Non-Toxic Kids

The Big Air 3: Allergies, Autism, And Asthma (new post at Moms Clean Air Force)

2012-05-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! I should say read more about it. There are more and more reports and articles showing the link between air pollution and health conditions, diseases, and delays. Here’s the latest in how air pollution and chemical exposures are linked to allergies, autismand asthma, three particularly vexing health problems that are fueled by air pollution and increasing rapidly in children. Allergies: Are your allergies bad this year? Turns out you are not alone. Many...

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3 Steps to Making Your Own Baby Food from Scratch

2012-05-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

Don't click away from this post! You can do it. Making your own baby food doesn't really take that much time, even for a domestically challenged person like myself! And it is so much healthier-- fresh, no packaging, no preservatives for your new beauty. 1. Grab a copy of Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. This book is an extensive guide for making your own baby food, and for healthy eating in general. It is loaded with recipes, nutritional information, month by month baby...

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Crayola, collect and recycle your markers!

2012-05-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

(Hooray for this group of students in California, asking Crayola to step up and take back their markers for recycling! Let's help show them that their voice matters. Please sign on to their petition and spread the word.) A group of elementary school students concerned about the environmental impact of Crayola products has launched “Crayola: Make Your Mark!,” a fast-growing campaign on Change.org that has gained 42,000 signatures. Their petition asks Crayola executives to give...

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Pick of the Week: Tea Collection (dress and T-shirt sale)

2012-05-18T05:00:00.003-07:00

Tea Collection Sale: I love the breezy global styles at Tea. I read about this sale and thought I'd share it with you. I'm hoping to pick up a few of these dresses for my daughters for the warmer (finally!) season. Check out Tea Collection's page and vote for your favorite girl dresses and/or boys tops on Facebook. Once an item has received 1,000 Facebook Likes, it will go on sale--$15 dresses and $10 boys tops! My fav, the Starling Batik dress, is almost to 1,000, and I will be...

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Does “One click activism” Matter?

2012-05-16T18:42:00.002-07:00

(Here is a guest post from our friend, Lindsay Dahl, from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. Please join us in supporting the Safe Chemicals Act. The lies, deceit, and influence of the chemical industry is rampant. We need to band together to take all the meaningful action that we can to create a safer, healthier world for our kids.) Like you, I get a lot of “action alerts” in my email each day. They all come from various organizations and causes I care deeply about, but the...

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America: Are You Family Enough?

2012-05-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

(Last night after reading some of the responses to Time magazine's Are you mom enough story, I wrote the title to this post. The magazine cover seems to divert attention from the much more pressing issues facing American mothers right now. It doesn't matter what kind of parent you want to be-- many of us can't even chose or come close to our goals because our culture doesn't support working families. Many of America's moms don't have access to paid maternity leave, sick...

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Fed Up with Lunch: How One Anonymous Teacher Revealed the Truth About School Lunches

2012-05-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sarah Wu went rogue in her school, eating school lunch every day, photographing it, and blogging about it at night, uncovering the ghastly daily diet of many of our nation's school children. A modern day Nancy Drew. A girl with a smart phone changing the world. Sarah W started the Fed Up with Lunch blog after eating school lunch one day at her school. She was struggling to get her non compliant toddler son (who hasn't been there) ready for daycare, and she ran out of time to make...

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Mamas: Go on Strike! (Happy Mother's Day)

2012-05-12T12:40:00.001-07:00

I loved Quiet Riot (did I actually just write that?) back in the day, and jumped around the house fantasizing I was dressed like the lovely mamas in this video. My perm would have been perfect! Oh, how I would have loved to be part of making this. I laughed aloud at the lyrics and the video scenes-- especially loving the Lycra suits, big hair, and rockin' bravado. My hat is off to the creator of Motherhood: The Musical, Sue Fabisch. She has channelled maternal frustration...

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Every Mother Counts: No Mothers Day Campaign

2012-05-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some important facts about maternal health around the world. Approximately 358,000 women die each year due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth. That's one woman every 90 seconds. For every woman who dies each year in childbirth, 20-30 more suffer from lifelong debilitating disabilities. Pregnancy is the number one cause of death in women, ages 15-19, in the developing world. Nearly 70,000 young women die every year because their bodies are not ready for...

