The Not Quite Crunchy Parent

Going Green Early – The Sooner The Better

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:20:00 +0000

I’m starting to prepare for my trip to The Blogher Conference in Chicago and wanted to write a bit about one of my sponsors that will help me to offset the cost of my trip. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I have a very explicit review policy that boils down to – I only review selected products and am brutally honest in my reviews.

So though I discussed sponsorship with a few different brands, I have been very selective about with whom I am willing to work. So today I want to write about The Goddard Schools.

There was an article about Goddard’s yoga program in The Houston Chronicle this week.

I’m a big believer in yoga in schools. Several of my son’s teachers have incorporated it into the curriculum. It’s beneficial for children several reasons. The Yoga Journal cites:

“Yoga enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness. In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves. Doing yoga, children exercise, play, connect more deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them.”

I actually had the opportunity to visit a Goddard School near my home (they have over 330 schools for infants through kindergarteners across the country.) We talked about a number of green initiatives that Goddard offers, including simple things like automatic faucets and recycling bins to more complicated programs like solar water heaters and spending the extra dollars to purchase furniture and equipment made from recycled materials. (I, of course had to add my two cents by suggesting they add an organic vegetable garden in a corner of their (large and lush) play yard.) Not surprisingly, considering their focus on green, they liked this idea.

Spending so much time on sustainability, I tend to judge whether a company is committed to green by which initiatives they implement and how focused they are on the end result – which I perceive as constant improvement and publicizing the results. I don’t consider that greenwashing, I consider it education and increasing awareness with the general public. Goddard also has the responsibility of educating a new generation, which they do, by incorporating “earth-friendly” activities into the curriculum.

You’ll be hearing more about Goddard from me in the future – this is an early childhood development center I can recommend. You can follow them on Twitter too!

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When Organic …Isn’t

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:22:00 +0000

It’s been bubbling around the web for awhile, but today I read a report in the Washington Post, Purity of Federal 'Organic' Label Is Questioned that goes into detail about, how “business as usual” has impacted the certified organic label – you know, the one on products for which we get to pay exceptional amounts of money.

Three years ago, U.S. Department of Agriculture employees determined that synthetic additives in organic baby formula violated federal standards and should be banned from a product carrying the federal organic label. Today the same additives, purported to boost brainpower and vision, can be found in 90 percent of organic baby formula.

Isn’t that just terrific?

The article goes on to discuss how a lobbying effort by baby formula manufacturers caused a USDA program manager to over rule her staff and allow certain non organic ingredients.As a marketer, one has worked in the food industry, I certainly understand that there are non-organic stabilizing ingredients that need to be added to processed food products to extend shelf life. But, then, they should not carry a label that consumers interpret as “all organic”.It really annoys me.

No, I’m not annoyed at the food manufacturers. They have a product to sell and restrictions on what they can actually do and stay in business. I’m annoyed with the USDA and by extension, the last administration which hampered their ability to do their job. (OK – let’s just say it, they are under- regulated, understaffed and under-directed.)

If I’m going to pay extra; I’d really like to know what I am getting. Now “certified organic” joins “natural” as an ambiguous label that means we get to pay more for…well…umm…what? (BTW- Natural Means Nothing.)

Would it be so hard to put in a graduated scale that consumers could understand, with certified organic at the top and various grades underneath? It’s back to that pesky transparency issue. We don’t care what you do; we just want to be informed so we can make buying decisions that are right for our families!

This month's Green Moms Carnival will be hosted by Alline over at Eco-Village Musings. Pop over there on Monday, July 13 to find out why the green mom-o-sphere thinks "Food Matters."

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3 Rainy Day Summer Activites For kids

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:13:00 +0000

I made three phone calls one day last week. All were business calls to clients, vendors or associates.

Each call was punctuated by the person on the other end marginally covering the phone and saying one of the following:

1) No, wait, not now sweetheart, mommy's on the phone.

2) Yes, No... can you get that for your sister please.

