In the mood for some delish vegan eats? Or maybe you want to find out the latest news about breastfeeding and vaccination legislation or learn about attachment parenting? One of my favorite blogs that I stumbled across recently is Veggie Way, authored by Isil Simsek, a vegan green mamma currently living in Guilford, United Kingdom. This week on Green Mamma, Isil is our Green Friend of the Week! This is what she has to share about living green and loving planet earth:

1. Vegan it is! Isil doesn’t beat around the bush in explaining why a vegan diet is the eco-friendliest: “A plant based diet is sustainable and earth-friendly because animal agriculture takes a devastating toll on the earth. It is an inefficient way of producing food, since feed for farm animals requires land, water, fertilizer, and other resources that could otherwise have been used directly for producing human food.”

Not sure whether switching to a vegan diet is the right choice for your green family? Consider the benefits, as noted by Dr. William Harris of VegSource.com: permanent and long term weight loss, lower blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and blood sugar, as well as lowered risk for cardiovascular diseases and various cancers. The advantages of being a vegan for your health and the planet are abundant. Of her family’s vegan lifestyle, Isil comments, “We switched to a vegan diet . . . about 4.5 years ago. We feel great about it!”

2. Go car-less. Not only will you save gas and money, but people will take notice too! To get from point A to point B, Isil’s family has sworn off the old gas guzzler and instead prefers to exercise their legs and take advantage of public transportation. Of her family’s eco-friendly transportation choices, Isil says, “Using public transportation does not only lower your carbon foot print but it’s actually a pleasant way to get in touch with other people.” To learn more about car free living, check out the cycling and carless adventures of Tim and Anne at Car Free Days.

3. Get a bright idea. One of the simplest ways that Isil and her family reduce energy use is by changing their light bulbs to CFLs, or compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Considering that CFLs are designed to fit into standard light sockets and that these energy efficient bulbs help folks lower their energy bills, making the change to CFLs is a great choice when used appropriately. Since CFLS contain mercury, make sure to dispose of these energy efficient bulbs in the right place. Check out Earth911.org for local drop off points.

4. Help Your Baby Eat Local: Breastfeed! According to the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog, breastfeeding our children is not only a natural food for them but is a green choice for our planet. The green advantages of breastfeeding are:

“No land is used for dairy farms, no energy is consumed in factories, no resources are used in packaging, and no oil is used in transporting breastmilk to a store and to your home. The primary energy source for breastfeeding? Your pregnancy fat. Breastfeeding leaves no packaging waste, and saves our health care systems billions a year. And you can’t eat much more local than this!”

5. Be gentle to Mamma Earth and Your Baby’s Bottom! Isil uses cloth diapers and cloth wipes for her little one Defne. According to the article “Diapers, Diapers, and More Diapers” at the New Parents Guide, the debate over which diaper is the most environmentally friendly is ongoing. However, consider the following, from the New Parents Guide, if you still think that disposable diapers are not taking a toll on our children’s planet:

“It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.”

Isil chooses “real cloth nappies and wipes” (nappies are diapers in the U.K.), because she finds they are an easy and gentle way to keep Defne’s bum clean. Here’s her recipe for homemade baby wipes:

Ingredients: a few drops of baby shampoo, lavender oil or tea tree oil, cloth wipes and a jar.

Recipe: Combine all ingredients and place the wipes in a jar. Shake them and voila!

Note from Isil: It’s also okay to just use water. Much better than the nasty chemicals that are found in baby wipes.

6. Reuse your shopping bags! Most retail stores are happy to supply shoppers with reusable bags bearing their stores logo. To make your own fashionable and reusable shopping bag, check out Farmer’s Daughter pillowcase tote, which was inspired by Creative Kismet’s Pillowcase tote giveaway, here on Green Mamma!

7. Become a Fly Baby: Declutter, Declutter, Declutter! Isil points to the advantages of her family’s nomadic lifestyle, noting that it has taught them to value the simple life. She says, ” We really do not need so many stuff. It is perfectly fine to live with basic stuff. Declutter, declutter, declutter! Donate all those unneeded/unwanted stuff to charities or to people who might need them.” To learn a few tips about greening your home, getting rid of the clutter, and giving away what you do not need, visit the FlyLady! I myself have been a Fly Baby for about 6 months now.