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Blueair Air Purifiers (clean your indoor air!)

2012-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

We work so hard to make our homes safe and comfortable, but that is far from the truth in terms of air quality. According to American Lung Association, indoor air pollution is typically 2 to 5 times higher than air outdoors-- and in some cases, it can be 100 times worse. Indoor pollutants include dust mites, pollen, mold, radon, carbon monoxide, flame retardant chemicals (like Deca), VOCs (volatile organic compounds, found in paints and finishes) lead dust, asbestos, and...

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Toxic Chemicals in Gardening Gear (And How to Limit Your Family's Exposure)

2012-05-04T18:08:00.002-07:00

(Healthy Stuff and The Ecology Center reports high levels of lead, cadmium, BPA, PVC, and phthalates are found in hoses, gardening gloves, and other gear. Gardeners take note-- there are many unsafe products containing harmful chemicals for your garden and family on the market, as this study shows. Please follow the recommendations below to limit your exposure. Thanks to The Ecology Center for this important report!) High amounts of lead, phthalates and the toxic chemical...

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Mother's Day Gifts with Meaning (Rescue Gifts that make a Difference)

2012-05-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

This Mother’s Day, you can delight the moms in your life with a gift that gets to the heart of motherhood – a Rescue Gift. Rescue Gifts like a Safe Delivery for Mother and Baby ($24), a Year of School ($52), and Warm Blankets ($84) are symbolic gifts that represent – and support - the very real work of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC protects and empowers mothers and their families whose lives have been disrupted and uprooted by conflict or natural disaster around the...

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USA Today Investigation Finds Hazardous Lead Levels in Neighborhoods Across the Country

2012-05-02T19:25:00.002-07:00

Check out this important series and videos that came out last month from USA Today. Lead pollution from old factories continue to impact people, especially children, today. Find out if you live near one of these sites, if your neighborhood has been impacted, and what you can do about it at the link below. I commend USA for this in-depth report and urge the EPA and the public to take action to clean up these sites to eliminate lead pollution in residential and school sites. In the...

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4 Tips for Asthma Sufferers (and their parents)

2012-05-01T17:47:00.001-07:00

(Here is a post and infomation from the EPA about World Asthma Day. I like the tips for daily living and think the facts below show us how widespread and important this issue is for our nation's families.) Did you know? *One out of every 10 school-aged children has asthma. *Almost 13 million people reported having an asthma attack in the past year. *Over the past 10 years, asthma has continued to grow with more than four million new cases reported in adults and nearly one...

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Picks of the Week (Abe's Natural Market and Mom Agenda)

2012-04-29T20:06:00.003-07:00

1. Abe's Natural Market: $20 for $40 dollars of all natural home supplies, baby products and more. This online grocery retailer has a nice collection of organic, natural and healthy foods. This is quite a save, especially for those hard to find specialty foods or organic, non-toxic baby body care products. This one is good until May 12th. 2. Mom Agenda School Years Books: Love these! I ordered one for each daughter last year and have started...

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Wet Wool Felting Fun with Kids (eco-friendly craft activity)

2012-04-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

Are you ready to try something different with your kids? This craft involves lots of hands on work with materials, creating designs, thinking about sequencing and steps, and I think, a little bit of magic. Wet felting with kids is fun and creates lovely, unique pieces. It feels a bit ominous at first, but once you do it one time, you get the hang of it, and it is actually quite enjoyable. You'll need: Pieces of wool (called roving), in various colors. Squares of...

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Happy Earth Day! 5 Ways Moms Can Help the Earth (today and everyday)

2012-04-22T11:56:00.002-07:00

Happy Earth Day! You know it is coming because every marketer tries to take advantage of this theme to get us to buy more stuff. Any green angle is pursued. We are forced to consider buying a plastic toy because it is encased in somewhat eco-friendly packaging. At these times, it’s easy to fall into greenwashing…believing in false (or deliberately unclear) claims about a products’ greenness. Here are my recent picks for the worst in greenwashing this year. What can moms do to help the...