3) Daddy has some work to do you'll have to wait just a minute.

One caller finally admitted, "School's out and camp has not yet started."

In the new work at home world, it's tough to give kids a summer like you had as a child and actually get some work done! I admit, I'm not above putting in a video from time to time (my son and his friends are watching a Schlessinger Space Video, borrowed from the library right now as I type.) But in general, I try to be a bit more creative.

Most days that means trading with neighborhood parents, taking turns supervising outdoor activities and pool side watching. This week it's a bit too chilly, so we've come up with some other ideas. Nothing too elaborate, mostly just things we did as kids... and kids don't necessarily do as much anymore.

1) Make a couch fort- a few blankets and all the couch cushions on the floor. No need to elaborate on this one!

2) Make "potions" - it's amazing what kids will do with a big bowl and copious amounts of flour, sugar, salt, etc. this time I snuck in baking powder and white vinegar. Ha! They were too smart and KNEW to expect a bubbling explosion. (Yes I did have to sweep and mop the floor afterwards.)

3) Cleaning out the bookshelves. Yes, this sounds like work, but really, not too many books get thrown away, but lots of reading goes on.

What are your ideas?

Raising Kids With Less or Rather Without More

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:16:00 +0000

I have a bit of a reputation for re-purposing various articles and making do with less. I have been at times been considered tight.

I’m now considered fashionable. In these tight times, frugal has become cool!

This didn’t always extend to purchasing things for my child. But in the last few years as toys have slowly threatened to extinguish any semblance of living space in our home, I’ve found that yes, my child can make do and actually prosper with less or rather, without more.

And, not only are we conserving cash, we’re promoting creativity; finding ways to teach humility and raising a whole person, not just an aspiring consumer.

What do we do? Well, lots of things

1) I’ve always supported recycling, but recently tinkered with another of the 3 Rs – “reuse”. This started with saving paper towel tubes, and plastic containers and progressed to my drowning in recyclables.

But along the way the children who haunt our playroom have made plastic trays into paint palettes, paper towel tubes into swords and amazingly creative art projects.

2) I’ve always been a pack rat, so we tend to keep toys for years – not all of them, but many. And as a result, I’ve rarely bought a toy with which he didn’t play- eventually. He still has his toddler “button pushing” toys, now repurposed as space ship control panels. Stacking blocks are now used as counter weights in his latest “physics experiment”. What’ I’ve found is when kids don’t have the latest and greatest, they find new ways to use the old.

3) While I enjoyed shopping for my infant and toddler as much as any new mom, I’ve more recently become a fan of “pre-loved” clothes. Since my “suppliers” are all friends with older or bigger children, my son knows the previous owners and thinks about his buddies when he gets dressed.

It’s like wrapping oneself up in friendship.

4) Though our home is filled with books, most of them are pre-loved too. And they are frequently of higher quality than anything I would buy at my local mega book store. We buy at used book stores local and online, library book sales and estate sales, all of which tend to traffic in older, more interesting books. At 25 to 50 cents a piece we can afford to buy a lot.

5) Old clothes don’t leave the house at our house. While we still give boxes full to charity, the thrashed and trashed play clothes, the silk dress I accidentally put in the washer and the blouse with the ink stain, stay with us.

Some become rags, but others take on a new life. Some go directly to the dress-up box. Others are stitched together to make quick outfits for play figures and masks. Some replace the expensive and wasteful wrapping paper we used to buy and are used again by the present’s recipient.

We’ve “bought into” reuse. And I’d say, we’re richer for it.

This post is an entry into the TROP50™ Be a Guest on The Juice contest running over at Blogher.

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Knitting With Children

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:19:00 +0000

My son's school started a handcrafts program this year!Impressed with the Waldorf School philosophy, they hired a lovely lady connected with the local Waldorf school. They bought some wool yarn, they informed the parents about the benefits of handcrafts.

I was ecstatic.

First project for the first grade - Knit a Teddy Bear

Ummm...isn't that, shall I say, a bit ambitious for children who have never done much handcrafts?

