5 Finds for the Winter Season

Below are my five favorite gifts and finds to help you enjoy this winter season in warmth, health, and good peace of mind. 

1.  Coral Reef Protection - Gifts that protect our earth's ecosystems will only become more popular as the need persists. Topping the list of meaningful gifts our family received this Christmas was a certificate from The Nature Conservancy stating that "A generous gift was made to protect the coral reefs of Palau on behalf of your family."  According to the giver (my sister), a $100 donation helps protect 1 acre of this precious ocean habitat.  Learn more about giving this gift at The Nature Conservancy.

2.  Celestial Clothing - A personal favorite gift that I received is a most versital polar fleece vest on a website called the Celestial Shop.   It's the most lively turquoise color which goes surprisingly well with everything I own.  My closet is so full of earth tones that a piece of color cheers it right up. The clothing is designed by a Spiritual Master who uses the proceeds from their sale to fund her associations humanitarian relief efforts worldwide.  I learned about their efforts on a free-to-air satellite channel called Supreme Master TV. As a social bonus, all of their gear is made in Taiwan.

3.  Flowering Tea - What better way to treat yourself to a moment of peace than with a fragrant jasmine flowering tea?  I put some in my own stocking on the advice that "Taking care of mom is taking care of everyone."

4.  Acorn Sox - Another shameless self-stocking-stuffer, I enjoyed wearing my Acorn Sox while also giving them to almost everyone as gifts.  Made from recyled materials,  these vegan fleece wonders are just the right amount of cush and keep you feet warm yet totally breathable.  Polyester fleece used to on my naughty list, but thanks to Acorn Sox and a little research, we have a new understanding. 

 5.  OregaSpray - North American Herb and Spice Co.'s OregaSpray is a true necessity for winter and all year round.  Oregano Oil is a natural anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral... it does it all.  As a mother of small children, I keep mine on hand at all times.  I've been known to douse elevator buttons, public train tables, tiny hands and even my own throat if necessary (it's totally edible.)  As a bonus, it leaves that nice pizza smell temporarily wafting in your wake.  Get yours here.

Cloth Diaper Mama-Drama

Everyone has a roller-coaster relationship.  One minute your in love, the next total disdain.  Finding excuses for irrational behaviour is easy for humans.  My love affair with cloth diapers is no less dramatic than a bad daytime soap, and similarly mine has an obsessive beginning.

Pregnant with Micah, my first child, my mind entered a permanent state which I can only describe as "excessively tox-spicios."  Once during the roundest month of my pregnancy, my unassuming aunt assertively rubbed grocery store brand lotion on my exposed baby-sphere.  Grabbing the nearest kitchen towel, I wiped fervently at the offending petrochemicals while racing to the shower.

When he was born, I expressed my dedication to swaddling his pure and precious little bum in organically grown comfy cotton diapers until the day he was potty trained.  I did well with a stack of prefolds and bummis covers for the first year.  I was diligent then.  There was no chore more satisfying than a clothsline uniformly hung with cotton rectangles flapping in the wind.  When Micah was 14 months old we stayed with friends for a week during a move.  That's the week that commercial brand diapers found their way into my regimen.  Wow, so soft for paper diapers!  So easy to put on... and those cute little Pooh characters couldn't possibly be indicators of some dark disposable secret.  I was (temporarily) hooked.

With my second baby I stocked up on variety.  Little Meric has been pampered in Fuzzi Bunz, Swaddlebees, Little Beetle, Kissaluvs, Eco-baby, Imse Vimse, Bummis, Hemparoos, Aristocrats, and two dozen fresh prefolds.  (Planning to review them all in future posts.)  My motto became: Whatever you do eight times everyday should be fun, even if it's changing a diaper.  My interesting arsenal of nappies has gotten me through well into the sixteenth month, although I must admit a former addict's fascination with 7th Generation disposables and a brief affair with Little G pants.

Some points of eco-intrest to help you with diapering decisions: (Source: The New Parents Guide)

• It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone.
• Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.  (Little G diapersclaim to be compostable, I'll let you know in 90 days!)
• Disposable paper diapers contain sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper.  Sodium polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions and is very harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Some dyes and dioxin according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver.

Now some practical tips to help minimize your own diaper-drama:

• Variety really is the spice of life.  Different situations require different diapering options.  Prefolds are fine for spending time at home, but pocket diapers travel well and hold more.
• Washing cloth diapers is easy: 1. run through a cold cycle with no soap to rinse well 2. wash with a small amount of soap on hot to sterilize, add extra rinse cycle 3. line dry or tumble (detailed wash tips at Green Mountain Diapers)
• Oh yeah, and whether using cloth full time or part time paper: ALWAYS put solids in the toilet.  Not only will your house smell better, but this helps minimize untreated waste going into landfills.

My husband still smirks at the look of satisfaction I get when all the cloth diapers are clean and folded neatly into their catagorized baskets.  He also appreciates the stash of "natural" paper diapers I keep around for his mornings with the kids.  Micah remembers everything and once wanted to know why I don't buy the character diapers for his brother.  "Chemicals." I told him.  He understood.

