We’ve always known that trees rock; studies show that trees fight asthma in kids, they keep everyone healthier, can save you tons on energy costs, and they’re beautiful and fun to hug. However, trees have some other benefits that you may not have heard of – in fact some of the benefits below I hadn’t even heard of, and I read about trees all the time. The Morton Arboretum has a fabulous piece up at their website about the many (research proven) ways that trees have a positive effect on people’s lives, including their health, homes, businesses, communities, …read more

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and it’s an important month to recognize as 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year. That’s a shockingly high number of women who will be affect by ovarian cancer and unfortunately many women have no idea about the risk factors, support options, or issues surrounding this topic.
Because of this, Seventh Generation has teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) to dedicate one day as “Let’s Talk… Period” Day which aims to place more focus on this important issue and to educate women about ovarian cancer. Another goal of this …read more

The ReDirect Guide Green Sprouts Festival is coming to Portland, Oregon soon. Will you be going? If you live in Oregon or Washington, it should be a manageable event for your whole family.

What is the Green Sprouts Festival: This is a fun, festive, eco-friendly, and educational one-day event for the whole family that celebrates and promotes the nurturing of life through nature. Topics are all earth-friendly in nature and range from pregnancy to childhood allowing parents to learn about eco-friendly, community-involved, natural, and healthy options for raising their families.

Interactive activities & seminars: A wide variety of informative seminars and interactive …read more

I’ve served Cedar cloudy juices for most of his life, mainly because many of the co-ops and natural grocers only recently started making clear organic juices. In the past, when Cedar was a babe, most of the organic juices at the store were simply cloudy as a rule. I’ve had play groups at my house in the past and some parents freak a little about cloudy juice. I’ve had parents tell me, “I don’t give my baby unpasteurized juice!” Which seems to be a common misconception of organic juice.

Santa Cruz Organic Fruit Juices
The 411:

Unpasteurized juice is not normally considered safe …read more

A new study has found that there may be a link between childhood leukemia and pesticides. The study, completed by the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center compared urine of kids with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and their mothers along side healthy children and their mamas.

Kids with ALL more often had elevated levels of common household pesticides then the mama-child pairs without ALL. Obviously the research can’t prove that pesticides cause the cancer, but the findings are evident that we should take a careful look at what we’re exposing our kids to both in food products and household items like …read more

I’ve gotten a lot of reader quesions via email lately. If I haven’t posted your question no worries I’ll get to it sooner or later.

Today’s question comes from River who says, “I found your blog when I searched Popsicle recipes today. Great ideas! I have an allergy to cane sugar. Can the recipes that require a sweetener be made with maple syrup, honey, or agave? Will these interfere with freezing?
Do you know anything about homemade throat lozenges? I have seen a recipe but cannot find it. It takes a large amount of slippery elm, some honey, and other herbs, but …read more

How toxic-free are the baby and child bath products at your house? Many conventional store-bought bath products are full of things your tot sure doesn’t need (pesticides, chemicals, fake colors, and more). Right now we’ve got a great Earth Mama Angel Baby Giveaway going on, and Liz, blog coordinator for Earth Mama Angel Baby, sent me the following challenge to pass on to my readers.
This is a really cool challenge, and something I suggest you try. I personally use Skin Deep all the time to make sure products are safe and green. If you haven’t tried Skin Deep before, now …read more

We’re midway through our Earth Mama Angel Baby Giveaway right now, so it’s about time we looked at some various products.

Product: I Love My Mama Gift Set from Earth Mama Angel Baby.
Details: This gift pack is especially designed to pamper new mamas and soon-to-be new mamas. The set includes Happy Feet soothing organic foot soak; Mint Herbal Lip Balm for kissable lips; uplifting, queasy-quelling Happy Mama Spray (1 oz); Earth Mama Body Butter (2 oz); and nurturing Natural Nipple Butter (1 oz), all packaged in a reusable pink organza bag.
Ingredients: Nothing you can’t pronounce. I’m not up for listing …read more

Bluedominoes is a site set up as one, to sell their bluedominioes Activity Dough and two, to provide information for parents about how to protect the family from hidden sources of lead and other toxic substances found in everyday items, such as dinnerware, toys, food, and cosmetics.

About Activity Dough: This colorful play dough contains organic and all natural ingredients.  It contains zero amouts of lead, heavy metals, bromine, and bisphenol-A. This award winning Activity Dough is also free from all artificial coloring and dyes and is Wheat and Gluten Free. It is Physician Approved, Celiac Sprue Approved, and Feingold Accepted.
About …read more

In this week’s green question we’ve got someone wondering about homemade laundry soap…

On the post, How to choose green cleaners – store bought green cleaners, Caroline says…
“Thank you for taking the time to talk about greener cleaners! Our son who is four has had sever allergies and eczema since he was a baby and EVERYTHING seems to aggravate his little body and skin. We have really tried to eliminate as much of the chemical stuff as possible…especially carpet cleaners! (We just use hot water now). I am glad you are creating this awareness. I can’t use anything with nuts for …read more