastfeeding.  It was somewhat hilarious though, as the security guy pulled my two giant Smart Waters from my bag and asked, "How long IS your flight?"  He actually confiscated one because he thought my water usage was "excessive."  We're really out there fighting terrorism people.

Whatever choices you make to ease the burden of travel, just think twice before you make "excuses."  With a little planning you don't have to be any more destructive to the planet than you are on a daily basis.

Oh, so you want to know what song I was listening to, sailing across the English Channel, heart shattered in pieces?  Not a chance!  I'm in my thirties now, I don't have let myself be embarrassed.

LINKS:
http://www.zo-li.com/

totally depressing environmental fact:
airports are known to be major sources of noise, water, and air pollution. They pump carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and nitrogen oxides (NO _x ) into the atmosphere, as well as dump toxic chemicals--used to de-ice airplanes during winter storms--into waterways


AWESOME!  One more reason to have a fear of flying!


POST SCRIPT
As I write this, my husband's New Yorker calendar is open to a cartoon of a man sipping a martini on an airplane.  The caption reads:
"It's not enough that I fly first class...My friends must also fly coach."

Just A Quick Note...

I can't stop thinking about plastics #4...until I started doing this blog and the research behind it I had no idea that you could only recycle #4's at the bins outside of grocery stores.  I just assumed, living in the second largest city in the U.S, that if something had a recycle symbol on it, I could put it in my bin.  So make sure you are looking for #4's (mostly plastic bags and plastic wrappers), keeping them all together and taking them to the grocery store.  I also did a little research on ziplock bags.  It's hard to get a solid answer, but it looks as if these too can be dropped with your plastic grocery bags as long as you cut out the zipper.  I will try to get some more concrete information.

And just something to think about... it is estimated that plastics take roughly 1000 years to break down in a landfill, but just 10-20 years when exposed to air and sunlight.  It's clear we need to rethink how we dispose of the trash we have disposed of.  You know, when you throw it away and the truck comes and makes it "magically disappear."

totally depressing environmental fact:
plastic is petroleum based, and it’s estimated we use 1.6 million barrels of oil every year, just making plastic bottled water.

I Said Something

Ugh.  So I confronted someone who littered, and I quickly learned why I never do it.

Last weekend my mother, daughter and I were coming out of a CostCo.  The sidewalk was a traffic jam of empty carts (not to get off topic, but come on everybody!  If you can haul a 48-pack of Sunchips into your house, you can push a cart ten feet to the cart corral).  So as my mom pushed Phoebe and the groceries around to the car I walked down the sidewalk, where ahead of me, a woman was putting her two daughters in a cart.  She then grabbed a bunch of plastic spoons, napkins and paper cups from those infamous CostCo free samples and threw them on to the ground.  I couldn’t believe it!  She just …threw them!  On the ground!  I was so furious.  And so, inspired by my last blog post, I said something.  I walked up to the cart, began picking up all of her litter, and said something to the effect of, “It looks like someone threw this trash all over the ground, so I’m just going to pick it up, because I hate litter.”  She was obviously caught WAY off guard.  She fumbled for a minute and said it wasn’t her who did it.  I said something about how it is disrespectful to ruin someone’s neighborhood, and then…it was ON!  She lost it!  She started screaming at me about how she hates litter too, but I don’t know what it’s like to have kids, they put everything in their mouth, (excuse, excuse, excuse!).  I got all fired up and told her that I am a mom as well, and I would never teach my children that littering is okay.  “And that is exactly what you are doing,…teaching them that it is okay.”  Meanwhile, her poor little girls are just staring at me like, “what... is... HAPPENING!”   The fight kept going and going!  At one point I just leaned against the wall and let her yell at me.  It was ugly.

So here’s the lesson.  I felt terrible the whole rest of the day.  Not because I said something to her, but because I fought with her.  I hate confrontation, and I am really not the kind of person who likes to be mean.  But I was crazy to think that we wouldn’t end up fighting.  What did I think, that she was going to say? “You know what?  You’re right!  I shouldn’t litter.  Thank you for teaching me such an important life lesson.  Who knew I would grow so much, here, in the middle of a CostCo parking lot!!  Do take care!”  I should have just picked the litter up, maybe made some eye contact, and walked away.  Or even gone the extra mile and say, “I know how crazy it can get with kids, so I’ll throw this away for you.”  Even if I’m thinking, “What’s wrong with you, you selfish idiot?!”