Well...yes it was and a month later after tangled threads and knots and holes, we were well behind schedule.

Fortunately several moms jumped in to help. Even more fortunately, since most of the moms couldn't knit either, some grandmas were recruited.

We managed to complete the bears on time. Aren't they cute?

So, what project will the First Grade do next year? They'll start with finger knitting...much better idea!

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Please Sell Your Ticket To Blogher

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Please Sell Your Ticket To Blogher............to me!

In my often procrastinating manner, I did not purchase a ticket to Blogher in Chicago in July this year.

Now I want to go!

If you find you can't go, Please email me, I'll be happy to buy it from you! I'll be happy to take notes for you! I'll be happy to shout your name from the top of the Sears Tower!

Whew! Can you see I'd like to go?

Update: I found a ticket thanks to the power of social media! Now I'm going and would love to hook up with my blogging friends!

The Tasting Garden – Container Gardening For Better or Worse

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

Last year I wrote about ~~my sorry excuse for~~ small but cherished garden. In it I planted strawberries, carrots and a variety of herbs. After a lackluster harvest I promptly dubbed I the tasting garden.

Since it’s short, I’ll reprint the post below.

For the past two years we have attempted to plant a garden on a tiny plot of salt encrusted soil behind our house. Tirelessly we plant, fertilize, water and watch our crops grow…or not. Striving to grow an yields less than half that of conventional gardeners, we expected to lose 50% of our crop to various wildlife. But, we didn’t quite realize what that means.

Now in year two we understand low yield means 10-12 strawberries over the season, 2-3 tomatoes and savory bits of various vegetables. And with this knowledge comes freedom. Lowering our expectations we don’t expect our carefully tended crops to yield bushels. Rather than gathering our crops and storing for future use, we snip off pieces as they ripen and savor them in situ, in our garden.

Renamed, our tasting garden we gleefully now plant whatever comes to mind. Soybeans last year (we harvested two pods), corn (not a traditional plant for Southern California) this year. Later in the season we’ll try pumpkins, while my DH watches for real bananas on his decidedly tropical tree. Who knows, perhaps he’ll be successful.

Meanwhile, we’ve cheerfully bought into the process not the outcome and that has been the best outcome of all.

I’m taking the time this year to report on how we are faring in year three.

We’ve progressed!

Yes, we still have tiny harvest of strawberries and the corn never did come up last year, but we also have some good news.

My DH’s banana tree actually yielded a tiny bunch of small but sweet bananas, much to everyone’s amazement. We have not bought lemons in over a year as our harvest has met our needs. Tomatoes are plentiful and our herbs as well as our lettuce yields supply the table on a regular basis…all grown in pots!

Yes, we still buy into the tasting garden idea since we once again planted carrots and expect a similar harvest – that is tiny. We’ve also branched out to try to grow green beans (awesome in a pot) and even spinach. Those that come up plentiful we will eat. Those that don’t well…we’ll rejoice in the process!

This post is part of the Green Moms Carnival hosted this month by Green and Clean Mom! Stop by and see all of our great posts on green gardening.

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A Decorative And Healthy Dessert

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:49:00 +0000

I don't often post recipes, many of you know why this is - I'm not the most creative or capable cook. As I often put it: I CAN cook. I DON'T cook.

Or bake for that matter, though I DO make birthday cakes each year and managed a strawberry chiffon pie a few weeks ago. But usually I am one to just whip something together and place food on the table, in no particular fashion.

My son, it turns out has other ideas. perhaps he has spent to much time in Japanese restaurants, where presentation matters. Or maybe he is just a bit more creative.

Either way, one night he requested a glass, some skewers and a variety of fruit and "made dessert".

Who can argue with perfection - healthy, tasty and pretty too!

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A Birthday Party Craft - Eco Art

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Though I recycle, recently I have been trying to reuse before I recycle. This has resulted in a huge pile of boxes, egg cartons, plastic trays, paper towel rolls, plastic bits and bottles and a wide variety of bits and pieces in my playroom designated for “crafts”.

