When the kids ask to fingerpaint , I conjure up visions of them covered in gelatinous, who-knows-what goo which doesn't make me too eager to indulge them in their favorite medium. But, when they come calling with puppy-dog eyes and promi…
My younger son has always been a big blanket kid; even now, at six, he sleeps with at least one baby blanket every night. I love this, both because a kid with a blanket melts my heart and because we got some great blankies when he was a …
Summer's here, and I'm getting ready to bare some skin. Along with sit ups, a quickie pedicure and hedge clippers (you know what I mean), I've added The Spoiled Mama Orange and Chamomile Sugar Scrub to my bag of tricks. In those fleeting…
With a baby born in almost every season, I'd have to say that I had the hardest time swaddling my oldest, a July in Mississippi baby, mostly because the last thing you really want to do is wrap a hot little baby up tightly in a blanket. …
When we got word that there's a company doing cool things with kidswear made of vintage feed sacks, I have to say that the terms romantic, delicate, soft and cozy didn't exactly spring to mind. But that's just how I would describe the be…
Thanks to the lovely stench of PVC shower curtains, I absolutely dread buying new ones. I've always sworn those things have got to be at the top of the environmentally unfriendly list. Turns out, I was right. So here's an awesome alterna…
When considering your options for a more eco Father's Day (as seems to be the going trend these days), we're liking Sustain Stores for a whole bunch of earth-friendly and guy-friendly high-tech choices. They've got gadgets like solar cha…
Cloth diapering obviously requires more work than disposables, and if you are new to it it can be a little daunting. It's always great to find resources on the web and friendly people willing to help out, which is what Julie Sparrow Cars…
I am always impressed by those upcycle crafters who look at what most of us would send off to Salvation Army and see the potential for something fabulous and new. Or in the case of Australian artist and mom of four Leah, creating dozens …
I've put my babies in everything from cloth diapers to paper towels (desperation, people), and while for now we've settled on disposable diapers, I still sometimes feel a bit guilty about it. I've tried a few of the "natural" disposables…
When I first discovered Scout Baby organic children's clothes at the Bubble trade show a few years ago, it was still a big deal to find fair trade organic clothes that were so soft and so vibrantly colored. Now a lot has changed in that …
A few months ago, my daughter came home from school crying hysterically. A little boy in her class had tried to steal her lunch. Upon further investigation, we discovered that it was because his parents were making him buy and eat school…
Sure, you can pay all kinds of money for a fancy reusable lunch bag, but why would you when there's Neela Bags . This purveyor of a variety of earth-friendly polypropylene reusables now offers their lunch tote as a $5 standalone product …
We're on tooth number three here and I'm desperate to offer any type of teething relief I can to my poor grouchy baby. At the top of my arsenal of soothers: the Dress Me Up Organic Teething Bonbon found at CMP fave Kai Kids. These mom-ma…
Now that things like environmentally-sound manufacturing, use of post-consumer waste, and organic textiles are fast becoming the standard (which is awesome), it does take a lot to make us go oooooh these days when we get a "green" pitch.…
There's no shortage of adorable, swoon-worthy items on Etsy, but Amy Joyner's She Knits shop is clearly trying to kill me with handmade cuteness. Her 100% organic cotton/wool blend "chocolate dipped" baby booties do indeed look good enou…
If only there was a way to make children's furniture stylish enough for your taste , but durable enough that you can drag it outside for birthday parties and spring playdates. If only there was a way to make that furniture from recycled …
I absolutely adore our reusable stainless steel water bottles -- I love knowing nothing weird is leeching into what we drink, and I love how they look -- but I really, really miss being able to put ice in my water bottle without a mallet…
Last week, I used Earth Day as an opportunity to introduce my girls to the idea of being good to the planet and all that other stuff we're supposed to do as (mostly) responsible moms. A week later, the organic heirloom tomatoes we plante…
One of the first things I did when I started working again was hire a house cleaner, so when I needed to test Better Life's natural cleaning products , I called in the pros to try them out. Of course my request was initially met with ske…
While I'm greening up my act in many ways, I'm still pretty picky where it comes to baby wipes -- it's not totally unreasonable that I don't want to cut corners with the one thing that's keeping me from getting poop all over my hands. So…
Since my daughter decided to be a super overachiever and cut two teeth before her six month birthday, I've been scrambling to find teethers beyond the frozen bagels, carrots, and celery that I used on my other two. But thanks to Bodhi Ba…
The first thing I noticed about Colorado's Sprig Toys is that they smell like fresh-cut wood, even while they look like strong molded plastic. Turns out I was right on both counts--their special "Sprigwood" is an eco-friendly, kid-safe m…
I'm a sucker for cute kids' tees. You can tell by taking one look at my kids' drawers...er floor. And one of my new favorite eco designers, Barley & Birch , is doing amazing things with photography to create beautiful t-shirts for kids, …