An Eco Friendly Alternative to Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags

I should have posted this earlier and I apologize. My friend Sarah had the greatest idea this year. She offered hand sewn gift bags for the holidays. At just $4 a bag, who can pass up this economical and eco-friendly packaging solution? I am Jewish so mine are Hanukkah bags, but most of them were for Christmas. Her address is imamamadiapers@yahoo.com and she just informed me that she is making Valentine bags.






Other ways I reduce during the holiday season are by:
~Re-using gift bags, tissue paper and boxes for years. Literally until they break. Then I recycle them.
~An old Hershey tradition is to not sign cards. My grandmother, May Hershey, always gives the presentee blank cards with their gifts. She does this to be frugal but the tradition stuck and my whole family attaches blank cards so that they can be re-used.
~At my house we always recycle wrapping paper. I was surprised to find out that a lot of people didn't know that it was recyclable.
~Lastly, I always make presents. Well that's not totally true, gifts to my family are comprised of things that my kids made. That way, we get to use all those lovely things they make in school and my family is overjoyed to receive kid art.

However you celebrate the holidays, please be on the lookout for ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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If You Live In Oregon, Please Support Brandy By Attending Casey's Funeral

Casey Hope Roth passed peacefully in the arms of her loving parents on November 23, 2008. Casey Hope was born on November 20, 2008 in her three short days here on Earth she touched many lives as her heart valves were donated and received by those who were in need. Casey Hope was the daughter of Jon and Brandy Roth, of Springfield Oregon. Casey Hope is survived by one sibling, Juniper Roth. Her paternal grandparents are Jim and Novena Slater-Roth of Sweet Home; and maternal grandparents Ronald Fortson of Brownsville and Letxy Fortson of Creswell. In lieu of flowers we would be honored to have you support The Children’s Miracle Network at: Children’s Miracle Network P.O. Box 10905 Eugene, OR 97440 as they supported us in our time of need. The funeral services will be held at Musgrove’s on December 10, 2008. There will be a viewing at 5:00pm followed by the funeral at 5:30pm.

Want to see LolliDoo Live?

Check out this video. My beautiful work wife Melissa, was interviewed at the ABC Kids Expo by Bernice. Bernice is my new girl crush and she is also the owner of Terra Tots; www.terra-tots.com.

Interested in a timeshare?

My family has out grown ours.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tucson-Timeshare-close-to-the-U-of-A-Floating-Week_W0QQitemZ260324586281QQihZ016QQcategoryZ15897QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanksgiving at the Manes House

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. My family ends most get togethers with dancing. For your viewing pleasure the kids and the grandmas dancing...

Formula is the last choice for feeding babies pt. 1

The WHO (World Health Organization) states that the most nutritious way to feed a baby is:
1. Breastfeeding
2. Pumped breastmilk
3. Using donor breastmilk
4. Formula

They have good reason to make formula a last resort. For starters, this was recently in the news.

According to FDA data for tests of 77 infant formula samples, a trace concentration of melamine was detected in one product — Mead Johnson's Infant Formula Powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron. An FDA spreadsheet shows two tests were conducted on the Enfamil, with readings of 0.137 and 0.14 parts per million.

Three tests of Nestle's Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron detected an average of 0.247 parts per million of cyanuric acid, a melamine byproduct.

-FDA finds traces of melamine in US infant formula By MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writers

To read the whole article, go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081126/ap_on_he_me/infant_formula

Formula companies are marketing geniuses and they portray images of formula fed babies as healthy. While formula is not a prescription for poor health, it certainly has a lot of risks that I for one am not willing to take.

Lets look at some studies.

Formula feeding increases baby girls' risk of developing breast cancer in later life. Women who were formula-fed as infants have higher rates of breast cancer as adults. For both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer, women who were breastfed as children, even if only for a short time, had a 25% lower risk of developing breast cancer than women who were bottle-fed as infants.

Freudenheim, J. et al. 1994 "Exposure to breast milk in infancy and the risk of breast cancer". Epidemiology 5:324-331

Breast cancer is so prevalent that I would not willing introduce anything into my daughter's bodies that may up the risk.

People have argued that formula doesn't increase the risk of diabetes, so here are several studies linking development of insulin dependant Type I diabetes (formerly referred to as "juvenile diabetes") to lack of breastfeeding. The results of a study from Finland suggest that the introduction of dairy products at an early age, and high milk consumption during childhood increase the level of cow's milk antibodies in the children's systems. This factor is associated with an increased risk of insulin dependent diabetes. Now a new study has indicated that breastfeeding in infancy may help reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes. This sort of diabetes was formerly referred to as "adult onset" diabetes, but has been mysteriously occurring in more and more youngsters.

Young, T.K. et al. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2002; 156(7): 651-55

Gerstein HC. "Cow's milk exposure and type 1 diabetes mellitus". Diabetes Care. 1994;17:13-19

Virtanen et al: "Diet, Cow's milk protein antibodies and the risk of IDDM in Finnish children." Childhood Diabetes in Finland Study Group. Diabetologia, Apr 1994, 37(4):381-7

Virtanen SM, Rasanen L, Aro A, et al. "Infant feeding in Finnish children <7 yr of age with newly diagnosed IDDM" Diabetes Care, 1991;14:415-417

Another big bad is that formula increases a baby's risk of SIDS. There are a number of studies showing a possible link between lack of breastfeeding and SIDS. A Swedish study has found that babies who were breastfed exclusively for less than 8 weeks had a 3 - 5 times greater risk of dying from SIDS than babies who were breastfed exclusively for four months

Horn, RS et al "Comparison of evoked arousability in breast and formula fed infants." 2004 Arch Dis Child.; 89(1):22-25

Alm et al, "Breastfeeding and the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Scandanavia." June 2002 Arch of Dis in Child. 86: 400-402.