All in all it felt good to say something  I would have festered just as much that night if I didn’t say something.  And like my cousin said, “She’s touching the gross trash anyway, she couldn’t walk the few feet to the trash cans at the front of the store?”  I know I was right, I just went about it wrong.  What’s that great quote?

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to say nothing.”

My new favorite piece of litter.  Found on a hike in Griffith Park.

Total depressing environmental fact:

Cigarette butts are one of the most commonly littered items in the world.  According to a

survey conducted by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, County residents drop a

cigarette butt on the ground almost 600,000 times per month.  That’s more than seven million cigarette

butts per year."  

If You See Something, SEE something.

How many times have you seen something that drove you crazy, but you just kept your mouth shut?  The other day I saw someone throw a napkin out of their car window and when I pulled up beside them to berate them I just made brief eye-contact and drove away.  I guess my concern does not out-weigh my paranoia that the car will be full of ruffians that will follow me home, or whip out a gun.  And even at places where I am sure no one will beat me or shoot me, like my favorite restaurant, I don't have the guts to go up to the manager and ask him or her if they have considered doing away with their plastic utensils or cups.  I don't want to be the preachy, nagging mom.  But it's about time we found a way to communicate our concerns or educate people in a good way.  I don't want to be that person that never gets invited to a party because I will be picking thru the trash and telling people they didn't put their toothpicks in the "woods only" bin.

I'm thinking about all this right now, because it turns out that this town I am visiting DOES have a recycling program.  And they've had one for years!  The problem is, not everybody knows about it.  And the bigger problem is, you have to bring it in yourself.  This is of little issue to my sister-in-law, who lives in Montana and has to drive even their regular trash in.  But to people on vacation, I'm sure this seems like the hassle of all hassles.  Because not only do you have to drive it somewhere, but you have to separate it as well.  But what am I going to do, walk around town reminding people that after they sleep in, take a swim in the lake and enjoy a leisurely stroll down the beach they should go back to their vacation cottages and spend some quality time separating their #1 from their #2 plastics, loading it into their cars and driving it into town?

I saw this woman in the "Today" show that started a movement by putting post-it notes on public bathroom mirrors that said things like, "You are beautiful!"  And while the story made me want to gag, I also recognize that it was brilliant, because it became infectious, and people started posting positive affirmations everywhere.  It is beautiful because it is subtle and anonymous, but pervasive, and exactly the kind of thing the green movement needs.  I realize that anyone who reads this blog is probably just as passionate about the environment as I am and I need to find a way to reach the people who are apathetic about recycling, pollution or conservation, but I am at a loss...

are post-it notes terrible for the environment?


totally depressing environmental fact:

On a pristine beach on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a small valley in the sand collects bottle caps and plastic wrappers, and yes, way off in the distance, a plastic tampon applicator.

Vacation Reply ON

La Mom Verte is on vacation for two weeks, to a picturesque town in Northern Michigan where the sun sets over the gentle waves of Lake Michigan, and birds soar on the breeze over vineyards and cherry trees. Where you can buy roadside produce from an unattended stand with the trust that you will leave the money in the cigar box, and ride your bike thru the center of town and never find a traffic light.  And while you are vacationing here, don't bother to separate your recyclables, because there is ABSOLUTELY NO RECYCLING PROGRAM.  I will do my best to relax, and hopefully come back home with a plan to save the world.

Eat It!

I suddenly find it so hilarious that I am doling out any parental advice when I haven’t had eight hours of sleep since January 24^th of this year.  I might look back on this blog in a few years and see all the signs of how truly sleep-deprived I am.  But for now, you will have to forgive any nonsense in these posts!

Pictured: A photo my friend Deanne sent me.  Not sure who this baby is, but she seems pretty happy!