8. Investigate. Isil’s family relies upon the Good Shopping Guide to protect her family’s consumer interests. She explains, “We make sure to boycott companies who do not care about the environment, animal rights and human rights.”

Some of Isil’s (and Green Mamma’s too) favorite green products include: Ecovert, a formerly vegan company, Jason, Green People, and Weleda baby care.

Again, Isil’s Veggie Way blog is a wonderful resource for vegan living (and green living too), as well a resource for breastfeeding, attachment parenting, and the Montessori approach to education and living. Thank you again Isil for being a green friend and giving props to Mamma Earth!

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Happy Sunday folks. This weekend my family headed out of town to visit relatives in New England. Unfortunately, our visit was prompted by a phone call from my mother-in-law informing us that my brother-in-law had been in a motorcycle accident and was injured. The good news is that he is alive. Today we saw him for the first time since his accident and he seemed to be in as good spirits as one can be when recovering from a bad accident. And even though the hospital can be a scary place for kids, Annabelle was delighted with her uncle’s balloons, an amazing fountain in the lobby, and a huge elephant constructed out of leggos.

So, in the coming week, I will likely be tending to family matters, caring for my daughter, and being there for my husband, his brother, my niece and nephew and my mother-in-law. What that translates to is a lot of time spent at the hospital, my mother-in-law’s home, and playing with the kiddos in the pool and around the house. I may not be able to post as much, but I will be here in spirit! Keep e-mailing me and commenting . . . I so enjoy participating in discussions over parenting, the environment, education, green vaccinations, etc.

But before I go, I will share a few of my favorite reasons for being alive this week, and they are:

1. My family is healthy right now. Despite health scares in our extended family, another relative’s emergency trip to the hospital (she’s okay), and the loss of two loved ones in the past 6 months, my husband, my daughter, and I are in great health right now. Observing the health conditions of those around us during this time has made me appreciate and not take for granted the fact that my husband can walk up a flight of stairs and ride his bike 6 miles to work a few times a week, that my daughter runs around our neighborhood and our house keeping me on my toes and as active as can be, and that I am able to get up each morning and run before taking on a full day of mothering. We are lucky that we can do these things. So many folks are not physically able to do so.

2. Yogurt and the wondrous lactobacteria. Okay, this is a bit embarrassing, but I have to share with you. A few weeks I go I needed to take antibiotics for a sinus infection that exploded into a nasty ear infection. Weeks later I suffered the uncomfortable side effects of taking antibiotics: it wreaks havoc on one’s digestive system by eliminating all bacteria, including the good bacteria that helps regulate digestion and our health. To remedy my condition, I ate, oh maybe 8 cups of yogurt a day to replace the good bacteria that my stomach needed. To read what Dr. Sears has to say about the benefits of eating yogurt and ingesting lactobacteria, click here.

3. Other Environmentalists. This week my girlfriend Melody forwarded this awesome You Tube video to me about folks living in a self-sustaining way, growing their own food in their front and back yards (yes, this is a true story of green living right inside suburbia). Not only do they collect rain water to maintain their gardens, but they grow artichokes in their front yard! I am so inspired!

