To further my quest to be consciously aware, I decided to look into what kind of products I could purchase that not only serve as toys for Avin, but also as a lesson he can learn later on in life about living consciously. I don’t want him to grow up and take what he has for granted, and I also want him to understand that there are many people in this world who have much less than he does. I want him to know that there may not be much we can do to change what happens in this world, but that shouldn’t be a reason for us to do nothing at all. Sometimes the little things, like showing support and being aware, can make a big difference in the long run, and that’s why I chose to buy this product.

If you read my previous post about Going Green With Your Baby you may remember this awesome little leopard I mentioned. I initially decided to purchase this product because it was made from sustainable materials and I’m always a sucker for going green. It wasn’t until I actually received him in the mail when I realized there was more to it than that. The story behind this little guy made me appreciate him way more than I would if he was purchased at a department store, regardless of price.

He came from an organization called Kenana Knitter Critters, whose primary object is to help rural women find some much needed form of income utilising their spinning and knitting skills, in Kenya. Here is some info from their website which can explain much better than I can.

Njoro is mainly a farming area - agricultural work for the men is easier to come by than for the women-folk, yet agricultural wages are insufficient to support large and extended families. This group generates two forms of income, buying the wool, then creating more work by turning the wool into a marketable product. The money goes direct into the hands of the women who are thus able to improve the quality of their lives.

Kenana Knitters group enables its workers to directly benefit from their efforts. Knitting is ideal. it requires minimal equipment, can be done in snatches when time permits. When the rains come and the family crops and vegetables need tending not much knitting gets done, but in times of drought and crop failure, when the family garden is bare of supplementary vegetables, money can now be earned to purchase the necessities of life.

You can read more about this organization at their website here.

The person who created this particular product even signed her name on the tag, how cool is that! It’s one of a kind.

I purchased the product for $24.00 from Branch, an online store that sells a lot of cool sustainable products. Some may say that’s a hefty price to pay when you could easily get something similar for half the price from Wal-Mart or Target. This is true. However, knowing that I can make even the smallest difference by helping someone who really needs it and get an awesome toy for my son means way more than the price I paid. Wal-Mart doesn’t need my money, nor does Target, but Josphine does. And that is why I pay $24 for a stuffed sustainable standing leopard for my son.

Today the UPS guy graced us with his presence holding a package containing graphics we ordered from Blik! The graphics were exactly what we were was looking for and a more unique than going with the traditional framed wall decor, or cutesy wallpaper. Of course, cutesy wallpaper isn’t a bad thing, we were just looking for something a little different.  The cost for these graphics were around $60, and well worth the price. They covered a lot of wall space and gave the entire room a calm and moving feel of nature, and I’ve always loved the idea of bringing nature into your home. However, bringing in actual branches would be pretty complicated, so we did the next best thing, vinyl tree branches! Before I found out about Blik I had envisioned myself painting the branches on myself, and thankfully I didn’t have to spend any time painting on the walls with these. I did this alone so the whole ordeal took me a little more than an hour to finish, and the only hard part was keeping the bigger pieces from folding and sticking to each other when you are placing it on the wall. A second pair of hands would have made it easier to apply, but it still was still pretty easy without. I plan on getting some more graphics from Blik for my office, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking to spice up their wall with something unique.

Enjoy the pics, and check out the gallery for more!

Almost complete, is actually more like it. We still have a shelf to put on the wall, and a rocker chair which is coming from Adrienne’s mother. After those items are completed, then I believe the stage 1 (furtniture) of our nesting phase will be over. Phase 2 involves decorative aspects of the nursery, and phase 3 would be finalizing with smaller details, and making sure everything is 100% ready for a baby.

This nursery set comes from Ikea. We pretty much loved this set since the first time we saw it. We decided to finally go with it when we realized every other nursery set we liked was almost twice the price and half the pieces of the one we bought. The entire set cost us around $750, and only took us a few hours to put together and set up. We also had the help of Adrienne’s parents to help make the process go even quicker. They also helped us bring home the furniture since none of this stuff would have fit in either of our cars.

The entire set includes a crib, dresser/changing table combo, an armoire, and a storage shelf. Not a bad deal at all! The crib also converts into a toddler bed, and the changing table detaches from the top of the dresser which can be used as he gets older as well.

The crib bedding, believe it or not, came from Wal-mart! I had a certain feel for the nursery I wanted, which included a natural/modernish looking bedding, with light greens, browns, and natural looking colors. I had found exactly what I wanted, the problem was that the bedding I found would cost a stupid ridiculous amount of money, and definitely not worth it. I never found another set I liked and decided to leave the choice up to Adrienne. And she delivered! (suprisingly… just kidding!) At first I wasn’t to sure about the brighter constrast, but I think it works just fine, and there’s nothing wrong with a little color. Adrienne’s mother was also nice enough to get the bedding for us as a gift!  We love gifts!

