How to Glow Through Severe Morning Sickness When Pregnant

Catherine the Duchess of York is finding out the hard way that being pregnant can be, shall we say, less than romantic. Between the tenderness in areas that never hurt before and morning, noon and night sickness that for some results in dehydration so severe it can only be helped with a trip to the hospital and an IV; pregnancy can be a royal (no pun intended) pain for any female. Does it make anyone else feel better to know that nausea doesn’t give royalty a skate? Not that I would wish HG (Severe Morning Sickness Hyperemesis gravidarum) on anybody. If you have ever suffered from morning sickness; then you know it makes you wonder why those with deep pockets don't go the surrogacy route. Oh well, kudos to them for doing things the old-fashioned way!

Did You Glow When You Were Pregnant

The only "glow" that I could lay claim to especially in the first three months that I was pregnant was the red-faced look that came from spending hours at a time with my head hanging over the toilet. I may have also been a tiny bit flushed when my blood pressure shot up from eating too much salt.

I would like to know if somebody out there really experienced the glowing look that people attribute to being pregnant. And if you did; please tell us how you managed it!

Word is that paying close attention to your diet, meditation schedule and exercise regimen will help you to get your "glow" on but since I did good to monitor my caloric intake and nutrition let alone having time for yoga; you can’t prove it by me.

Meanwhile, I’m sending up prayers not just for Kate but for all women who are finding out the hard way that those precious babies don’t always come easy. I wouldn’t have traded the moment I first felt that flutter of life for anything in the world…but glowing wasn’t in my wheelhouse.

Before Giving Birth My Personal Pregnancy Bucket List

Women who have a pregnancy and a baby or two under their belt know that there's lots of stuff to do before giving birth. First-time moms have fun stuff on their to-do list like decorating a nursery for baby, putting together a layette and arranging all those sweet, little baby clothes inside the closet. As a mom that has more than one; I'm here to tell first-timers to go ahead and fold them and put them in the dresser drawers, hang them in the closet or whatever but do not dawdle over this; there are bigger fish to fry and more important things to do right now than making sure the baby's outfits are organized.

The purpose of this article is to send these soon-to-be mommies a message that their world is about to be completely taken over by the love and care of a newborn and the time to indulge yourself a little is now! You see, for the next couple of years, you will come to view taking a little time for yourself even if it’s to perform the most basic of self-maintenance procedures as an almost sinfully delightful self-indulgence.

Here are a few things every pregnant woman should do before the little angel arrives and turns her world topsy turvy. If you are already a parent and pregnant with a second, third or fourth, the recommendations that follow will still apply. You know what’s coming and that’s even more reason for you to take my suggestions and tick off the items on this list! Call the kids’ grandmother, get a sitter and get started!

Spend Time with Friends
Starting with your childless friends, set up lunch dates or invite them to just drop in for a visit. You will not automatically become friendless after baby arrives but you may find yourself having less in common with couples who are child-free. Contact your girlfriends that are already parents and encourage them to get a babysitter so that you can have a nice, long chat and catch up with NO baby talk allowed. Revisit your friendship the way it was pre-baby.

Visit the hairdresser to get a cute, low-maintenance haircut, a do that doesn’t require constant attention to look nice, invest in a mani-pedi so that your toes look pretty in the stirrups and while you’re at it; get a massage. Nobody’s saying to let yourself go after baby arrives but quick fixes are mommy’s best friend. And who wants to take a new baby to the hair salon where the air is filled with the smell of perm solution and hairspray? Not me!

While you’re looking pretty and fresh out of the salon, plan a date night with your significant other. Get reservations at a favorite restaurant that holds special meaning for the two of you as a couple, visit museums or art exhibits that will frown on patrons showing up with a fussy baby in tow. Do adult things that you will not be able to do after giving birth. And cuddle..cuddle a lot!

The future is uncertain but one thing is for sure; your life is about to change. Be spontaneous and make spur of the moment plans; every aspect of your life is about to be on a schedule beyond your control. Now is the time to snuggle, hold hands and take naps together. Give your baby the best gift of all, parents who love and cherish each other.

Thanks for stopping by, Oh Baby Green Living if you have some ideas for solving environmental problems, parenting tips or have something to add to my "pregnancy bucket list" of things to do before giving birth please leave a comment!

Creating a Baby Safe Sleep Environment

A beautiful, decorated nursery is lovely but creating a baby safe sleep environment should be the first order of business when a newborn is expected. The facts are that while fluffy pillows, quilts and bumper pads are cute but they just aren't safe.

Crib bumpers are a hot topic with a lot of moms and while it's true that they continue to be included in most crib set collections; their use is no longer recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Some moms say that they are worried about their baby's legs slipping through the crib rails during the night. Maybe a sleeper could solve this problem. Take a look.



Obsessing over the nightmare of SIDS has kept me awake many nights. It seems just when I start to relax about it and focus (read: obsess) on some other issue; the news of another angel taken all too soon comes my way leaving grieving, guilt-ridden parents looking to blame themselves, a toxic environment or faulty crib bedding.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
The first step in being certain that the crib is safe for baby is to educate yourself. Keep up with new information on SIDS, research and products to reduce the risk. At the moment we don't have all the answers as to whether SIDS is due to physical or environmental problems; education is the key to creating a baby safe sleep environment that is as close to perfect as we can get.

Get Ready to Mow the Grass on the Roof

Is it time to get ready to mow the grass on the roof! Could it be that very soon when it's time to mow the lawn that we not only need to haul out the trusty lawnmower but drag out a step ladder to climb up on the roof to finish the job after the "lower" lawn has been trimmed? Will we be weed-eating around the edge of the gutters in the near future?