Two weeks ago Phoebe, my husband, and I entered into the frightening world of…SOLID FOODS!  This has been perhaps the most intimidating step in our little one's life.  Most milestones a baby will reach on their own, but eating is one that you guide them thru.  The majority of books and doctors will tell you to begin solids between four and six months.  They also tell you babies will give you signs they are ready for food.  They will carefully watch you eat, reach for your food, etc.  Month four came and went and Phoebe gave no signs.  Month five had the same results.  Finally a week before her sixth-month birthday I was on the set of a commercial talking to the make-up artists about my daughter.  When I mentioned to one of them I hadn’t given her food yet, she totally flipped her lid.  Ad an aside, these women were very nice and kind to me all day, but super opinionated.   And I should mention that every other word out of their mouths was “f-in."  “Your daughter is six-months old and you haven’t given her an f-in solids?!  You better get on that.  Like, f-in right away!” Their kids were eating solids at four months.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.  Phoebe is almost exclusively breastfed, which makes it real easy to be lazy about her feedings.  I was used to carrying all of her food on my body!  Or at least, in my body.  So that weekend we started Phoebe on solids.  Or should I say, “We f-in started Phoebe on f-in solids!”

Everyone will tell you that your baby’s first food should be rice cereal.  This just didn’t sit well with me.  I really thought her first food should be a whole food, a real food.  I have really specific views on food.  I am almost vegan ( I have my moments of dairy weakness) and I was adamant starting out Phoebe the same.  In reality this is kind of hilarious that I am such a nazi about what she eats.  Since Phoebe’s diet is my breast milk, she eats what I eat; which is 85% veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds…and 15% Nerds Rope and Swedish Fish.  (I have an insane sweet tooth. I really don’t want to advocate junk food, but have you tried Nerds Rope?  It’s the best!).  So I mortar and pestled some avocado and breast milk, broke out of all her new bowls and utensils  and put her in her high chair.  My husband turned on the "flip" and we got started.  With all of our preparation there was one vital element missing; Phoebe’s desire to open her mouth and eat.

She would have none of it!  She literally spit it all back out of her mouth.  I realized a few minutes into it that she still had her thrusting reflex (a reflex of pushing out the tongue that indicates your baby is not ready to eat).  I was right!  I wasn’t being lazy!  Phoebe had no interest in food.  Or at least no interest in avocado.  It was huge lesson.  Babies move at their own pace.  And trust your instincts.  They will give you indicators of everything they need.  The key is just to figure out what the indicators mean.  

It’s been a few weeks and Phoebe is finally starting to get into eating.  I didn’t want food to go away 100% because I wanted her to warm up to the idea.  So every morning I put her in her high chair and offer the food.  Sometimes she laps it up and sometimes she rejects it all together.  I let her call the shots because I don't want  her to develop a bad relationship to food or eating.  Now, a few weeks later, she eats twice a day and enjoys banana, sweet potatoes, zucchini, and multi-grain cereal.  Maybe it was just the avocado!

Here are some tips for green eating (and just some tips in general):

1. Of course, the most Earth-friendly foods are the ones you make yourself.  It is not nearly as time-consuming as I thought, but if you can't do this Earth's Best is organic and Gerber has an organic line of solids.  Tasty Baby and Plum Organics are also great brands
2. I heavily relied on the book “Super Foods,” by Ruth Yaron.  It is a really fantastic resource.  The cheapest place to get it is Amazon.com
3. Making the food as soupy as possible was a huge help
4. Mixing the food with breast milk or formula was imperative
5. People will give you mixed opinions about giving your baby water.  Make up your own mind, but after Phoebe started eating food we gave her a sippy cup with water that she could drink from whenever she got the urge.  Some experts will tell you the more water they drink the less they will want breast milk or formula.  My pediatrician disagrees with this and I have not experienced that problem.  Read my last blog entry for some green H2O solutions
6. If you are anti-dairy there have been a few scary reports that soy has damaging effects on babies and children.  When I consulted with my pediatrician she said that no study has been conclusive and in her opinion if soy was an issue for babies then all of Asia would be suffering the problems
7. I occasionally give Phoebe formula.  I had been giving her a soy-based one until I realized that the first ingredient on soy-based formulas is CORN SYRUP SOLIDS!  Disgusting.  My friend Kim helped me do some research and she found a brand called “Baby’s Only” that makes an organic soy formula with rice syrup in stead of corn syrup
8. Many books that teach you how to make baby food will tell you to freeze it in ice cube trays.  I would just make sure they are BPA free.  I have a few containers specially  made to freeze baby food in that I love from “Beaba”(thank you Karen!) and “Baby Cubes” that are BPA, PVC, and Phthalate free.  I dare you to pronounce that last one.
9. Look for Farmer's Market's in your area and purchase your food there.  Everyone knows that buying local is better for the environment, but you also support your local economy, meet the people growing your food, and give your kids the chance to see all of these delicious foods beautifully displayed!  www.localharvest.org can show you where to get locally grown produce in your area, and www.farmersmarket.com can give you a directory of farmer's markets near your home
10. If you can afford it, make sure your baby's fruits and vegetables are organic.  There was one sentence in "Super Baby Foods" that had a profound effect on me: "Pesticides kill living things."  I went totally organic after reading that.  If you are on a tight budget, here is a list of the "dirty dozen" foods that are best to be organic:

