Diaper clarification and suggestion

Hey I got a great comment today. It says that "while Seventh Generation and Tushies are elemental chlorine free (which means that they don't produce the noxious dioxins that other disposables do) they are not biodegradable. Maybe if you took a pair of scissors to each one and released the inside fluff they would break down, but thrown away as is they are not biodegradable. Don't let the brown diaper fool you! It is still plastic; in fact, it's the same polypropolene used to line landfills (that's how water-tight and air-tight they are!). They may be "green-er" disposables, but are not the "green-est" options out there." Thanks a lot for clarifying this essential point.

Still diaper-related but in a different field, I'm potty-training my almost 2 year old daughter. Beware, this is not for the squeamish. As you may know, disposing of diapers in landfills creates a problem because you're basically disposing of human waste and that's in theory forbidden (and can create health concerns). Well, until my daughter gets it, I've decided to get rid of all her poop directly in the toilet bowl and flush it down. It's better than throwing the whole thing as such in the trash. Of course, it's not always very poetic...

Green Baby article in Golden Gate Mothers Group's April 2007 newsletter

Green Baby: How You Can Make Theirs a Better World
by Laure Latham Guyot
laure.latham@usa.net

After my husband and I saw Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in January, we were in shock. We have two little girls (3½ and nearly 1½ years old) and have serious concerns they could grow up in a world where humankind’s reckless misuse of fossil fuels will have caused the snows of Kilimanjaro to melt away completely, sea levels to rise such that entire shoreline communities around the world are submerged under water and the potential destruction of our civilization and most other species on the planet.

Global Warming is real and, while we were somewhat environmentally conscious before, now it is as if we are the Knights of the Round Table in search of the Holy Green Grail. We’ve decided to buy a hybrid for our next car and replaced our electric bulbs with long-term compact fluorescent bulbs. Our entire home cleaning system now features green alternatives and I am much more committed to recycling. Still, I want to do more.

I started researching eco-friendly products for children that parents would actually enjoy using. Some of these products have the added benefit of being healthier for children, but all are better for the environment. You might think of the environment as that faraway holiday destination, but “the environment is not just our national parks,” says Sarah Janssen, a physician working for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC – www.nrdc.org), “it’s your home and where you play.”

Please, read on.

Diapers

Cloth or disposable? That is the question. It would be nice if the answer were clear cut. “The tricky part is weighing the danger of pesticides use and energy consumption on cotton, which is considerable, against the environmental impacts of harvesting timber and making the paper diapers, plus shipping, plus the plastic coating, plus the environmental cost of moving them to the landfill,” says Bob Schildgen, author of Sierra Magazine’s monthly column, “Hey, Mr. Green!”.

Cloth diapers are, indeed, made from cotton, which is one of the most harmful crops because of its use of pesticides, fertilizers and irrigation. However, organic cotton cloth diapers do exist (www.tinytush.com or www.underthenile.com are two manufacturers) and they are, by far, a better choice than disposable paper diapers.

However, there are two other options in the wonderful world of caring for baby’s bottom. Seventh Generation and Tushies both manufacture biodegradable diapers that use chlorine- and bleach-free wood pulp and are hypoallergenic. If you are going to use disposables, these are your greenest option.

At Rainbow Grocery Co-op in the Mission, Shujan Bertrand was bending down to look for Seventh Generation diapers in size 4. She has a baby girl aged eight months who had severe eczema as an infant. “I’ve only been buying organic products since my baby was born,” she says. “Because of her eczema, our doctor told us to use only natural products. It’s the only thing that has worked.”

Aside from traditional diapers, a new product called gDiaper recently showed up on the market. gDiapers are flushable and even compostable. Yes, you just read “flushable.” Here is how they work: gDiapers are a two-part system combining a diaper cover that closes with Velcro and a liner inserted by snapping it inside the diaper cover. When you change the diaper, you just remove the liner, tear it from top to bottom, flush the contents and the liner and you’re finished. Note that only the “wet” diapers can be composted.

Of course, if you succeed at the newest trend -- potty training for newborns -- then you’re a star because, really, you don’t need diapers at all.

Baby Skin and Body Care

When I grew up, it was Johnson’s baby oil or nothing. Nowadays, children become consumers of body care products as much as adults: shampoo, soap, bubble bath, body lotion and sunscreen, just to name a few. Plus, children’s products have funny names and some bubble baths even come with a bubble wand for extra fun! Because they are made only with natural ingredients, organic baby products can be a great solution for children who are allergic to chemicals or mineral oils used in conventional products (provided, of course, they are not allergic to the natural ingredients).

