Another BPA article

Though I have written about BPA before, I thought I'd post a link to an article that my mother in law sent me. 

http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0050200&ct=1

I do like the Thermos sippy cups, though they leak a little bit.  I will probably get a Klean Kantene soon and I will review compare the two.

Making Dresses for the girls

At last- a non-f00d, non-eco topic...

I have a new hobby... though I guess it was an old hobby that I fell in love with again. I have sewn as long as I can remember... I made Barbie dresses and dresses for my dolls.  When I got married, I made curtains and bedspreads.  I even tried once or twice to make a dress for Caroline. I had a machine that had a terrible problem with the bobbins... so I didn't sew as much.  When I got a new machine (an Elna 3500) several years ago (thanks to a birthday present from my aunt), I sewed more, but stuck with household items.

Lately, I was making nursing covers. And I was making one for my friend Sarah who was having her fourth child. When shopping for fabrics I found the Apples and Pears fabric and I felt I had to make something more than her nursing cover with it.  I didn't need any more curtains, so I decided to make dresses for the girls.  Claire's was first, it is tiered so it spins (she loves "spinning dresses" and she was with me when I found the fabric.  Caroline's came next. Since she was turning seven, I decided to make a more grown-up dress, and copied one she already had. Then I made pants and a skirt for Claire and Emma and appliqued t-shirts (the same friend Sarah being my inspiration) to match.  At this point, we were discussing flower girl dresses for my brother's  upcoming wedding. His fiancee had a beautiful, simple flower girl dress in mind. Ready to order, I hesitated... I could make the dress. And so I volunteered... I found a pattern, and made a practice dress for Emma. It was too big in the bodice and she hated it. (Despite the fact that she isn't even 1 1/2 yet- she has shown an obvious preference for more colorful and bold fabrics).  So, I made the last apple and pear dress in the same pattern as the flower girl dress, changing the bodice to a size 12 months and keeping the skirt in the size 24 months. And it is almost perfect.  She loves it... Caroline and Claire love theirs as well.  The best part- Caroline is outside sewing with a real needle, trying to make a skirt for her American doll.  Maybe in 10 years, we'll be making her prom dress together.

Here are some pics...

Matching pants and skirt with appliqued t-shirts...

The too big flower girl dress...

Same dress with the sash... she really did not like it!

The girls in their "matching" dresses... 

Emma's apples and pears dress. Same dress as the flower girl dress.. just different fabric!!

What is "green"? What works? What is just marketing? Where to find the answers

Have you noticed that many new hair products have "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate- Free" or "Paraben-Free" written on their bottles?  Now that Clorox has come out with its Green line, do you wonder whether to try these or other "green" products rather than use your old standby Tylex or Pine-sol? There are so  new many "eco" or "green" products out there that it is hard to figure out what is better, worth paying a bit more or whether to stick with what you know.  What threatens the environment and/or  poses a risk to you or your family's health and what is just marketing? I was and still am asking myself these questions and I came across a few resources I thought I'd write about.

I looked up Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Parabens on Wikipedia, and they didn't seem all to concerned. They acknowledged that there is controversy, but their articles weren't at all as in depth as the ones regarding the Bisphenol-A and Pthalates.  So I dug a little deeper.  I bought a book, checked one out of the library and found a couple of websites.  I won't reiterate everything I have read since it would take me about 500 pages. I will recommend the books:

Raising Baby Green, The Earth Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care by Alan Greene, M.D.

This book I recommend you borrow from the library or a friend.  It is simple and easily read, but it doesn't offer much in depth discussion of the topics.  It lists good ideas of how to live "green" but seems more focused on what you can do rather than on the why.  Why was one of my first words... I like to know why!! 

GreenGreenerGreenest- A Practical Guide to Making Eco-Smart Choices a Part of Your Life by Lori Bongiorno.

This is a nice little book that is handy as a guide, it is printed on 100% Recycled Paper and printed with vegetable based ink.  I would recommend buying it as it does outline the problems and then  it lists the green, greener and greenest choices. It is small and could fit in a purse.  It is much better suited to someone who wants to understand the issues. Yet, its just under 300 pages, so a lot of it is condensed.  Still it gives a nice overview of the issues and good discussion on what you can do.

A great website is by National Geographic. It is called the www.GreenGuide.com.  This site has real science and is run by a reputed and known company.