This is a trend that I've watched spreading from large American cities on up into Toronto, Canada. In fact, an article published by Crisp Green it was announced that our Canadian friends are introducing a bylaw that requires all industrial buildings over 2000 square meters in size to have green roofs covering anywhere from 20 to 60 percent of the roof area with the percentage depending on the size of roof. In years 2009 and 2010 the city had already introduced bylaws that included residential as well as commercial structures of that size and is now targeting industrial buildings.

Knowing that traditional roofing materials are not that eco-friendly and that green roofs are very well...GREEN, this seemed to me to be a move in the right direction. It makes an environmentalist's heart pound to think of replacing shingles with lush greenery that will reduce fuel consumption through lower heating and cooling bills via its insulating properties and grass is just prettier than gravel covered tar paper!

BUT...yeah, that's right; there's a big ol' but about to bust our bubble.

You see, I'm as big a fan of preserving freedom as I am of going green and they are MANDATING what kind of roof people put on their houses. I don't really like it when laws are made tending to the minute details of my life. Even if the mandates result in something really good; I wonder what directives they are going to come up with next and whether or not my budget could handle the cost of a greener, better roofing system.


You see, one of the biggest drawbacks (negatives) of having a green roof is the expensive cost of installation. Just like shingle roofs, a green roof will "keep you covered" for many years but they are pricey.

The recent laws set for by the city of Toronto apply to new construction which basically means that contractors will need to allow room in THEIR budget to cover a new, improved roof. I can imagine with downturn of the economy that this is a less than popular law. It would be wonderful if going green were more affordable but it's not so there's no reason for my DH to get ready to grow the grass on the roof just yet.

Dirty Shopping Malls and Carts

I don't do Black Friday. Dirty shopping malls and carts are just not my thing especially when there's a nasty stomach bug going around; a good friend is puking and pooping clear water as I type. But I also don't like to get up at daylight and rush out the door only to dodge elbows of crazed shoppers trying to get at that (probably one or two at the most in stock) "teaser" product before somebody else does.

The crowds suck but the main reason I do my dead level best to avoid shopping malls during cold and flu season is to avoid becoming infected with every virus making its rounds. When it comes to malls and shopping centers; if you build them and throw out a few hot products tagged with super cheap prices they will come. And by "they" I mean staph infections, flu viruses and lots of other really nasty germs left all over the place and NO Virginia, not just the unflushed toilets in the restrooms. Those little buggers are everywhere.

What is the most germy, nasty spot in the public bathroom? Well, you may be surprised to learn it's not the commode; experts say it's the sink!

When you think about it it makes sense. What do people touch right after they go to the toilet or change the baby's diaper? Those germy hands touch the faucets that probably get washed once a day at best leaving some of the worst strains of bacteria to grow. The sinks and faucets are both damp and dirty which translate into spa-like conditions for a germ where they can thrive unhindered and be spread to each and every unsuspecting visitor.

And if you were counting on germicidal soaps to save you, you should be aware that a large percentage of handwashing soap from the dispensers that they tested contained high levels of bacteria! WTH!

It's still your best bet to scrub your hands after using the bathroom for the time it takes you to sing "Happy Birthday". However, in light of these discoveries, you might consider packing a travel size of your own brand of eco-friendly, chemical-free hand soap in your purse or diaper bag so that you don't carry the germs from the dirty shopping malls and carts home with you.

5 Uses for Breast Milk (Beyond Feeding Babies)

For those of you who produce enough breast milk to spare, here are 5 Uses for Breast Milk beyond feeding babies that are being tossed about on the web which, of course, means that the information may or may not be accurate and I am to be held harmless if you try one of the ideas out only to find that it doesn't work.

People are saying that you can use breast milk to:

1. smooth your skin? Word is that a generous squirt or two of liquid gold (what we call breast milk around my house) will moisturize and eliminate ashy-ness leaving your skin smooth as silk. This seems like a huge waste of good milk to me, but if you find yourself without lotion on a day when you need it; it's worth a shot.

2. Heal minor scrapes, cuts and scratches. I've heard that cosmetic or medical grade sugar over a wound will help it to heal and I suppose there could be sugar or some natural antibiotic in the chemical composition of breast milk that works in a similar manner.

3. Control acne. Perhaps the same components that helps to heal minor wounds work on the inflammation of acne. It would feel weird to wash your face in milk of any kind, but I actually like the idea better than bathing my monthly breakouts in chemicals, don't you?

4. Calm conjunctivitis. Talk about unusual cures for pink eye! It's been written that a few drops will fix those red eyes right up after a sleepless night. I have to wonder if a mom up all night with a fussy baby accidentally splashes some in her eye to figure this one out.

5. Take the place of milk in some recipes. The substitution would most likely work best in dessert recipes since everyone I've ever known who sampled their baby's dinner said it tastes sweet.

I love the idea of
recycling baby stuff, household items and conservation of all resources so not wasting precious breast milk is right in my wheel house, but I'm not sure I've read anything that I want to try at the moment, have you?
If you have a tip that you would like to add to my list of 5 uses for breast milk or if you've tried one of the above suggestions, please feel free to tell us all about it using the comments section.

Recycling Crafts with Baby Food Jars

Here's my list of 5 of the BEST recycling crafts with baby food jars EVER. After collecting hundreds (thousands?) of glass jars over the last few years, recycling them has become a personal challenge. There are lots of blogs that have posted ideas but some of them are super and some not so much. That's why I've started a top 10 list (ok, I've got 5 so far)!