4. My “Village.” My immediate family consists of my husband, my daughter, and me. Our parents live out of state, as do our siblings and cousins. After reading Sharon Heller’s The Vital Touch and reflecting on her discussion about a child’s need to be touched and held by his parents and other loved ones, I wondered at how, in this day and age, nuclear families in the U.S. (and much of the world) who live apart from their “clans” are able to give their children the love and affection that they need in order to thrive. My answer (and I am pretty sure that it is Heller’s too) is to create a “village” or clan consisting of friends, neighbors, mothers helpers, elders and one’s greater community to help a family to raise loving and balanced children. Our parents live in New England, so my husband and I befriended an elderly neighbor who lives nearby. She calls me weekly to check in on me and my daughter. I have another older female friend who e-mails me frequently and is always concerned about my daughter and me. My husband’s college and work friends and my own “mommy” friends have become like aunts and uncles to my daughter. I am still working on finding a responsible and loving teenager to act as “big sister” to my daughter, although our neighbors’ 5 year old and 4 year old who follow my husband and daughter to the park each day seem to love Annabelle as they might love their own cousin. Last, I rely upon a great community of parents in my local moms’ groups, La Leche League, and Attachment Parenting group. Perhaps someday, our local schools will be participate in helping our family raise healthy and loving children. Together, if we choose to be loving and compassionate with our own and each others’ children, those of us who live far away from our biological families can reap the benefits of having a family consisting of friends and neighbors–we can be today’s village, that of the modern, industrial world.

5. Parents who blog or web-publish about traveling with their toddlers. I wrote that with a smile but I mean it with all seriousness. To travel from D.C. to New England, our family followed the American road tradition and piled up our car, got in, and drove a far distance to reach our destination. I am truly thankful to other bloggers and web writers out there who shared their secrets to happy, stress-free travel with toddlers My friend Rebecca recommended that I pack snacks and new toys and books to distract Annabelle from sour moods, my husband’s co-worker suggested we bring children’s programs and a portable DVD player, and as mentioned, several great web-sites gave tips on what worked on the road to beat their own kids’ boredom. Thanks to all of the suggestions, our family enjoyed a pleasant drive with lots of fun and only a little crying and frustration. Here are a few of my favorite toddler travel tip sites:

Toddler Travel Tips

“Road Trip Survival Guide” by Baby Center

Mom’s Minivan.com

I will keep folks posted about my brother-in-law’s health, and in the meantime, we appreciate all the positive thoughts, energy, and prayers you might direct towards him and our family. I’ll be around as much as possible and hopefully I’ll learn a bit about environmental efforts at our “home” away from home.

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We live in the woods.  Trees surround our house on all sides; in fact, our home backs to one of the county parks.  Whenever my husband and I are hankering for the great outdoors, all we need to do is walk outside and a wooded trail awaits us.  When visitors stay with us, they sit on our back porch and take in view of the trees, commenting on the calming effect of being with nature.

Of course, living among the trees, as we do, involves everything else that lives in trees, like birds, raccoons, squirrels, bugs, deer, and much more.   This is our first summer in our home, and so far, we’ve found birds living in an opening on the backside of our house, their nest wedged into our siding; we noticed another family of robins living in a nest on top of our outdoor light; my husband has cleaned up our garbage more than once from the friendly raccoon we see scurrying away from our yard; and now, we have ants crawling through a hole beneath our kitchen window where, apparently, they’ve launched a campaign to reach our pantry where we store the sugar.

We’re beginning to feel overrun by Mother Nature and her many children. Sure, we love keeping a vegetable garden, a bin full of worms for composting, a compost container in our kitchen, and using environmentally friendly products that won’t harm the local water supply; in fact, living in the woods was important to my husband and me because we wanted our children to grow up surrounded by more trees and less concrete.

Of course, the question, for me and my family, now is, does Mother Nature and the glory of her many children appreciate the overabundant presence of their human neighbors?

This past weekend our family traveled to Valley Forge National Historic Park, where some 1200 white tailed deer can be seen grazing in the lush fields and forests, and are described by locals as “out of control and destroying the place.”

According to the National Parks Conservation Association:  “Current deer density is approximately 14 times greater than then that recommended by the state to maintain forest regeneration.  This concentration of deer threatens forest health and visitor safety.“

Currently, Valley Forge National Historic Park is working to implement a deer management program to control the abundant deer population.  Methods for “thinning the deer population” include sterilization, hiring snipers to kill the deer, introducing natural predators to the park, and capturing the deer and releasing them elsewhere.   Based on what the most recent local news source says, environmental groups are on board with Valley Forge holding its “first ever deer hunt.”