McVea, KL et al "The role of breastfeeding in sudden infant death syndrome." J Hum Lact. 2000;16:13-20

Fredrickson, DD et al., "Relationship between Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Breastfeeding Intensity and Duration." Am. Journal of Diseases in Children, 1993: 147:460

Ford RPK, et al ."Breastfeeding and the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome." International Journal of Diseases in Children, 1993, 22(5):885-890

Taylor BJ, Mitchell EA, et al. "Breastfeeding and the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Int J. Epidemiol. 1993;22:885-890

Scragg LK, Mitchell EA, Tonkin SL, et al. "Evaluation of the cot death prevention programme in South Auckland." NZ Med J. 1993;106:8-10

I know that this post is very footnote heavy, but I think it's important to back up what I am saying.

Formula fed babies have a higher risk of developing certain childhood cancers. In a study done by researchers at the University of Minnesota it was found that babies who were breast fed for at least one month had a 21% less chance of getting leukemia than formula fed babies. The risk was 30% for children breast fed for 6 months.

Shu X-O, et al. "Breastfeeding and the risk of childhood acute leukemia". J Natl Cancer Inst 1999; 91: 1765-72

The choice is clear to me, I would never choose formula. Mother's that do choose formula for convienence, say they don't want their boobs to sag (a myth by the way, boobs sag due to heredity not breastfeeding), need to educate themselves. It saddens me that in this day and age formula is still commonplace.

I leave you with my favorite quote.

When we trust the makers of baby formula more than we do our own ability to nourish our babies, we lose a chance to claim an aspect of our power as women. Thinking that baby formula is as good as breast milk is believing that thirty years of technology is superior to three million years of nature's evolution. Countless women have regained trust in their bodies through nursing their children, even if they weren't sure at first that they could do it. It is an act of female power, and I think of it as feminism in its purest form. ----- Christine Northrup M.D.

Stay tuned for part two of my formula rant.

Baby Casey and Her Amazing Parents

My friend Brandy birthed a beautiful baby, Casey Hope, on November 22, 2008. Casey weighed 9lbs 2oz and was 22 inches long.

Casey was given a 0-5% chance of survival.

Casey Hope passed, November 23rd, 2008 at 11:15 am. She passed onto heaven peacefully.

Amidst breaking hearts, Brandy and her husband Jon, donated all four of Casey's heart valves were able to be used to save four other babies lives. I am humbled by their generosity, courage and love. They faced every parent's worst nightmare and healed four other families.

If Roses Grow in Heaven

If roses grow in Heaven Lord
Please pick a bunch for me.
Place them in my Mother's arms
and tell her they're from me.
Tell her I love her and miss her,
and when she turns to smile,
Place a kiss upon her cheek
and hold her for a while.
Because remembering her is easy,
I do it everyday,
But there is an ache within my heart
That will never go away.

Author Unknown

If you pray, please include Brandy and Jon in your prayers.

Pregnant in America

Please take three minutes to watch this eye-opening preview.



This was originally posted on http://journeybirth.blogspot.com/

I got interviewed today by the Wall Street Journal

I was asked my thoughts on boycotting businesses that supported Prop 8. I was a little nervous but my friend Kira was over and she said that I used a lot of big words :) I'll post the article when it's in my hand.

Early Birthday Resolutions

I am feeling like I need to make some birthday resolutions and in order to be accountable, I am listing my "green" ones here.

1. I will sign up for paperless billing from every company that offers it.

2. I will ALWAYS remember my canvas bags at the grocery store.

3. Instead of letting the shower run to warm up, I will put a watering can in it to catch the cold water and then water the plants with it.

4. Every time I purchase something that is going to go into our wastewater system, ie. shampoo, dish soap, I will read the labels to make sure there are no phosphates.

5. I will budget in money for double paned windows or the likes in order to conserve energy in my house.

6. I will make an appointment with the electric company for an energy audit.

7. I will make sure that the washing machine is full before I run it, no more 1/2 loads.

8. I will unplug every appliance that I can when not in use.

9. I will make sure that my tires are full so that I don't waste gasoline.

10. I will have Chuck turn down the temperature on our water heater.

Small steps to a greener life...

Hate aka Prop 8

I wasn't going to blog about this, I wanted to keep this blog as a uncontroversial as possible, but as a human being I just can't keep quiet about it.

I am extremely concerned about equality in this country. How are we as a people able to dictate who can and cannot get married? How is that different from women's rights, equality for black people or even white supremacy? I'm not gay and I don't have a close inner circle of gay friends, but still, this issue hurts my heart.

People are claiming that same sex marriage is against God. Aren't we all God's children and doesn't it say, "Judge not, lest ye be judged"? Who are we to dictate God's law? Does it say anywhere in the bible that God's children are to act as enforcers? I think it's a blatant case of man imposing what he perceives God's will to be. I don't buy it.