It has gotten a bit out of hand.

So, I borrowed an idea from my friend Prism and included an eco art station at my son’s birthday party this year.

The set up was simple. I pulled out and organized my boxes of crap recycle items and set up a table with glue, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, markers, scissors, some bits of fabric, buttons and beads. I eschewed the Glue gun and instead supplied Tacky Glue and some old bottles of colored and glitter glue. I also skipped the paint as I thought party guests’ parents would be less than appreciative.

It was, fortunately, a hit. Rather than give them direction (I had considered showing them how to make a diorama) my son and a friend made a few samples of various things that could be done and left them on the table. No more direction needed.

….which meant while children happily glued and cut and pasted, I could enjoy the party.

Added bonus- now all of those boxes, rolls and various bits and pieces of recycle stuff adorn my guests’ parents’ homes…not mine!

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Raising a Bibliophile

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:22:00 +0000

I've been asked to review two books targeted at the youngest bibliophiles. (You can read the review here.) Perhaps it would be better to say that they are targeted to those interested in creating bibliophiles from of our newest members of the planet – of which I am one.

With all of the screen time activities available for both children these days, an interest in reading has all too often taken a back seat to more passive activities involving a screen. I know, I know, video games are hardly passive, but it’s a rare screen activity that both provides information and develops imagination. So, I’m a reading buff.

I tried to instill that love in my son at the very earliest age…that is when he was an infant. I spent those hours and hours of down time, in between nursing and frantically trying to squeeze in my work, reading everything I could about child rearing. I discovered that whenever I read a brightly colors book with pictures of babies, he was happy to “read” along.

This lead to months of reading board books to my infant and then longer and harder books. It has lead to my haunting library book sales, yard sales and used book stores trying to find books on every subject under the sun. it has lead to a house filled with children’s books.

For years he would spend hours at a time (OK. Not hours, who am I kidding?) leafing through the stacks of books that lie in every corner of the house. Now he reads by himself, but…also just looks at the pictures.

This has lead to my not always subtle query, “Did you read it or just look at the pictures?” Often the answer, is, “I just looked at the pictures.” This, I must say, frustrates me.

But, I’ve come to terms with it. My goal was perhaps not necessarily to create a bibliophile, but to raise a child who loves books – or is that the same thing? If a child loves to look at the pictures as well as read, is that bad or is it a sign that he knows information is be found there? And perhaps that’s a good thing. It sure beats relying on the often misleading information on the web.

When he finally does start doing research on the web, I’ll have to instruct him, as I do the college students I teach, that there are facts, opinions, gossip and blatant untruths on the web…and how to tell the difference.

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Meet The Greenmoms

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:39:00 +0000

Regular readers you've been hearing about my adventures with the greenmoms, seen the carnival and heard all about my recent trip to New York to pick up The Shorty Award we won for best green content on Twitter. Now it's time to meet the greenmoms!

This terrific video was put together by Anna Hackman, - an LEED certified attorney and video producer extraordinaire! Thanks Anna and thanks to all of the wonderful women who are part of the carnival. It is an honor to be part of such a smart and dedicated group!

Green and Clean- How do You Clean Green?

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:27:00 +0000

Green and Clean- How do You Clean Green? That’s the topic of our Green Moms Carnival hosted this month at Tiny Choices.

The green moms are so ridiculously busy these days, it’s a wonder we have time to clean! But since I really had to clean yesterday, I am in the mood to write about it.

And since I am paper phobic, despite my family’s reliance on tissues, paper towels and wet wipes, I cleaned not with paper towels but with old clothes that are beyond repair, now rags. We call that “reuse” – one of the three “Rs” these days.

I used lemon oil on the furniture and Ecolover and Simple Green cleaning products on the rest. OK- I did use cleanser at one point, I admit.