In news from last summer, alligators, raccoons, birds, and snakes are wandering into neighborhoods in Florida because their natural habitats, Everglade marshlands, are short on water.  Fortunately, last week Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced a 1.75 billion deal to buy the U.S. Sugar Corporation, which includes 187,000 acres of farmland that once sat in the Everglades.

Posted on the Everglades Foundation website, Senior Scientist Dr. Tom Van Lent remarks:
“The significance of this cannot be overstated.  This acquisition will provide the land needed to construct a reliable water supply for the Everglades much faster and at a lower cost than previously envisioned. It will allow us to eliminate about 85 percent of the damaging releases to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee, and it will do so decades earlier than we thought possible.”

So, there is hope for the Everglades, the animals who are seeking refuge in Florida suburbia, and the folks living in suburbia who wake up finding alligators in their swimming pools.

Admittedly, the overpopulation of animals and animals displaced from their natural habitat are unique to the environment and situation created by human beings and the evolution of Mother Nature.  However, whatever the circumstances for man invading nature, or nature invading man’s “territory,” there is something to beg for when considering the humanity of population management methods.

In our own time, human beings are confronting the problem of our own overpopulation.  In China, overpopulation was dealt with by limiting the number of children born to a family; now, additional children are permitted, but women who give birth before a certain age are fined.

Might we apply the same population management methods for animals to our own population crisis?  Of course, in many cultures young women are discouraged from having children too soon, birth control is widely available, and some environmentalists are choosing not to have children.  But it would be considered obtuse to suggest “thinning” the human population with murder, though sometimes I wonder at the prevalence of war and violence in our human communities, and the outcomes that inevitably result: fewer people.

When I sat down to write this post, I wanted to reflect on how I might manage our home environment and how to cope with living with the animals who live around us.  I want to live peacefully, have respect for the animals, and yet find ways to keep them out of our indoor spaces; and yet, I realize that we are the true invaders here, offsetting the natural balance of the woodlands.

What do you think?  Is it necessary to manage animal populations with violence?  Is it possible to find compassionate ways for coping with the abundance and presence of animals in human communities?  And last, what is the best and most holistic approach to balancing human and animal populations on Planet Earth and for the health of Mother Earth?

———–

Image courtesy of  PDPoto.org

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 Which one is the parrot?

Since turning 18 months, my little girl is not few for words.  Today while Annabelle and I ran errands together, I thought about my mother’s remark that she couldn’t wait for me to start talking until she discovered that once I found my voice I wouldn’t stop talking.

As Annabelle and I crossed the parking lot of our local shopping center, my adorable parrot chirped, err shouted loudly: “Home!  Home!” and “Pool! Pool!”

At least she’s a girl who knows what she wants . . .

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Going green and living in an environmentally friendly way is not only all the rave but makes headlines every day because more and more regular people are finding easy ways to make eco-conscious choices in their day to day lives. This week on Green Mamma we meet such a person: Tabitha, the founder of Organic 4 Baby. Organic 4 Baby is a new website that features healthy, quality, and stylish organic products for babies. On getting started as an environmentalist with an organic company, Tabitha comments on her website: “I feel it is important to be well-educated when looking for products, especially those for our children. Unfortunately, there are too many products that can be harmful, even dangerous, so it is important to be aware. My goal for this website is to find the best organic products on the market.”

Below are a few easy green changes that Tabitha, her husband, and their dog Oscar made for a healthier, more eco-friendly lifestyle.

1. Read, read, and read some more. When Oscar came into Tabitha’s life, she says she researched “everything [she] could get her hands on regarding puppy care.” To her surprise and dismay, the ingredients in Oscar’s food were unwholesome. Tabitha wanted better and sought out quality pet food. To read more about selecting healthy, organic food and products for your pet, click here.

2. You are what you eat. Once upon a time, Tabitha ate a non-organic foods diet that she describes as “whatever was fast and easy.” But after she started paying closer attention to what she was feeding her body, she changed her purchasing habits, eliminated processed foods from her diet, and now sticks to fresh organic foods. Of her healthier, greener diet, she explains: “I am the healthiest I think I’ve ever been!”