How is this different from the Nazi doctrine? Nazism has come to stand for a belief in the superiority of an Aryan race; the Führer and claimed to defend Germany and the German people (including those of German ethnicity abroad) against Communism and so-called Jewish subversion. Ultimately, the Nazis sought to create a largely homogeneous ethnic state.

As a Jew, this issue is close to my heart.

I so disturbed, so disturbed.

The kick in the dick is that because an obvious majority of the United States believes that marriage is between a man and woman and they insist that there beliefs must be adopted by all, gay and lesbian couples have no rights. They can't get health benefits, if they have children and the birth parent dies then the other parent can loose their own children, they have no rights as a couple. If one is in the hospital dying and the family doesn't want the partner around, then the partner has no voice, no rights to be with his/her beloved.


I am disgusted and I wonder what the people who voted to ban gay marriage would do if they weren't allowed to marry. This is hate, pure and simple, and the fact that it is not only accepted in 2008, but encouraged makes it a hate crime.

Please take a minute to watch this profound commentary by Keith Olbermann.

Breasts in America

I have heard stories about women being banned from public places for breastfeeding, thankfully I have never personally experienced discrimination nursing my kids in public. A lot of people do not know that it is legal to breastfeed in public in every state.

If you, or someone you know, have had problems with public breastfeeding such as being asked to go to restroom to nurse, you can report it to www.firstright.org

FirstRight takes every reported incident of discrimination seriously, and they will help you. They have organized nurse-ins, an education committee as well as a Breastfeeding Legislative Action Committee.

I have issues with the fact that the grocery stores line the checkout counters with provative pictures of breasts. Take a look at this Maxim cover.




When this cover of Baby Talk came out, there was a lot of contraversy surrounding the bare breast. Give me a break people, boobs are for babies, we are genetically designed that way.



By not supporting a woman basic right to breastfeed in public, shaming these woman, asking them to nurse in the bathroom, hospitals handing out free "breastfeeding support kits" with a 6 pack of formula, bottles and a guide called, Breastfeeding Your Baby The First Two Months, and the acceptance of formula as a viable substitute for breastmilk; this country suggests that breastfeeding is unacceptable.

"When we trust the makers of baby formula more than we do our own ability to nourish our babies, we lose a chance to claim an aspect of our power as women. Thinking that baby formula is as good as breast milk is believing that thirty years of technology is superior to three million years of nature's evolution. Countless women have regained trust in their bodies through nursing their children, even if they weren't sure at first that they could do it. It is an act of female power, and I think of it as feminism in its purest form." ----- Christine Northrup M.D.

Here I am breastfeeding Talia, 18 months old, at the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas. I did not get any wayward glances from the other exhibitors, I did get nods, smiles and sighs. Am I exposing myself, do I look unprofessional? It certainly didn't negatively impact my response at the show.

If you haven't looked at this before, I encourage you to read 101 Reason's To Breastfeed at http://www.promom.org/101/.

It just doesn't make sense to me why anyone would discourage something that is a million times better for our babies. Consider this, mothers on WIC or Public Assistance get their formula paid for by the state, guess who is really paying for that? Yep, US. Also, formula fed babies spend more time at the doctors, which not only do we pay for if the baby is on public assistance, but if the baby is on traditionbal health insurance, it makes our rates go up.

Food for thought.

I am so excited to announce that

We now have a one-size-fits-all LolliDoo® Diaper!!!!!

Melissa has been working diligently to create a one size diaper. After over a year of trials and tribulations, SHE DID IT!

The benefits of a one size diaper are many.

~You only have to buy diapers once, instead of new sizes as your baby grows.

~As with sized diapers, you can pass them down from baby to baby.

~They are easy to use

~The savings are astronomical. With disposable diapers you spend an average of $1167/year, $3500/ three years. With our new LolliDoo® One-size-fits-all diaper, the initial investment is approximately $800, which is all you will ever spend!

Stay tuned for more information and pictures. The diapers will hit shelves in January.

Sharing 5 of my favorite sites

I thought that I would compile s short list of the sites that I like. The first being http://www.mrsgreengoesmainstream.com Mrs. Green Goes Mainstream is a local radio show that focuses on green topics. Check out the site, it has all kinds of goodness.

My favorite printer in the whole wide world is http://www.wgiprint.com Wizard Graphics not only prints on recycled paper, but they print with low VOC vegetable based ink. They have great customer service and their printing is exceptional.

This really isn't a "green" site, but my absolute favorite travel site is http://chuckmanes.worldventures.biz/ It is my husband's travel site but they price match and you can rent condos, apartments in addition to hotels. You can also rent cars and find airfare, check it out if you are planning a trip.

I direct anyone who asks me questions about the cost of cloth diapers vs disposable diapers to the Diaper Pin's diaper calculator http://www.diaperpin.com/calculator/calculator.asp. The diaper calculator gives an unbiased look at the reality of diapering.

For some reason the hyperlinks wouldn't work for the last two sites, so I bolded them. Copy and paste the addresses into your browser.

Lastly, my friend Nonie is doing an amazing thing for the breastfeeding community, it's called Mom's Breastaurant. http://www.momsbreastaurant.org She goes around the country to different festivals, fairs and expos, and offers moms a safe, comfortable place to sit and nurse their babies. Nonie doesn't charge for this service, which is even more amazing. Check out the site and support her if you feel like she deserves it, I do.

