Introducing the Non-Toxic Kids Community

Hello, dear readers out there.  The ones who post comments, and the ones who do not.  I am so happy you take time in your busy schedule to visit Non-Toxic Kids.

I have created a place for you all to carry on the conversations started here, or to start new ones, and to feel the support and guidance of a collective group of parents.  I was looking for a way for readers to connect, discuss, and share beyond comments, and I hope I have found it!

When you click over to the community page, you will now see where you can enter the conversation.  You have to log in with BlogFrog, a group that helps blogs build community.  Once you have created a profile (don't worry, it's not hard and you don't have to reveal anything you don't want to), you can start posting questions, participating in live discussions, and responding to comments.  

Please (pretty please?) come on over and check it out.  Post any feedback you have here or over in the community.  Infinitely bright readers, I know you have lots to share.  I can't wait to read your thoughts and learn from you.

image:  by xlordashx on Flickr under CC


PS- I love this picture but wish it had some women from a variety of races and cultures too. 

Protect Baby from Chemicals and Household Toxins

(This is a guest post from Dr. Greene, in honor of National Baby Safety Month.)

There are about 80,000 chemicals in the marketplace today – more than enough to make parents who are concerned about chemicals pull out their hair. Simplify and pay attention to just 3 ways your child might be exposed.

1)       What goes in the mouth. 

Choose clean food and drinks, and pay special attention to the plastics that go in the mouth, especially those used to store, heat, or serve food and drinks. Chemicals in the plastics can leach out and enter your child. Notice the recycling symbols on the bottoms of many plastics. Opt for symbols 1, 2, 4, or 5. Or choose brands like BornFree, where the entire line of toddler sippy cups, pacifiers, baby bottles and plastic water bottles are free from BPA, phthalates and PVC. Or skip plastic, and go with something like glass or stainless steel.

2)       What goes on the skin. 

Chemicals in lotions and creams can be absorbed through the skin. We read the ingredients on food; it’s time to learn to read ingredient lists on skin products as well, and choose those you trust. Sunscreen is a great place to start. I prefer sunscreens that rely on minerals, like zinc or titanium, rather than relying on chemicals that might act as hormones in the body.

3)       What goes in the nose. 

Clean air may seem overwhelming. After all, you don’t have much control over other people’s exhaust pipes and smokestacks. But the air that matters most is the air in your own home, where your child sleeps at night. Indoor air is usually more polluted than outdoor air, so you can often make a big difference just by opening the windows. Replace cleaning products that have harsh fumes or artificial fragrances (anything that says, “Use in a Well-Ventilated Space” probably isn’t good for your child). And you might consider houseplants or an air filter to help clean your air.

Dr. Greene is the author of Raising Baby Green, Feeding Baby Green, and is a consulting pediatrician for BornFree.

CSA Chronicles: Adventures in Eating Local

I'm so excited about the CSA we joined mid-summer, Pete's Greens.  Located in Craftsbury, Vermont, Pete's Greens supplies central Vermont with local, fresh produce and new this year, a localvore share.

What is a localvore?  Someone trying to eat within a 100 mile radius of where they live for economic, environmental and health reasons.  Pete's Greens introduced a local share this year that features local produce, eggs, meat (for carnivores), cheeses, bread, honey, and other local food items. 

Each week, we pick up our farmer's box.  Here were the contents of last week's share:

As you can see, super plentiful!  I then make it my mission to create meals based on what is in each week's selection.  Here are a few of the recipes I have tried in recent weeks with this lovely influx of fresh produce:

1.  Eggplant croquettes: What a sweet way to use and eat eggplants! Very tasty and crispy.  

2. Tomato pie: I halved the manonaise because I think it is yucky and fatty and used some olive oil in place of it. 

3.  Black Bean veggie burgers:  I added extra bread crumbs and I was missing the green pepper.  Still very tasty!

I have also made tasty quesdillas packed with sweet onions, beans and cheese, and pasta tossed with tomatoes, sweet onions, garlic, and broccoli.  One night for a light dinner we had a simple but lovely dinner. Bruschetta.  Fresh bread, topped with a sautee of onions, tomatoes and garlic, sprinkled with mozzerella and then toasted in the oven, with fresh green beans.  The girls loved it, and often say, "Thank you, farmers!" before we eat. 

What are your go to recipes for local produce?

Like these posts about local eating? I am working on a project to share how parents can protect kids from toxins in food and feeding gear, coming out sometime in October-- stay tuned!

EPA, You Know Fracking Contaminates Drinking Water: Green Mama Activism

(Here's a guest post and call to action from our friends at the Environmental Working Group. Recently, I watched the movie Gasland. I will be posting a review soon, but I was blown away by how in recent years this dangerous and polluting way of extracting natural gas has harmed thousands of people, most of them from a low socio-economic status, across our country.)

The oil and gas industry says it's safe. Environmental Working Group wants more science. You have probably heard about it. It's called hydraulic fracturing or fracking -- whatever the name, let's make sure we can call it safe.

The oil and gas industry claims that hydraulic fracturing has never contaminated drinking water wells. EWG's recent study, Cracks in the Façade, uncovered documents showing that in 1987, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded that fracking could -- and did -- contaminate a water well used by a West Virginia family.

Still, industry insists that this controversial drilling technique is safe -- even though the EPA also concluded that the incident in West Virginia was representative of contamination from oil and gas drilling.

Click here to stand with EWG and tell EPA officials they have a responsibility to look into fracking and make sure the oil and gas companies aren't harming our water supply -- and us.

Fracking is escalating as drilling companies seek to exploit gas deposits trapped in untapped shale formations. But scientific understanding of the technology's hazards hasn't kept up with the expansion of drilling. We need the EPA to step up and protect our drinking water and land by intensifying its investigations of the potential risks to air, water and the environment.

Fracking injects a mix of water, sand and chemicals into underground shale formations under high pressure to free embedded deposits of oil and gas. It has been associated with drinking water contamination and property damage across the nation, from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, but the industry has always denied that the process can contaminate groundwater.

Yet EWG's investigation turned up a long-forgotten EPA report that said that in 1982, Kaiser Gas Co. drilled and hydraulically fractured a natural gas well on private property in Jackson County, W. Va. In a 1987 report to Congress, the EPA concluded that the process had contaminated the landowner's well. The EPA called this contamination "illustrative" of the types of pollution associated with natural gas and oil drilling. The EPA might have included other examples of groundwater pollution from fracking, but the agency's investigation was hampered by confidentiality agreements between industry and affected landowners.

For almost 25 years neither the industry nor the EPA itself has mentioned this study or followed up with more research to determine how fracking fluid might seep into well water. That's too long to leave our drinking water at risk.

Click here to join EWG in demanding that the EPA conduct research into fracking's hazards. We must keep our water safe.

Thank you for standing up for safe drinking water. Together, we can make sure that the EPA determines the true risks of fracking and protects our drinking water.




image: by Earthworks Action on Flickr