3. Ah, push it! The lawn mower, of course! Tabitha and her husband recently purchased a push lawn mower to reduce gas consumption and ware on the environment. According to the EPA, gas lawn mowers represent 5% of U.S. air pollution. An added health bonus? Tabitha says her husband is getting into shape each time he pushes their lawn mower: “[It] takes a little more muscle . . . [and] is a good workout.” To learn more about the advantages of push machine mowers, click here.

4. Recycle. By now, green people everywhere are taking advantage of local recycling services. As Tabitha puts it: “The community makes it so easy and everywhere you go you see the blue bins–it’s just a matter of throwing stuff in there.” To find a recycling center in your area, visit RecyclingCenters.org and Earth911.org.

5. Rub it on right. Tabitha loves all natural beauty products and some of her faves include products sold at Trader Joes. To learn more about the health and safety of your favorite personal care and beauty products, visit Skin Deep: Cosmetic Database and read about another Green Friend of the Week: Abbie from Connecticut who loves to seek out healthy, environmentally friendly beauty care.

Thanks again to Tabitha of Organic 4 Baby for sharing a few simple tips on how she is taking on the environment and going green, one step at a time. And thank you also to her dog Oscar, the inspiration for Tabitha’s eco-conscious lifestyle.

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This week’s Gratitude post is inspired by a wonderful book by Sharon Heller, Ph.D. entitled The Vital Touch: How Intimate Contact with Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development. The Vital Touch, and as indicated in the title, discusses the importance of touch and intimacy between parents and their babies, especially in the industrialized culture of the modernized world. Some of my favorite passages from The Vital Touch challenged me to examine my own attempts at being compassionate and affectionate while parenting. And, like any thoughtful and loving parent, I wondered whether or not I give my daughter the adequate love and care needed as she journeys from infancy to toddlerhood and onward to her pre-school years. Below are 5 outstanding reasons why I am loving The Vital Touch; let’s begin with birth:

1. Doulas. “The doula has an incredible ability to mitigate maternal stress and to influence the progress of labor” (20). Sharon Heller’s cites that the presence of doulas with laboring mothers reduces C-sections by 50% (or more) and the length of labor by 25%. Heller also cites an anecdote from the renowned pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, about a laboring Mayan Indian mother whose labor stopped when her mid-wife left the room–everything that Brazelton tried to do to restart her labor failed. When the mid-wife returned to the laboring mother, her labor restarted and she delivered as normal. Why are doulas such a powerful force for laboring women? According to Heller’s research: “Through touch, [the doula] taps into the mother’s feelings, into her need for reassurance and for nurturance. And through touch she taps the mind’s own drugstore, releasing endorphins–a natural pain killer–and raising the level of serotonin in the mother’s bloodstream, relieving depression” (20).

Considering a doula’s magical touch in aiding the progression of labor and in the relief of pain during labor, parents opting for no interventions and a drug free birth may find the support they need in a doula. While I did not seek a doula for my last birth experience, I’ve been told that doulas are wonderful birth assistants for fathers too, keeping dad comfortable and helping him to understand the natural progression of labor.

2. Skin-to-skin contact. “Our first experience is the warmth of other bodies,” writes Heller. She explains that skin-to-skin contact comforts and soothes babies, helps regulates their body temperature (since mothers act as natural thermostats for their babies), decreases the release of the stress hormone cortisol in newborns, and when combined with stroking, increases preemie and newborn weight gain.

When I gave birth to Annabelle, she was placed upon my stomach and seemed to inch up towards my breasts to nurse. We lay there together, skin-to-skin, an unbelievable way to spend my first moments with the child I had waited so long to meet. From this first meeting, I nursed her on demand and held her whenever she cried for me to comfort her. Considering that she arrived 3 weeks early and weighed less than 6 lbs., I was grateful to learn that she not only maintained her birth weight but gained a few ounces by the time we took her to her first pediatric appointment, just days after she was born.