Put Your Money Where Your Green Is

I know in these days of scary economics that people are afraid of investing in new companies. I have to tell you that investing in a green company seems like the safest place for your money right now.

Place your bets. If you're ready to up your game, consider investing in projects that are making the world greener. You could put your money in eco-conscious local projects or in individual stocks. Or, if you're looking for big-league options, think about backing start-ups, young companies -- some analysts predict that such investments will see double-digit rates of return over the next decade. -Any Portfolio in a Storm, How to green your investments 15 Apr 2008

Hey! That fits us.

Just check out these statistics from the Real Diaper Industry Association.




Click on the charts for a larger view and you will see that the growth in the cloth diaper industry alone is astounding. It is my opinion that investing in young green companies is not only going to change how we treat our planet, our bodies and our consumerism; it is going to be a financial windfall in coming years.

So come on people and put your money where your green is!

What's New with LolliDoo®

We have a new and improved logo for Go Green Sustainable Industries, LLC. Timmy the Turtle is also going to be the spokesturtle for our yet-to-be-named non-profit. The non-profit is going to focus on educating about Water; our #1 most precious natural resource and phosphates. Phosphates are incredibly dangerous to humans, plants, and animals alike in high concentrations...high concentrations occur as a result of storm run-off, untreated (and treated) sewage in water supplies (resulting from such things as laundry or dishwasher detergents), and agricultural applications (whether from the homeowner’s lawn OR the farmer’s crops). The kicker is that phosphates are TOTALLY unnecessary.

Introducing Timmy...








LolliDoo® Diapers are going to hit the shelves this coming January. We are offering a all-in-one with a unique patented air flow design; LolliDoo® Two, as well as a remarkable new concept to diapering; LolliDoo® For You(TM), It's All About Choices(TM). I cannot share this top secret system just quite yet, but rest assured, it's going to knock your socks off.





Coming soon...










I know I am a tease, but I couldn't help myself.

Conversations with Jessica who works for the City of Tucson

This post is part of the Real Diaper Facts carnival hosted by Real Diaper Events, the official blog of the Real Diaper Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to cloth diaper education. Participants were asked to write about diaper lies and real diaper facts. See the list at the bottom of this post to read the rest of the carnival entries.


I was at a good bye lunch for my bff Alana last week,(that's us),where I met this dynamic woman named Jessica, who has been friends with Alana since grade school.

Jessica works for the City of Tucson and I believe she works in the recycling department, but I might be mistaken. We got to talking, as women do, and I was telling her all about LolliDoo® . She doesn't have kids yet but she was extremely excited and supportive of us.

Then she told me about her work and this is what the intention of this blog entry is about. Jessica mentioned some important things about recycling that I never considered.

1. People throw non recyclable bags in the recycle bin (ie. grocery and trash bags)
2. I was astounded by this one, people also throw disposable diapers in the recycle bin.

What happens when either plastic bags or diapers are thrown in the recycle bin was news to me. First of all it contaminates the entire load, not just the load from the one house, but everything that was collected in the truck that day. Apparently if it cannot be filtered, like say cottage cheese, then it cannot be recycled.

So what happens, is that one well meaning person throws a trash bag full of recycles in the recycle bin. Then it contaminates the load. So, it winds up wasting gas, money and the entire load of would be recyclable material now has to be dumped into the landfill.

When disposable diapers are thrown into the recycle bin the same thing happens. As with throwing disposable diapers in the regular trash, there are the leaching issues and health hazards. Even though it is illegal to throw human feces in the landfill, most parents disregard this law and as a result, the rest of us have to deal with groundwater contamination and the general nastiness of something filled with urine and feces stinking up our landfills for 500+ years.

But I digress.

The point is that we, myself included, really need to pay attention to what we toss into the recycle bin so that we can in fact, recycle and not waste the taxpayers money and our resources on wasteful missions.

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What Should I Do With All These Paper Towels?

I successfully eliminated paper towels and napkins from my house over a year ago. When my mother-in-law comes over and asks for paper towels and I hand her a rag. She came over yesterday to celebrate Halloween with the kids, arms filled with strawberries, grapes, chocolate cake and you guessed it...paper towels. Not just one roll but a 12 pack from Costco. I know she meant well and I thanked her for thinking of us, but now what?

I could use them but I would feel guilty every time I threw one away. Maybe I could donate them to my daughter's school, but still, it makes my tummy hurt a little knowing someone is using a disposable product that came from me. I really don't know what to do with them. It took me so long to train my family to use rags and linen napkins, I don't want them to backtrack.

So here I sit, looking at a rolls upon rolls of paper towels in my bedroom.

Shameless Brag

This are two of my girls, Talia and Rorie along with Alana's niece Kiana, singing Song of Love with Alana Sweetwater and The Heavy Steppers.

Is Bamboo aTruly Sustainable Fabric?

My short answer is no. I wish it were, honest to God I wish it was. I love the concept and it is super soft and would be a great inner for diapers. Originally Melissa and I were all ready to create diapers out of bamboo. That was until we did some research.

Dangerous chemicals are used to transform the plant into liquid and then into fibres to be spun into fabric. These chemicals can cause a plethora of health problems and neural disorders for the manufacturing workers. A developing nation like China rarely (if at all) uses systems to help control the production and disposal of those chemicals.

