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…
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. …read more

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 …read more

The Oregon Environmental Council’s Tiny Footprints kit is a good resource for all green parents, not simply Northwest parents. Inside this FREE and handy green baby shower kit you’ll find resources for all sorts of baby shower goodness, and it’s all eco-friendly.

The kit is pretty much a one-stop deal covering the planning stages of a green baby shower all the way up to the actual event with topics such as invites, location, food and drink ideas, party games, decorations, hosting supplies, and green gifts for mama, baby, and guests. Rounding out the guide is a nice eco-friendly birth & first …read more

This month we’ve been looking at alternatives to traditional disposable baby diapers. Next up on the list is the hybrid, or gDiaper.

gDiapers are a unique diaper hybrid in that they’re reusable, flushable and compostable. They’re composed of three elements a washable outer cotton layer (the little G pant) which comes in all sorts of cool designs and colors, a washable waterproof inner layer, and a flushable absorbing insert.
The insert works to absorb liquids, and to manage this contains SAP, that possible toxin I mentioned in the Non-Biodegradable Eco-Disposable Diapers post. gDiaper of course takes the approach that SAP is non-toxic …read more

This month we’ve been looking at alternatives to traditional disposable baby diapers. Of all the reusables, all-in-one types are one of the best, in my opinion because they’re affordable, reusable, and offer quick and easy on and off diaper changes.

There’s a large array of all-in-one type cloth diapers for those who don’t want to go the prefold route. These diapers are completely reusable, include some sort of side attachable i.e. Velcro or snaps, and don’t need to be folded because they come ready to wear. Basically you buy a diaper, put it on your baby, take it off, wash it, …read more

Non-biodegradable disposable green diapers are next on our Green Diapers 101: Eco-friendly Diaper Round-Up. Greener disposables are only a notch up from regular disposables. In fact, I’m leery of saying green; what they are is healthier for your baby (maybe), but not really a green diapering choice. Many people think all green diapers biodegrade. NOT TRUE. These are diapers that are still disposable.

Basically, these green disposables are simply made without chlorine, fragrances, or latex, and some are made with eco-friendly wood pulp but many still have stuff like Sodium Polyacrylate (SAP); a gel that’s a chemical water absorber and is …read more

We’re in the middle of our Green Diapers 101: Eco-friendly Diaper Round-Up and right now up on the list are traditional prefold or flat diapers. I’m grouping flat diapers and prefolds together, although they’re not entirely the same thing. A flat diaper consists of just one layer of fabric that you fold into a triangle shape, bringing the front flap up. You’ll need pins or a Snappi to close the diaper and a diaper cover.
A prefold diaper has multiple layers in it which results in a folding of sorts – hence the “prefold”. You fold the prefold up and can …read more

The other day I posted about Huggies insane (and lame) attempt at green diapers. They did a really bad job, missing the mark completely. However, there are plenty of actual eco-friendly diapers around, ones that make more sense that Huggies.

FIRST DO YOUR RESEARCH:
Green Mountain Diapers: Offers the best 411 on reusable diapers. From traditional prefold cloth diapers, to tiny newborn cloth choices, to cloth diaper covers; you’ll get useful info on all of them. The Green Mountain Diaper website also includes cloth diaper FAQs, reviews, and how-to wash guides; all perfect for a new user of cloth diapers. Our friends …read more

We’ve seen a lot of greenwashing efforts in our days here at Tree Hugging Family, (anyone remember the great eco Palmolive debate of 2008?) but the greenwashing campaigns that irk me the most are the ones aimed at green parents specifically.

The newer Huggies Pure & Natural diapers from maker Kimberly Clark, are a perfect example of greenwashing – maybe one of the better examples I’ve seen in a good long while. First of all these diapers appeared on the scene right around Earth Day this year – which is a great time to lure in unsuspecting parents because everyone has …read more

If you happen to be green lovin’ and preggers there are plenty of eco-products available to help ease your pregnancy along. Here are three eco-friendly pregnancy products to check out…

One adorable organic maternity tee (or more!) three I LOVE include the tees shown above, all are 100% organic cotton and printed with non-toxic inks. Available at Euphoria Maternity:

Seeded Organics Boy Sprout Maternity Tee
Seeded Organics “Green Mama” Maternity Tee
Pure T Buy a Tee, Plant a Tree Organic Top

You know you want to keep primping during your pregnancy, but nail polish with all its toxic ingredients is a …read more