In my quest to be green, I thought I’d use newspaper on the glass in the house, since that time proven technique certainly fits in with re-use. However, it took awhile to find some newspaper. We don’t subscribe to any and the flyers that appear in our mailbox are all glossy. I finally found some that was used as packing material by my sister when sending a birthday present – whew! Sometimes being green almost prevents you from being green.

What I am perhaps proudest of though is my sweeper – the old non -electric, people powered kind? It came with the house, left by a former tenant and I love it! Wow- a reduce, reuse and a recycle- it doesn’t get much greener than this!

Check out more green cleaning tips at the Green moms Carnival on Tiny Choices!

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Snow

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:52:00 +0000

See more Wordless Wednesday!

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I Believe

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:39:00 +0000

The Green Moms Carnival This month is being hosted by Jennifer, The Smart Mama, and, as I prefer, has a relatively open theme:

"I believe"

Jennifer said she was inspired by something she read a few years back and visualized each of us writing about what we believe in as it relates to our mission, which is, of course, promoting green living. So here goes…

I believe that the FDA, the EPA, the FCC, the SEC and a whole host of alphabet agencies will provide better oversight in the coming years making us smarter, healthier, and richer and living in a cleaner environment.

I believe that the economic downturn is going to get really bad, but we will survive and perhaps be happier with less, which will, of course lessen the impact on our environment.

I believe that a whole new old way of thinking that encourages us to buy less, do less and act more sustainably in the process is a good thing. Staying home, cooking dinner and playing games will replace expensive restaurants, $100 cable bills and nights on the town.

I believe that rather than seeing businesses as being green, all companies will get a little greener…and that will become the new norm.

I believe that the convergence of factors, recession, market-maturity and consumer interaction online will impact the green economy in a good way.

I believe in seeing the silver lining or, in this case, the green on, in these hard times.

I believe in the power of the Green Moms Carnival . . .

Visit the green moms carnival at The Smart Mama this month to see what our other members believe!

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Green Moms Wins Shorty Awards

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:30:00 +0000

I'm pretty excited today! Green Moms Carnival or @greenmoms won the first annual Shorty Awards in the green category.

The Who? The What? Huh?

Perhaps I might explain. Over the past few years as a blogger, I've hooked up and made virtual friends with a number of green bloggers, mostly women, often parents. about 6 months ago, one of our moms, another marketer, Lynn at organicmania, took the lead and asked us if we would like to get together and run a blog carnival or meme. A number of us, enthusiastically agreed and The Green Moms Carnival was born.

I recently hosted the January carnival on my site. You can read all of the entries on Global warming here.

As a marketing consultant more and more frequently directing clients into social media, I began to think this was a good way to expand our carnival. (I had recently been working on program for fairly large retailer that involved setting up and maintaining a Twitter account.) So I approached Lynn with the idea. She agreed and I went through all of the steps to set up an account, direct feeds from all of our blogs to the Twitter account and start mining for followers.

It has been more successful than we ever dreamed! Just last week, the first annual Shorty awards were announced. Green Moms Carnival won in the green category.

The Shorty Awards are given for the best short content producers on the web...in other words, Tweople (Twitter users). You can read more about The Shorty Awards here.

So, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself and pretty proud of all of the members of the Green Moms Carnival. You're awesome!

If you like our tweets, please follow us and retweet:

RT @mcmilker I recommend @greenmoms for the Shorty Awards finals in green - please RT

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Smart Cycle - Worst Toys of The Year

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:14:00 +0000

This has been a week when I've felt smart or at least pretty good at predicting how products perform in the marketplace. That happens rather less frequently than I would desire, but this week was good.

First, I was able to write a "told you so" post over at Ecopreneurist about the smashing success of Clorox Greenworks. Then today I received an email from the Campaign For A Commercial Free Childhood. An excerpt:

On February 15, the Toy Industry Association will gather to present their TOTY (Toy Of The Year) Awards. But first, in honor of the industry that has led the way in commercializing childhood, CCFC will present its inaugural TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) Award for the worst toy of the year. From thousands of toys that promote violence and/or precocious sexuality to children and push branded entertainment at the expense of children’s play, CCFC has selected five exceptional finalists. Who will win the dreaded TOADY

One of the toys in the running is the Fisher Price Smart Cycle, a toy I first wrote about when it was shown at Toy Fair in February 2007. This toy apparently so annoyed me that I featured it in a post, "Plug 'em in" in June. Guess how I feel about this little gadget?