My husband was always laughing and calling me a "hoarder" and the "jar lady" but he stopped laughing when he saw how much money we saved by decorating the jars and giving them as baby shower gifts. My focus is primarily on the environmental benefits of keeping the empty jars out of the landfill but cheap gifts are pretty cool, too.

Now, here's my list that has many creative uses for baby food jars and where to go to find the instructions and tutorials.

Number One - Decorating the Empty Jars to Give as Gifts
Here's one that I've used over and over again. Don't let the jars decorated for Halloween throw you, just substitute ribbons in the baby's nursery colors. But they also make cool Halloween baby shower or party favors. I suppose that's why I keep going back to this project; it's versatile.

Number Two - Making Party Lanterns Out of Empty Glass Baby Food Jars
But speaking of parties, Here are some instructions for how to transform those empty jars into lanterns! Imagine strings of these twinkling lanterns at your next backyard barbecue or pool party. Sock some citronella candles in there for bug control and you're all set!

Number Three - Etching the Glass Jars
If you run out of parties and showers to decorate and make gifts for, go here to see how this crafty blog used a glass etching technique to transform the jars into spice containers!

Number Four - Make a Chandelier with Baby Food Jar Globes
Another of my favorites (that I have yet to get around to actually making) is this chandelier decorated with globes that are actually; you guessed it, baby food jars! I can just imagine my husband's eyeballs rolling in his head if I asked him to help me with this one.

Number Five - Make Magnificent Christmas Window Decorations
Being a mom who is never afraid to let her freak flag fly, I made a Christmas tree out of baby food jars to display in our window. I have plans to make either another tree so that I'll have a matching set or stars for the upstairs windows. Here
are the instructions for the tree that helped me use up all the jars that so many of my neighbors and friends left on my steps when you thought I wasn't home.

This one didn't make my list but it's cool all the same.

And last of all of the crafts with baby food jars is this one a space-age looking chair made with LOTS of jars. Not very practical, but cool looking and you use up lots of your stash!

Please feel free to add your own favorites to my list of the
5 BEST Recycling Crafts with Baby Food Jars. Now, let the
baby food jar recycling begin and don't forget to come back and share your pictures!

Cloth Diapering a Newborn

We were all cloth diaper newbies at one time or another although cloth diapering a newborn comes as natural to me these days as brushing my teeth; I've been at it that often and that long. Sigh...many loads of laundry have passed since I took a crash course in cloth diapering 101. In fact, when I had my first baby I had quite a few boxes of disposables in my stash since I was still working full time and had read that using cloth diapers were not going to solve the planet's environmental problems.

Yes, I was all ready to wrap my baby girl's bottom in a disposable diaper until her sensitive skin that was already broken out in (what we believed to be at the time) eczema added diaper rash to the mix. At my wit's end, research convinced me that it would be wiser (and CHEAPER) to diaper with organic cotton.



QUESTIONS ABOUT CLOTH DIAPERING A NEWBORN
As a cloth diapering newbie, I had SO MANY questions about cloth diapers. Here's the short list stuff I wanted and needed to know:

• What kind of cloth diaper should I buy?
• What was the best brand of diaper
• Where could I find deals on cloth diapers to ease the initial investment
• How do you wash baby poop out of cloth diapers? Would I have to swish them in the (GAG) toilet bowl?
• What kind of detergent is best to use when washing cloth diapers?

And I'm sure there were many, many more including a real dumb one; How do you secure the diaper on the baby? Do you still use those old-fashioned safety pins?

Yes, I was perhaps worse than a cloth diapering newbie; I was a cloth diapering IDIOT! You may be curious as to why I knew absolutely nothing about cloth diapering a newbown but you see, I never held a baby until I held my own. There were no babies in my family when I was a kid. The only babies I saw getting their diapers changed were on TV and the cameras tend to not do closeups of the business end of a diaper change so my early education in Cloth Diapering 101 was sketchy at best.

As you might imagine, making the jump from using disposable diapers to a full-on campaign of diapering with cloth was kind of scary. And then came the opinionated in-laws to throw a guilt trip on me.

Their rants covered everything from "Do you know how much all those cloth diapers are going to cost?" and "Who's going to wash all those diapers?" to "Are you turning into some kind of a fanatic?".

Their generation apparently believes that disposables are the best invention since sliced bread but what do they know? They are the geniuses that over-dosed us all on antibiotics which is most likely the reason my husband and daughter have MRSA!

So that YOU will not have to go through the torment that I did, I'm going to post a complete series of instructions to show you how to cloth diaper a newborn and share the answers to all of the questions that I had in very beginning. I was thinking of calling the series Cloth Diapering for Dummies but that's kind of insulting. My moms are NOT dummies so I'm calling it Claire's Cloth Diapering a Newborn 101 so stay tuned!

Water Saving Landscaping Ideas

Water is for humans, not the yard especially during droughts! However, by using some of the water saving landscaping ideas on this page you may not have every blade of grass turn brown or lose all of your plants every summer.

One of the best ways to not be tempted to waste water watering your yard and plants in the landscape is to plant drought resistant plants. Learn more aabout xeriscaping, mulch all landscaped beds and plant native species.

To give you an idea of how much of our precious water supply is wasted outdoors; reports estimate that in the United States over half of residential water used is used to maintain landscape and lawns. That's pretty sad for a country that I believe to be one of the greatest on the planet!

One of the ways that we can make that number (and citizens of North America) look better is to religiously engage in xeriscaping. This practice can reduce use of water to maintain landscaping by as much as 50 to 75%.

What is Xeriscaping?

Xeriscaping is the name give to a style of landscaping specifically designed to save water. These methods are nothing new. In fact they have been used for centuries to grow food in areas prone to drought conditions. It finally dawned on some landscape designer that xeriscaping might be something of interest to the modern homeowner.