Hayden seems to love the new nursery set as well. Our cats believe all this incredible stuff is all for them. Oh, they are in for a huge surprise!

 That’s all for stage 1 of the nesting phase. Stay tuned for phase 2 when we add some decorative aspects, and check the gallery for more pictures!

… is ridiculously hard. Seriously. It’s just a car seat I know, but still, it’s hard. If I’m buying something for myself, or my wife, I usually have no trouble trusting my intuition and just picking something out. Unfortunately, when it comes to my son I can’t seem to make up my mind until I’ve completely weighed and analyzed every variable known to man. When it comes to car seats, there is just way too much information to look at, and even more to think about. In the end I don’t want to end up settling for one simply because it’s there, and the price is right. So this doesn’t happen, I’ve narrowed down my choices based on the car seat information I’ve found online.

I Googled “child car seat buying guide” and sure enough, Google gave me a wonderful link to AAP Car Safety Seats: A Guide For Families 2008. There was a lot of valuable information about the types of car seats available and also some tips to remember for each of them. It was a good referesher for the very little car seat knowledge I already obtained.

We had initially decided that we were going to get a convertible type seat, since it saves money in the long run by not having to buy another seat as your child grows. I like that idea. However, I don’t like how these types of seats do not come with carrying handles or a separate base. I just think it would be more convenient not having to take the baby out of the seat and into a stroller or sling/carrier for shorter stops, when I can just detach the seat and take it with me.

On the AAP website was also a link to the Office of Defects Investigation, which lists previous recalls for various child car seats. What I found was that almost every manufacturer we were considering had a recall or two with past seat models. One manufacturer had a recall for every model in every year since 2001. From screws which loosen and become choking hazards, to children getting their fingers stuck in the different parts of the seats, it’s all a little unnerving.

The last site I looked over was the Child Passenger Safety: Ease-of-Use Ratings on the NHTSA website. This website rates various manufacturers and models by 1-5 stars in categories such as: securing the child, installation features, and overall ease of use. All great information to look at before making a decision.

Based on all the information gathered above, I narrowed it down to these choices of seats. These companies seem to have the least recalls in the last 5 years and have the best ease of use ratings overall.

Evenflo Triumph Advance LX Convertible Car Seat - Barley Twist - $129.99
What I liked about this one was the adjustable shoulder height as well as the ability to tighten and loosen the harness with 2 lockable cranks on each side of the chair.

I don’t like the price.

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Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat - Hemmingway - $79.99

I liked how ridiculously comfortable this seat felt, and the ergonomic handle was pretty nice and makes for some easy carrying. The price isn’t too bad considering some of the others.

However, I don’t like Hemmingway.

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Graco Comfort Sport Car Seat - Metropolitan - $119.99

This seat has a ton of features: Lift-Up Lever Adjustment, Recline Level Indicator, Up-Front Adjustment, and some cupholders on both sides! It also matches the interior of my car quite nicely.

The price is still pretty high, and this seat didn’t look like it would be an easy transport from car to car.

There are a few others like Britax we were considering, but of course we won’t make a decision until we actually walk in and buy one.

I would love to hear some recommendations on what car seats other parents used, or are currently using. What are the pros and cons? Ease of use? Someone help us out here!

With Avin being about 4-5 months away, we are starting to get more and more of the essential type things ready for him. Things like diapers, bottles, clothes, etc. so I started thinking about the possibility of buying Green products for our baby, and if it was even worth it. I’ve always been an idealist my entire life, and being able to do things that take little effort that pay off big in the long wrong seem like a win win situation for anyone. I decided to do some googling about going green with your baby and found some fantastic information from Treehugger, and their guide on How to Green Your Baby. If you want the whole package, check out their guide, if you want a simple summarized version of the info I found, than keep reading.

Why go Green?
The Go Green Initiative can answer this one for me:

The world has a fixed amount of natural resources - some of which are already depleted. So as population growth greatly strains our finite resources, there are fewer resources available. If we intend to leave our children and grandchildren with the same standard of living we have enjoyed, we must preserve the foundation of that standard of living. We save for college educations, orthodontia, and weddings, but what about saving clean air, water, fuel sources and soil for future generations?

Seems pretty obvious to me, save your resources so the generations after us will be able to live with them as well. What’s better for the environment makes it better for humanity as a whole. Having this mentality also teaches a wonderful lesson to your children. It teaches them how to look at the big picture, and how to make decisions based on what’s best for everyone, and not just for themselves. This is something that I learned at a young age, and something I hope my son will learn as well.

Some info you may or may not know….