This site had the best answer to my question about personal care products.  Both books discussed at different length the increase risk of cancer associated with the chemicals in these products, but not in any detail.  What I found at the greenguide.com is that while Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and parabens could potentially be cancerous, the real issues deal with formaldyhide and polyethelynes.  Sodium Lauryl Sulfates is grouped with the later and these compounds are can become contaminated with 1,4 dioxane which has caused liver cancer in mice.  Some other ingredients, such as diethanolamine and triethanolamine, can react with nitrites (preservatives) inside the shampoo bottle to form carcinogenic nitrosamines, which can be absorbed through the skin.  The list goes on and I would rather you check out the website than retype what is already well explained.

Another website that is good is called Skin Deep: www.cosmeticdatabase.com. There you can see how your personal care products rate in terms of safety and sometimes read reviews.

A third website you may be interested is by CHEC's HealtheHouse.  www.checnet.org/HealtheHouse/myehome/index.asp  You can take an online test and it will give you an analysis of the state (healthy or not) of your home.

My thought is this:  If I keep myself reasonably educated, I can make better decisions for my family.  When I buy any product more than once, I consider it an endorsement of the practices that the company selling the product employs.  So when I buy local, organic or something that is "eco", I do it for myself and my family, but I also think of a way to buy interest in the future. I am endorsing that company's way of doing things and voting against large companies who look only at the bottom line. 

Seventh Generation is a great company who develops ecologically responsible products. They also have a great webpage you should check out.

On the back of the Seventh Generation Dishwashing liquid they say that if:

"Every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 25 oz petroleum based dishwashing liquid with our (Seventh Generation's) vegetable based product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year!"

I like this approach.  I can't afford to install solar panels, I still need to drive places, clean my house, etc so I try to do as much in the rest of my life to offset my carbon footprint and reduce my contribution to pollution and waste. If a product is non-toxic, biodegradable and can help offset my carbon footprint, I'll pay the roughly 50 cents more.  The more "natural" shampoos/ soaps are also more expensive, but precisely because they are I try to waste less. This helps offset their higher costs but also reminds me of how "expensive" household and personal care items often are.  Conventional items may be cheaper on the wallet, but for the most part have a higher environmental and health cost. 

So do I have any recommendations?  I haven't done any major product testing, but here are a few things I have tried and liked.

For household items:  I like Seventh Generations' stuff, but I haven't used Clorox yet.  Since Seventh Generation's company was founded on the principle of providing non-toxic and biodegradable products, like to support them by rather than Procter and Gamble (sorry Tom).

Also, I like Method's bathroom scrub (it comes in a cool bottle with a great sponge) and their toilet bowl cleaner.

For the laundry, I like soapnuts, and also Seventh Generation's laundry detergent.

For personal care:

Aside from Dr. Bronner's soap (now even available at Target) and vegetable based loosed soaps found at Wegmans' and a lot of natural foods stores,  I haven't yet hit the jackpot.  I really like the soaps, but I haven't yet found a shampoo/ conditioner that works for my hair... which is short, straight and fine, nothing too crazy! I am toying with trying the kids shampoo! If anyone knows of one that works well, please let me know.  

For the kids, I have found California Baby, which is great for Emma since not only does it not contain any of the chemicals listed above, but it is soy, gluten and dairy free.  Since she loves to suck on her wash cloth, she isn't getting any of those in her system and hurting her and also keeping us up at night. So far we have tried the baby wash/ shampoo and a cream that works wonders.

What next?  I would like to switch to biodegradable trash bags and freezer storage bags. If not biodegradable, at least made with recycled materials and without harmful chemicals. A post to come!  I will let you know what I find. So far I can't really afford the biobags at $5 for 12... but I am sure there will be some options sooner rather than later!

Monsanto, rBGH, RR corn, and Crop Shares

I have heard of Monsanto before, it is hard not to come across it when looking into food allergies and eating local and organic.  Today however, as I searched the internet about hot dogs and possible allergens, I came across more articles condemning Monsanto and its genetical modified organisms.  