From http://victoria-e.com/2007/10/04/how-green-is-bamboo-fabric/

Additionally, Chinese manufacturers to begin clearing out natural forests in order to plant more fast-growing bamboo. As of today, I could not find a domestic source for bamboo fabric. It is only made in China and in China many cultivators are starting to use fertilizers that wouldn’t meet U.S. organic standards in order to increase the yield of their plantations.

There are two ways of processing bamboo for fiber.

1.Mechanically. This is referred to as the – eco-friendly – mode, the plant is physically crushed and natural enzymes are used to break the bamboo walls into a mushy mass so that the natural fibers can be mechanically combed out and spun into yarn.

2. Chemically. This is the more cost-effective, less labor-intensive, and extremely toxic, friendly method, a process of hydrolysis-alkalization and multi-phase bleaching refines bamboo pulp from the plant, which is then processed into fiber.

You could verify that your bamboo clothing has been certified by a professional certification group such as the ÖKO-TEK STANDARD 100, which ensures that chemicals used in the production do not have any negative effects on human health and the environment. But, chemicals are chemicals, right?

Melissa and I searched and searched and could not find a source of bamboo without the chemical method of production. Another big issue for us is that there isn't any domestic bamboo fabric, which goes against our "buy local" philosophy. There is a really great bamboo farm right here in Tucson, but, they don't manufacture fiber, they build beautiful tables, chairs and other furnishings with their bamboo. They also grow and sell bamboo for shade. You can check them out at http://www.bambooranch.net/.

While the bamboo plant is remarkably sustainable, we have yet to find a way to weave it into a sustainable fabric. I hope that someone somewhere can tackle this issue so we can reap the benefits of bamboo fabric. But until then, LolliDoo® products will not be made from Bamboo.

LolliDoo® Rocked Living La Vida Verde

Rylee is so excited to be at the festival She helped set up.
Zoe in her Peace Love LolliDoo® Shirt

OK we are a little out of order, this is Talia before we left the house.

Chuck setting up our booth. Melissa-we found the banner:)

The Halloween noisemaker art project was a hit. Jordan was in charge of supervising the kids.

All set up and ready to go. Notice our matching shirts.

Jordan and Talia rocking the Peace Love LolliDoo® shirts.

There were over 5000 people there, here is a glimpse.


Jordan helping more kids do art.

LolliDoo® Diapers were a huge success. Tucson Green Times is interested in doing an article on us. Also we have some local retailers interested in carrying the LolliDoo® line. There was so much interest in LolliDoo® that I didn't get to sit down for longer then a minute or two, it was wonderful. I was asked to make a presentation at the Birth Center Mommy and Me Group, which I am all too happy to do.

I wish we took more detailed pictures, but the day flew by.

Livin La Vida Verde

Today I am getting ready for Livin LA Vida Verge (Tucson's 2nd Annual Green Festival). There will be a lot of kids there and since I have no product to sell until January, I thought that it would be fun to do an art project with them that incorporates an aspect of LolliDoo.

I was going to make bird feeders out of PET bottles. The issue was that I had to cut a perch in the bottle and I was afraid of little fingers getting cut by plastic.

Then I thought about making those water bottle tornadoes. They are very cool and what little kid doesn't like to to see the water swish and swirl around in beautiful patterns? I tried to make my own concoction using water, olive oil, rubbing alchohol and food coloring. I guess that water and oil do mix, who'd have thunk it? It made a pretty color but not the lava lamp effect I was after. So I looked up the recipe and it called for mineral spirits.

What are mineral spirits? I didn't know so I looked it up. Apparently mineral spirits are an alternative to turpentine. Uh...no thanks.

I had to be real creative. I thought maybe we'd make some pretty instrumenty things using rice and beads. So I went and bought 50lbs of rice. My wonderful husband pointed out that wasting food wasn't exactly green. Good point. Half of the rice went to a food bank and we kept the other half.

Finally I had an idea that would work. HALLOWEEN NOISEMAKERS. The parents are going to love me.

The kids are going to choose pebbles, beads, aquarium decorative rocks and bits and pieces to fill their bottles with. Then, they are going to glue the cap on the PET bottles and decorate them with Halloween decorations. I think it's brilliant and easy.

I will post pictures on Sunday.

Wish me well.

A Brief Life Lesson From Zoe

We were driving home from school a few weeks ago when I hear.

“Mom, I got a comb stuck on the top of my head”, Zoe cried from the backseat of the van.

“I’m driving Zoe, I’ll get it out when I get home.” I promised.

“OK mom, I’ll just be a helicopter then”

Lesson: Go with the flow.

Lovely Advice I was given at Tucson Medical Center

I had Talia in the hospital because I thought something was wrong, everything turned out just fine. However, I got a huge lesson on what medical professionals are telling new mothers. As if being a new mother isn't scary enough...

From the nurses:

1. As she handed me a "breastfeeding" kit which included a 6 pack of formula, formula packets, a bottle and two nursing pads, the nice nurse explained to me, "You need to have formula around so that you can have a break and let your husband feed the baby. All new moms need to sleep. Also a lot of women have supply issues, so you might have to supplement."

Grrrrrrrrrrr

Healthy women rarely have supply issues. Mother's think their supply is low because their breasts feel empty but as long as the baby is gaining weight, wetting diapers and you can hear swallowing, chances are that your supply is just fine. I think it's a travesty that medical professionals perpetuate fears in new mothers.

