Organically Growing

The offical blog of HappyGreenBaby.com

Off To a Wrong Start with The Right Start March 30, 2009

Filed under: Fitness,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 5:06 pm

We’ve been wavering on whether or not to buy a stroller for the few months of baby’s life. I know we’ll want to have a stroller eventually, but Marc is all about the “baby wearing” movement (without even knowing it!). He wants to wear the Organic Ergo Carrier we got for Christmas, and I’m looking forward to putting him in the sling for easy breastfeeding in public. The stroller seems like more hassle that it would be worth at this point.

But then there are the Stroller Fit classes that I’m already counting the days until I can start going. And there’s the plan that Marc and I will run the Seattle Half Marathon in November … making a jogger-type stroller a necessity. So, I started shopping around. There aren’t many eco-friendly options of strollers. Baby Planet offers a line of strollers that benefit the Wildlife Conservation Society, and they have a really nice recycling program, but they didn’t have a one of the “all terrain” varieties that I was looking for. I opted to go with the Phil & Ted’s Sport Buggy.  At $450, it’s an investment for sure. But, it is one of the only strollers I’ve found that accommodates a second child with only buying a second seat. If we decide to give baby a sibling at some point, we wont’ have to buy an entirely different stroller. Plus, it’s one of the few jogger-type that accommodate a newborn without a car seat adapter.

I happened to find one of the highly coveted Phil & Ted’s on sale at TheRightStart.com on sale for $385. I decided to pull the trigger. Then immediately had buyer’s remorse. I placed the order last Thursday evening. I called the customer service line at The Right Start Friday morning. No one answered. There was no option to leave a message. I called back every hour for the entire day – same story. I emailed customer service to ask that my order be cancelled. No response. I emailed again.

On Monday I received a shipping confirmation. I tried to call again. And again. I emailed again. And again. 4 days and not a single ounce of customer service was extended to me. When I finally did hear back from customer service, via email, in response to my cancellation request they said, “I’m sorry we were unable to cancel your order.” End of story. No, “we apologize … we’ll recall the shipment” … nothing. It also turns out that I was charged $35 in sales tax, because there was a store in Seattle … which has since been closed. When I told the customer service rep about this, she simply stated that she would not refund the sales tax. Even though they do not have a presence in my state anymore, they are still going to steal sales tax from me. Super.

I exchanged a couple more emails with the customer service representative over the next two days about how disappointed I was with their service. The response? We are going through layoffs, and I’m the only customer service person so there will be delays in my responses. Still, no apology, no offers to remedy the situation … nothing.

I spent over $425 with this company and they couldn’t even bear to be friendly to me. I am tempted to refuse the UPS shipment today and send it back … but given the crappy service I have already received, I’m not sure they would refund my money! There is a reason The Right Start is laying people off … they obviously do not value customer service or providing people with a valuable shopping experience. I’m not one to rant and rave about poor shopping experiences, but this one was exceptionally bad and I would HIGHLY suggest that no one try to order online from this company … they are not equipped to do a good job or serve your needs.

 

The Diaper Drawer March 26, 2009

Filed under: Eco-Friendly Diapering,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 10:11 pm

I just had to share because Marc’s enthusiasm for my recent reorganization of the cloth diaper drawer was, shall we say … lacking the luster I would have hoped for.

All our cloth diapers are stuffed with their inserts and have a Tushies flushable liner neatly laid in the middle. Bamboosa Bamboo washcloths are folded up alongside additional liners and inserts.

I give the drawer a week after the baby is born before it turns into complete disarray.

002

 

More On Organic Crib Bedding March 23, 2009

Filed under: Eco-Friendly Fabrics,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 9:30 am

After many (many) weeks of research, we opted for the Naturpedic 2 in 1 Organic Cotton Crib Mattress, and dressed the crib in Pixel Organics’ Organic Cotton Lions, Tigers & Kitties crib set … but that’s not all I wound up buying for our green crib set-up.

Because we decided to invest so heavily in the mattress, I wanted to be confident that this little beauty was going to last for years to come – which means I invested, also, in an organic cotton flannel mattress protector: basically a thick, absorbent fitted crib sheet that protects the mattress from dust, dirt, mites and leaky diapers. In my frenzy, I also picked up an organic merino wool puddle pad, which is a flat sheet of highly water-resistant wool that (theoretically) goes between the crib sheet and mattress protector.

After I got the mattress protector and crib sheet on the mattress and squeezed it down into place in the crib, I decided perhaps the puddle pad was over-kill. Probably could have gone with either the protector or the puddle pad.

