Ecominded Mama

Buy replacement parts

I was in a baby store shopping for a gift for my friend the other day, and I happened to notice that they sold replacement valves for the sippy cups my daughters use. They didn't have what I needed -- replacement tops for those same sippy cups, which our dog chewed on -- so I looked online, and voila! Playtex sells sippy cup tops individually. It would never have occurred to me to look online for replacement parts for things like sippy cups, but buying just the part I was missing instead of a whole new cup saved me money and saved the three lidless sippy cups I had from going in the garbage (they aren't labeled for recycling). I'm going to remember this in the future when just a part of something breaks -- why buy a whole new one when I can replace the broken part?

Healthytoys.org toy rankings

It's Christmas Eve, and those celebrating the holiday tomorrow have probably already bought the toys they're planning to give as gifts. But if you haven't, or will be buying a toy soon, check out the Test My Toy results on Healthytoys.org. The site's users nominated 14 toys for the organization to test for lead, bromine, cadmium, chlorine/PVC, arsenic, and mercury, and the results were released on December 18. Products made in China have been getting a bad rap as of late, but only two of the toys that got a "medium" ranking (meaning they had medium levels of one or more of the chemicals) is produced in China. Even better, only 5 of the 14 toys got a medium ranking -- the other 9 were all low. 

Shop at consignment stores

I'm lucky enough to have two great kids' consignment stores near me, and I've found some fantastic bargains. Today I bought one of my daughters a Lands' End dress similar to this one (currently selling for $45) for $8. It's in perfect condition and looks like it was never worn, and she loves it. It's easy to see the cost savings associated with buying used clothes (particularly for fast-growing kids), but doing so has environmental benefits as well -- it's a perfect "reuse" scenario.

Good articles about eco-friendly diapers

The talk at my playgroup turned to diapers today, so I thought I'd see if I could find some insightful articles with reviews and information about eco-friendly diapers. I found three that, when read together, offer a pretty comprehensive overview of the eco-friendly diaper market:

• Green Your... Diapers: This article includes a broad overview of the environmental impacts of diapers, both cloth and disposable. It's a good place to start if you're deciding between the two types.

• The Case for Disposable Diapers: The first of a two-part series (the second part is Cloth Diaper Brands You Can Trust), this article focuses on the practical reasons some very ecominded parents go with disposables and gives information about readily available eco-friendly brands.

• Throw the Bums Out: The eco-friendly diapers reviewed in this article were put through real world (and real baby) tests. It also includes interesting information about the materials used in each of the diapers.  

More eco-friendly toys

I've been a fan of the site ModMama.com for a few years, but didn't think to check their site when I was looking into eco-friendly toys. We have a few of the toys they sell (my girls love the cutting food box, and I think the toaster may be under our Christmas tree in a few short weeks) -- it really is a comfort to know that the paint is lead-free and that the toys are solidly built from natural materials. 

If you know of other sites that feature eco-friendly toys, please drop me a line.  

Natural & Organic category on ToysRus.com

Attention online shoppers! I just discovered that toy giant Toys R Us makes it easy to search for their environmentally friendly toys, bath products, bedding, clothes, gear, and more with their Natural & Organic category. Oddly enough, it's not listed in the category section in the main navigation bar (they do list eco-friendly furniture and eco-friendly toys, however), but it's worth following the link above -- I was impressed by the breadth of their offerings.

I was curious to see if other major toy retailers were also promoting their environmentally friendly kids' products as a category, and it appears they aren't -- I looked at KBtoys.com, Walmart.com, and Amazon.com, and none of them have a specific category devoted to eco-friendly products. 

Kids spreading the word

I was in a local cafe today and heard some older women at the next table talking about "that flyer" by the bathrooms, and although I couldn't quite catch what the flyer said from the snippets of conversation I heard, I could tell it was something to do with the environment. How cool is it that a child's drawing (click on the picture to enlarge it) got two senior citizens to think about their driving habits ? What a great way to spread the word about the negative impacts of idling.

Reusable containers instead of plastic bags

I used to send my 4-year-old daughter to preschool with her snacks in plastic sandwich bags, but a few weeks ago I decided to try the Take & Toss plastic containers, hoping that she'd bring them home in her snack bag each day so we could reuse them but not quite sure if she'd remember to. But she has -- every day! I've cut my use of sandwich bags dramatically, and we haven't lost a single container or lid. I was so impressed by her ability to bring them home that I've started sending a real spoon on days when she takes yogurt or macaroni & cheese or other foods that require a spoon to eat them, and not one has been left at school.   

An eco-friendly Halloween?