Led by Charles Allensworth, an employee since 21 years, I scrutinized the baby care shelves of Rainbow Grocery Co-op to know what’s on the green market. “We only carry products without chemical or synthetic components,” he says.

European (read German) brands lead the rank with a long history of environmental commitment and growing their own herbs for their products. Weleda, the 85-year old German manufacturer of natural cosmetics, offers a full line of baby care products (cream bath, diaper care, tooth gel, baby cream), as well as mother care (body oil, nursing tea).
California Baby (www.californiababy.com) is a Los Angeles-based, mom-started operation and one of Rainbow Co-op’s most popular brands. “There are a lot of things that we don't use because we have a lot of customers who are very sensitive or have allergies,” says the company founder, Jessica Iclisoy to Los Angeles Magazine. Besides their skin care products, California Baby offers sunscreen, bug repellent, bath care (including the fabulous Chamomile & Herbs Aromatherapy Bubble Bath that comes with a bubble wand) and pregnancy items, among others.
Based on the East Coast and easily recognizable thanks to their beehive logo, Burt’s Bees offers a Baby Bee line and a new mother care line, Mama Bee, all based on bee-produced materials. A man, who took up bee keeping as a hobby, started Burt’s Bees in rural Maine and it is now a multinational company whose products are distributed widely (Target is one of their distributors). A true eco-friendly company, Burt's Bees items are free of petroleum-based mineral oils, glycols, sodium laurel/laureth sulfates, which cause dryness and can irritate sensitive skin, and parabens, which are linked to breast-cancer. Their apricot baby oil smells just divine.

For a moisturizer not derived from petroleum, the Un-Petroleum Jelly by Avalon Natural Products uses coconut oil as its base.

Note: pediatricians recommend not using any skin care products on infants, whatsoever.

Mother skin and body care

Mothers rejoice! There are lots of natural choices for those of you who want to use the least amount of chemicals. Motherlove, Earth Mama Angel Baby and Great Mother’s Goods (with its fantastic Great Mother’s Belly Butter) all offer anti-stretch mark products, as well as other products useful during a pregnancy.

Bedding and Clothes

With bright colors and sometimes provocative and ironic text, organic apparel for baby can be as fun and soft as conventional cotton. Some babies wear black “AB/CD” onesies that look remarkably like vintage AC/DC rock band tees. Now thanks to their little ones, green parents can proudly communicate their earthy tendencies with small green tops that say “Organic”!

Manufactured by No Enemy (www.noenemy.org), a Santa Cruz-based, small-scale operation, this little green tee-shirt has a little brother that says “Small is beautiful.” “They sell really well,” says Jocelyn Boreta at Global Exchange, a store located in Noe Valley focused on fair trade. She shows me one of their signature tees that sells like hotcakes: a baby pink tee with “Peace” on the front. Next to it, a neatly stacked pile of “More Dirt” tee-shirts from the eponym non-profit (www.moredirt.org) that focuses on greening the city of San Francisco. Buying some of these tee-shirts is sometimes also a way of supporting a worthy cause. Under The Nile (www.underthenile.com), one of the leading brands of organic cotton apparel, makes very soft baby clothes and blankets, as well as toys and dolls, all in cute colors and designs.

Bisphenol A and Phthalates

A quick look at the hundreds of emails exchanged daily on the GGMG listserv shows how much mothers are concerned about the issue of toxic plastics in toys and child care products and how well-informed they tend to be. In a few words, here is the situation:

In June 2006, the city of San Francisco adopted an ordinance to ban products containing any amount of bisphenol A and certain levels of phthalates in toys and child care products. The Child Safety Product Ordinance, introduced by supervisor Fiona Ma, was to take effect on December 1, 2006.

In October 2006, toy manufacturers, chemical manufacturers, the California Chamber of Commerce and local stores Citikids and Ambassador Toys sued the city. The plaintiffs alleged that the products were used safely in toys and the city did not have the authority to pass this law.

In January 2007, San Francisco health officials proposed amendments to the law, scaling down the number of products but expanding enforcement and penalties. City officials agreed to hold off on enforcement of the law until the vote of the board of supervisors.

In February 2007, Fiona Ma, also a San Francisco assemblywoman, introduced a bill on the same chemical products in front of the State of California. The city of San Francisco still plans to go forward with the phthalates ban but will hold off on the bisphenol A ban, pending state action.

