Elementary School Kids Get Crayola to “ColorCycle” Used Markers

(Great news on a story we've been following. This group also inspired my Earth Hero group to start our own petition to Newell Rubbermaid, makers of Expo Markers to get them to recycle these widely used educational tools. Please sign our petition as well!)

After a group of California elementary school students gathered more than 90,000 signatures on a Change.org petition asking Crayola to “make its mark” on recycling, the crafts manufacturer has announced plans for “ColorCycle” -- a program the company says will accept used markers and convert them into a liquid fuel source.

The elementary school’s “Green Team” launched the popular campaign after discussing ways they could make a positive impact on the environment during an after school meeting. Over the next twelve months, thousands of Crayola consumers, parents, and students joined the group’s campaign, which received coverage from the Associated Press, NBC, and numerous other national news outlets.

“Seeing the expression on the students’ faces when they heard was priceless,” said parent and Green Team advisor Land Wilson. “A year ago, they asked a company they love to step up and do the right thing.  What’s happened since has reached beyond what we imagined possible: thousands of signatures on their Change.org petition, major media coverage,  endorsements, all because a small group of elementary school students from San Rafael asked them to help make the world a healthier, safer place.”

In a letter to Land Wilson announcing the ColorCycle program, Crayola explained that it will promote and facilitate the process of turning old markers into a source of energy via a conversion facility.  

"I hope Crayola will provide more information about their process,” Wilson added. “What I've seen from my kids is real desire to learn about the science behind these initiatives. Crayola has an opportunity to train kids not just to help kids be creative, but to foster the next generation of environmental scientists."

Join us for a MomsRising Tweet Chat this Tuesday on toxin-free summer travel!

I'm thrilled to announce that I recently started working with MomsRising on the issue of reducing toxics. I've been a member of MomsRising since it began, and since I took my first action with a tiny infant asleep on my lap.

I've always been a big fan of the platform of issues MomsRising represents-- maternity and paternity leave, open flexible work, toxin free families, health care for all, early care and education, fair pay for all, and paid sick days--all near and dear to my heart and the lives of American families.

In the early days of parenting, reading about important issues through MomsRising, and taking action on them connected me to the wider world, and made me feel less isolated, and more powerful. I felt connected to a network of mothers who wanted to make the world a better, safer, healthier place, and that connection mattered a great deal to me.

It still does. Now I am partnering with my friend Gloria Pan, who I first worked with at Moms Clean Air Force, and who has extensive experience in online activism, communication and organizing. I couldn't be more excited!

Join us for our first twitter chat called Eco Tip Tuesday, or #ecotiptue on Twitter. The chat starts at 9pm on Tuesday, June 18th. On Twitter, type in the hashtag #ecotiptue and join the conversation.

We'll be discussing how to keep your kids healthy, toxin-free and safe while traveling this summer. Please join us to share tips for the tricky business of road trips with young children. We know it can be a challenge, and our members and readers are some of the wisest parents out there. They'll be lots of tips for you to take with you on your next road trip.

Hope you can join us, and please share widely so we can increase the knowledge out there and arrive with well fed and happy kids.

8 Toxins to Avoid in Shampoo and Body Wash

This post is sponsored by Earth Mama Angel Baby and Green Sisterhood. 

 Picture this. You are trying to finish your grocery shopping. You are hungry, but more importantly, so are your kids. The window for getting what you need with children in relatively good spirits is quickly closing. You need to grab organic shampoo and body wash for the family. What do you look for?

The choices are overwhelming. Words like "natural!" "gentle for baby" "no tears" float before your eyes. So many choices!  All showing happy babies, telling us they are good for the environment and our children. While appealing, these words mean nothing if the shampoo or body wash contains the above listed chemicals. 

You might think that our government regulates nasty chemicals with harmful health consequences--- but you'd be wrong. We've got a broken chemical system here in the U.S. It's from 1973 and it grandfathered over 80,000 tested chemicals to be allowed in products. Yep, over 80,000 chemicals that have never been tested for safety, are in products on store shelves. Chemicals like the ones you see listed above, and a slew of new ones that have been added to products because there is no system to ensure a chemical is safe before it is added to products. 

So, mama, you are on your own.  Thankfully we have some tools, such as the Skin Deep Database, where you can learn about chemicals in products, their health risks, and how to avoid them.  The Environmental Working Group created an extensive online database of products and chemicals. You can search by brand, by chemical, or just search the ones with the least risk.

The infographic above gives you good idea about some of the toxins to avoid in the health and beauty aisle. I've written here many times about the dangers of "fragrance", triclosan, and other chemicals. 