But, that doesn’t mean the organic wool puddle pad is going to waste away in a drawer! There are a lot of great uses for this:

  1. Cover for changing table
  2. Blanket for indoor/outdoor adventuring/changing
  3. Can use it for mattress protection while fitted protector is in the wash
  4. Adult mattress protection

Let me clarify on #4 here: No, Marc isn’t a bed wetter … but as we get closer to delivery date, the more paranoid I’m getting about my water breaking in public. Many books say that if you’re water breaks while you’re laying down, it “gushes” more … making for a bit of a mess if I’m in bed! So, I figure why not employ the  use of the puddle pad to protect our sweet memory foam bed in the meantime?

 

My Super Awesome Trip to the Consignment Store March 5, 2009

Filed under: Eco-Friendly Baby Furniture,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 11:13 pm

I love a good deal. I can rarely pass up a super sale or bargain discount at my favorite retailers (like the final clearance at HappyGreenBaby.com), but I’ve never been too into digging for deals at consignment shops, used bookstores or big box closeout places like TJ Maxx or Ross. Not that I wouldn’t want to: I’ve seen some of the incredible buys my friend Dell Rae scores on designer shoes and clothes … but it all seems like so much work. I’m a mission shopper: I need jeans, so I’ll go out shopping for jeans. I’m not good at looking at a sweater and think, “gee – this would be nice to have for next fall.” So, when I walked into Moms ‘n Me consignment shop in downtown Ballard on a lark, I didn’t envision actually walking home with anything.

I stand corrected.

The store was packed with clothes, strollers and various baby miscellanea that I wasn’t overly intrigued by … and then I made my way to the back of the store, where there were shelves of “other” items … including the Munchkins Wipe Warmer I have had my eye on at Target. It’s one of those items I really couldn’t justify spending $30 on – I could just as easily use a reusable box we already have to make my homemade wipes in – I didn’t need to buy an electric plastic container for that. But here it was – the exact same warmer I put on my registry just a few weeks earlier … and for just $9.75! I snatched it up without a second thought.

Inspired by my score, I quickly scanned the rest of the items on the shelves hoping to find the next great deal before someone else moved in. Then I found one of those dishwasher basket things for pacifiers and nipples. It would NEVER have occurred to me to buy one of these new (why not just put them in the silver ware basket?) but here was a gently used one for only $3 … I had to have it.

While buying plastic crap isn’t really my thing, I know there are going to be a few items in the nursery that have to be plastic. Wipe warmer and dishwasher thing included.  I feel good about my consignment store purchases because I’m not contributing to creating more trash (all the packaging from a new item) and giving these perfectly good items a second life.

I’m heading back down this weekend to see what I can find in the realm of a diaper pail.

 

Green Baby Registry Checklist February 14, 2009

Filed under: Baby Gifts,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 1:44 am
Part of going “green” for us is minimizing the amount of things we buy. Even if every single item we bought was organic and produced in an eco-friendly way, we’re still consuming a considerable amount of resources and creating new trash. So, as cute as all those little socks and onsies might be – we want to limit our consumption to getting just what he needs for now.

That’s why I’ve created a modified Green Baby Registry Checklist: a list of things that every nursery needs without a lot of excessive additions. Here we go:

Big Stuff:

  • Crib (see my post on Shopping for an Eco-Friendly crib for tips)
  • Crib Mattress (How to Choose An Organic Crib Mattress)
  • Changing Table
  • Changing Table Pad
  • Car Seat
  • Stroller
  • Rocking Chair (we happen to have this totally retro rocking chair from my grandma circa 1967 that not only looks amazing, but is also quite comfy)
  • Bouncer (we got this cool Svan Bouncer as a gift, it’s great because it folds flat for travel or stashing when not in use. And there’s no plastic on it)
  • Baby Monitor
  • Breast Pump (depends on your sitch. You might be able to get by renting one for several months, or if you’re planning on pumping for the long haul or having more babies – get your own)

Because our nursery is so close to our bedroom, we opted out of the co-sleepers, bassinet, moses baskets, etc. Your situation might require it. If so, look for the same eco-friendly features you sought in your crib.

Note  also the absence of the ExerSaucer, Pack ‘n Play-type travel beds, swings and all that.  We live in a pretty small space, so we want to see what types of “toys” we’ll want for baby to hang in later when he’s actually ready to use them. Same goes for the high chair … we figure we have 6 months to get that so it doesn’t need to be piling up in the house. But, if you have especially generous gift givers on your list – you may want to add a Svan Highchair to your registry.

Bedding:

  • 2-3 Organic cotton or bamboo fitted crib sheets
  • 1 Organic wool puddle pad for crib mattress  (if you opted for a non-waterproof mattress. If you get a flat one, it also makes for a great blanket for playing on the floor, taking outside, etc.)
  • 1 Organic cotton mattress protector
  • 1-2 Organic cotton changing pad cover(s)
  • 4 organic cotton, bamboo or soy fiber receiving blankets
  • 1 thicker, cozier blanket for floor playtime

You might note that I left off the fancy-schmancy crib set. Myself, I’ve always been against the cutesy themed nursery set ups and wasn’t planning on investing in the crib skirt+bumper combo … that is, until I saw the Lions Tigers & Kitties Organic Cotton crib set by Pixel Organics. And I got that. But it’s not a “necessity” per se.

