Bottom Line, Not Green

Did you catch our very own Tamara Champion today in the Toronto Star. Are thinner disposable diapers green?
“It’s still a disposable diaper, correct?” asks Tamara Champion, an Orillia mom of two who runs www.parentingbynature.com a company that sells cloth diapers and other natural baby products. “A throwaway product is a throwaway product, no matter [...]

Make Tap Water Work for You

As I sit here drinking tap water that tastes suspiciously like chlorine, I am aware that I need to rethink my water filter. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a very helpful and thorough guide to tap water, including finding a filter specific to your own water.
1. Identify the [...]

Kids’ Books on Sustainability

Jill Richardson of La Vida Locavore has posted a great list of children’s books on sustainability. Look for a lot more great ideas posted in the comments as well.

Food Industry Weasel Words

I try to make the best food choices for my family. This is not always easy when the food industry uses weasel words to bend meanings.
One of the best food articles I read all of last year was from Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. You may have met him and his farm [...]

Marketing Food to Kids - FTC Report

The Food Renegade posted today on an FTC report on hearing about food marketing to children.
Conclusion of the report? Voluntary standards for advertisers.
I want to give the benefit of the doubt, but I’m just too cynical. As long as there is profit to be made from marketing sugar, fat, and salt—and [...]

Security, We Have a Breastfeeder on Aisle 9

Family in Target in Michigan. One month-old baby cries then mother breastfeeds baby.
Simple, right? Happens every day without notice or incident.
Not this time.
The story doesn’t make it clear what happened between two security guards showing up and them calling two police officers. Target corporate headquarters commented, “This specific situation escalated to [...]

Local holiday consumption discussions & No Impact Man screenings

Have you been talking about holiday consumption with people around you? Our post on children and consumerism sparked discussion on Twitter and Facebook. How about joining in the discussion locally as well?
No Impact Man and Center for the New American Dream are sponsoring this week screenings of the film No Impact Man along [...]

BPA in umbilical cord blood

The Environmental Working Group tested the umbilical cord blood of 10 racial and ethnic minority infants and found 232 toxic chemicals.
Laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group have, for the first time, detected bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic component and synthetic estrogen, in umbilical cord blood of American infants.
9 out of 10 Tested Had BPA

Resources

“Minority [...]

Remembering the Cloth Diaper Option

As locals in Coquitlam, BC, wonder if their throwaway diapers will stink as they wait for trash day, one letter to the editor reminds them that they can avoid the wasteful garbage stink with cloth diapers.
Just think how such a responsible decision will help to save us from environmental collapse, landfill collapse — or a [...]

Forum on Food Marketing to Children

Since our post last week on what parents can do about children and consumerism, I see crazy and questionable marketing to children everywhere. Granted, tis the season to sell to children, but I’ve been really surprised what I see now that my eyes are open wider.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will hold a public [...]