Why Go PVC-Free And How To Do It

It's back-to-school time and I'm shopping for a backpack from my kindergartener.  Though he is dying to have a Ben 10 backpack, I've ruled it out because of the PVC.

PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, first gained popularity as a building material - in its hard form it is a cheaper alternative to wood, concrete and clay.  About 50% of the PVC produced in the world is used in construction.

But it can be made quite flexible with the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. In this form, it is used in clothing and upholstery.  Ever smelled that new shower curtain smell?  Smell that same smell on your child's Spider Man backpack, lunch bag or shiny rain coat? Ever seen bottles with #3 printed inside the recycling symbol? PVC.

What is so bad about PVC?  It's toxic.  Pollution created by its production is spread into the air, land and water.   The additives mixed with PVC resins (such as the aforementioned phthalates, as well as stabilizers) can leach out of a PVC product during its useful life posing health hazards, including the development of reproductive problems in children. At the end of PVC's useful life, it then leaches toxins into landfills.   So, it's a problem from the moment it's created until, well, no one knows.

You don't want it on your child's backpack, food or drink, shower curtain, t-shirt (you know those big iron-on pictures?), rain coat, lunch bag or teething ring.

Below are a few guidelines for healthier choices. You can visit my store for more ideas.

Backpacks: choose hemp, organic cotton, or recycled materials
Lunch bags: choose BPA-free and PVC-free
Lunch containers, cups, bottles and reusable utensils: choose stainless steel, bamboo utensils, stainless steel straws, cotton napkins, BPA-free and PVC-free
Shower/Bath: choose cotton shower curtains and eco-friendly non-slip bath mats
Rainwear: go PVC-free

Other tips to reduce or eliminate toxins in the kitchen:

• Boot plastic and Teflon from your kitchen - use Pyrex or stainless steel for storage, glass pitchers for juice, stainless steel cooking utensils and cast iron cookware.  
• Don't use plastic in the microwave - ever.
• Don't put hot things in your plastic food mill or blender.

For more on eliminating toxins, visit my left sidebar.

How to Watch iPod Video on 2006 Honda Odyssey Touring

I know what you're thinking.  How is this a green topic?  Well, consider never buying another DVD or CD.  No more plastic boxes or plastic wrap.  No more disks that get scratched and thrown away.  That makes the iPod a good piece of green technology.

One thing that has long frustrated me was my inability to easily hook my iPod into the DVD system in my car.  There are no jacks in the dash, nor are there any near the screen.  Well, turns out that that's actually not the case.  In the third row, there is a storage area beneath the left arm rest.  In there, there are AV plugs that must be for gaming systems.  Two analog audio jacks and one composite video jack. There is also a power outlet.  So I pondered this, along with the AUX/DVD button on the dash.  Hmm.

I went to Best Buy and bought a "Composite A/V for iPod" cord, made by a company called rocketfish (you can find various brands various places - just don't buy the Apple version - it's far more expensive).  It has the proper A/V plugs, a USB plug for power and an iPod connector.  You need to supply the power plug adapter for the USB plug.

Connecting it was easy.  I ejected the DVD I had in the player, switched it to AUX and cued up the desired program on the iPod and my kids were immediately viewing SpongeBob from my iPod on the Honda's DVD screen.   The added bonus is that the kids can now control what they watch from the back seat.  No more "I don't like this one, Mom, change it!" while I'm trying to drive.

Kindle or Nook?

It goes without saying that I'm a big supporter of libraries.  Sharing books is good for the environment. 

But if you must read new releases, the Nook or Kindle pay for themselves if you choose to buy around 16 new releases via e-book rather than hard copy.  Plus, e-readers save trees, so I consider them to be green technology.

I've weighed the differences and I think I've decided - but I'd love to know what you think.  Please take my poll!

Chocolate Ice Cream

Chocolate ice cream.  Big yawn, right?  Well, not if you've got a Cuisinart ice cream maker.  I started this chocolate ice cream (recipe courtesy of the Cuisinart website) while I was making dinner and it was ready by the time we were ready for dessert.  And it was SO good.  Creamy, chocolaty but not too sweet.  Serve yourself a scoop and don't think about the fat content.  Just enjoy.