Feeding:

Things like solid food eating supplies might be nice to get right now, but we’re holding off until he’s ready to actually use it, rather than stockpile today.

Diapering:

  • 24-30 Cloth Diapers – If you’re planning to cloth diaper, you’ll want to have at the very least 24 all-in-ones on hand. We’re going with the one-size version from Happy Heiny and Bum Genius so that they’ll last throughout his pooping-in-pants phase.
  • 6-8 Cloth Diaper Inserts – the all-in-one styles usually come with one insert, but you’ll want some extras for laying in absorbency for overnights, etc.
  • Eco-Friendly Diapers – even if you’re going to cloth diaper, it doesn’t hurt to have some Seventh Gen disposibles on hand for emergency laundry situations, babysitters, etc.
  • 20 Cloth Wipes – a great alternative to buying disposable wipes is to just make your own reusable ones with organic cotton or bamboo baby washcloths, a little bit of water and some essential oils. You could even put them in a wipe warmer if you want. 
  • Disposable Wipes – like the diapers, it doesn’t hurt to have one or two packages of eco-friendly, non-toxic, unscented wipes on hand. Tushies makes flushable ones.
  • Diaper Pail
  • Diaper Bag
  • All-natural baby oil or diaper cream – if you’re cloth diapering, it’s not likely you’ll need much for diaper rash, but if so, choose an all-natural, organic variety free of mineral oil and other junk.

This might seem like a LOT to buy … and it is an investment. But just remember that while you might be shelling out $250-300 for cloth diapers today (or, your friends are), you won’t be spending $20 every week on disposables for the next two years.

Bath Time:

Miscellaneous:

  • First aid kit with clippers, thermometer, nose cleaner-outer thing, etc.
  • Baby carrier or sling

Clothes:
Here’s where things get tricky. Everyone wants to buy those cutesy little outfits he’ll never wear … and you have no idea how fast the little guy is going to grow outta stuff. Try to look for organic cotton, bamboo or soy fiber clothes that are super soft, wear well and are easier on the environment. Here’s a few things to get you started, without overstuffing your drawers.

  • 1 super-cute “going home” outfit that you will save for years to come and say things like, “I can’t believe he was so small!”
  • 3-4 short sleeve onsies
  • 3-4 long sleeve onsies
  • 5 pairs of pants
  • 1 pair of mittens (for newborn nail protection)
  • 6 footie sleepers, “rompers“ or the like
  • 2 sleep sacks
  • 2 hoodies or sweater type things
  • 1 Velcro swaddler
  • 8 pairs of socks
  • 4 hats (consider a sun hat for summer outings)
  • Winter bunting or fleece jacket (if it’s winter … or even if it gets cold in the evenings like here in Seattle)
 

Creating a Green Baby Gift Registry February 12, 2009

Filed under: Baby Gifts,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 9:33 pm

I’ve always been a little sheepish about creating a gift registry. When we got married, we made a very short list of things because there were a few people who were hounding us about it. I’ve just never felt comfortable asking people to buy me certain things. And now with a baby shower just two weeks away, the need for a registry arises again. Because we’re being a little “particular” about not wanting plastic and choosing natural and organic fibers whenever possible, we had no choice.

Fortunately, HappyGreenBaby.com has an online gift registry for all these sorts of things, and some big box retailers are also starting to carry more organic products so friends and family can find green choices fairly easily.

 

How To Choose an Organic Crib Mattress Without Going Crazy February 8, 2009

Filed under: Eco-Friendly Baby Furniture,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 2:37 am

There are a lot of ways to save money when you’re building a green nursery: Hitting friends up for hand-me-downs, visiting consignment stores, shopping sales (like the amazing one going on at HappyGreenBaby.com now) and deciding where to invest in higher dollar items.

For us, the crib mattress was one of those items we just didn’t want to skimp on. Baby is going to spent a lot of time on that mattress … now and into his toddler years. Conventional crib mattresses are also one of the biggest sources of toxins that you can find in a nursery.

Things that come in a conventional crib mattress that I’m not keen on my baby sleeping on everyday include:

  1. PVC – the surface material used in most conventional baby mattresses (and changing table pads). Widely considered to be one of the most toxic and environmentally unfriendly plastics today.
  2. Phthalates – associated with asthma, reproductive effects and cancer. Often used in the PVC surfaces of conventional baby mattresses
  3. Toxic fire-retardant chemicals such as antimony, arsenic and phosphorous.
  4. Polyurethan foam - the main filling used in mattresses typically contains toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, toluene. And because it’s essentially solid petroleum, it is extremely flammable. To reduce this, toxic fire-retardants are added.