Natural Mothering Ebook Bundle (a motherhood manual? yes, please)

(Here's a guest post from our friends at Nourishing Joy. I think this bundle contains a wealth of parenting information and I would love to have all of these resources at my finger tips.  I am an affiliate of this sale, so any purchases made here support the writing on Non-Toxic Kids, and thank you!)

Have you ever wished motherhood came with a manual?

Whether motherhood makes you feel overwhelmed or whether you feel like you've found your stride as a mother, we are here to help you be the best mother to your children that you can be. We can also help you deal with infertility and prepare you for giving birth confidently and joyfully.

We've got the resources you need to help your kids be healthier, to raise your children to be polite, caring people, to live more eco-friendly, and to make your home non-toxic.

For 1 week only, get a downloadable package of 35+ e-books specifically designed to encourage and equip mothers to nurture their families (and themselves!) naturally for just $29.97. Since these books together are worth more than $525, this is nearly a 95% discount!

There are also more than a dozen coupon codes and FREE products worth nearly $200 included to help you on your natural living journey!

These e-books reflect the work of 32 well-known Ph.D.'s, fertility specialists, lactation consultants, natural health professionals, authors, and bloggers who are passionate about motherhood and caring for mothers.

This is an intelligent, joy-filled collection that will inspire any mother to feed her beautiful babe well, feel confident in making difficult mothering decisions, and celebrate motherhood (even when it seems overwhelming).

5 Ways to Lessen EMF Exposures (and why we should)

(Guest post by author Lloyd Burrell)

EMFs. It's a word that gets bantered around by the media more and more but do you know what it actually means? And should you be worried about what EMFs your kids are being exposed to? This is what I'm going to answer in this article.

So what are EMFs exactly? EMFs is short for electromagnetic fields.

The World Health Organization explains, one of the main characteristics which defines an electromagnetic field (EMF) is its frequency or its corresponding wavelength ‚ "the frequency simply describes the number of oscillations or cycles per second, while the term wavelength describes the distance between one wave and the next."

So an EMF is a region of space where electric and magnetic forces interact. This could be an area found near magnets, broadcasting antennas, electrical substations and the like.

Since the wireless revolution EMFs are also found much closer to home. They are literally in your home thanks to wireless technologies like cell and cordless phones, smart meters, WI-FI, wireless laptops, wireless routers, baby monitors etc.

When you add these exposures to pre-existing non-wireless technologies like power lines, electrical wiring, electrical appliances in the home, that makes for a lot of EMFs.

Are these technologies dangerous?

Yes they are. Unfortunately our governments took a back seat on the protection front a long time ago. When cell phones were first introduced into the US market in the early 80s, they were exempted from premarket safety testing. Study after study shows the adverse biological effects of radio frequency (RF) radiation, the type of radiation emitted by cell phones.

And its not just cell phones and RF radiation the problem. ELFs, or extra low frequency EMFs from power lines, electrical wiring, other electrical appliances in the home are a real problem. The adverse effects of these exposures has been known about for decades.

Don't the safety guidelines protect us?

The recently published BioInitiative Report 2012 is the most up to date and reliable source of information that currently exists on this issue. The BioInitiative Working Group (BWG), who published the report, is comprised of 29 independent scientists and health experts from 10 countries. These are all eminent scientists and public health professionals. The BWG, in its first report, which it published in 2007, said:

"The clear consensus of the BioInitiative Working Group members is that the existing public safety limits are inadequate for [EMFs]"

In the 2007 report the link between EMF exposures and cancer was already clearly identified.

The 2012 report shines the spotlight on the link between exposure to EMFs and Autism, Fetal Exposure, Fertility, Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurological and autoimmune disease effects.

The BWG found that in some cases the current safety guidelines were found to be 1000s of times too lenient!

Should we be concerned for our kids?

There is real cause for concern. The BWG identified children as a particularly vulnerable population. The studies show that children are affected by EMFs in a shorter time than adults. Also because today's kids are born into this EMF world their lifetime EMF exposures will be much higher than children born only 10 or 20 years ago.

What can be done?

You need to take EMF protection into your own hands. The best place to start is at home, here's how:

Nasty Toxins in Childcare Settings

Where do you kids spend the majority of their time?  Probably in schools and childcare centers. While many schools have made considerable progress in the areas of environmental health, there is still a long way to go. We've made great strides in schools-- more are using green cleaners (Vermont has a new law about this!), limiting pesticides and car idling, improving ventilation.

But childcare centers are even less regulated. Because the settings vary so widely, it is hard to understand the environmental health challenges that currently exist, and to provide guidelines.

Until now.

Research has shown us that babies and toddlers are exposed to more indoor pollutants and more sensitive to them. In this time of rapid development, children are susceptible to the many toxins in regular childcare settings.

