surviving life without paper towels

I am married to "King Paper Towel". My husband has a love affair with paper towels that can't fairly be described. And he only like the "good" paper towels like Viva. I was beginning to feel guilty about the amount of paper towels the boy would go through in a week and the toll that was taking on the environment. I wish I had some great statistic proving this, but I don't. I just know lots of paper towels = lots of trees.

Without letting him know, I let our paper towels run out and I didn't buy any more. At first Matt was very perplexed by the situation. The idea of using cloth towels was just too much. But he quickly adapted. We actually started using that big drawer full of kitchen towels. It really didn't make that much more laundry for me, on an average day we go through two towels, sparing any big messes. Now that I have him in the habit of using towels, I bought some recycled paper towels the other day and he was appalled! I save my paper towel usage for things like cleaning glass, and feel good about the trees we are saving by not using so many paper towels.

So my challenge to you, go paper towel less for one week! See if you can adapt to not using them! Leave a comment and let us know how it goes!!

let's cook!

Imaginary play is so important for preschoolers. One of Bubbie's all time favorite things to play with his is toy kitchen. He really loves the wooden food from Melissa and Doug. All the food velcros together and comes with wooden knives or pizza cutters to "cut" the food. By pretending to cook with him, I can teach him so much about healthy eating and new food choices. My hope is that foods he's afraid to try now will become more familiar through play and eventually less intimidating at the dinner table! The kitchen in the above picture is actually Sass's but in our play room Bubbie has a great little kitchen that we bought from a garage sale for $5! We have definitely gotten our $5 worth out of our little kitchen! You can get wooden food and other fun natural toys from one of my favorite online boutiques
Tender Cargo.

wear your baby

Baby wearing is becoming more and more popular. When I was pregnant with Charlie the Baby Bjorn was the "thing" you had to have. While I even used my bjorn this time around, once your baby puts on a few pounds they start to get too heavy! So I began exploring more about baby wearing. My next adventure was with a sling. I love my slings, especially when Gracie was tiny, but again, at 17 lbs. I can only wear her for so long! So I discovered something new again (I have a shopping problem.... I am well aware!). I just received my Beco Baby Carrier! I am super excited! The Beco can be worn as a front carrier or a back carrier, but offers much more support than a sling. Its great for older babies and toddlers.

There are many benefits to baby wearing. Being hands free is one of my top reasons. I can wear Gracie and still play with Charlie. Babies also are happier when they are close to you, so baby wearing tends to reduce crying, and we can all use a little less of that! You can read more about the benefits of baby wearing here!

The Beco patterns are super cute and so hard to pick just one. I had to choose though, so this is what I got! ETA: The Beco can carry babies from newborn to toddlers up to 40lbs!


* All Images come from Beco

the dirty dozen

Something that is becoming more and more important to me as I do research is feeding my kids as much organic food as possible. Its very overwhelming though because there are so many choice these days. Well listed below is "the dirty dozen". According to the USDA Pesticide Data Program, these food are the most contaminated with pesticides. The list goes from the most to least contaminated. The Sneaky Chef says, "If you eat these foods on a regular basis, you are exposing yourself to more than twenty different pesticides per day." This might give you a good starting point with small changes you can make.

The Dirty Dozen (according to the Sneaky Chef)
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples (this one surpised me!)
Spinach
Nectarines
Celery
Pears
Cherries
Potatoes
Sweet Bell Peppers
Raspberries
Imported Grapes

All information in the post came from The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine

a good read for green mamas (or those trying to be!)

This morning Sass had physical therapy and while we were waiting in the waiting room I found my dream magazine!! Kiwi magazine is all about Growing Families the Natural and Organic way. It's super cute and colorful with great product recommendations. I came right home and ordered a 2 year subscription for only $20! You will be getting lots of tips on here from Kiwi in the next few months. Their website is great too, so check it out!

no more junk mail, lots more trees

Green Dimes is the coolest organization. For twenty bucks they will get your name off all the junk mail lists and plant ten trees! Who couldn't use less junk mail?! This is a very simple thing to do in effort to go green this year, so I challenge all my readers to join Green Dimes. Leave a comment after you join! Let's see how many people we can get to eliminate their junk!

where the dirty diapers go......

So one of the things people are always intrigued about when they find out I use cloth diapers, is what I do with the dirty diapers when we are out and about. There is a very simple solution to this and its called a wet bag (not the best name, but a great product!). Anyway, a wet bag essentially is a small bag you stick inside your diaper bag to put dirty diapers in and it has a waterproof lining. They come in different sizes, so depending on how long you would be out, you would choose your bag accordingly. Once I discovered these, I knew only a cute one would do, so I was on a hunt. I discovered this awesome girl named Sam, from My Beautiful Girl,who makes cloth wipes and wet bags on hyena cart. Her bags are the best! Great fabric, wash awesome, super cute! I have three bags by her now, small, medium and large. These have come in great use to me for things other than cloth diapers too. I use our large one when we travel to put all of our shampoos, lotions etc in. I like to keep one in my diaper bag for wet clothes in case of a potty accident. I love having one in our swimming lesson bag for the wet suit! So even if you don't cloth diaper, there are great uses for her bags. I have nothing but raves for My Beautiful Girl and for Sam! She is super sweet to work with and I will definitely order from her again (her wipes deserve a post of their own!).