Kai Kids is here (eco-friendly baby and maternity products)--

Check out this new family owned earth friendly baby, child and mama online store. According to mama and owner Nancy, Kai Kids specializes in "eco-friendly clothing and accessories for babies, toddlers, new moms and moms-to-be. From stainless steel sippy cups to soy onesies, bamboo baby blankets to BPA-free baby bottles, we’ve got everything parents need to raise baby green, and a few treats for mamas too! We carry sexy maternity and nursingwear made from non-toxic soy fibre and lyocell. All of our lines are either Fair Trade or ethically manufactured."

Where were these when I needed them? They carry reusable bamboo nursing pads that are thinner and more absorbent then their cotton counterparts.

They also carry a line of baby clothes made with a looser fit for accommodating cloth diapers (and they are adorable).

I'm especially digging the organic cotton teethers made by Under the Nile for the orally fixated set (my 10 month old being one of them).

Enjoy!

Sick, Twisted and Cruel, and Putting Your Kids at Risk--

Meghan Goss over at the Humane Society of the United States shared with me a horrifying undercover video detailing the outrageously cruel treatment of sick and weak cattle in the Hallmark Meat Packing Plant in Chino, CA. These already sick and dying cattle were forced to stand, so they could be "processed" meaning, slaughtered, by torturing them in myriad ways. According to the video (which I could not bear to watch) and Goss, this included "shocking the cows with electric prods, jabbing them in the eyes, shackling and dragging the cattle, ramming them with blades of a forklift, and spraying high pressure water into the cows' mouth and nose" to simulate drowning. Now this is shocking, unethical, appalling and must be stopped. Read the full story from the Humane Society of the United States here. But it doesn't end there--

It turns out that this plant is a major supplier of for the National School Lunch Program. That means the meat in your child's school, that is supplied by the government (which is most of it) could be from this very plant. Why might this put your child at risk? Downed cattle (cows too sick or weak to stand) are 58 times more likely to carry Mad Cow disease, according to the USDA. Yes, you read that right-- 58 times more likely. And, these cows are more likely to carry pathogens such as E.coli and Salmonella, which kill hundreds of Americans each year.

If that wasn't enough, the meat from this plant is also most likely to reach the most vulnerable among us. The Hallmark Plant supplies meat for other federal programs that benefit the poor and elderly who could be exposed to harmful pathogens and disease from consuming this meat.

After yesterday's release of this footage, the USDA banned the Westland Meat Co. (who apparently owns and operates this plant) from supplying meat to the National School Lunch Program. The Humane Society encourages the USDA to go farther and shut down the plant until it passes a through inspection for safety (and humanity, I hope--). I couldn't agree more. Here is the link to that story.

Thankfully, several members of Congress were outraged and calling for action as well. Read some of their thoughts here (many of which I read and gave me information for this post).

What can you do? Visit this link to send a message to the Secretary of Agriculture Edward Schafer to stop the cruelty and to stop allowing downed cattle in our kids' food supply, and support the Humane Society's efforts to tighten regulation and enforcement of factory farms.

Tell me Your Stories about Lead in Children's Products (and I'll share it with people who can do something about it!)--

I just got an email this morning from Elliot Burg, Vermont's assistant Attorney General, about testifying in support of a bill that would prevent lead poisoning of children by exposure to lead in consumer products. It would be the toughest anti-lead bill in the nation, and in the absence of federal legislation limiting lead exposure, the states are left to go it alone to protect their kids. It's a great bill that would significantly reduce the exposure of kids to lead from consumer products we all know are still out there, on store shelves. I'm thrilled to support it and hope I can help.

His email motivated me to do some more research about lead in children's products to prepare for my testimony. I found some fantastic resources, I wanted to share with you. If you know of any others, please post a comment and link. I will be testifying at the end of next week, and will keep you all posted.

Also, do you have a personal story about lead poisoning from consumer products you could share with me? It would help if I shared some stories from parents who have a personal experience about the problem of lead in toys, bibs, and other items we use with our kids. Sharing a personal story or perspective would make this issue more real and pressing for lawmakers. Please forward this to anyone you know who has had experience with this issue, and I can share their story with the legislature. Thanks in advance!

I found these great resources:

Made in Deadly China This is a website all about our dysfunctional and highly suspect relationship with China and the many problems with the health and safety of consumer products and food.

And an amazing site full of current events relating to toys, the CPSC, and all things related to consumer justice at The Consumerist.

Here is a direct link to a very comprehensive (and infuriating, maddening, exhausting-) list of recalled toys in 2007, over 17 million of them. Check in out in all your spare time by clicking here.

More on this later. I've got to get ready!

Toxic Fabric Softeners (smells like a fresh chemical mountain stream!)--

One of my friends alerted me to the fact that those fabric softener sheets some folks use are chock full of nasty chemicals. I've never used them myself (what! add another step to laundry? I can barely wash my clothes, and my family's clothes, let alone remember to add something else when I do--), but I know people who do.

So what is the problem? Check out this article from Grinning Planet (a quirky new eco-site I just found). The chemicals used on are many lists of chemicals to AVOID using (gee, why would these be allowed, then?). This nasty listed of chemicals has been linked to cancer, allergies, nausea, vomiting, irritated respiratory function, and central nervous system disorders, according to the article. Sounds like fun, huh? Two of the chemicals are on the EPA's hazardous waste list! All for some softness, a "clean" scent, and to avoid some static. The link also has some great alternatives for using fabric softener.

Here is another article on the subject, from World-Wire news, sharing most of the same information as the above article, with a few different alternatives to using fabric softener. This article also points out that the chemicals in these softeners are so strong that manufacturers have to use 50 times the normal amount of fragrance to cover it up! This should set off alarm bells for folks who avoid synthetic perfumes and fragrances (like we do) because of our kids' sensitive skin and potential for allergic reactions.

I recently used fabric softener sheets to try and deter mice in our kitchen. I read this tip online and should have thought about it. Ah, if the scent deters mice, why exactly is it okay for my family to inhale it? It's clearly not okay. One of the chemicals is "harmful if inhaled", and we inhaled it everyday in our kitchen until the scent ran out. It did seem to work. Turns out the mice were smarter than we were.

For the chemically sensitive, the allergic, and all of us who are trying to limit our children's exposure to toxic chemicals, clearly, fabric softener sheets are not as fresh as a mountain stream.