The benefits are many! Xeriscaping:

• saves water
• saves money
• is low-maintenance

The drawbacks are truly not worthy of consideration but I will give you the main objections of those who hold back. Xeriscaping:

• often involves (what some perceive to be) less attractive plants

There you have it; the only negative is that native plants are not as exciting as plant species that were never meant to be in drought stricken areas to begin with. People should not be planting ferns where cactus grow naturally; get it?


If you landscaped your lawn long before you heard of Xeriscaping, chances are that your bushes and plants are established and no longer require as much watering as they once did. Rather than dig everything up and start over, the next best thing is to mulch like your life depended on it! Don't laugh! Our lives DO depend on having enough fresh water to drink.

If you have any profound water saving landscaping ideas that you would like to share with readers of my green living blog, please drop them in the comments section! We would also appreciate tips on where we might see pictures of areas landscaped using native or drought resistant plants so post the address if you know of any that we should see!
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The Conservation of Water

The subject of the importance of the conservation of water came up recently at a new parents meeting. I wasn’t prepared to field questions about how to conserve water since the meeting was about easy steps for having a green home and a chemical free, organic baby nursery.

But since we are smack dab in the middle of one of the hottest summers on records, with a record number of states suffering through either a full on drought or drought-like conditions I decided that there would be no harm in venturing slightly away from my notes (that had tips on reducing chemical exposure in the family home) to focus on current events. I’m posting some of the FAQs and tips I offered to the audience below.


What is conservation of water?
Water conservation is nothing more than saving water. There are many, may ways of doing so on both a large and small scale. Each and every person can do some small part from not wasting water by leaving the faucet running while you are brushing your teeth to the CEO of major corporations searching for ways to manufacture products with less water.

Why is it important that we conserve water? We have plenty! After all the earth is literally covered in ocean water.
Yeah, we have plenty of salt water, which should be great news for you if you are a fish. What we don’t have enough of is unpolluted, fresh water suitable for drinking by humans and we especially have very limited water resources during record heat waves.

Here are 5 easy ways to save water at home.

1. Dish washing techniques with the conservation of water in mind.

If you have a dishwasher fire it up and use it! The automatic dishwasher uses less water than washing dishes by hand. To be sure that you don’t counteract your savings, don’t use the extended, pot scrubber cycle unless it is necessary and do not pre-rinse.
If you hand wash, do NOT rinse the soap off each dish. As you wash, load each dish in a wire, in sink rack and use your sprayer or a pitcher of water to rinse them all at one time.


2. During a heat wave, it’s inadvisable to wash your car at all. Wash the windshield if you must, but let washing the body of the car wait until the water shortage is over. Even then, it’s best to use an automatic car wash over washing with a hose in your driveway. If you prefer the old-school method, install a sprayer on the end of your water hose that will shut off the flow of water when you don’t need it.



3. Getting clean without wasting water is so easy, just take shorter showers or keep the water level in your bathtub low. Showers feel so darn good it’s easy to fall into a habit of enjoying the spray for much longer than we should. To be sure you don’t stay too long in the stall, set an egg timer and step out when it dings. If you want to be really fancy, buy a special timer that sticks to the wall of your shower.
To give you an idea of how shaving those minutes off the length of your shower time pays off; consider that anywhere from 20-40 gallons of fresh water goes down the drain every 5 minutes. OUCH! When I think of how much water I’ve wasted, I feel so ashamed!


4. Water is for humanity not your yard.

I, personally, have a problem with people who water their yards any time much less when the conservation of water is so important. What’s more important, that we have water to drink or that they have a lawn like a golf course (chemicals and all but that’s another article).

5. Cover your swimming pool when you aren’t swimming in it!

Who knew that swimming pool cover was good for more than just keeping leaves and your neighbor’s Labrador out of the pool? Your pool cover keeps you from having to add water to your pool that was lost to evaporation. During times of low humidity or windy conditions, pop the pool cover on top.


Most of the tips for saving water in your home are virtually pain free other than the last one; dragging a pool cover around can be aggravating when you’re ready to go swimming. But even if there is no painless path towards the conservation of water, since we can’t live without it, it’s worthwhile to do what we can to be sure that there’s always a drink of water ready and waiting when we open the tap.

Teaching Kids About Green Living

The first steps in teaching kids about green living and an eco-friendly lifestyle begins by getting them involved in household recycling. Telling children about recycling and actually letting them be active and see the benefits are two completely different things! You can talk till your blue about how vegetable peels and eggshells turn into black gold in the compost pile but when you take the time to walk them through the process from start to finish, chances are that you've just created a recycler for life!

Even a toddler can do a little recycling. It makes them feel like such a big, smart kid to know which bin to put the plastic, glass and/or paper items

Why should we start teaching them these practices early? Because if you raise them to automatically do these few small things, then they never have change they way they live and go through a transitional period. In other words, raise them in the way they should go.

Another important part of teaching kids about green living that can start very early in life is the introduction to proper eating. They may not understand exactly what it means when mommy and daddy say "We only eat organic" but learning not to eat sugary junk until we can teach them to identify the signature organic labels on food we buy from the grocery story is a great start.

There will be plenty of time later to fill them in on the facts of how organic foods are free of hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. It's my belief that our children deserve to be fed organics and to have a chemical free, green baby nursery and that this will most likely prevent issues down the road such as cancers and immediate problems like rashes and breathing problems.

After you have recycling and diet under control, it's time to talk about pollutants and harmful chemicals and how they much harm they can cause especially to small children and babies. Kids need to know that pesticides are poisons and they don't just harm bugs!