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process preferred)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1-1/2 cups whole milk
3-1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Place the cocoa and sugars in a medium bowl; stir to combine. Add the whole milk and use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to combine until the cocoa and sugars are dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. If not freezing immediately, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Turn machine on; pour mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 25 to 35 minutes (it's a fun show for the kids).

The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture (see left). 

If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving. (The photo, right, is of tonight's batch just before I popped it in the freezer to firm up.)

Everyone in the family devoured it.

How to Behave and Why

While browsing through the eclectic Anthropologie the other day, I came across a really amazing old book, How to Behave and Why, by Munro Leaf.  Though first published in 1946, the lessons are as useful today as they were back then, and the language is accessible.

It's a great book for ages 3 and up.  I'm thinking of bringing it to my kids' school to read to them. 

And whether or not the author intended it, I can see a lot of green lessons one could take from the four main points in this book.  It would be easy to have a follow-on conversation with kids about topics like sustainability, conservation, and caring for our environment.

Caveat: When reading this aloud to small children, it might be helpful to choose substitutes for certain words in the text such as "stupid" or "stupidity".  Though it's clear the author meant well, these are words we have banned from our house in any context to avoid their misuse.

Win Copies of My Two Favorite Gardening Books!

I've decided to spread my love of gardening by conducting a giveaway of two of my favorite books:

All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

and

The Organic Lawn Care Manual by Paul Tukey

Here's how the giveaway will work:

1. Leave a brief comment on this post that expresses why you love gardening (or why you want to learn).  Each comment will be assigned a number.  US and Canada residents only, please. 
2. At the end of one week, I will randomly select one number (using www.random.org), announce the winner and then contact that person to get their shipping information.  Make sure you don't comment as "Anonymous" or I won't know how to contact you.
3. I will then ship the books out to the winner.

Pretty easy.  To the lucky winner - I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have!

Tiny Art Director

A while ago, a friend forwarded to me the link to the really great blog, Tiny Art Director, written by graphic artist Bill Zeman.  The blog documents several years of "commissions" by his daughter, starting when she was two years old.  She requested specific works of art and he fulfilled the requests as best he could.  She is a tough customer and he documents her reactions along the way.  Hysterical.   Well, now Bill has published a book of this work.  Check it out.

Bill also has a website where you can buy the prints.  When I came across one particular print, I simply could not resist buying it for my then three and a half year old son.  At that age, pretty much every discussion with him somehow led back to the subject, so I knew he'd enjoy it.  His friends think it is awesome, too.  In fact, I challenge you to find ANY boy who wouldn't love it.

Catching You Up...

The past month has been a busy one chez EcoMeg, which accounts for the sparse posts here on the blog.  Here's what I've been up to...

In mid-January, I started potty training my toddler.  This turned out to be remarkably easy.  He got the hang of it within 3 days and we were done.  Within three weeks, he no longer wanted to wear diapers at night, either, so we are officially completely done with diapers.

Around that same time, my toddler and I battled sinus infections.  Mine didn't respond to the first antibiotic, so I had to go on a double dose of amoxicillin.  Big, elephant pills.  Unpleasant all the way around.

I had a visit from my Dad in late January, which was super.  I wish he lived closer.  My kids ask about him every day.  He is their favorite person!

My toddler started Montessori the first week of February, 3 mornings a week.  He lasted one week before sinking into a huge case of separation anxiety - despite being in the same class as my older son, who adores his teacher.  He also started swim classes and gymnastics classes, which, given the aforementioned separation anxiety, have not been as fun as they should be.  But we are taking it slowly and I'm not pushing the Montessori.  I know if I take a gentle approach he'll come back around to the idea.  He really enjoyed the first week and attending there was his motivation for potty training.

My older son is thriving at school, in gymnastics and has a renewed interest in reading and writing.  He is 5 and a half and we've been plowing through the Beast Quest series.  Great books for a boy his age!  He also started faith education this past Sunday afternoon, which of course means we actually have to go to church every Sunday - something we've avoided since the toddler just runs wild through the service.  But the little guy needs to learn to sit nicely, so we're committed now to attending each Sunday.

