During the summer of 2007, I’d been writing for b5media for a while, and when my editor at the time asked for ideas for a new blog, I suggested Tree Hugging Family. I’d seen all sorts of green blogs, but none for families in particular, and being in a family, that made me cranky. My editor loved the idea and by the end of summer, Tree Hugging Family sprouted.

Almost 1,000 green posts later, it’s time for me to move on to other adventures.

Your new blogger here is someone you hopefully remember – Peggy! Our ex (and now back) THF co-blogger. Peggy left a year ago, and has been missed, so it’s awesome she’s coming back. She’s a great friend of mine, a super cool blogger, and I know this blog will be in excellent hands.

I’ll still be hanging around THF as a loyal reader, but if you miss me a lot, I’m an easy blogger to find. I’ve got plenty of green projects going on around the web. Come visit me at one of them.

The decision to leave THF is hands down the hardest blogging decision I’ve ever had to make. I adore this blog and love the readers here and all of your thoughtful, helpful comments. I feel like my son Cedar and me have both been able to grow so much greener over the years and a lot of that is due to the constant positive reader feedback and participation here.

Tree Hugging Family has been an amazing journey and it’s been such a huge honor that you’ve all shared your green goals, green living challenges, and ideas here. I wish all of you and your families well in your continuing efforts to get green, stay green, and build a cleaner, more eco-friendly world for your kids.

Take care and keep on hugging those trees!

It’s much safer for your kids if you banish household bugs without the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides. Here’s how to deal with buggies without icky junk…

• Keep crumbs off the floor; especially in well hidden areas like under the fridge, under stove burners and in-between the fridge and cupboards.
• Never leave standing water anywhere in the house – bugs like to drink your standing water so eliminate it. Watch for leaks and puddles under the fridge and in the basement.
• Block them – try caulking holes and gaps in the walls, especially around baseboards and doors. Most bugs move into your home via cracks.
• Be tidier – I know, it sucks but bugs (other than cockroaches) like it messy. Be sure to clean up piles of paper especially.
• IF you go with poison – DO NOT use a bomb or spray, instead try a bait or gel trap with will won’t fume into your home, but the poison will end up back with the bug wherever he’s hanging out (usually in the wall).
• Try some natural bug barriers. There are tons of herbs, spices, and oils that bugs hate.
• See more pest prevention methods.

[image via stock.xchng] 1

If you’re still looking for some super cute Halloween treats that are fast and easy, I’ve got a round up of some ideas for you. All of these treats take very little time and some, like the first adorable Halloween ghosts are even somewhat healthy. Note, of course like always, not all these treats are branded organic. It’s an easy enough switch though. Simply exchange conventional ingredients for organic.

BOO! Ghost Strawberries

Frighteningly cute ghost strawberries! I LOVE these. It’s crazy how simple but adorable a treat can be. Kids will adore these.

More spooky edible fun…

I’d never eat spider eggs – not for a million buck. But you might like them.

Pear “Ghosts” and Apple “Jack-o’-Lanterns” – really, ultra, super cute.

I’m not a huge fan of quick foods like ready made biscuits or cookies, but if you’re willing to make your own organic quick biscuit or cookie dough, Pillsbury has some cute and very fast Halloween ideas you can use with it, such as Crescent Mummy Dogs (PLEASE use organic hot dogs or soy though!!!), Black Beans in Boo Bowls, and Spooky Spider Cookies.

Mini Halloween Cakes

And one treat that takes a little longer. I KNOW I did say fast, but I found these and can’t believe how amazing they are. I think it’d be worth the extra time to make these truly unique little Mini Pumpkin Cakes. Seriously cute right!?

Swell Foop is a company making organic tees for almost the whole darn family. Of course, being that they’re a sustainable clothing company they’ve decided that people on earth consist of primarily newborns to toddlers and adults. All those years in-between – huh? Seriously the day I see companies making sustainable clothes (LOTS of them) for kids ages 6 years to teens I will faint.

Rant aside, they’re not doing anything that all the other companies aren’t plus this company is affordable so on with the show.

Swell Foop makes 100% organic tees and tanks for women, mens tees, tees for toddlers, and baby onesies. The designs are simply and feature endangered animals, but not in an obnoxious way. There are many color choices and prices are affordable. The company also donates 10% of proceeds to environmental causes. I LOVE the cute elephant onesie above.

Check out Swell Foop if you’re looking for some good basic organic pieces.

Greening a baby’s room is maybe one of the easiest green home tasks around. Everyone’s concerned with baby safety, so there’s plenty of products to choose from. Before focusing on green toys and gear focus on the actual space to maximize the healthy qualities of the nursery. Here are three things you should skip for a green nursery…

FLOR baby area rug above - FLOR products are made with renewable and recycled content and are recyclable at the end of their life.

Skip the carpet: Carpet fibers trap in plenty of allergens. When I was building a house one of the flooring experts we talked to said you can never, ever get your carpets truly clean, no matter how powerful a cleaning machine you rent. A better choice is to choose a sustainable wood floor. If wood floors sound chilly, you can also get an area rug. Many are being made with postconsumer materials nowadays and you can clean these much easier than attached carpet.

Skip the wallpaper: Most wallpaper contains PVC. Your choices – go with a low to no VOC paint, choose some fun non-toxic wall decals, or head to MOD GREEN POD - one of the few companies making toxic free wallpaper.

Skip the plastic blinds: First of all if you’ve got another choice than plastic why not choose it? Secondly, I think plastic blinds look tacky. Better than plastic blind choices include certified organic textiles, hemp curtains, shades made from paper, reeds, bamboo and other grasses, and FSC-certified wooden blinds and shutters. Be sure to look for coverings made with non-toxic finishes and low impact inks as well. Read more about eco-friendly window coverings.