Until further official action is taken, some mothers already have decided to “clean house” and do away with potentially harmful products. Phthalates are added to vinyl plastics to make them more pliable, while bisphenol A is a chemical that leaches off polycarbonate plastics. Since neither chemical is bound to the plastic, each can come off with use, when mouthed by young children or while washing or scratching. Products containing these chemicals are not required to be labeled, so consumers are at a loss to protect themselves or their children.

“Small amounts of bisphenol A and phthalates have been associated with a number of harmful effects including changes in hormone levels, birth defects of the penis and testicles, lower sperm counts and later in life, reproductive cancers. We know that humans are routinely exposed and emerging scientific evidence indicates that humans may be suffering some of the same effects as seen in animals studies,” says Sarah Janssen of NRDC.

Basically, bisphenol A is present in hard clear plastics and can be identified by the triangular recycling symbol surrounding the number 7 located on the bottom of the product. Unfortunately, as that number 7 refers to “other” sorts of plastics (mostly polycarbonates), it also could refer to corn-based and biodegradable plastics.

The Institute for Agricultural Trade Policy publishes the Smart Plastics Guide (found at www.iatp.org) and recommends avoiding plastics bearing the numbers 3 and 6 for food purposes. The detection of phthalates proves much trickier. Unfortunately, there is no official website that will tell you exactly which products may or may not contain phthalates. However, the Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) has created a user-friendly database on cosmetics, called “Skin Deep,” where you can search by brand or by product (for both adult and baby) to find the “safety score” of a given product, along with a full description of its ingredients.

To be on the safe side, you can replace your “classic” baby bottles with bisphenol A-free Born Free baby bottles (www.newbornfree.com) and your sippy cups with those made from stainless steel. Whole Foods, Sports Basement and REI all sell the cute Swiss SIGG stainless steel water bottles for children (www.sigg.ch) and Klean Kanteen (www.kleankanteen.com) makes a 12-ounce stainless steel bottle that comes with a sippy adapter and two spouts.

Cynthia Li, a practitioner at San Francisco General Hospital and mother of a 1½-year old also recommends “using safer alternative plastics -- safer in the sense that they leach less and haven't been linked, thus far, to developmental problems. Also be aware there are still unknowns. Polypropylene is one of them, for example, and Evenflo makes one that many people use. Polypropylene bottles tend to be more flexible and more opaque than the polycarbonate ones.”

One last word of caution: never use plastic containers of any kind when heating milk, formula or food in the microwave.

Toys

If you consider yourself aligned with the anti-toxic plastics discussion, try to avoid buying plastic toys and, instead, buy toys made from natural materials (wood, bamboo, fabric). From organic cotton toys to those made from sustainable wood, green toys are all the rage.

Ecobaby (www.ecobaby.com) makes toys from organic cotton and wool, as well as wooden puzzles. The organic ring rattles are composed of organic cotton, untreated wood and wool, making them safe to chew.

Blue Orange Games (www.blueorangegames.com), an award-winning San Francisco-based company, has taken a step further in protecting the environment by committing to replant two trees for every tree they use in making their educational games. For ages one and older, they make wooden puzzles in the shape of teddy bears. Their “Quack Quack” game is aimed at a preschool audience and helps children associate animals with sounds and colors by using wooden dice, a wooden board, wooden animal cards and wooden scoring coins. Their “Zimbbos!” game, aimed at ages 3+, gives preschoolers the opportunity to skillfully stack up wooden colored elephants in a stable pyramid. This company also makes other strategy, memory, party or skills games.

Yellow Label Kids (www.yellowlabelkids.com), while not strictly eco-friendly, is a small-scale company located in Noe Valley that makes adorable hand-knit vegetable rattles, Waldorf toys and unique hand-made clothing and blankets. All are made with safe dyes, free from heavy metals. Their radish and corn knitted rattles simply are irresistible.

For older children (ages 12 and older), Thames & Kosmos makes a toy called “Power House” that teaches about the use of alternative energies. If you have older children in the family, they will love learning how to make a solar cooker, desalinate water or make chewing gum, all with the help of the 96-page full-color manual.

Food

In the 1970s, chef Alice Waters started a small revolution by promoting locally-grown, fresh organic produce at her restaurant in Berkeley, Chez Panisse. Thirty-six years later, her movement has taken on enormous proportions. Farmers’ markets have become favorite family outings and buying produce directly from farmers (either at markets or through boxes delivered to your door) is not unusual in San Francisco.

Because they are much smaller than we are, children tend to benefit more from pesticide-free foods. “I became much more conscious of organic food when Luc came along,” says Ashley Devore, mother of three-year old Luc. “I made all his first foods at home, like boiled yams, and froze them in ice cube trays for easy, ready-made meal portions.”