Meanwhile, I've been planning springtime for my garden:

For my organic lawn, I've sprayed all of the existing weeds with 20% vinegar to eliminate them (kills them dead in 4 hours - be careful where you spray because it will kill whatever vegetation it touches!).  Then I bought bags of corn meal gluten (to prevent future weeds) and dry molasses (encourages beneficial microbes), which I'll distribute with my spreader once we get past the precipitation later this week.  I'll water them in to make sure they get into the soil.  Then, I'm done with that for a little while.  Once the Bermuda grass emerges from hibernation in a month or two, I'll put down some organic fertilizer.

I've been mulling an organic vegetable container garden for some time and I'll launch seedlings indoors in the next two weeks.  I plan to grow zucchini, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, onion and peppers.  My boys are very excited about this (I'm hoping this excitement translates into more veggie consumption!).  I'll keep you posted on how I go about it.  I decided to go with a container garden since my neighbors use chemicals on their lawns and I don't want my veggies contaminated by runoff, despite my own efforts in maintaining an organic yard.

As for fruits, I will plant two different apple trees and a pear tree up on a slope that will minimize neighbors' runoff.  I would love to try growing bananas since we consume so many of them.  We will grow strawberries indoors in a pretty planter.

To support all of this activity, I'll start composting in the next two weeks.  More on that later!

So that's what we've been up to lately.  When things calm down around here and I get some more quiet time, I'll post more often.

Stay warm!

100+ Great Green Gifts

The following is my exhaustive (if I may say so) list of green gift items, just in time for holiday!

 ***

There are so many reasons why the Kindle is great, not the least of which is that it saves trees. My favorite feature is the instant gratification of being able to read whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want. Check it out - it is amazing!



When shopping for a gift, you might not immediately think: "my friends and relatives would be psyched to save some water with more efficient toilet flushing!" But you should see this dual flush converter. It saves HUGE amounts of water. Perfect for the DIY-er.

Introducing: EcoMeg Recommends...

I am excited to announce the launch of my online store, "EcoMeg Recommends..."  Here you will find many products that will assist you on your journey to live a greener lifestyle.

Many of the Featured Products have been the subject of my blog posts - you can find my Product Blog by scrolling down below the store.

Please check it out and let me know what you think!

Mo Willems, One of Our Favorite Children's Book Authors

How long does it take for a book to be considered a classic?  For Mo Willems' books, not long at all.

Our favorite Willems books are Leonardo, the Terrible Monster, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale and Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus.   We read them all regularly.

The illustrations are charming, hip and funny,  and the stories are touching.  Each one carries unique, meaningful messages that are valuable for your children to hear, and each is as entertaining for the adult reader as it is for the child listener/reader.  My children never tire of them, and neither do I.

Hair Clippers - Maybe My Quickest Payback Ever

Wrangling two squirmy, impatient little boys into the children's hair salon (salon might be overstating it) once every few months isn't what I would call fun.  The wait is sometimes quite long, the toys in the waiting room are grimy and inevitably there is some kid with a hacking cough showering my kids with the virus du jour.

So about a year ago, I bought electric clippers and started giving my kids haircuts in the kitchen.  $30 for the clippers with all of the accessories, including a short instruction manual and a cape.  I just turn the TV on for distraction, plop them in a chair and trim away.  After one or two haircuts they got used to the sound and vibration of the clippers.  Cleanup is easy - just keep the vacuum handy.

My husband complains that I cut my kids' hair too short (I like it tidy), so I'm working on improving my repertoire to include something more fashionable.  YouTube has a lot of how-to videos for cutting hair at home.  I also recently took the kids back to the salon for haircuts and got a tutorial from an unsuspecting hair stylist. 

A lot of green ideas are beneficial on many levels - they might have less impact on the environment, use fewer resources, be less toxic, might save money.  And many of them are less convenient and take a bit of time.  Hair clippers are MORE convenient, take LESS time, don't require gas to get us to the hair salon and cost us less.

I can't think of many things I've bought that have delivered 100% payback within a day.  $30 for clippers versus $26 (plus tip) for two kids' haircuts at the salon means that the clippers just about paid for themselves after cutting both of my kids' hair myself just one time.  Not bad.

Oh, and one other tool I've found useful for dealing with very thick hair: thinning shears.

That's Right: It's A Stainless Steel Straw!

My children LOVE straws and could therefore go through many of those plastic ones every day.  Tired of the waste, uncomfortable with the notion of using them on warm drinks and really uncomfortable with the idea of glass straws, I found these Stainless Steel Straws.  They are AWESOME.