2. Another nurse informed me that if I didn't give my 2 hour old daughter the Hep B vaccine then she could die.

Nothing like scaring the poop out of a new mom. As a well researched mom I knew better. Hepatitis B is a viral disease associated with risky lifestyle choices such as intravenous drug use or promiscuous sex. I highly doubt that my newborn would be at risk for that. Come on people!

My favorite "words of wisdom" were given to me by a geriatric pediatrician.

3. You can't nurse your 20 month old or your body won't make newborn milk.

Seriously!

I think my body knows what just came out of it. I can't imagine why he would tell me that or worse, why he believed it. Women have been nursing babies of different ages since the beginning of time, it's a natural bodily function.

One good piece of advice I got.

Talia was in the NICU when she was 4 days old for a few days due to severe, severe jaundice. The NICU nurses coaxed me to pump some milk for her. I was exhausted and wasn't allowed to sleep in the room with her. I was afraid to go sleep because she would wake up hungry. I was also afraid that she would get nipple confusion if she had a bottle. The nurses assured me that babies go from breast to bottle with no problem. I didn't believe them. By day 3 I was so drained that I pumped some milk and took a nap. I came back and Talia had taken the bottle just fine. I popped her back on the breast and she was content to nurse.

So thank you NICU nurses for pretty much forcing me to sleep, (which I desperately needed), and thank you for proving to me that Talia would not get nipple confusion. I am happy to report that at 20 months she is still nursing.

I am concerned about all the misinformation going around. I am a well informed mom but truth be told, a lot of new moms just don't do their homework. A lot of mom's take the health care providers word as gospel and don't question it.

I am here to say ASK questions, READ about your body and your baby and NEVER, EVER do something that you know in your gut is wrong.

Naming a Product Line is Harder Then You'd Think

Originally our diapers were called, Go Green Baby! All our lines were going to follow the Go Green, for example, Go Green Mama!

Go Green is apparently a buzz word now and it was impossible to trademark. So Melissa and I spent days brainstorming names for our diapers. After giving up, we were discussing our childhood security objects. Hers was a Lolly, I had a DiDoo. LolliDoo® flowed from there.

Melissa and I discussed our children's apparel line; LolliDuds and our mama line; LadyDoo.

I trademarked both names and we thought that we were in business.

Today I went to register the domains and uh oh.

LolliDuds is already in business. It's an eco-friendly t-shirt line, Lolliduds.com is a really cool site by the way. Our lawyer said we could sue them for the name and win, but Melissa and I want to conduct our business with integrity, and pushing out other businesses is not in integrity.

Likewise, LadyDoo has been registered, and in France of all places. It's not published yet and we have no idea what LadyDoo.com is going to be. We certainly don't want to risk it being less then upstanding website. So, we need a new name.

Melissa and I have been brainstorming all day on names. We decided to go with LolliDoo® Duds for the children's line.

The mama line is tougher to name. We decided not to go cutesy like LolliDoo since it is for moms. We want a name that is simple but describes our earth friendly, exceptional, handcrafted in the USA products.

I tried combining our names, would you believe that Morgali.com and Meli.com are already taken? We tried simple words like panache, splendid and hipmama; all taken.

Truthfully I am glad LadyDoo is already registered because I am not in love with the name anymore, but, it's frustrating that we are having creative block in finding a new name.

Our mama line has a product called, RagTime Panties®. We could just use, Go Green Sustainable Industries, which is our parent company. But it doesn't seem to flow.

Oy vey, I am off to do some more brainstorming.

Vegan Pumpkin Soup

Rylee, my 8 year old has decided to become a vegan. We make pumpkin soup every year but this year I tailored it to her.

Rylee's Vegan Pumpkin Soup

1 med pumpkin
5 carrots
1 large onion
about a gallon of veggie broth
1 pint soy milk


Cut the pumpkin, soak the seeds to toast later-not part of this recipe

Steam pumpkin, carrots and onions until soft

Put the veggies in a blender and puree-add the broth and soy milk as needed


Once pureed, put all the ingredients in a HUGE pot and boil.

Turn the stove down to med-low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Garnish with soy bacon bits and sour cream if desired (I don't know if there is a vegan sour cream)

It's a yummy hearty soup.

Zoe Was Accepted Into Kindergarten

My Zoe Ellen will be 4 in May and she was accepted into kindergarten at the Montessori school that some of my older kids attend. I am not one of those moms who push kids to skip grades or to work above their grade level, it's simply that Zoe is ready. I thought about putting her in preschool a few days a week this year, but truthfully she would have been so bored. She is starting to read and she's doing basic math.

It must have been all the fish oil I took while I was pregnant :)

Ode To My Work Wife

Mel oh Mel, inventor extraordinaire.
Without you, LolliDoo would be just a prayer.
Mel oh Mel, you really came through.
When I asked you to sew a diaper or two.

Melissa you absolutely ooze with style.
I expected an inch and you ran the whole mile.
You sew, plan, proofread and write patents too.
Dig on what a phenomenal woman are you!

Thank you, thank you Mel, for all your hard work.
And for dealing with me when I’ve been a jerk.
I feel so blessed to have you in my life,
And I’m not embarrassed to say it, “I love you Work Wife”.