If you are going to buy organic food, know that some produce items concentrate pesticides more than others. They are known as “The Dirty Dozen” and are listed below next to those that show the smallest concentration of pesticides.


12 Most Contaminated : Buy These Organic

• Apples• Bell Peppers• Celery• Cherries• Imported Grapes• Nectarines• Peaches• Pears• Potatoes• Red Raspberries• Spinach• Strawberries

12 Least Contaminated : Organic Optional

• Asparagus• Avocados• Bananas• Broccoli• Cauliflower• Corn (sweet)• Kiwi• Mangos• Onions• Papaya• Pineapples

And times have changed dramatically in the availability of organic products. It is now possible to find organic produce and other organic foods almost anywhere, even at big retailers. “I buy my organic raisins at Costco,” says Heather Knape, pregnant mother of 22-month old Lily and otherwise frequent shopper at Trader Joe’s and Rainbow Grocery Co-op.

Organic baby food or formula bought in stores also has become more widely-available and popular, despite the fact that it’s on average 69% more expensive than conventional varieties, according to Mintel’s market research. “Earth’s Best (formerly Horizon) makes an organic infant formula, which does cost more, but mothers rave about the product and buy it in cases at a time,” says Fabian DeGarbo, the Green Mission specialist for Whole Foods Market, Northern California.

Even the big guns in the baby food industry, such as Gerber, have a line of organic baby food. Actually, the trend in organic baby food is growing so much that new companies offer not only organic jarred food but also organic fresh or frozen baby food that’s perishable, according to the New York Times.

For instance, Bohemian Baby (www.bohemian-baby.com), a Los Angeles firm, makes fresh organic baby food for infants and toddlers that can be shipped overnight in bubble-wrapped cold containers anywhere in the United States. “We make our jars with just the freshest vegetables and purified water and we ship the same day,” says Tanya of Bohemian Baby. “It’s so sweet, the babies love it. Plus, it keeps seven to 10 days in the fridge.” Bohemian Baby is quite a treat but comes at a steep price: $3.50 to $4.50 per jar (minimum four jars) plus a $35 shipping fee to San Francisco.

Homemade Baby (www.homemadebaby.com) is another Los Angeles-based company whose organic chef-tested products are available in Sausalito or Berkeley but not yet in San Francisco. The funky flavors include unusual combinations such as Squabble (squash and apple) or Piwi (pear and kiwi).

If you travel to New York this spring or summer, check out Happy Baby (www.happybabyfood.com), a company that offers frozen food in cubes and in interesting flavors to educate young palates, such as a dahl and grain combo (lentils, carrots, potatoes, cinnamon and coriander on one side and black beans, quinoa and bananas on the other).

That being said, it’s still cheaper and easier to buy a food mill or hand blender and mix your own batches at home using Annabel Karmel’s First Meals cookbook.

Home Cleaning

Insidiously, house-cleaning products are harmful to the environment and can trigger allergic reactions at home because of their high level of chemical components. Babies and young children, whose immune systems are naturally more vulnerable than adults, should be kept away of these products as much as possible.
“There are environmental health concerns around many cleaning products…Exposure to some cleaning products can cause allergic reactions and respiratory irritation in some people. And…antibacterial cleaners can contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs.’ Besides, our immune system needs some exposure to bacteria to function properly, so, at best, antibacterial cleaners in homes are unnecessary. Also, there's concern about chemicals from everyday products, including household cleaners, being absorbed through the skin. Some chemicals bioaccumulate -- they stay in the body without being broken down. As these chemicals have been around for a relatively short time, it isn't known yet what their long-term effects are or what (if any) is a safe level of exposure. To reduce some of these hazards, you may want to try a 'green' multipurpose cleaner,” reads Chippendale, an Australian magazine that trial-tested three ‘green’ housecleaners in April 2006. Their study found that, while the cleaners were effective, the difference in price with conventional cleaners was significant and could be a barrier to many consumers.

For green alternatives to all your household products, visit www.lesstoxicguide.ca, an environmental health association from Nova Scotia that publishes a guide to less toxic products online, the extensive resource guide of the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org/greenlife) or the product guide of the Clean Action Project (www.safer-products.org), a group dedicated to generating public support for safer chemicals that is in partnership with the Center for Environmental Health (www.cehca.org) and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (www.svtc.org) in California.

I’ve checked the aisles of four stores in San Francisco (Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Wholefoods and Rainbow Grocery Co-op) and selected and home-tested a few green options based on recommendations from various salespeople. Look for them at your local store and see for yourself. They all work as well as conventional cleaners.