MOST of us can’t afford hybrids. They sound good and all, but they’re not a killer reality for many families who one, have a strict budget, and two, need more space than the most affordable hybrids allow.

Instead…

• Make your own ride as efficient as possible. If you drive a serious gas guzzler but you drive less than other folks you’re still gonna come out ahead. Make a goal to drive less, combine trips, and bus it or bike or (gasp) even walk more.
• Empty out the trunk. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that simply removing excess weight from your car can green your ride. For example, when you lose 100 pounds of gear your MPG improves by 2% – which adds up.
• SLOW DOWN! How super fast do you really need to get to the store anyhow?
• Keep your car properly maintained. Things like old oil filters, badly inflated tires, and other basic maintenance blunders will make your car less efficient and thus less eco-friendly.
• Carpool whenever possible.
• Buy cheap gas – which sounds bad but actually the higher the octane, the worse it is for the planet. Aromatics, otherwise known as harmful pollutants, are added to high octane gasoline.
• Use cruse control on the freeway.
• No matter the car you purchase, make sure it’s got a longer life rating that average. Long lasting = greener.

And of course, keep on saving up for your dream hybrid

Actually, getting toxic chemicals out of your child’s life entirely is going to take some doing. You’ve got car emissions, non-organic foods, plastic toys and more to contend with. You shouldn’t also have to worry about your home cleaning and bath and body care products. However, a smart green parent should worry – A LOT.

Although most parents in the U.S. consider home cleaners pretty safe, most are anything but safe. In fact more the American Association of Poison Control Centers notes that 1.25 million kids younger than six years of age are unintentionally poisoned in the home each year by things you’d expect (pain relievers and cough and cold medicines) but also lots of stuff you’d not suspect such as cosmetics, personal bath care products, and basic home cleaners. Furthermore, Studies by the Environmental Working Group conducted research that shows that nearly 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants can be found in the umbilical cord blood of newborns. That is insane.

Million Baby Crawl, a new campaign launched and sponsored by Seventh Generation hopes to get some of these toxic chemicals out of your child’s life for good though. It’s about time too. Congress passed that nation’s chemical regulatory law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TCSA) 33 YEARS AGO and as of right now, the EPA has managed to test only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds developed for products used in the home. Way to go congress.

Additionally, the EPA has zero authority to gather information to evaluate a chemical’s risk because product manufacturers are not required by law to give that info to the EPA or to even prove a chemical’s safety as a condition of use. We aren’t doing very well at all when it comes to protecting our children – at least not from a whole country standpoint.

Join the campaign!

Seventh Generation and supporters of the Million Baby Crawl think that chemical manufacturers should be required by law to conduct safety testing before a chemical is used in products. As a parent, I’m sure you agree. You can help support the effort by doing the following…

• Visit Million Baby Crawl and create a crawler that represents why you want chemical reform. The Million Baby Crawl will help to present the Kids Safe Chemical Act to Washington by collecting signatures from Americans who support toxic chemical reform.
• Post about the Million Baby Crawl at your own blog.
• Follow the Million Baby Crawl discussion on Twitter #mbcrawl.

Until chemical laws are passed you still have a choice though. DON’T clean with conventional toxic cleaners. Make homemade green cleaners or buy safe green cleaners.

Kids’ Kitchen 40 Fun and Healthy Recipes to Make and Share written by Fiona Bird and illustrated by Roberta Arenson is a cook kids cooking deck with 40 cards (6″x8″ ) that share healthy ideas about easy recipes that kids can make.

This deck is child-friendly and colorful plus all forty recipes in this cute deck are based around the five main food groups, and offer a focus on healthy eating.  Food and vitamin facts are included, along with plenty of veggie and fruit filled recipes, which is nice (it’s not packed with meat).

The cool names like Picnic Kabobs, Apple Volcanoes, and Mean Green Guacamole will get kids on board with healthy cooking too. Ages 8 and up

Bonus material included at Barefoot Books website includes handy instructions about how to make your own pint sized chef hat – I’d used recycled paper.

Visit Kids’ Kitchen 40 Fun and Healthy Recipes to Make and Share to see more images from this cooking deck.

ecosystem is a newer line of earth friendly planners and journals (or books as they call them) that are easily personalized. Ecosystem was further designed to empower environmentally aware product owners. Each book has a unique book ID number, which you can use to track a book’s origins, learn how they are environmentally-friendly, and to find out exactly how to recycle each book.

How it works:

1. You head to ecosystem and choose a book type – ecosystem Advisor, ecosystem Architect, ecosystem Artist, or ecosystem Author.
2. You choose a cover style.
3. You choose a size.
4. You choose the color. Current colors available include the ones shown below.
5. You customize your book with a variety of insets from calendars to grids to lists and more.
6. You get to see a picture of the finished product and if it’s perfect you purchase it.

All ecosystem books are made with 100% post consumer waste paper and the following environmental savings are achieved by ecosystem products.

ecosystem is great option if you like to create your own perfect planner or journal.

[images via ecosystem]

BPA has long been known to be a problem. Plenty of studies over the years have linked BPA to birth defects, low birth weights, cancer, early puberty and other health problems in rats even as the FDA continues to state that BPA is perfectly safe for families. The problem is that there hasn’t been enough long-term testing on BPA, and we can’t honestly know that it’s safe.

What we do know based on studies is that BPA leeches out of many a baby bottle that contains it; especially once you heat those bottles up (say in the dishwasher). The best choice is to avoid BPA until we clearly know the effect it has on our own bodies and our kids bodies. With that in mind, here are some BPA-free baby bottles you can choose…

• Momo
• Born Free
• Green to Grow
• Mam
• Evenflo
• Dr. Browns
• Thinkbaby
• Lifefactory
• Weil Baby
• Nature Pure

[image via Momo]