Anyway, you can vote for what you think is the worst toy of the year here. I certainly will!

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January Green Moms Carnival - Global Warming

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our January 2009 Green Moms Carnival!

We’re a group of women concerned about the environment who want to talk about it and change the world or at least our little part of it. Each month we host the green mom’s carnival and we welcome submissions from anyone interested in going or staying green.

This month we’re tackling global warming.

Diane from Big Green Purse offers us These Energy-Saving Steps Save More Than Fuel (Think CO2 and $$$).

Over at Fake Plastic Fish, Beth took a stab at how lunch relates to Global Warming in Plastic, Glass, Egg Salad, & Global Warming.

Jenn – The Green Parent gives some advice on Talking to Your Kids About Global Warming.

At Mindful Momma we get a chance to see some creative ways to shop with reusable packaging in Bag Lady.

At More Green Moms we get a list of 7 To Do's for 2009 that could have a positive impact on our planet's overall health.

Lynn at Organic Mania brings us a take on Thomas Friedman’s article Global Warming: “Our Kids are Going to be So Angry with Us”

At arduous blog there’s a nice post – What is Adaptation Anyway? – good stuff for those of us always interested in definitions of words related to climate change being tossed about these days.

Mary Hunt at In Women We Trust, asks, What's Your Green APR? - What can we use as a APR (All Purpose Reminder) to keep us on track day after day and year after year until we bring global warming under control?

Stephanie at Greening Families talks about how to Protect Your Child, Your Wallet, and Your World with One Spin of the Dial.

Anna at GreenTalk tells us to Give your ducts some TLC to stop global warming

At Non-Toxic Kids you’ll find tips on how to save gas, clean the air and stop climate change.

At Passion Green Business A Cranky Person Spouts off on How To Stop Global Warming.

Erin at Conscious Shopper talks about politics, going green and why Now Is The Time.

At Better Panic, a post on making how to make preventing global warming personal has some great tips.

Over at Eco Child’s Play, a post, We Used To have Winter takes a bit of a historical look at how climate change has changed our notion of the seasons.

Keith at Wind For Me offer us Green Jobs 4 Green America 4 Green Obama.

And me, I’m considering what global warming means to me and my family.

Want to join in the Green Moms Carnival this month? Just submit your post in the Mr. Linky box below. It doesn't have to be a recent post - but should address the issue of global warming. Then link back to this site.

Please also Tweet this carnival- the more people who join in the sooner we can change the world. we'll be tweeting it @Greenmoms. And PLEASE if you are a twitter user, vote for us ! We made the finals in the Shorty Awards. You can vote here!

And join us for next month’s carnival at The Smart Mama

What Global Global Warming Means To My Family And Me

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:43:00 +0000

This month I'm hosting the Green Moms Carnival and am excited about all of the great entries on global warming. This one is mine!

Talk of global warming once conjured up images of Al Gore and created hysterical outcry followed by news reports of naysayers poo-pooing the idea.

No longer, at least in my neck of the woods global warming is taken as fact and brought up in everyday conversation. So rather than discuss what we can do and what we should do, I thought I'd write today about how it has becomes part of our lives.

As we gazed out the window during our holiday trip to a part of Europe that sees snow but not much of it, we were buy the wave of white that blanketed the streets, cars,, grass and us every time we ventured out of doors.

"What happened to global warming" quipped my husband.

Meanwhile, back home, an earthquake shook our city causing much terror but little damage.

"Maybe it has something to do with global warming", a friend ventured.

And on New Year's Eve as we stood outside lighting fireworks with the thousands of others across the country, my 6-year-old son inquired:

"Isn't this bad for the ozone layer, Mom? Doesn't this make global warming worse?".