You may want to try
Laundry detergent: Earthbath Laundry Liquid, Ecos Laundry Detergent
Dishwashing products: Earth Friendly Products Dishmate Dishwashing Cleaner, Planet Dishwashing

Liquid & Automatic Dishwasher Detergent: Trader Joe’s Next to Godliness Automatic Dishwashing Detergent
Window cleaner: Seventh Generation Natural Glass and Surface Cleaner, Earth Friendly Products Window Kleener
Toilet bowl cleaner: Ecover Pine Fresh Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Floor cleaner: Ecover Floor Soap
All-purpose cleaner: Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner
Bathroom cleaner: Seventh Generation Bathroom Cleaner
Bleach: Ecover Non-Chlorine Bleach, Clorox2 for Colors (chlorine-free)

Method, a San Francisco-based company whose products are widely-distributed in big stores, also offers all-natural housecleaners that are biodegradable, packaged in recyclable containers and developed without animal testing. The good news is that their products are as beautiful to look at as they are efficient.

If you are looking for a housecleaning service in the Bay Area that employs green practices, the Ecology Center (www.ecologycenter.org/directory) has compiled a list of professional house cleaning services that use green products.

Recycling

“I try to teach environmental consciousness to my son,” says Sue Collins, mother of three-year old Ben. “I show him how to recycle and what things should or should not go to waste. For instance, Ben now understands he cannot use the full roll of toilet paper when he goes potty…even if it is fun.” True enough, recycling is a good place to start when teaching children about the environment, as it’s a very hands-on activity.

For younger children, have them help you sort the plastic, metal, glass and paper and go together to your recycling bins. For older children, the book 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Recycle is a good resource.

And what, you might think, do I do with all this baby equipment once my kids have outgrown it? Sophie Wallace, mother of five-year old Theo and two-year old Alec, uses The Freecycle Network to recycle her unwanted baby gear. Freecycle is an international grassroots network comprised of local groups of people who want to donate (or obtain) things for free in their own towns. The old adage, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure,” certainly comes into play here. You can sign up online for your local group (San Francisco currently has 6,000 members) at www.freecycle.org.

Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) also has a “Free” category that can help you recycle items that you no longer use. And some second-hand stores (for instance, Thrift Town at Mission and 17th Street and the Salvation Army Store at Valencia and 26th Street) accept second-hand strollers, car seats, baby swings and other baby gear. Call ahead to check their current policies.

Shopping Smart

If you’d like to make smart environmental choices when you shop but don’t know where to start, check out Alonovo (www.alonovo.com), a self-defined “intelligent marketplace” launched in 2005 that classifies more than 3,000 large manufacturers and merchants based on their environmental friendliness and the way they treat their workers. Alonovo is a local venture founded by Michael A. Polisner, a former Oracle employee who is now “devoted to improving the quality and dignity of life everywhere by connecting corporate behavior to the profit motive.”

With the help of KLD Research & Analytics, the leading social screening research company in the United States, Alonovo compiles a Social-Responsibility Index, or SRI, which is a global rating of a company’s business character or behavior. “The higher the index the more likely we would want such a business to thrive within our community,” states alonovo.com. You will have to register your email address to have access to Alonovo’s database, but it’s a minimal effort considering the wealth of information you will find. Note that the site has a “Baby Products” web page.

The Safer Products Project (www.safer-products.org), an organization that promotes alternatives for a healthy home, “rates a few of the bigger companies, like Ikea or Target, on how health-conscious they are,” says Cynthia Li.

How Dr. Seuss Can Help

Using familiar characters and the uncommonly amusing prose of our old pal Dr. Seuss is a terrific way to introduce your children to serious topics, such as the environment. One story, in particular, strikes the chord. The Lorax is a wonderful book and, as always, Dr. Seuss uses child-friendly metaphors to describe the absurd and tragically funny story of the Once-ler, who, despite the Lorax’s furious opposition, was responsible for the deforestation of all the Truffula trees in the world for a profitable knitted Thneed business. As the Once-ler explains to a child while giving him the last Truffula tree seed: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”


Three Easy Energy-saving Tips for Children

1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room
2. Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth
3. Take five-minute showers instead of baths

Websites About Saving Energy

Alliance to Save Energy (check out their Green Schools program) (www.ase.org)
California Energy Commission Conservation Web Links (www.energy.ca.gov/links/conservation.html)
Consumer Energy Center (Energy efficiency at home, office and school) (www.ConsumerEnergyCenter.org)
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network/Dr. E's Energy Lab (www1.eere.energy.gov/kids)
Rocky Mountain Institute (for Kids) (www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid468.php)