First, let me explain, Monsanto is a biotech corporation, a huge multinational one at that.  It is the company that owns Round-Up as well as the company that developed Agent Orange and a host of pesticides and plastics.  It made the move from chemical company to agricultural biotech company slowly.  In the 1990s it developed a vaccine that helped increase milk production in cows (now knows and r-BGH- recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) and also genetically modified corn, soy and cotton.   What is amazing is how little we know about this and how infiltrated these items are in our foods.

I won't go into huge details, partly because it is above my science for non-science major course work, and partly because you can google and find all of the specifics just like I did.  Essentially, Monsanto has altered mostly corn, soy and cotton seeds in one of two ways.  Either they are considered Round-Up Ready (RR), meaning that they can withstand being sprayed by round-up, or they have been modified with a virus that attacks and paralyses the gut of the insects trying to eat any part of it.  If you think I am exaggerating, look it up for yourself!  Doctors associated with Allergykids.com argue that the increase in Asthma, Allergies, Autism and ADHD is directly correlated to the abundance of these GM foods in our diet.  

For example, the incidence of Milk Protein Allergy has increased so much that in 10 years (coinciding nicely with the introduction of r-BGH) it has become the #1 food allergen.  Also breast and prostate cancer rates have risen; I saw statistics that 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer...  the cows that are vaccinated with r-BGH have shown increase in infertility, birth defects, fetal loss on top of cases of Mastitis that led to greater use of antibiotics.

The correlation between antibiotics and intestinal issues is well established.  But intestinal issues and autoimmune disorders (most of which involve the gut) have also risen in recent years.  According to one site www.rhinebeckhealth.com/rhc/4-a%disorders.php, over the past two decades, Autism has increased 1500%, ADHD 400%, Asthma 300% and allergies 400%.

Most of these disorders are immune related and 70% of our immune system is associated with our intestinal tract. Consuming corn (or soy) that has been modified with a virus that causes gut paralysis in insects seems like it would lead to the increase gut disorders that we and our children are facing today. Most people have never heard of this, nor of Monsanto; it is not news headline material. Actually, two Fox News reporters where fired when they wanted to disclose all of this information.  Not knowing much about the case, I can only presume that Monsanto threatened Fox with a libel suit.

In any case, if there ever was an argument to eat more organically, locally grown foods, this is it! Aside from being obviously better and more sustainable for our planet, of course.  But if you think it will be easy just buying organic corn tortilla chips, think about all of the things that have high fructose corn syrup in them.  Even before this, I thought I was being good about avoiding it. We've made our own ketchup and chicken nuggets.... but neglected to make our own mayonnaise.  I can make mayonnaise, but fresh mayonnaise does not keep since it uses raw eggs.  So I have just bought hellman's or Krafts or Miracle Whip for sandwiches... one more thing to buy organic!

As for buying more locally grown foods, we are going to buy a crop share this year.  A few people I know have been doing this around here and it is great.  You can buy either 1/2 or a full share for somewhere between $250-$650 and you get fresh produce (and sometimes more, such as eggs) every week. They are usually organic or using organic practices and getting certification.  The eggs are usually free range and have not had antibiotics or hormones.  In the northeast they run from June through the end of October. Sometimes, you can also help at the farm and the cost of the share goes down.  You can check out localharvest.com and look for CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture).  They also list all of the farmers markets that are available in your area.  This way, you reduce your carbon footprint; the tomatoes or turnips or strawberries you eat have only traveled the distance from the farm to your house rather than from Chile or California. If you think your kids won't eat parsnips or turnips, think again. Claire likes them and so does Emma (AKA the child that lived off baby rice cereal, oatmeal and alphatots for months).  Caroline loved the pasta sauce I made with swiss chard. 

Of all the things I would buy organic, corn and corn products would be at the top, along with milk and meat. I don't buy soy, since Emma is so intolerant to it. And most soy milks are organic anyway. Usually, I try to buy all my fruits and vegetables as well.  Sometimes this is not possible, and it is expensive.  However, I find that we eat more healthy proportions when we think about the cost of food, which has benefited our waist lines as well!  We'll save on the number of "diets" and medicines we will take in the long run.