Part 2 of the GreatDad.com article is up

http://blogs.greatdad.com/2008/10/02/cloth-diapers-and-health-risks-by-alison-manes.html/

And the Mom of the Year Award goes to...

ME!

For not catching Talia before this happened...

We are teaming up with greatdad.com

To educate parents on diapering options. Here is a link to the blog I wrote http://blogs.greatdad.com/


He has invited my friends to comment, so comment away.

Change the world, one small step at a time

I was reading an interview with Jane Goodall the other day and something she said really hit home. According to Jane,

If people start making changes, then you start getting the major change that we must have if we care about the future for our children.

Sometimes the big picture is so daunting. The damage done to our environment, economy and relations with other countries seems to be permanent.

But it's not. It might be a challenge and it may take years to repair but I believe to my core that we can change.

If everyone made one small change to their daily living such as replacing just one light bulb with an energy efficient light bulb: in one year it would save enough energy to light more then 3 million homes. That would prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of about 800,000 cars. One small change, makes a huge impact.

Consider a slightly more expensive option. Replacing a traditional toilet with a low flush toilet will save thousands of gallons of water a year. If you replace a typical 3.5 gallon model with a 1.6 gallon model, it will save a family of four 11,096 gallons per year. That is a whopping 54% reduction in toilet water use.

Our economy is in slump, we all know that. What can we do to boost it? I am no economist but I am fairly certain that if Americans buy products made in the USA and support our mom and pop shops, it would make a difference. If our lawmakers revoke the tax breaks for overseas manufacturing and bring the big companies back to the USA, I believe that our economic future would look brighter. Sure that is a simple answer for a complex problem, but as I said, small changes make a big difference.

Lets examine for a minute the effect a random act of kindness has on the rest of the world.

In the midst of global crises such as pollution, wars and famine, kindness may too easily be dismissed as a "soft issue," or a luxury to be addressed after the urgent problems are solved. But kindness is the greatest need in all those areas

-Bo Lozoff

Teaching our children tolerance and compassion is a simple first step that all parents can make. Simple things like holding the door for someone, smiling at a stranger, or even baking your neighbor brownies can make such a positive impact on thar person's life.

I leave you with 20 Ideas for Being Kind, which I found at http://www.simpletoremember.com/growth/20-ideas-being-kind.htm


20 Ideas For Being Kind

1. Be resolved to become a kind person. How do you do this? Think, speak, and act with kindness.

2. Love kindness. When you do what you love, you are happy. A master of kindness is a master of joy.

3. When encountering someone, let your first thoughts be, What kind words can I say to this person and what kind things can I do?

4. Keep asking people, What can I do for you?

5. Everyone needs encouragement. Ask yourself, What can I say that will be encouraging?

6. Wherever you are, you are there for a reason. Ask yourself, Since I am here now, what kindness can I do?

7. Every kind person is unique. You have unique talents, skills, knowledge, and resources. Utilize them to help others in your own unique way. Ask yourself, In what unique ways can I be kind?

8. Do a daily act of kindness without letting anyone know who did it.

9. Learn from every kind act you see or read about. Ask yourself, What can I learn from this to be kinder?

10. A valuable rule is, Even if you do not feel like a kind person, you can still act like one. Think of a kind act you can do that you do not feel like doing.

11. Think of a kindness telephone call that you can make today.

12. Think of a kindness note, letter, or email that you can write today.

13. View your own pain, distress, and suffering as tools for empathy and understanding. Ask yourself, How can this experience help me be a kinder person?

14. Keep asking yourself, If I were this person, what would I want others to do for me?

15. As soon as your recognize a need, volunteer to do something about it. Do not wait until you are asked.

16. Listen to those who need a listening ear. Listening to someone is a great act of kindness.

17. If you know that someone is looking for a job or needs to earn more money, ask yourself, What can I do to make it happen?

18. Be empathetic and compassionate. Be resolved not to cause distress, pain, or loss with your words and action.

19. Learn from everyone. Keep asking people, What kindnesses from others have you appreciated?

20. Pray for the welfare of others.

© Rabbi Zelig Pliskin [based on "Kindness" by Rabbi Z. Pliskin]

Kid -Tested, Mother-Approved...not this mother!

Cherie, my Sister in law, brought my nephew over this morning as she does every weekday morning around 6:30am. This morning she woke me up telling me that she brought a healthy cereal for the kids.

OK

Knowing Cherie it wasn't. So I looked. Kix. Ya.

Really she was trying to do something nice, I know that.

I asked her if she read the label and of course she hadn't. The power of advertising is strong. I think I need to coin a term for false healthy food advertising. Something like greenwashing.

Anyway, Cherie did read the claims on the box that say, "Grow up strong with Big G kid cereals" and "good source of calcium and Vitamin D". What she didn't read was that the 4th ingredient in the cereal is sugar. (She thinks I am ridiculous by the way because I won't let my kids have soda or Hawaiian Punch).

Sugar in the morning has all kinds of ill side effects. According to Dr. Mercola, Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. Sugar can reduce the learning capacity, adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders. For a full listing go to http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm.

The point is that Cherie is like so many consumers who believe the advertising. How many people actually read labels with knowledge?

I know that Sugar has been implicated in upsets to the calcium/phosphorus balance.
I know this because I spend time asking our naturapath educated questions about my children's diets and reading research on nutrition.