Obviously global warming as become part of our vocabulary. We bring it up in discussion, use it in jokes and try to connect the dots. Importantly, we're at a point where we are aware of it. And that can only be good.

When Global Warming goes mainstream, we know we're on the brink of actually doing.

Join the Green Moms every month for our carnival on, what else, green! details on the Green Moms Carnival can be found here.

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something about it.

Green Moms Carnival Coming January

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:02:00 +0000

The Not Quite Crunchy Parent will be hosting this months Green Moms Carnival on January 12th.

Whoo Hoo!

Our monthly carnival brings the best posts from the top green mom bloggers out there on different topics and lets the world ...or at least our slice of the blogsphere, know what we think

You can participate too either in advance by sending a link to your blog post to:

greenmomscarnival at gmail dot com

or on or after January 12th by submitting it in the Mr. Linky box that will be on the Carnival Blog Post.

This month's topic is Global Warming.

As a group we decide on the monthly topic, but the host gets to decide how to interpret it. I'd like to leave it open. You can write a post tackling the big picture issues: what you like to see the government or industry do to attack global warming this year; what you see as the outcome of a new administration or other macro topics.

Or you can write about how you do your part to prevent global warming or your concerns about specific animals or areas of the world impacted.

Or you can write a poem, or post some pictures or muse about where we've been or where we are going.

You decide then write your post and send it to:

greenmomscarnival at gmail dot com

Please include a link to the Green Moms Carnival Homepage

and to the blogpost for the January Carnival on this site.

Then let your friends know and Tweet it! We'll be tweeting it ourselves at:

http://twitter.com/Greenmoms

Hasbro Bait and Switch - The Non Response

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:34:00 +0000

So, here's the response I got when I wrote to the PR department at Hasbro about their plastic Tinker Toys.

If you read my post of a few days ago you know I'm a bit perturbed about some garishly colored, all plastic Tinker Toys my son received, in what I consider a very poorly marked package.

So, I called them to whine, then I wrote them to whine. Then finally I got this response.

FW: Plastic tinkertoys

Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate your taking the time to share your feedback with us regarding our plastic TinkerToys.

Please be assured we have forwarded your concerns to our management team so that they are also aware of your views.

Please be advised, the product does not have a manufacturer's defect and our packaging states plastic TinkerToy set on the label.

If you do not wish to return your product to us, you may return it to Toys R Us. We want to assure you that we are dedicated to maintaining quality products and service.

We hope you and your family will continue to enjoy our products for many years to come.

Pretty exciting no? this was after I had called customer service who informed me I could take them back to Toys R Us - always a pleasure without a receipt!

Or I could mail them back to Hasbro, at my expense and receive an item of similar value. I don't want an item of similar value, I want my wooden Tinker Toys!

Anyway, pretty pro active PR department, don't you think. Right on the ball there. I even mentioned in my letter to them that I was a Mommy Blogger. I even mentioned that I would be blogging about this. I even offered to tell their side of the story...so I have... here it is.

Guess, mommy bloggers just aren't very important to them..

Hasbro Bait and Switch

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Look at this barrel of Tinker Toys. Can you tell that this contains not one wooden TinkerToy, but rather a collection of plastic pieces? Plastic rods, plastic discs..plastic, plastic, plastic.

Neither could I, neither could my friend Juice who generously bought this barrel of Tinker Toys for my son as a holiday present.

When he eagerly opened it, both of our jaws dropped. While my son began happily building various structures, Juice immediately grabbed a few stray wooden pieces from sets we already had and tried to fit them into the plastic pieces from the new set. They fit...sort of. That is some of them fit, some slid out.

That's not why she purchased them, to be used separately.

As a marketer with 20 plus years of experience in various corporations, I looked closely at the container. Yes, it actually did say that the pieces were plastic, but, was it obvious to the consumer. Apparently not as both of us missed it when we first looked at the package.

Even when we closely examined it - it wasn't obvious.