They should also know why we buy and use non-toxic cleaning products, cosmetics and personal care products like shampoos and soaps. It's up to us to be ever mindful of the ingredients that manufacturers sneak into the items that we bring into our homes. Why would these companies want to do this? Well, often it's about money and being more effective than Brand B. Often products that are the most natural, organic and animal cruelty-free cost a penny or two more to manufacture and caustic chemicals take less time to clean the oven. OK? The good news is that you can make many of the most effective natural cleaning products yourself from common baking soda, salt, lemon juice and vinegar!

Those are just a few steps to take in teaching kids about green living, the importance of maintaining a green home and and living an eco-friendly lifestyle. If we start them out early, we will have done our part to launch a new generation with respect for the environment.

HOW to CLEAN the WASHER with VINEGAR

Guess what, we have to know how to clean the washer and dryer! Soapscum, limescale and lint are the enemy in the laundry area. I'm not ashamed to admit this came as a complete surprise to me. When we got our first home, we got all new appliances. They were so shiny and clean that I happily washed and dried many loads of laundry without ever so much as knocking the dust off the tops.


About a year passed before my husband finally got around to replacing the lightbulb in the laundry room (hey, don't judge him he had been sick!) casting light on lots of lint, dust and dirt that the dim light had camouflaged. The build up that had been taking place right before my eyes was shocking. I was appalled at how dusty, dirty and lint-y my beautiful machines had become. The guilt that I felt was more than you could imagine in light of my children's breathing problems.

After a moment of much-deserved self recrimination I set out to learn how to clean the washer and dryer, FAST! I'm not a lazy housewife (well, actually maybe a little lazy but my kids' asthma keeps me going) but my dusting, mopping and disinfecting routine had completely bypassed the laundry area. Well, that has now changed and I have become a pro at learning how to clean the washing machine drum, filter and all without using chemicals!


How to clean the washing machine with with vinegar:

Some household cleaning tips informed me that I should learn how to clean my washer with bleach but that went against my campaign for using only green household cleaning products. I try to use only non-toxic and environmentally friendly home cleaning solutions. I went in search of a cleaner to use besides household bleach and learned that my old friend, vinegar, would do the trick. Vinegar does a fine job of removing soap scum, limescale and just plain old dirt that floats to the top of the tub and sticks when combined with hot water and doesn't leave a bunch of nasty chemicals floating in the air of my green home. Some people claim that you can learn how to clean the washing machine with baking soda, but I haven't tried that method yet. If you know how to clean your washer with baking soda, please direct me to the instructions so I can give it a try.

1. Adjust the settings for a wash with HOT water. While the tub is filling add about a gallon of vinegar. You may be able to use less and get the job done but I was dealing with a significant amount of build up.


2. I let the washing machine run through the super cycle so that the acidic cleaning solution would have plenty of time to do its work.


•3 After the wash cycle was finished I took a wash cloth and wiped out the inside of the tub just so I could see if my green household cleaner had worked. And other than some crud around the top of the tub, everything looked great!

HOW TO CLEAN THE WASHING MACHINE EXTERIOR

Learning how to clean the washer with vinegar on the inside is just the first step of the cleaning process. I then started at the top and cleaned down the sides, front and back of the washer using one of my homemade cleaning products that I made from a recipe.


HOW TO CLEAN BEHIND THE WASHER and DRYER
Nobody sees it, but it just makes sense to go on and clean behind the washing machine and the dryer while you're at it. If you have a stackable washer and dryer, it's inadvisable to attempt to move it without help but you can use your vacuum cleaner tools to reach behind and beneath the stacked washing machine and dryer to do some good.

If you have the old-fashioned kind (like me), you can move the washer and dryer using casters (available at hardware and discount stores) but do not stretch the hoses attached to the dryer and washing machine too far! If you can't move the appliances far enough without stretching them, disconnect them. This is also a good time to inspect your washing machine hoses for cracks and bulges which indicates they need to be replaced.

While your appliances are out of the way, clean not only the floors but the lint from behind the dryer, the inside of the dryer hose and the dryer vent using your vacuum cleaner tools and brushes that will reach into the cracks. After you have removed as much as you can by brushing and vacuuming, wipe everything down with a clean cloth.

I wish I could tell you that you don't have to do this again for a very long time, but the truth is that the soapscum, lint and gunk with start to accumulate once again with the very next load of laundry that you run. Regular maintenance helps, but I can see that this process will have to be repeated at my house every six months or so.

GREEN NURSERY IDEAS

These green nursery ideas are affordable and will give even low income families some tips on how to reduce their baby's exposure to toxic chemicals that tend to sneak inside our homes when we aren't looking. If there is one piece of information that I want you to get from this article it’s that when it comes to baby's room, green is always better in all your purchasing decisions.

ARE GREEN NURSERY IDEAS TOO EXPENSIVE?

It's true that some designer brands are playing the eco-friendly card in order to market their brand. However, there are many conscientious manufacturers that are working towards providing the average consumer with baby safe products available at your local discount store. Your responsibility is to refuse to buy items made from questionable materials.


PAINTING THE BABY’S NURSERY GREEN
Just so you know, while I love nurseries that have a green color scheme; what we are talking about here is eliminating dangerous toxins in your baby’s environment by using "Zero VOC" paints that have no volatile organic compounds. If you live in an older home please check to be sure that your baby will not be exposed to lead based paint that was used before this nasty stuff was taken off the market.


THE BEST NURSERY FLOORING

Our home had hardwood flooring when we move the info of course I didn’t replace it. And even though I have fond memories of wall-to-wall carpeting and miss it’s coziness and cushion, we only have small washable area rugs because the flame retardants and petrochemical stain repellents are not something that I would ever want in my house even if my babies didn't suffer from asthma.