Don't get me started on the 210mg of sodium in each serving.

Yes, the box listed a table of vitamins that they pumped into the cereal. However, the sugar is going to effect the absorption of those vitamins.

I am not the food police, my kids get there share of Del Taco and cookies. What I am not ok with is the fallacy that we are feeding our kids healthy food when we aren't. I wish more people would take some time to educate themselves about nutrition, artificial ingredients and chemicals in food.

I also think that manufacturers should take more responsibility. Sugar cereals are directly marketed to our kids and they have very little if any nutritional value.



Time to get off my soapbox.

Happy, optimistic Ali can come back out to play.

Sexy Dads Change Cloth Diapers

Just sayin...

Something stinks in my yard

Chuck and I have been composting for about a year now. We just throw all our raw veggie and fruit scraps and eggshells into a plastic bin with a lid.

Now that it's been consistently hot for several months, our compost stinks.

We can't use worms because it's too hot. I threw a "compostable" diaper insert in there a few months ago and I wonder if that is the cause of our smell, or maybe it's the new paper plates that you can supposedly compost. (Someone brought them over with food already on them, I NEVER buy paper plates) It could be that we don't know what we are doing and plastic bins are a bad choice.

Whatever the cause, I now have compost soup and it stinks.

Chuck and the kids planted last month. Chuck is not one to waste anything, so he took our compost soup and added it to the soil and planted herbs, tomatoes and peppers. Our yard smelled like a sewage plant for days.

Imagine my surprise today when I looked at these poor plants planted in soupy slime and they are not only thriving, they are overcrowded and need to be thinned out.

I really don't know how or why, but for some reason, our backyard plants love compost soup.

There has got to be a less smelly way to grow plants.

Why Made in the USA?

When Melissa and I started Go Green Sustainable Industries, LLC, one of our most important values was that all our products are made in the USA. Not only do want to support our stagnant economy but we believe that in order to be truly eco-friendly, we have to do our best to conserve resources. Even though it is significantly less expensive to manufacture overseas, the waste of fuel is considerable.

I wonder why it is that our laws promote economic growth for other countries and leave the USA in the dust. According to a 2006 government report, many U.S. companies, cloth diaper companies included, employ hundreds of workers overseas which obviously means more economic growth for other countries and less for the USA. Companies have nearly $500 billion stashed abroad that can be taxed here at home. That blows my mind.

While politicians would have you believe that they are going to do something about American companies producing overseas, our tax code actually rewards overseas companies.

““The U.S. tax code is set up so that if I am a U.S. corporation trying to create jobs in Ohio or Ireland, it will point me towards Ireland.”

Says Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor at Tax Analysts.

This is so frustrating for companies like ours who are trying to make an exceptional product domestically. I assume, (yes I know what happens when you assume things), that it is also troublesome for other U.S. manufacturers who cannot compete financially with foreign manufacturers.

Melissa and I are dedicated to producing LolliDoo® Diapers, and product lines entirely in the USA. That means that the fabrics, sewing, labels and notions are made in the USA. Even the PET bottles that are recycled and used in the Ecospun® are domestic.

What does that mean for the consumer?

It means that LolliDoo® will never be a bargain brand. It means that they can be confident in the knowledge that no human rights were violated in the production of their diaper; all contractors are paid a fair wage. It also means that there is less fuel wasted on the transport of LolliDoo® Diapers, so they are helping conserve virgin resources.

Purchasing a LolliDoo® Diaper and accessories means that the consumer can feel confident that they are investing in an environmentally friendly, economically stimulating product that surpasses the average in that it’s handcrafted, made in the USA, recycled and recyclable.

LolliDoo® Be part of the solution, right from the very beginning.

Melissa's well articlualted take on Vegas

If you want full details of the LolliDoo(R) launch, read Melissa's blog:

http://earthlovindiapermama.blogspot.com/

Photos from the ABC Kids EXPO

Mel and I entertaining the babies out in the hall while the guys set up our booth.

Time for Miss Melody to nurse

Talia showing off her Peace~Love~LolliDoo shirt

Still waiting for our husbands to finish setting the booth up. It seems like we did a lot of waiting that day.
Here is Melissa sewing the labels on the diapers the night before the Expo, while we watched Baby Mama. The guys were getting in some grown up time before they had baby duty for the next week straight.

Finishing a few last minute things.

WOOHOO! Here we are at our first day of the LolliDoo launch. We were very well received and met so many wonderful people. It's so nice to be able to put a face to a name. The cloth diapering mama's went gaga over the laundry loops and the environmentalists loved that LolliDoo is a sustainable diaper.

While we were at the launch, the husbands took the babies all over Las Vegas.

This is Melissa's husband, Carl. I think they are at the Mirage.

Melody and Talia played so well together. Here they are waiting for us to finish the Read Diaper Industry Association meeting. How cool is it that the cloth diaper manufacturers and retailers are banning together to form an association? I have chills.

Melissa and Carl's 3 year old son Skylar needed them to come home, so off they went. Here we all are saying goodbye. Carl, Me, Talia, Melissa slinging Melody and Chuck. I held my tears until we got in the car. Chuck really missed Carl too.

The last day of the show Talia and Chuck helped me.

But she was tired and decided to nap on Daddy.

The show is over, we are here at 10pm tearing down the booth. Yawn...