Micah is now four years old.  This morning he asked me "What is Helpful, my baby octopus, made out of?"
"Polyester."  I informed.
"Is is organic?"
"Nope."
"Is it natural?" he inquired futher.
"It's man-made."  I said.  At this he promply washed his hands with soap and water.   Honestly, I couldn't make this stuff up.  I guess tox-spicious-ness is passed on easily to children.  So far, I'm okay with that.

Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle, Re-Gift!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Holidays almost over,
But friends still come over,
Unexpected cheer
I'm so glad re-gifting season is here.

There'll be parties for crashing
And tastes for the clashing and
Some gifts that just aren't a score.
So carefully repack them and
Watch it unwrap, it's the moment you
Didn't work for.

Taking credit for gifts you didn't buy
Yes, it once was a secret
Now every one gets it
There's no taboo here,
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Happy Holidays with Love, from Eve

Breastfeeding is good for the environment too!

There are many important decisions to make when preparing for your new baby.  Numero uno on the eco-mamma's list of concerns is preserving the stability of our planet which will be her lifetime home.  In years past environmental issues have taken a back seat to seemingly more pressing concerns, but with climate change creating rampant chaos around our globe, the integrity of our atmosphere has found itself a seat at the head of the table.

As with most modern comforts, there are hidden environmental costs to the most accepted form of feeding your baby.  Bottle feeding is so widely practiced that it's almost expected of each new mother, that she will give her baby formula from a bottle: synthetic mother's milk from a pretend breast nipple.  It seems a little strange when you stop to ponder it, but let's really dig deep, shall we?

I was just reading that the average bottle-fed baby will go through 8-10 cans of formula per month.  Even at $25 per can, that's a couple hundred bucks a month at least...wow.  Well, that's hard on the pocket book, but let's take a look from the earth's viewpoint:

• The base of most formula begins it's journey inside a non-organically fed dairy cow's painfully enlarged udder.  After consuming 30 gallons of water and 100 lbs of grains each day, some of her milk may be reserved to make formula for human babies.  First the milk is heat pasteurized to kill any offending bacteria the antibiotics might have missed, which also kills the enzymes that would have benefited her calf (or the human baby) in digesting her milk. The milk is then dehydrated and enriched with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids (if you buy the more expensive kind) and all the other healthy things that human mother's milk naturally contains.  The powdered formula is then packed in cans (most likely) lined with BPA, a known hormone disruptor that may leach into the product.  The packed cans are shipped by carbon emiting diesel trucks to the local grocery store.  The new parents will purchase the formula on their weekly shopping trips, bring it home, mix it with sterile water and put it into sterilized (maybe plastic) bottles which will be slightly warmed by some means of energy production before being fed to the hungry baby.  Whew!
   
  
• While there are some soy formulas and some "organic" cow's milk formulas, the majority of baby formula has a conventional cow's milk base.  All cows produce methane; a greenhouse gas which is 260 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming our atmosphere.
   
  
• Another environmental concern is that of water shortage.  It takes 2,000 gallons of fresh water to produce just 1 gallon of cow's milk., when considering the amount of water she drinks as well as the amount needed to grow her food.  (Source: Natural News)
   
  

Now, barring any unforseen circumstances... baby can count of a constant supply of nutrition.  But, as we have in recent times, global warming has made it hard to pedict our Earth's behaviours.  What if there is a natural disaster in your area?  What if the water treatment plant shuts down and the stores sell out of bottled water?  What if there is a problem with the transportation that delivers the packed formula?  What if you or your family becomes stranded in a vehicle or even in your own home for an unspecified amount of time?

It's been two years since, but I'm still inspired by the story of Kati Kim, a mother who kept her baby and 4 year old daughters healthy and well for 9 days while trapped in a snowbound car in the wilderness.  When they were rescued, the trio was in excellent condition given their ordeal. (Source: abc News)

My obviously strong position on the matter of breastfeeding is this:  I feel that all women should be given unlimited educational and personal support to protect the nursing relationship between mother and baby.  I have found in my conversations about breastfeeding that most women want to nurse or try to nurse their baby at first but many don't continue due to lack of support.

I've  learned to type one-handed as my free arm frequently cradles my 15 month old nursling.  All children are creatures of habit.  Mine have an impulsive need for attention as soon as I sit down to write.  For the youngest, this means climbing into my lap for a little nurse and nap session.  He must get that snuggle-down feeling as soon as he hears the click-clack of the keyboard.  Sweet dreams, little guy.

By the way, I really regret that delivering information is such a somber mission somtimes.   Unfortunatly though, we are inheriting a system permiated with short-sightedness.  For environmentally conscious persons who are trying to live life in a more simple and sustainable way... the art of inspecton can be a dampering ordeal.  When it comes to children though, and their safety, their futures, their right to purity; I try to speak up whenever possible.  Thanks for listening!