Also check out these wide straws - great for smoothies.

One of My Favorite Kitchen Items: A Thermometer

What could be greener than making sure that whatever food you prepare is tasty? Tasty food is sure to be eaten, not thrown away as leftovers days later.

I can't really remember where the idea came from - maybe a cooking show. The basic message was this: you can take the guesswork out of preparing any meat or poultry by using a thermometer to cook it only until it is safe to eat. Cooking it beyond this point might only serve to dry it out and ensure that you have leftovers.

Here are the USDA's Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures:

Steaks and Roasts - 145 degrees F
Fish - 145 degrees F
Ground Beef - 160 degrees F (1 of every 4 hamburgers is brown before it is safe to eat!)
Egg Dishes - 160 degrees F
Chicken Breasts - 165 degrees F
Whole Poultry - 165 degrees F

I went to the grocery store and bought a very cheap stainless steel meat thermometer and immediately tried it out on some boneless chicken breasts. I was astonished at the results and the ease with which I achieved them.

After a few weeks of perfectly cooked pork chops, chicken, pot roast, steak, etc, my husband announced that he thinks I am a very good cook. A few dollars really well spent!

When you buy your own, note that many of them indicate right on the thermometer what "rare", "medium", "well done" temperatures are for various proteins. Keep in mind that these temps - particularly "rare" temps, aren't always high enough to kill the bad stuff. So follow the USDA's guidelines instead.

What, If Any, Dietary Supplements Do You Give Your Kids?

I think we should all endeavor to get whatever vitamins and minerals we need from natural sources in our diet.  To that end, I consistently put healthy, well-balanced meals and snacks in front of my kids.  Without fail, even on birthdays (I know, I'm such a meanie), and they don't get dessert unless they do a decent job with "the good stuff."

But we all know you can't make a small child eat anything.  Despite efforts to hide the vegetables (in tomato sauce, grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, smoothies, muffins, etc.), they don't always eat everything on their plate, so I know they don't always get everything they need in order to maintain their health.  Last night I even tried to hide baby spinach on my kids' pizza by pureeing and sprinkling it under the cheese.  When my older son asked about it I told him it was "just spices" - but he was too smart for that ploy.

So, I'm a believer in dietary supplements for my kids.  Here is what I give mine:

1. If you've followed this blog since its inception, you know I'm a big proponent of probiotics in our diet.  I've been giving my kids Country Life's Maxi Baby-Dophilus, a powdered probiotic that I put in their morning juice.  
2. I also give them Gummy Vites Multi-Vitamins and Gummy Calciums - these look exactly like gummy bears and my kids love them.
3. Lastly, I recently started giving my kids a liquid vitamin D3 supplement in their morning juice, after reading about how D3 deficiency makes a person more susceptible to swine flu.  In the age of sunscreen (my kids wear it frequently), unless they're getting enough D3 in their diet, they're not getting enough of it.  Since I'm leaning toward opting out of the H1N1 vaccine for my family (given all of the concern about what the vaccine itself might do to harm our health) I want to be sure we're doing what we can to help our bodies combat it.

Do you think I'm missing anything here?  What supplements, if any, do you give your kids?

The Best Piece Of Baby Equipment I've Ever Purchased

I'll start out by saying I'm a big believer in wearing your baby.  There is nothing like having a little one snuggled up against you when you're going about your day.  Both of my children loved to nap while strapped to me.  My two-year-old still does.

I've tried every baby carrier out there.  No joke.  I know a lot of people love their wraps but I could never figure out how to put one on without it dragging on the floor (ick!).  I loved my Baby Bjorn when the babies were tiny, and my first child loved the Hippychick Hipseat (so did my back!).  Then, I found the ERGO Carrier.



You can wear your child in the front, on your hip, or on your back, it's easy to get them in and out, supports your back beautifully, is machine washable and it goes up to 50 lbs.  That's right, I sometimes still carry the 5 year old in the back position when he's pooped.  I would never think about traveling without it - no need for a stroller!

They now also sell an infant insert so you can forget all of those other carriers and just buy one.  It is vastly superior to everything else out there.  I use it every single day, multiple times a day.

A Fun And Tasty Project For A Sunday Afternoon

It's a holiday weekend and we were looking for something fun to do. We also wanted dessert after dinner tonight. A nice marriage of the two objectives: decorating cupcakes!