Making Paper- fun craft for kids

I can't believe its been a month since my last post!!  Life moves quickly!  At the end of February Caroline had a science and art fair. So, to bridge the two we decided to make recycled paper. I remembered doing it in art class as a child... Caroline really enjoyed it and was very proud of her project at the fair. Essentially, there are a few steps:

1. tear the paper (we used tissue paper- but any would do)

2. Put in the blender along with some water, blend and make pulp.  You'll have to repeat this step several times.

3. Fill a basin or sink with the water/pulp mixture.

4. Take a screen that you have stapled onto an old picture frame and place it in the basin or sink. Swish it around until the pulp is evenly distributed.

5. Remove the screen with the pulp from the basin, and place a piece of cloth (cut to the size of your frame- We used left over fabric from an old project).  PLace it over the pulp and carefuly flip the screen over onto a tray or cookie sheet.

6. Take a sponge and dab it all over the flipped over screen.  Absorb as much water as you can. 

7. Slowly remove the screen, leaving the pulp onto the piece of cloth.

8. Lay the pulp covered cloths on a flat surface to dry overnight.  I placed ours next to the heater in our laundry room.

Banana Oat Muffins- Wheat, Soy, Milk and Egg free

Today we hosted a playgroup and I wanted to make some muffins that all the kids could eat- including Emma and another toddler who was allergic to egg and milk. So I got out the mini-muffin tin again and Claire helped me make these muffins. This recipe makes about 30 mini muffins. At the end of playgroup there were 3 left. I am not sure I would say they are the best, but the kids liked them and Emma could eat them as well.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/3 cup oat flour

1/3 cup rice flour (or ommit the rice and make it 1 2/3 cups oats)
2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer (or 1 egg)
1/4 cup of water
2 tsp baking powder
2 bananas (ripe)
1/3 cups oatmeal (preferable not the quick cooking kind)


1. Beat the oil and sugar together.
2. Add the dry ingredients (except oats), mix using the blender
3. Add the water and the bananas, mix using the blender again
4. Add the oatmeal, stir.

Place about a tablespoon or so in each of the mini-muffin cups and bake at 350 until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean (about 15 minutes.... sorry I forgot to keep track of the time!)

Trying to get to a 1 trash bag a week... cloth diapers and hankies

This week was Claire's birthday and we of course had a birthday party for her. This time we did not use paper or plastic cups, silverware or tablecloths. It seemed silly to be doing cloth diapers and then going and buying $20 worth of of paper or plastic party wear when I had plenty of dishes and tablecloths to go around. I did also have some biodegradeable bowls I had left over from last year's party that we used for the chili and some cake. Since we are moving in a few months, it seemed silly not to use them. We emptied their contents and threw the bowls into the composter. In any case...not a single dish was broken. I did cheat and used juice boxes... I hesitated but then thought that they were less likely to spill those since 11 kids plus babies running around tend to spill things.

It has occured to us (Eric and I) how much of a convenience-centered, throw-away society we live in. Everything is disposable... diapers, dishes, napkins, mop heads, cleaning products... etc. We spend alot of money on those products just to save a few minutes of maintenance. And the landfills grow daily. Last fall, the girls and I took a tour of the local garbage dump and recycling center. If I remember correctly, 17 tractor trailers of garbage leave their facility DAILY. Our town is not that big.... So Eric and I are shooting for having 1 garbage bag a week.

Sadly, we failed this week. We'll try again next week. Between the birthday party, cleaning out our house to get it ready to sell and finally admitting that the kids' toy chairs were beyong repair, we ended up with at least 4 trash bags and the chairs on the side of the road. But we should not have more than 1 trash bag... we recycle, we compost, we use cloth diapers and wipes, and I try to buy our dry goods from the bulk bins and in doing so, reusing the containers. Still, we have never had just 1 trash bag a week.

This is where I am going to make a plug for both cloth diapers and hankerchiefs. I love both and they really aren't that gross. Lets talk about the hankies briefly... the girls love them since I found some very pretty ones on ebay and had some cute ones (hello kitty) from when I was a little girl. They carry them around with them all day and drop them in the hamper at night. I used to find nasty kleenexes all over the house and the dog would eat them and then I'd have to pooper scoop them. Now, I don't. They just get dumped into the wash. I don't bother ironing them. Also, they don't rip and leak or ooze. The contain the mess quite nicely. If you don't have any hankies, check them out on e-bay. They are usually $1 or so for 2-3 and about that much for shipping.