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Why Getting Dirty is Good for Kids (and Outdoor Activity Ideas)

2012-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

( I love this new report from the National Wildlife Federation! It encourages we parents to lighten up, and let our kids get dirty outside more often... it is actually good for them in many ways. Read on for ideas about how to get your child exploring the outside world today.) Dirt is a four-letter word to many parents, but letting kids get dirty is actually good for them according to a new report from the National Wildlife Federation, “The Dirt on Dirt: How Getting Dirty...

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Earth Day Poetry Contest by Kumon (and giveaway for a Barnes and Noble Gift Card!)

2012-04-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

New England Spring by Katy Farber Finally spring blows in warm, welcoming air big water flowing life cycles anew the trees, ready, gathering to burst into a flame of life rich, plentiful ferns reaching, uncurling to gather power from the sun the scene changing drastically movement, movement, birds, bugs, leaves churning, awakening after many moons brown, dried, flat changes to new, bright, poking up the new takes shelter, nourishment from the past we...

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2012 Earth Day Greenwashing Hall of Shame

2012-04-15T17:50:00.003-07:00

Everyone wants to ride the green wave all the way to the bank. In the last 5 years, going green has been marketed, twisted, and gone corporate as folks consider just what it actually means. Many companies have used their "natural" and "green" claims to confuse consumers and fool them into thinking they are making healthy and green choices. According to Greenwashing Index, here is what greenwashing is: "It’s greenwashing when a company or organization spends more time and...

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FDA Gives "Guidance" to Factory Farms and Drug Companies about Antibiotics

2012-04-11T19:40:00.001-07:00

Today, the FDA announced it will ask livestock producers, drug companies, and veterinarians to limit their use of antibiotics to promote growth in food producing animals, according to the LA Times and other news sources. Why? As I have written about here before, as part of the group Moms for Antibiotic Awareness, more antibiotics are being used on livestock than in treating humans-- and this use is creating dangerous superbugs resistant to antibiotics. These endanger the...

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Protect 7 Million Kids from Asthma

2012-04-10T10:25:00.002-07:00

(Here is a guest post from Gloria at Momsrising. I applaud new carbon pollution limits for power plants and hope you will join me-- so our kids can breathe easier, and we as moms can sleep more soundly.) From ages one to seven, my daughter Cole had severe asthma. There were long periods when she and I would be out of commission one week out of four, she too sick to go to daycare and I at home to take care of her. At the time, we lived in Tokyo, Japan, and I have vivid memories of hunkering...

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Organic Hooded Towel from Baby U R Precious

2012-04-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

Wait until you feel the velvety softness of this towel. Just try to pry your toddler or preschooler out of it! Baby U R Precious makes the softest, snuggliest organic hooded towels for toddlers. These organic towels are made with natural bamboo velour fabrics for the softest feel you can find. I can vouch for this, the towel is buttery soft-- why don't they make these in adult sizes? These organic hooded towels are: 3x more absorbent than organic...

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Non-Toxic Kids Picks of the Week

2012-04-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

1. My Very Own Fairy Tale My daughters have loved their I See Me books. They each got one from their grandmother, and there is something so simple and lovely about seeing their own names in print. I See Me books are personalized, beautiful books that feature your child's name in a board or hardcover book. Each one of my daughters learned to read and spell their own names early, and these books certainly helped. The alphabet books help children with letter and...

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The Breast Cancer Fund Responds to the FDA Decision on BPA

2012-04-03T17:49:00.001-07:00

(Here is a guest post from Jeanne Rizzo, Breast Cancer Fund President & CEO, about the FDA's decision not to ban BPA from food packaging. I completely agree with her perspective and am glad to share her words here at Non-Toxic Kids. What do you think?) Late Friday afternoon, on the eve of its legal deadline and at probably the best possible time to avoid media scrutiny, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it has rejected the 2008 Natural Resources Defense Council...

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