SAFE BABY FURNITURE

The only thing that I have against buying cheap baby furniture is that it is often made of pressboard and plywood that may include toxic resins in its construction and cheap nursery furniture made from synthetic materials may compromise the air quality of my baby‘s room by off-gassing. Thankfully, my father is they would work for that builds natural wood furniture from reclaimed wood. For those of you who are not as fortunate I highly recommend giving your local woodworking guild a call to see if there is someone that would be willing to build your furniture to your eco-friendly specifications. I’m also a big fan of looking for stuff to recycle so if you can find good, used solid wood furniture to repaint with baby safe paint, go for it!

SAFE BABY BEDDING

Investing in organic cotton fabric to make your own crib set, buying a set of used organic baby bedding and an organic crib mattress are the best green nursery ideas ever! Your baby will spend most of his or her time snuggled in the crib that you provide and it just makes sense to be sure that there are no questionable chemicals coming from dyes or synthetic fabrics going into your baby’s lungs or being absorbed into your baby’s skin.

SAFE BABY TOYS

I realize that this article is primarily to provide green nursery ideas in terms of painting and decorating but what is a baby’s room without toys? Once I became educated regarding the dangers of BPA plastics, phthalates and other chemicals our kids’ toy box became almost empty. After the scare I decided that I would eliminate plastic toys from our household for awhile and started to make my own baby toys using 0rganic fabrics and my dad came up with some amazing homemade wooden toys that he made from reclaimed wood in his workshop. There are safer plastic toys available now, but if there is one thing that Thomas the tank engine toys , contaminated baby formula and BPA plastics remind us is that we should not let our guard down.

These green nursery ideas should put you on your way to keeping baby safe by improving the air quality in your home and reducing everyone’s exposure to toxic chemicals. Just because the immune systems of adults are stronger than an infant’s doesn‘t mean that chemicals in the home are OK . This is why it is important to check for hidden toxins no matter what the demographics of your home may be.

Our goal should be to ensure that all products that we bring into our home are eco-friendly and have the least amount of chemicals possible.
To achieve these goals we should look for stuff to recycle to reduce household waste, resist the frenzy of consumerism and buy fewer items and ALWAYS watch for organic tags and choose non-toxic products over items that are manufactured using chemicals that we are trying to avoid therefore putting pressure on the companies that want our business to develop more earth friendly merchandise.

USED ERGO BABY CARRIERS

Where can a mom find used Ergo baby carriers for sale? You can cruise Craigslist or Ebay to see what's available OR you can call 888-416-4888 weekdays between 8am and 4pm Hawaiian Standard Time to see what's currently for sale!
You see, I just learned about about a program where moms can buy gently used ERGO Baby carriers and SURPRISE; you can actually buy them from ERGObaby!

According to my contact at ERGObaby, the used Ergobaby carriers are in good to like-new condition and have been returned to the company for a variety of reasons and here is what I was told:


We always check, check and double-check the used carriers for safety, and never re-sell any carrier that shows signs of REAL wear-and-tear, only those requiring cosmetic alterations will be offered for sale.

Perhaps there is a small tear in the corner of the hood pocket that needs to be mended, a buckle needs to be replaced or maybe the mother-to-be got more than one baby carrier as a gift at her baby shower. At other times the color of the fabric may have faded a bit and the owner requested a replacement.


Your readers can find out more about our constantly changing inventory of Gently Used Ergo Baby carriers by calling us at 888-416-4888 weekdays between 8am and 4pm Hawaiian Standard Time. Our stock consists of all models, including our Organic carriers, Sport and Performance carriers and Standard carriers.

We also make donations of a significant number of baby carriers to local and international charities, to midwives, doulas, lending libraries, and organizations supporting babywearing and breastfeeding.


I was already a huge fan of ERGObaby and have been for years because of the quality of their products. But when I read about how the company is recycling used baby items in such a responsible and effective way they REALLY won me over. The discount prices of the carriers are usually between $75 and $105 and are available in a wide range of colors, Organic, Standard, Sport, and Performance designs. You can get more information by calling the number directly.



Oh, and before I forget; if you hurry and get your entry end before January 25, 2011 you might win a FREE Ergo baby carrier!

101 Things to Do with Used Wrapping Paper

Help me to build a list of 101 things to do with used wrapping paper. As I was wadding up a pile of tiny scraps it hit me that there had to be something cool that we can do with pieces of colorful, Christmas gift wrap that is over say two square inches or so?

1. Snip off the damaged areas or those that still have cellophane tape attached and either fold or wrap around a cardboard to use for wrapping gifts next year.


2. Recycle your used wrapping paper and use it to decorate leftover cardboard gift boxes and have them ready for next Christmas. Just pop gifts inside, tape the bottom to the top, add a bow and you're ready.


3. Layer in the blue several large pieces of paper together to make Christmas theme placemats for your holiday table.


4. Make a 60 Second Party Hat by centering a sheet of recycled gift wrapping paper over a ball or upside-down bucket. Press the paper around the upside-down bucket or top half of a small ball shaping the crown of the hat with your hands. Hold the paper in place while your helper wraps large pieces of packing tape around the paper to use as a hat band. When you are done, remove your hat from the form and decorate with silk flowers or even better, paper flowers that you made from even more used wrapping paper.