Cloth diapers.... many of my friends and family thought I was insane to try cloth diapering. The only way I talked Eric into it was using pure economics. I spent $400 for 2-3 years worth of diapering. I had to practically sign a contract stating that once I purchased the BumGenuis 2.0 diapers at $18 a piece, I would use them until potty training. Eric now wishes we had used them for all of the girls. He HAS done his share of the diaper laundry and does not hesitate to change a diaper. He tells any one that this is the way to go. First of all, it is much better for the environment... we don't use that much more water. We are billed on a 3 month cycle. I checked our water bill and for the 3 months prior to Emma's birth our usage was 12. The three months before that was 10. After that our usage has stayed in the 9-12 range. I am not sure exactly how much water that is, the number simply reflects changes in our meter. Now I use soap nuts (see my entry form earlier this month- but I LOVE them) and so I don't even put chemicals in the water.

Second, the chlorine and absorbent materials they put in disposables aren't that healthy. Studies have shown that they contain dioxin which in much higher dosages is a known carcinongen. You can buy some that are chlorine free. My friend uses 7th Generation ones and they don't leak for her little girl. We used 1/2 a pack when we traveled to Belgium for the airplane ride and they worked really well. I still prefered the cloth diapers, though.

I like the cloth diapers because I can adjust the absorbency. First, you should know that I use what are called Pocket Diapers. The outside is made of a waterproofed polyester and the inside is made of a micro fleece. (Not very biodegradable- I know- but at least I'll only throw away 24- and one of my siblings will probably use them for their kids before that happens). The fleece is great since it lets the urine through to be absorbed by the insert, but at the same times prevents it from coming into contact with the babies bottom. They fasten with velcro, but have a pocket in which you stuff an absorbent insert. I have hemp and micro terry inserts. At night, I use 2 inserts. The double stuffed diaper is bulky, but Emma doesn't seem to mind since she is only sleeping. She actually doesn't seem to mind at all since she walks around the house before going to bed. With just one insert the diapers last about 3-4 hours. The key to keeping that absorbency is to wash them with the smallest amount of detergent or even better, using the soapnuts. Once they have detergent build-up, they leak. Sometimes adding a water softener (like Calgon) to the wash helps, but I have not had to do this since I started using the soapnuts. Did I say I loved Soap Nuts!?!

As for the grossness factor... I can't be the judge of your tolerance... but I presume you do wipe your baby's bottom, and so in a way are already handling the BMs. Once Emma started to eat solids (and stopped eating Soy, Wheat and Milk products) I was able to shake the BMs into the toilet. There were many months when this was not possible... and everything went into the wash. I wash the diapers 2x, once on cold and then once on hot. My washing machine is no worse for the wear. I use gloves and then wash my hands with the gloves still on to clean them. I wash my hands again, just to be sure. At some point you need to separate the insert from the rest of the diaper. I used to do it as soon as I took it off of her, but now I just do the separating in front of the laundry machine.

Another thing, I bought one size fits all diapers that fit 8lbs-35lbs. For a while, when Emma was still a newborn, Claire wore them at night (as an almost 3 year old that weighed about 31lbs) . So both my kids, 2 years 9 months apart, used the same diapers at the same time. I didn't need to worry about sizes or running to the store. As long as I do diaper laundry every 2-3 days, we have diapers.

You can find out more about cloth diapers and read reviews on different brands at http://www.diaperpin.com/. I bought the BumGenuis 2.0 from http://www.cottonbabies.com/. They made the adjustment from disposable to cloth really easy. I have since checked and they have made a 3.0 version, which is almost identical but has some minor improvements that seem to be more helpful for boys than girls (they added a waterproof strip on the top of the inside so that ther would be no leaks coming out the top- we have never had that issue). Some people swear by Fuzzi Bunz or Happy Heinys. I didn't want those since I don't want to buy multiple sizes. Now, I think I could handle most cloth diapering systems (including pre-folds, which is what most of us think of typically when we say "cloth diapers"). Though Prefolds are by far the cheapest diapering option, I still think $400 for 2-3 years of diapering isn't at all bad!

Here are some early pics of Emma in her BumGenius diapers... she was about 3-4 weeks old and maybe 9-10lbs. These are the green ones, but we also have pink, yellow and blue.

Below are some pictures I took of Emma today, wearing the same diaper... in pink. She is now 15 months old and just under 21lbs. She is on the move!