3. The embrace. Heller rightly states that by holding our babies close against our bodies, “the embrace is the ultimate baby pacifier” (46). She goes on to explain that the more often that babies are held, the more stable and secure they feel–not having to panic each time they are separated from their mothers for diapering, riding in the car, or lying in a crib. A baby, she notes, is “designed for continual contact,” which can offset problems of self-esteem and detachment from one’s own body later in life.

By holding our newborns, infants, toddlers, and older children when they need us, we offer them the love they’ll need for a better sense of security throughout their lives. My own experiences as a mother are new, so I cannot attest to whether or not providing continual contact to my baby results in a healthy, emotionally balanced older child and later adult; but what I can share is that continual contact with me and her father in the early months has meant that now, at 18 months, she is incredibly outgoing and takes on the world with determination, often leading me and her father to explore new places and try new things with her.   If you had asked one of her grandparents whether they predicted that our “clinging” and “attached” baby would turn into a toddler who’s ready for adventure, they likely would have said no.  So, so far, I’m grateful we gave her the continual contact she so prominently demanded in infancy.

4. Breastfeeding.  Heller not only opens up a worthwhile discussion of the sensuality of breastfeeding and whether or not a visible breast ought to be considered provocative, but she also details the many benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child: 1) it’s a complete nutritional source of food “supplying  . . . 37 known immune mechanisms”; 2) reduces food allergies and regulates digestive functions; 3) protects against cancer, diabetes, and other health problems; 4) may protect against obesity; 5) may increase IQ by 8 points due to DHA, an omega-3 fat that aids in brain development; 6) reduces gas and indigestion;  7) completes the mother’s reproductive cycle which began with pregnancy; and “is the ultimate intimate experience between mother and baby.”

Again, I can’t share a longterm outcome of my breastfeeding experience or tell you that my daughter is a certified baby genius, but what I can attest to based on Heller’s discussion of breastfeeding is that my daughter was rarely sick as a newborn, that breastfeeding her on demand helped me “regain my figure,” and also that breastfeeding my baby truly is a wonderful bonding opportunity for us both.  Biologically, it seems that mothers are programed to nurse their babies: breastfeeding helps with the release of oxytocin which “makes the mother want to hug and fondle her baby, strengthening the mother-baby bond,” and prolactin, the “mothering” hormone also rises making us want to hold and “mother” our babies.

Heller’s discussion of breastfeeding expands from these main points, and she notes the many obstacles to breastfeeding in a modern culture and how bottle feeding became popular.  I will  note that the chapters on breastfeeding are rich with information.

5.  Co-sleeping.  Heller refutes the myth that co-sleeping endangers newborn babies.  She writes: “Co-sleeping has always had a survival value, both physical and psychological.  In the past, if mother and infant shared a bed, a hammock . . . the baby was better protected from predators and stayed warm.”  She also argues that mothers sleep better with baby sleeping at her side because she can rest well knowing that her baby is okay.  For babies, who are born with an innate fear of darkness and being alone, sleeping alongside mother and father eases their anxiety and puts less stress on their systems.

Heller than takes on the arguments had by opponents to co-sleeping, which include “threat of suffocation” (she explains the history of this fear, beginning with intentional suffocating of infants among the poor who could not afford to care for another child), fear of incest, and insistence on a baby’s “self-reliance” and ability to sleep on its own (Heller juxtaposes our culture’s preoccupation with independence to Japanese culture’s ideal of interdependence.  The Japanese consider co-sleeping a model of harmony and interdependence within the family).

And what about SIDS?  Heller reports that “in urban societies where mothers and babies sleep separately, as in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, incidents of SIDS are the highest.  In urban societies where mothers and babies co-sleep, as in Hong-Kong, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Israel, incidents of SIDS are low.”

Our family, honestly, fell into co-sleeping, and our decision to sleep together as a family is an ongoing discussion between my husband and me.  Co-sleeping often leads to more frequent night wakings (a survival instinct for a baby), it also means that night wakings are shorter and less abrupt, meaning that I am able to nurse our daughter and return to sleep with ease.  Co-sleeping also increases bonding time between my husband and daughter and allows us to stay in tune with her throughout the night: hearing her breathe, noting her temperature and quickly picking up on fever, and listening to coughs, cries, etc.