I had hoped to make my daughters' Halloween costumes (in whole or in part), both to save a little money and to make them more unique, but the request for costumes this year stumped me: mermaids -- matching mermaids. I considered sewing costumes for about 5 minutes, then remembered that my sewing skills are pretty pathetic (I'm working on that, though). I looked online first and found several contenders, but I wanted to be true to my eco-values and shop locally. The problem: None of the stores near me (independent stores or mega-chains) had matching mermaid costumes in their sizes. So after all that driving around, I ended up ordering the costumes online. Not exactly a shining environmental example! I'm making up for it a little by having the girls carry their Halloween goodie bags that I bought at a local store and that still look great after two years of trick-or-treating. It's something, right? Right.     

Klean Kanteen water bottles

The Klean Kanteen bottles I bought for the girls are a hit -- they love to drink out of them (I'm not sure why, exactly, but they do). My only complaint is that the ones I bought have the sports top, and it leaks if the girls turn it upside down and definitely if they shake it upside down if the cover is off (it doesn't leak when the cover is on, though).  If I come across some in my travels, I'm going to buy the nipple/sippy adapter caps -- I'm not quite ready to order them yet because we primarily use the bottles for water and a little spilled water doesn't bother me. If I decide to make the switch and get rid of all of our plastic sippy cups, though, I'll stock up on the adapter caps. 

I was curious about one thing, though: the plastic cap. Isn't it unsafe to have the girls suck on plastic? I checked the Klean Kanteen site, and they have a pretty reasonable answer (a steel cap might crack or break teeth if they got bumped by the cap) and a decent solution (you can buy a steel cap on their website). 

More news today about BPA

I admit that I'm not comforted by the statement, but Laura Tarantino, a senior Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist, said today that "A margin of safety exists that is adequate to protect consumers, including infants andchildren, at the current levels of exposure (to BPA)." I'm not comforted because the rest of the article where that quote appears (published on Yahoo! but written by two Associated Press writers) provides strong evidence that BPA (bisphenol A) does have health consequences. I'm of the opinion that it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to health concerns -- what damage can I do by reducing the amount of plastic in our lives? -- so I've tried to switch to using glass or ceramic cups and containers whenever possible. I actually bought two 12 ounce Klean Kanteen bottles yesterday for my daughters at the Container Store and will post about how they're working out after a few days, but seeing this article made me wish I'd bought more so that I could throw away (or recycle if I can) the rest of our sippy cups.

In case you're wondering about the baby bottles or sippy cups you have at home, check page 3 of the Smart Plastics Guide (published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy) to see if yours are listed. It's also a good primer on the different types of plastics and which ones to avoid -- their catchy "With your food, use 4, 5, 1, and 2 -- All the rest aren't good for you" phrase makes it easy to remember their recommendations.  

Refashioned giveaway

We went to see the ponies at Saratoga over Labor Day weekend (didn't win a dime, though), and we happened to go on "cooler bag" giveaway day (see the "before" picture at right). I initially thought that I shouldn't even take one because I don't need more logo-covered gear that I may or may not use, but having a cooler bag has been incredibly handy on preschool snack day in the past so I decided to pick one up. Since then I've had second thoughts -- could anything be more distasteful than sending a 4-year-old to school every day with a bag advertising a race track? 

But my daughter was really keen on the idea of it being her special snack bag, so I decided that I needed to figure out a way to cover up the logo. The bag is made of a nylon-type material, so I couldn't use iron-on patches, and using permanent markers to cover up the logo had an element of "defacing property" to it (another great message to send a child!). I finally settled on dimensional fabric paint. My daughter requested flowers, so I painted three on the front to cover up the logo (see the "after" pic at right... and no, I won't be offended if you laugh at my crafting skills) plus a heart on the side on the drink-holder compartment. It's still not quite as cute as I'd like it to be, but my daughter loves it and will happily use it every day, which is the best possible outcome. 

Sigg water bottle

I was a huge fan of the Nalgene bottle, so I was pretty upset when news reports came out that the plastic it's made from could be toxic. We still have a few bottles (mainly because I wasn't sure what to do with them -- mine can't be recycled), but we rarely use them anymore. I looked at some of the alternatives, but I wanted to avoid any plastic ones (out of fear they'd contain BPA or something else equally undesirable) and the metal ones seemed too expensive and heavy.

While we were on vacation we stopped in a Whole Foods and I saw a display of Sigg bottles, and I finally got to hold one for the first time. I equated "metal" with "heavy," but the Sigg bottles are made from aluminum so they're more soda can-ish in weight than soup pot-ish -- they are amazingly light. We bought two and have been using them for about a week, and they are fantastic. They keep cold things cold, don't leak (they say you can even put carbonated beverages in them without fear of leaking), and are pretty stylin' to boot. I'm going to look into replacing our sippy cups with the Sigg kids' versions... I only wish they weren't so expensive.