(Thanks to Raising Baby Green by Dr. Alan Greene for the info).

Now imagine your precious little baby snoozing on a bed of chemicals? Not so relaxing, huh? But what’s so special about Green Crib Mattresses?

  1. Made of organic wool, which is naturally resistant to dust mites and mold
  2. Made with organic cotton, which means no pesticides in your baby’s bed. Always good.
  3. If you’re worried about potential allergic reactions to the wool, you can opt for a natural rubber mattress like this one from Pixel Organics.

And depending on the brand and style you go with, you’ll also find companies using natural fire-retardants such as wool, baking soda, etc. Pixel Organics mattresses even feature recycled steel used in its coils.

Ultimately, there are widely varying prices in organic crib mattresses but all should meet federal requirements for firmness and flame retardance.

After much consideration, we opted to get the Naturepedic 2-in-1 Organic Cotton Mattress. The dual firmness design means that we can use it long into the toddler years and it’s made with organic cotton, a non toxic fire protection system and uses a food grade, non-toxic plastic film for waterproofing that has been recommended by environmental groups all over the world.

Now we can all rest easy!

mattress

 

Assembling Our Eco-Friendly Crib January 29, 2009

Filed under: Eco-Friendly Baby Furniture,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 5:28 am

After several weeks of UPS delays due to what is reportedly being called Seattle’s biggest snowstorm ever, we finally got our Baby Miro crib from Grandma & Grandpa Angelo. Add in a couple more weeks of delay due to our general laziness and personal scheduling conflicts (Flight of the Conchords is back on), and we finally got to assembling the crib last weekend!

Overall, the process was fairly painless. Here is daddy-o Marc putting together the handy storage drawer that goes underneath the crib. We are about to realize that the white front and back panels were put on too low and the drawer won’t fit underneath. This was the only part we had to re-do though (8 screws in all), so I feel like we did pretty good.

Marc assembling eco-friendly crib

One thing I noticed is the total lack of smell associated with the crib! Most new furniture products you pull out of the box have a definite odor about them … but I am happy to report that this beauty did not off-gas any noxious fumes in our basement. Not to mention it looks really fabulous.

Now we’re just waiting on the organic crib mattress and organic crib bedding to get here!

 

Shopping for an Eco-Friendly Crib December 21, 2008

Filed under: Eco-Friendly Baby Furniture,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 9:38 pm

Now that we’re coming up on week 23 of pregnancy, are settled in our new Seattle home and this growing bump has been confirmed to be a boy, we are ready to start building a green nursery of our own.

First stop: Crib

It’s estimated that a newborn baby will spend about 16 hours a day sleeping, presumably the vast majority of that in his crib. This makes it exceptionally important to me that we create the healthiest crib environment we can.

A number of factors play into our crib decision:

  1. Eco-friendliness
  2. Cost
  3. Modern styling

What does eco-friendly mean when it comes to cribs? For me, it’s FSC-certified hardwood, no plywood or veneers laced with chemicals, non-toxic glues and low VOC finishes. 

I’m discovering, in our challenge to be green and budget-friendly, that the Rolling Stones are right: You can’t always get what I wa-ant. But I can get pretty damn close.

We decided to go with the budget-friendly Mercer Crib by DaVinci. It’s made with sustainably-harvested solid New Zealand pine, no veneers and has a non-toxic finish. It’s a 3-in-1 style that will allow the crib to change into a toddler bed and daybed without a bunch of extra accessories. Not too bad for $400.  And Marc’s folks generously offered to buy it for us, which is so incredibly generous and exciting, I know our baby is going to have sweet dreams resting in here.

Next on the shopping list: Crib Mattresses

 

Why Choose Organic Cotton Crib Bedding? September 21, 2008

Filed under: Eco-Friendly Fabrics,Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 8:13 am
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With baby crashing out 16-17 hours a day, she’s going to be spending a lot of time in her bed. That’s why it’s especially important to create a pure and healthy environment for her to catch some ZZZs.

Did you know that conventionally grown cotton accounts for 25% of the pesticides used worldwide? Often times, cotton is treated with formaldehyde and toxic dyes … all things I’m not too excited about wrapping baby up in each night.

I think it’s a no-brainer to choose organic cotton (or eco-friendly bamboo, which is typically not treated with chemicals) for baby’s crib sheets.

Silky soft and free of toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, organic sheets are also free of harsh bleaches and dyes – making them the perfect place for baby to rest her sensitive skin. And going organic for bedding doesn’t mean you have to choose blah neutrals, take a peek at our assortment of colorful organic crib sets and sheets.