I used Pamela's chocolate cake mix, which is the most delicious cake mix I've ever found, and iced them with Pamela's vanilla frosting mix. After the cupcakes cooled, I let the kids loose on them with every colored sugar and jimmy in the house. The result was gorgeous and delicious, and the kids had a blast. And only half of the sugar landed on the floor - which is a vast improvement over the last time we did this!

Yum! Happy holiday everyone!

The Shred

Yesterday, I saw an article about how Heidi Klum gets back into shape after having babies. She sounds no-nonsense. Clearly she's very disciplined, exercises and eats well. She also doesn't procrastinate, but gets back into shape immediately rather than dragging it out.

I can't say I was as motivated as Heidi Klum obviously is. Maybe it's because I don't make millions by looking totally fit (wouldn't that be great!). Whatever the reasons for dragging my feet, I finally did reach a point where I wanted my body back. Not just my pre-pregnancy body, but my wedding body. This would not be easy, since I've been married eight years, have had two children, hadn't worked out regularly since my first child was born and am now in my forties.

Now I am almost there and am in the best physical shape since my mid-twenties. I have three people to thank for it: my friend Bill at Daddy Is Tired (who also blogs at Shredheads) who told me about the workout DVD The 30 Day Shred, Jillian Michaels, the killer trainer who designed it, and my husband, who started seriously working out around the same time that I did (thank you for the moral support!).



There are a few reasons why The 30 Day Shred works for me.

1. The workouts are only 20 minutes long. This is about the same length as an episode of Max and Ruby or Danny Phantom. Not that I park my kids in front of the tube so I can get my workout in. No way.
2. They are brutal and work the entire body, including cardio. I actually found running a few miles (without stopping) to be easy after doing the DVD for 30 days. I've even done it pushing 80 pounds of kids in a double stroller.
   
3. Jillian Michaels is not annoying.
4. It makes me feel tough. She accepts no excuses, reminds us that even 400 pound people do these exercises. This made me believe that I could do it, regardless of my two knee surgeries. (The surprising result: I have less pain in my joints now that I'm in shape.)
   
5. I got results within one month. I dropped a dress size, changed the shape of my body and broke through a tough weight plateau (I hadn't been able to get rid of the last 5 pounds to get back to my wedding weight).

If you read her book Master Your Metabolism you will also appreciate her greenness. She just makes such sense. I heartily recommend the book, too.

Healthy Snacks While Out And About

Parents of small children inevitably face the question of what healthy snacks are best to take along, should the need arise (and it always does!). Whenever I expect to be out during snack time, I pack a small insulated bag with an ice pack, drinks, snacks, napkins (and hand sanitizer!).

Drinks are toted in Stainless Steel cups. Our drinks of choice are organic milk or watered-down organic juice. We live in a hot place, so I usually pop in an ice cube or two during the summer months.

Over time, a few snacks have emerged as favorites:

• hummus and crackers
• organic wheat crackers, solo
  
• raisins (sometimes with peanuts mixed in)
• home-popped popcorn
• cheese and crackers
• fresh organic grapes, strawberries or apple slices
  
• Health Valley cereal bars - my kids' favorites are the blueberry, strawberry and apple cobbler cereal bars - we plow through boxes of these!
• home-baked mini muffins (I'll post a few great recipes for these soon)
• and occasionally as a special treat for afternoon snack, a few cookies (my kids LOVE Health Valley vanilla flavored sandwich cookies - they are ridiculously good)
  

What are your healthy snacks of choice?

I Love Our Coolaroo Sail Shade

We live in a part of the US that is very hot from July through September. People joke about how they don't see their neighbors at all during this time frame because everyone stays indoors. It's no joke, though, when it's humid and 110 degrees F for days on end.

For this reason, swimming pools are very popular here. But with small children, the risk of sunburn is really high. I get a tan even wearing SPF 50. Since it is windy, umbrellas frequently blow over. So I figured I'd find something to securely hang over the pool.

At Costco.com, I found the Coolaroo sail shade you see in the picture. They come in various shapes and sizes. It came with all of the mounting hardware and it now provides excellent supplemental/relief coverage for our wading pool. If a big storm comes, I can just unhook it and tuck it away.