A new article in Environmental Health Perspectives notes this challenge within the childcare system:

"Yet environmental health standards in child care settings nationwide—which can include not just centers but also private homes, workplaces, universities, and places of worship—still lag behind those of schools, where children are older, larger, and somewhat less susceptible to environmental exposures. Unlike with more uniformly regulated schools, child care licensing, permitting, and oversight occur on a variety of levels, resulting in a fractured regulatory landscape."

A new study shared in this article outlined new concerns about childcare settings. Researchers discovered that:

Read the rest of this post over at Moms Clean Air Force.

Compromise Bill: The Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013

My first post about "scary" BPA containing bottles. 

Well, it's about time. We've been writing about The Safe Chemicals Act for years. Since 2008 when I started Non-Toxic Kids, we've been calling for a re-write of the ancient 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. Right now, we have at least 85,000 chemicals on the market that have never been tested for safety, and we have no clear mechanism for testing new chemicals that isn't industry based (and biased).

Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey has been talking about this issue (and taking action) for over a decade.  We've seen no movement of this bill, as thousands of children are exposed to a cocktail of chemicals that can harm their vulnerable systems. Research tells us that children take in more chemicals by body weight and because of their rapid development, they are affected by chemical exposures more than adults.  Meanwhile, rates of autism, cancer, early puberty, reproductive problems, obesity, and asthma rise. 

Now, just in the last week, we've seen movement on this issue.  A compromise bill as been put forth by Senator Lautenberg and Senator Vitter.  This is very exciting and a giant step-- but also a time for reading and understanding this compromise. 

I'm busy researching all the angles of this bill. I remain hopeful-- but realistic. I want to know what the trade-offs are to industry about keeping our kids safe from chemicals, in commerce and in communities, and how bill this will affect states that have already made great progress on toxics, such as Vermont, Washington and California.  I also know we are in desperate need of action to protect our kids on toxics and need to move this issue along. 

I'll report back with some big news from me about blogging and toxics, and break down this issue more fully. Here's what I am reading (and listening to) about this issue to learn more. 

Mindful Parenting eBundle Sale Starts Today!

Today starts a sweet sale on some lovely parenting resources. When I was contacted about this Mindful Parenting ebundle, I jumped at the chance--because, well, these are all books I would love to read.

The Mindful Parenting eBundle contains more than 20 carefully selected e-products by renowned authors. Some of these products are only available as a standalone through this bundle. This bundle sale is available only from May 28 to June 10, 2013.

The Mindful Parenting eBundle gives you answers to the most pertinent parenting questions in a variety of formats: e-mail courses, e-books, audio, and e-magazine. Some of the topics in this bundle include children and food, nurturing creativity, relaxation for parents, connecting through play, peaceful parenting, parenting through divorce, and many more.

There are 3 resources for stress relief for parents (um, who doesn't need that?), 6 peaceful guidance tools (yes, please), 5 creative play resources, 3 motherhood resources, plus bonus resources and a freebie.

It's like a long, slow dinner with your most centered, savvy and creative girlfriends-- sharing their best ideas on parenting.

Let me share the list of contributors:

1. Parenting for Social Change by Teresa Graham Brett
2. A Unique 7-Step Parenting Tool: Sleep talking by Marcy Axness
3. Relaxation Meditation, audio by Amy Phoenix of Presence Parenting
4. Newbie's Guide to Positive Parenting by Rebecca Eanes of Positive Parents
5. Issue three of the Play Grow Learn magazine by Christie Burnett of Childhood 101
6. Getting Back on Track! Why We Explode and What We Can Do About it, audio by Genevieve Simperingham of Peaceful Parent Institute
7. Stress Relief for parents, audio by Genevieve Simperingham of Peaceful Parent Institute
8. Creative Play Workshop, email course by Gina Kimmel of Connecting Family and Seoul and Katherine Lockett of Creative Playhouse
9. Mindset for Moms by Jamie Martin
10. Moods of Motherhood by Lucy Pearce of Dreaming Aloud
11. 42 Rules for Divorcing with Kids by Melinda Roberts
12. Mommy Overwhelm by Laura Schuerwegen of Authentic Parenting
13. Nurturing Creativity, Guide for Busy Parents by Renee Tougas of Tougas Café
14. The Playful Family by Shawn Ledington Fink
15. Poetry of a Hobo Mama by Lauren Wayne of Hobo Mama
16. Encouraging Words for Kids by Kelly Bartlett of Parenting From Scratch
17. Raising a Creative Kid by Jillian Riley of A Mom With a Lesson Plan
18. Children and Food by Tara Wagner of The Organic Sister
19. Coming of Age, audio by DeAnna L'Am
20. The Parenting Primer, A Guide to Positive Parenting in the First Six Years by Michelle Carchrae of The Parent Vortex
21. API Live! Teleseminar Series:  8 Principles of Attachment Parenting by Attachment Parenting International

See what I mean?