Co-sleeping works and appears in various forms and situations, depending on the family.   In our family, sometimes co-sleeping means that our daughter falls asleep in her crib beside our bed and sleeps there through the night; other nights mean that she falls asleep in our bed and sleeps beside me or between the two of us.   Honestly, co-sleeping has produced a nighttime situation in our family that involves less crying (from all involved) and easy, convenient nursing for me and my daughter.

Heller’s The Vital Touch has been a rewarding read for me, challenging me to think about the choices that our family is making as we raise our daughter.  I hope my 5 favorite parts about this book have been helpful for those interested in the book and in attachment parenting.  E-mail me or comment if you have or plan to read the book.

Cheers,

Green Mamma

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Guess what?!?  The Sierra Club endorsed Barack Obama “as the change America needs.”  While the Democratic primaries were going on, I made my choice for the next U.S. president a silent one; however, now that Barack Obama is officially the next Democratic U.S. President (I truly, truly hope so), I too am coming out and shouting: “I, Green Mamma, also known as Annabelle’s mamma, endorse Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States!

Click here to read more about the Sierra Club and United Steelworker’s endorsement of Obama.   And to learn about Obama’s environmental platform, click here.

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Congratulations to Bronwyn of Melbourne, Australia!  She is the lucky winner of the Green Mamma & Creative Kismet Pillowcase Tote giveaway.

Thank you again to all participants.   And, thank you to Regina for crafting such a stylish bag.  Again, being green doesn’t mean you can’t be hip–bringing our own shopping bags in place of plastic or paper bags is not only an environmental statement, but a fashion statement too!

Stay tuned for another great giveaway here on Green Mamma.

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Got kids? A bun in the oven? Maybe you’re thinking about starting a family? Last week the FDA issued two reports that would make any parent or parent-to-be a little bit nervous. I’ll share the good, or somewhat good news first. On June 12, Lauran Neergaard of the Associated Press reported that silver dental fillings containing mercury may be unsafe for pregnant women and young children. According to the A.P. report, the news comes as a victory for anti-mercury activists.

Since attending the Green Our Vaccines Rally led by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey in Washington, D.C., I have been thinking about dangerous vaccinations that are preserved with thimiserol, a mercury based preservative, and a potential cause of autism.

When I learned that the FDA issued the precautionary warning about silver dental fillings containing mercury, I immediately worried about pregnant women with such fillings, who unbeknownst to them, may unknowingly put their unborn child at risk. While the FDA is not recommending that women who plan to have children remove their silver fillings and replace them with a non-toxic substance, Dr. Tom McGuire of the Dental Wellness Institute calls upon potential mothers to take action; explaining the purposes of his Dental Wellness web-site, he writes: “I am writing this primarily for women who are planning to have children. My sincere hope is that it will stimulate those women to seriously consider having these toxic fillings safely removed prior to becoming pregnant.”

Dr. McGuire admits that there is no definitively known cause of autism, however, he points to the growing number of children exposed to mercury in multiple and various doses; for example, children born to mother’s with amalgam silver fillings are exposed to mercury at the moment of conception since mercury has been released from the filling into the mother’s system.  According to MAMA, or Moms Against Mercury Amalgams, explains the effects of mercury on a fetus and young infant:

“Mercury can cross the placenta and passes into breast milk. This situation is made worse by the fact that the fetus does not have an immune system to protect it. The amount released from the mothers fillings will vary based on many factors, such as how many fillings she has, how many and how often they are stimulated, and whether or not she has any removed or placed. “

Combining exposure to mercury while in the womb and nursing, a child who then receives a vaccination with the mercury based preservative thimiserol may begin to show symptoms of autism.

Dr. Amy Holmes of MAMA offers the following suggestions to pre-conception mothers or newly pregnant mothers who have silver amalgam fillings:

1) The first is to have your mercury amalgam fillings safely removed and replaced with a non-toxic material, as many days prior to conception as possible.

2) The second is to participate in a mercury detoxification program as soon as possible prior to becoming pregnant.