Awhile back I posted that my goal was to tell even the most reluctant consumer about stuff to recycle that won't take much of your time and effort. I admit that I haven't set the woods on fire but (patting myself on the back here) I have managed to post a few worthwhile tips for recycling stuff like our old tennis shoes and toys with links to organizations that accept these donations. And since lots of kids will be getting new athletic shoes and toys for Christmas, this information should help to keep the old ones from being tossed in the trash to be delivered to the local landfill.


Now, back to our list of 101 things to do with used wrapping paper. Most of us know many ways to use recycled Christmas cards in our crafts projects, but when I checked there aren't many tips on how to reuse old wrapping paper.

Have you found some wonderful way to use up a stash of old gift wrap? I really don't care if you recycle your wrapping paper by lining the cat litter box, to entertain the kids or to create paper mache Santa Claus figurines; please send me your ideas. If you hurry your tip will be the very first on my list of creative ways to recycle wrapping paper!

GREEN T-SHIRTS

Vote for your favorite green t-shirts before tomorrow! If you stopped in looking for a mean, green St. Patrick's Day outfit, these t-shirts may not be your style. However, you are still invited to vote for your favorite to and have your say as to which of the shirts that you would like to see want to see Repower America supporters wear in 2011. They have narrowed the designs down to two choices.

While you are on their website, casting your vote, I would encourage you to sign up whether you are concerned about extreme climate changes, want to reduce your power bill or because you want to save the planet for future generations. It's crucial that all come together as soon as possible because the fossil fuel industry becoming bolder than ever and we must show that we are a united force that is standing strong for what is true and right.

WHAT IS TRUE?

The truth is actually very encouraging since the movement is going forward and already showing results. Electric utility companies and other corporations are reducing their emissions, we see more and more windmills and solar panels popping up from coast to coast and more auto shoppers are checking out the fuel-efficient vehicles over those big, ugly gas guzzlers.

Although momentum is building, there is a need for more supporters in order to get the message across loud and clear that we, the people, will not be denied a future with clean energy moving us forward.


GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS

Repower America is rolling out a new, GREEN T-shirt designed exclusively for Repower America members and they need our votes to help pick the best one.

Please visit HERE AND vote for your favorite design by Tuesday at midnight.

And remember the solution for environmental problems is in your hands. NOW GO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SHIRT!

HOW TO RECYCLE YOUR SHOES

You really need to learn how to recycle your shoes if you're sitting crosslegged on the bed looking at this blog on your laptop and when you're done you have to kick your old tennis shoes out of the way to get to the kitchen or the bathroom. There are better ways of recycling those old shoes than using them (in their current form) as a lumpy area rug on your bedroom floor.

SHOE RECYCLING PROGRAMS

A remote location is no excuse for harboring a closet full of athletic shoes, dress shoes, baby shoes or any other kind of shoes for that matter since there are recycling programs for shoes all over the planet; I counted 11 in the good old United States on one page and others Peru, the UK and even a couple in Peru and New South Wales..how cool is that? You can read up on each program's mission to see that your old skids will be given a new life according to your wishes.

SHOE DONATION CHARITIES

Organizations like Souls4Souls (www.soles4souls.org/), Up and Running [www.upandrunning.co.uk], Recycled Runners [www.recycledrunners.com.au], or Eco-Cycle [www.ecocycle.org] are all excellent places to donate those shoes...BUT...if you aren't close enough to one of the recycling programs to drop them off on your way to work, don't ship those shoes! To donate your shoes locally a better "green" way to go since your method of delivery may have a smaller carbon footprint since you can walk over to the neighborhood church and give your shoes to their clothes closet. Volunteers at the church will deliver them to needy children who will be tickled to get new (to them) shoes that fit and keep their feet warm and dry.

What did you say? Your church doesn't have such a program to provide clothes and/or shoes to the needy? Well, why don't you hike your butt down there and devise a plan of action to remedy that and have the honor of making the first donation? You not only learn how to recycle your shoes, but teach others the finer points of charity while you're at it!


CHOP SHOPS FOR SHOES

You know how old cars that land in salvage yards get stripped for their usable parts before being shipped to metal recycling facilities? You can now do the same thing with your old shoes since there are parts that can be recycled assuming that they are no longer any good whole, of course.

The rubber of their soles can actually be recycled into a variety of products, the most common being flooring in athletic facilities where concrete and tile floors wreak havoc on athletes. The best known of these programs is the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program, based in Wilsonville, Oregon. The Nike Reuse a Shoe program takes the donated shoes and grinds them down to recycle the rubber into flooring for indoor basketball courts, running tracks and tennis courts. Here's how to recycle your shoes using Nike's shoe recycling program. Just take as many as 10 pairs of your old athletic shoes to your local Nike store or your local recycling center.

Now that you know how to recycle your shoes, I know that you will want to take things to the next level and maybe start your own group shoe drive. However, I just read that they are currently not accepting any shoe drive applications, but that could change any day so visit the Nike shoe recycling website to get the current status if this is something that you would like to do.

Natural Ways to Keep From Catching a Cold

You know that antibiotics don't cure colds, right? Well, did you know there are natural ways to keep from catching a cold? It's true that the occasional virus might slip through all safety measures, but it's certainly within our power to reduce the number of times that we are laid low by the common cold. And no I'm not a doctor and if you are sick or need medical advice, you should probably call one. Now, onto my practical tips that (in my humble opinion) have helped me to keep myself and my family from getting sick so often.

HANDWASHING is perhaps the most important and well publicized means of avoiding illnesses of all kinds.


KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM YOUR FACE! My mom is a stickler about not touching our faces (nose, eyes, mouths) with our hands. She says that when she was a kid they actually had a place on their report cards where they were graded on keeping their hands away from their faces! Since this is a favorite way for germs and viruses to enter our bodies, we probably should start teaching this rule to school children again!