12 Most Contaminated Peaches Apples Sweet Bell Peppers Celery Nectarines Strawberries Cherries Pears Grapes (Imported) Spinach Lettuce Potatoes   12 Least Contaminated Onions Avocado Sweet Corn (Frozen) Pineapples Mango Asparagus Sweet Peas (Frozen) Kiwi Fruit Bananas Cabbage Broccoli Papaya happy eating!! totally depressing environmental fact: a mercer island, WA study found that the urine and saliva of children eating a variety of conventional foods from area groceries contained biological markers of organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II. When the same children ate organic fruits, vegetables and juices, signs of pesticides were not found.

Water, Water Everywhere...

Remember when I said I would keep these posts short?  Why am I such a liar?!  This one will be to the point, I promise.

My Achilles heel of conservation is water use.  I love water.  More specifically, I love long hot showers.  I think submerging yourself in water is the cheapest form of therapy around.  There is nothing better than closing the doors and standing in the middle of the rushing of warm water after a you've had a long hard day, an illness, or just been dumped.

(Pictured: Me, my Dad and Phoebe at Malibu beach)

The first week of being a mother I took an indulgent two showers a day.  It seemed to be the only time I could get any peace and quiet; to be totally alone.  Also, after 30 hours of labor and non-stop nursing it felt like liquid Vicodin.  I think there is something hereditary about my love of water.  We grew up spending all summer at the Jersey shore (No jokes, please. And yes, my bangs were gigantic).  My dad, mom, brother and I would swim from the moment we woke up until the whole beach cleared out.  When my grandfather came home from the WWII, after surviving months at a concentration camp and POW camp, the first thing he wanted to do was go swimming in the Atlantic, to heal him.  Water is truly precious to me.  I should do more to protect it!

Here is a list of small things you can do to conserve water, or learn more about its quality:
1. It's always best to use a little baby bathtub or your kitchen sink to wash the wee ones.  Filling a shallow bath will waste more water.
2. If you can't afford a gray water system for your entire house, or you live in an apartment like I do, you can create your own gray water system.  If you shower, place an empty watering can in your shower to collect excess water to water your plants or yard with.  If you bathe, you can scoop up your used water (don't be grossed out, plants like soap!  Especially if you are using plant-based shampoos and soaps.), and if you are using a baby bathtub, drain it directly into the watering can.
3. Showers always take less water than baths.
4. Turn off the water when you are shaving.
5. Do not, DO NOT water your sidewalks.  I'm sure none of you do this, but I am always completely baffled when I see this happening.
6. Don't water your yard at peak sun hours.
7. Use a water filtration system instead of bottled water.
8. You can now recycle Brita filters!  You can deposit them at participating Whole Foods http://www.brita.com/support/filter-recycling/ .  None in LA participate in the program yet, but you can send them in.  Just follow the instructions on this website: http://www.preserveproducts.com/recycling/mail.html
9. If you are worried about the quality of your drinking water you can take a closer look at your community's water at the following two websites:
epa.gov/safewater/ccr/  and  ewg.org/tap-water
10. A good dishwasher saves more water than hand-washing.
11. Make sure all of your cleaners are gentle on the environment.  The best way to protect our water is to monitor what we put into it.  Never dump any pills down the drain as they will get into the water system.

Happy Watering!!

totally depressing environmental fact:

as if the oil leak wasn't depressing enough, there is a "garbage patch" floating in the atlantic ocean twice the size of texas, primarily composed of plastics, and a "dead zone" in the gulf of mexico the size of massachusetts where no life exists, due to the run off of farm fertilizers.