So, the good news is that the FDA actually agrees that silver amalgam fillings are unsafe for pregnant women and young children.  The bad news is that, well, so many women and children have already been exposed to unsafe doses of mercury.  Admittedly, “no scientific studies have gone back far enough to consider children’s first exposure to mercury,” as Dr. McGuire of the Dental Wellness Institute points out,  however, it is worthwhile to consider how many children and adults may have avoided autism had they not ever been exposed to mercury.

So now for the bad news from the FDA (and good news for plastic lobbyists); The FDA published the following on its web-site regarding Bisphenol-A:

“Based on our ongoing review, we believe there is a large body of evidence that indicates that FDA-regulated products containing BPA currently on the market are safe and that exposure levels to BPA from food contact materials, including for infants and children, are below those that may cause health effects.   However, we will continue to consider new research and information as they become available. “

An articled entitled “Why Journalism is Failing the Public on Risks from Plastic” and that rebuts the argument that Bisphenol-A may cause reproductive problems (like miscarriages), birth defects, and cancer, but sites a brief from the U.S. National Toxicology Program that indicates that there is cause for concern when it comes to BPA in plastic:

Although there is no direct evidence that exposure of people to bisphenol A adversely affects reproduction or development, studies with laboratory rodents show that exposure to high dose levels of bisphenol A during pregnancy and/or lactation can reduce survival, birth weight, and growth of offspring early in life, and delay the onset of puberty in males and females. Recognizing the lack of data on the effects of bisphenol A in humans and despite the limitations in the evidence for “low” dose effects in laboratory animals, the possibility that bisphenol A may impact human development cannot be dismissed.  More research is needed.

The “Why Journalism is Failing . . .” article emphasizes that “more research is needed,” however, let’s consider responses to the brief, which the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences directs us to (and is not included as part of the rebuttal).

A letter from the American Academy of Pediatrics directed at Dr. Barbara Shane at the NTP expresses concern over the U.S. National Toxicology Program’s conclusions; the AAP writes:

The AAP is deeply concerned, however, that the current scientific evidence is largely insufficient to draw accurate conclusions about the safety of exposure to BPA, particularly with respect to vulnerable populations including pregnant women, infants and children . . . it is important that the report not provide potentially false reassurance that there is “negligible concern” in these areas in the face of such large gaps in understanding. 

The AAP’s letter goes on from there, and are to be commended for their recommendation that NTP coordinate further research on Bisphenol A with the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency that addresses “the current shortcomings in BPA data and analysis.”

So, if we listen to the FDA, we can guzzle down water out of our polycarbonate bottles and microwave our BPA containers, because hey, there’s only, according to the NTP, a negligible risk that BPA is harming our reproductive systems and wreaking havoc on our children’s development.

But, if we listen to leading authorities like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the verdict on BPA is not in.  More research is needed.  But, c’mon, even Walmart is banning BPA.   Arggh.  It’s like banging my head into a wall.

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Yesterday Annabelle’s Montessori homeschool playgroup met for the second time.  Here’s a few pictures from our day:

1. Kari sings the welcome song.

2.  Max, one of the older siblings who attends a Montessori school, shows us the right way to unroll and roll up our mats.

3. Annabelle scoops beans from a tub into a cup.  Sometimes the beans are poured back into the tub.  Other times, the beans get tossed around . . .

4. After inside work, Kari takes us into her backyard for bubble time.  The Montessori approach emphasizes that children spend as much time as possible playing outside and being with nature.

5. Annabelle’s playmates with the bucket of bubbles.

6.  More bubble fun.

7.  Feeling the suds.

8.  Getting better acquainted with suds.  Annabelle learns that soap suds in her eyes doesn’t feel so nice.  We practice washing our face and hands in the bathroom after this soap and bubble encounter.

Other activities from our Montessori day included rice pouring, searching for objects in a tub of beans, playing with a toddler peg shape puzzle, looking at pictures of animals and the night sky, doing dot art and snack time (a small glass bowl with apple slices, wheat thins, and grapes for each child).

Annabelle is having fun and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t even know that she’s “working.”

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