I'm wondering if the size of the letters indicating that this is a plastic product is legal? I'm wondering if the fact that it so similar to the wooden version is cause for concern. I rather think that it is.

As a green mom, I want my child to play with natural toys as much as possible. As they grow older, this becomes more difficult. Though the plastic Tinker Toys bear the CE mark indicating they meet the higher, EU standards (which means the no BPA or phthalates) ...that's not really the point. for me anyway.

So I ask you...what do you think?
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Magical Books

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:01:00 +0000

One of the things I like about blogging around the holidays is getting to do my favorite toy lists.

I did quite a few last year, and see no particular reason to reinvent the wheel, but I am going to include some reviews of various toys and books over the next month.

Here are some great options if you're looking for high quality books this year!

Herb the Vegetarian Dragon

Secret Mountain Books

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Dear Mr. President – All I want For Christmas Is Some Green (Standards)

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:59:00 +0000

While that is true that I would like some green for Christmas…as in the currency kind, I’d also like to see some changes next year.

So, since the Green Moms Carnival hosted by Diane at Big Green Purse this month, I'm going to include my wish. Always a deep thinker, Diane proposed the following topic:

What recommendations would you like to make to the Obama Administration to encourage them to adopt a "prevention agenda?"

Diane has a discussion going on ning which is worth a read and if you’re a mom, you’ll all about prevention, so feel free to graze…there’s lots of things to worry about and lots of work to do to prevent even more.

The choice of topics was easy for me since I received an email from my friend Mary with this update of her recent trip to Greenbuild. She laments the lack of direction. She laments the progress, or lack thereof. She laments the fact that…hmmm…no one really seems to want to step up to the plate and be in charge or agree that someone should be in charge or do anything to get the ball rolling. (O.K., the ball is rolling, but ever so slowly.)

So, I want to talk about standards, Mr. President! (Doesn’t it seem slightly weird to be saying “Mr. President after months of ‘Obama,Obama’?” And yes,I know, it's still "President-elect")

Anyway, I’ve written quite a bit about how buying a simple package of granola bars requires a law degree and/or an “in” with the FDA or USDA or some other agency that regulates labeling and packaging.

So, all I’m asking you to do, Mr. Obama is use your bully pulpit to set a new standard for um…standards. It’s not like it’s just consumers asking for some sort of guidelines…it’s major manufacturers and small entrepreneurs. It’s moms and money managers…it’s well…everyone.

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure if this actually requires a budget increase. I think it just requires someone in authority (that would be you) to stand up and say, “hey, let’s get some clarity around this issue.”

Believe it or not, this really is one of those issues where the free market will make it happen. Major manufacturers will fall all over each other to meet whatever the new standards are…and smaller firms and advocacy groups will one up them to create even better ones. It won’t be perfect but, it will be better than what we have now!

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Babywearing Isn't Painful - The Power of Motrin Moms

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:54:00 +0000

In case you missed it. Check out this ad from Motrin. It created a stir when Blogger Jessica Gottlieb published this post on EcoChild's Play

The power of Crunchy Parents!

I wrote about the marketing impact here that led Motrin to pull their ad.

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Best Toys For The Holidays 2008

mcmilker@gmail.com (mcmilker) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:52:00 +0000

Last year I spent a few weeks writing about some of my favorite toys. That is, I wrote about them when I wasn't busy keeping up with all of the recalls!

This year, I'm going to add to the list. Mostly I will be doing that on the FamilyTime blog at PriceGrabber.

I'm also going to be adding some here, but first let me call your attention to the ones I ~~slaved over~~ wrote last year.

Best Toys for The Holidays Part I - Blocks

Best Toys For The Holidays -Part II- Dolls

Best Toys for The Holidays- Part III – Books

Best Toys For The Holidays - Part IV Cars, Trucks and Things that Go

Best Toys For The Holidays Part V - Arts and Crafts

Best Toys For The Holidays Part VI – Action Figures or “Boy” for Doll

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