DRINK A HOT BEVERAGE! I read where it's a good idea to drink a cup of something like tea as hot as you can stand it at least once a day to clean out the cooties from the back of your throat. It makes sense to me, so my kids all get a cup of hot green tea a day.

GARGLE WITH SALT WATER Another way to keep those germs to the curb that lurk in the back of our throats is to gargle with very warm salt water.

SWAB OUT THOSE NOSTRILS! Soak a Q-tip with salt water and swab out your nostrils once a day.

SKIP THE SUGARY SNACKS AND YES...EVEN JUICE! Sugar is not good for the immune system. Even a glass of orange juice has a negative effect on its germ fighting capabilities. Cold and flu season is especially not a good time to load up on cookies, candy and other bad carbohydrates for this reason.

VITAMINS Eat vitamin packed meals to give your body the weapons it needs to fight its way to good health should one of the nasty viruses break through our line of defense. If you don't get out in the sun, pay special attention that you are getting enough Vitamin D.

Those are my favorite, natural ways to keep from catching a cold. If I skipped any, would you please be so kind as to drop a comment and tell me your favorite ways to avoid catching a cold or flu?

HOW TO MAKE GREEN BEAN BUNDLES

While the turkey's in the oven I wanted to tell you how to make green bean bundles the quick and EASY way! My husband and kids like this dish so much better than my green bean casserole that has cream of mushroom soup and Durkee's onions on top and say it's the best Christmas and Thanksgiving recipe ever...other than the cakes, pies, candy and other sweets, of course!

INGREDIENTS

2 cans of whole green beans (NOT STORE BRAND! IN MY EXPERIENCE, THE STORE BRAND HAS TOO MANY SHORT BEANS WHICH MAKES THEM VERY DIFFICULT TO BUNDLE)

1 pound of cheap but still good tasting bacon (TOP QUALITY BACON IS TOO THICK AND INFLEXIBLE MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO WRAP THE GREEN BEAN BUNDLES)

1/2 cup of chopped onion (optional)

3/4 cup of your favorite Italian salad dressing


INSTRUCTIONS - HOW TO MAKE GREEN BEAN BUNDLES THE QUICK AND EASY WAY!

Open both cans of beans, drain them, pour them into a bowl and set aside.

Remove the bacon from the package as a solid block. DO NOT SEPARATE THE PIECES YET! Cut the rectangle of bacon slices in half making each slice now about 4 or 5 inches long.

NOW..peel off one slice of bacon and lie it across the cupped, palm of your hand. Pick up a wad of green beans from the bowl (that makes a bundle about 1 1/2 inches across) and lie it across the slice of bacon in the palm of your hand.

Quickly pull one end of the slice of bacon over the top of the beans diagonally tucking the end underneath the green beans and then repeat with the other end of the slice of bacon thus forming the VOILA!!! bundle of green beans. Carefully place the bundle in a shallow, oven safe baking dish about 8X11 inches or thereabouts. You should put them in a dish that's attractive enough to put on the table is preferred since you won't want to be transferring the bundles from one dish to another after they are baked.

After you are done, drizzle the bundles with salad dressing taking care that the beans are seasoned. I like to make this a day ahead so that the beans and bacon marinate in the salad dressing but it is not essential.

Bake the dish of green bean bundles, uncovered, in an oven that has been preheated to 350° F for 10-15 minutes or until you can see things start to bubble a little and then turn on the broiler and broil them 4 or 5 inches from the heat for a couple of minutes or until bacon looks browned. Do NOT walk away from the oven during this step or you may be serving blackened beans and take it from me that nobody's going to buy your story that you were experimenting with the Cajun version.

That's my quick recipe for this dish. If I have time later, I'll write some instructions on how to make green bean bundles using fresh green beans rather than canned beans. If I don't get around to it, please don't sweat it because the only benefit to using fresh beans is that you can trim them in uniform lengths which I have to admit does make a lovely presentation. But when time is of the essence, this recipe works just fine and I have NEVER had anyone complain.

Sweet Potatoes and Peaches

One of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes is a Sweet Potatoes and Peaches casserole that I adapted from a Southern Living recipe that was clipped from the magazine way back in 1979.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons of room temperature butter or oLeo
2 pounds of either softened or canned sweet potatoes (yams) drained
1 16 ounce can of sliced peaches drained
1 1/2 cups of miniature marshmallows

INSTRUCTIONS

In a medium-size bowl combine the brown sugar, all-purpose flour and nutmeg. With a pastry cutter cut in your softened margarine or butter until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the pecans and set aside.

In a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish arrange the sweet potatoes and peaches in a single layer alternating them in for the best presentation. After the sweet potatoes and peaches are in place, sprinkle them with the flour and sugar mix.

Bake covered with foil or a lid at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until slightly bubbly but do not allow to boil dry. Remove the casserole from the oven and sprinkle the peaches and yams with marshmallows. Return the dish uncovered to broil until the marshmallows are light brown.


This is an easy recipe that even beginner can manage unlike the candied sweet potato recipe and my southern sweet potato pie recipe that I shared earlier.

The biggest drawback to this sweet potato recipe is that I don't keep all of the ingredients on hand all the time especially not the nuts because of my girls' allergies.

So, if I don't plan ahead to buy pecans, marshmallows, brown sugar, and canned peaches and make sure that I add them to my grocery list ahead of time, this casserole just gets skipped. And what a shame that is, because the sweet potato peach casserole really adds a lot to any holiday menu. It looks good and even though old-fashioned, southern recipes that are covered in browned, melted marshmallows are made fun and the butt of many a joke; this sweet potato and peaches recipe is downright delicious!