• For every ton of paper that is recycled, the following is saved: 7,000 gallons of water; 380 gallons of oil; and enough electricity to power an average house for six months.
• You can run a TV for six hours on the amount of electricity that is saved by recycling one aluminum can.
• By recycling just one glass bottle, you save enough electricity to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

(from the Go Green Initiative)

Here are some tips on how to start Greening your baby:

1. Diapers - The average baby uses approx 6,000 diapers before potty training. Babies in the U.S. uses approximately 49 million diapers a day. Babies use a crazy amount of diapers, we all know that. While disposable diapers may be cheaper in some places, and easy to obtain, they still pose a problem for the environment. According to the numbers, petroleum-based disposable diapers take between 200 and 500 years to decompose. Finding an alternative to the disposable diaper is definitely something to consider.

So what are the alternatives?

Cloth - a.k.a. kickin’ it old school. An obvious reason to use cloth diapers is that because they are reusable, you save a lot of money in the long wrong by not having to buy a ton of diapers. A drawback to this is that even though you don’t have to buy new diapers, you are still spending money, time, and energy by having to wash them.

One study has found that home-washing cloth diapers has only 53% of the ecological footprint of disposables, and if you use a diaper laundering service that impact is halved again. (Treehugger)

Even though the days of cloth diapers are long in the past, there are still new types of reusable diapers that are worth considering. Some companies have created eco-friendly cloth diapers which are made of hemp, bamboo, and organic cotton. Some of these diapers also give you the option of using removable flushable liners. By using a laundry service, or an energy efficient machine at lower temps, reusable cloth diapers may be a great alternative to the disposable.

Where to buy and how much?

Better For Babies - This website sells Organic Cotton Diapers for $19.95 and come in a variety of colors such as White, Willow Green, Sunny Orange, and Elemental Blue. They come in many sizes and types of closures. They also sell Organic Hemp Fitted Diapers that range from $15.95 to $17.95 and also come in a variety of colors.

Want to know more about cloth diapers? Check these out:

Cloth Diapering Basics - http://www.betterforbabies.com/clothdiaperingbasics.html
Why Cloth Diapers? - http://www.betterforbabies.com/cloth_diapers_vs_disposable.html
DIY Oz Cloth Nappies - http://www.ozclothnappies.org/links.html#knitting

Biodegradable Diapers - These types of diapers are made with plant based plastics, also known as bioplastics. They are derived from plant sources such as hemp oil, soy bean oil, and corn starch rather than petroleum which disposable diapers are made from.

While these have been found not to break down under landfill conditions, there are other options to compost them such as using a composting toilet, an earthworm system, or a highly active and properly conditioned composting area. Hybrid diapers, like gDiapers, have removable inserts that can safely biodegrade when flushed. (Treehugger)

These diapers are designed to break down quickly after they are disposed of, and is usually made without chemicals from postconsumer material. They are designed to be comfortable, ecologically sound, and easy to use. These biodegradable diapers can be used in composting and vermicomposting, where they can break down quicker than they would in a landfill. And although these composts wouldn’t be suitable for most plants, they can be used for flowers and other decorative plants. Check with your local utility company to see if your local garbage collection includes composting, where you can discard these diapers.

Where to buy and how much?

gDiapers - gDiapers sells biodegradable flushables for $14.49 for a 40 pack. These flushable inserts are to be used with their Little g Pants, which can be purchased for $16.99 and are available in a variety of colors. They also have a starter kit for sale which includes 2 Little g Pants and 10 flushables for $26.99, which makes for a great gift for parents to be!

More info on flushables:

Why flushing is good for the planet - http://www.gdiapers.com/flushinggood

2. Clothing - Green baby clothing comes in many different materials including hemp, bamboo, and organic cotton. They are extremely trendy, super soft, and designed oh so beautifully. They are also created without the use of toxic chemicals which is wonderful for sensitive skin, and also last longer through constant washing. The problem however, is that most Green baby clothing is a little more expensive than the traditional cotton clothes. Considering that babies grow incredibly fast, spending a lot of money on clothes that won’t be used for that long isn’t the greatest idea.

Where to buy and how much?

American Apparel - AA sells organic sustainable clothes that range from $8 to $14 in a variety of styles.
Better For Babies - They have a variety of styles and colors of organic cotton and wool clothing.

some others I enjoy:

• Go Goose Go! - http://www.gogoosego.com
• My Conservation Baby - http://www.myconservationbaby.com
• Ferdinand - http://www.ferdinandhomestore.com
• Nina and Tom - http://www.ninaandtom.com
• Bamboosa - http://www.bamboosa.com
• WonderToast - http://www.wondertoast.com
• Irie Star - http://www.iriestar.com

3. Other Green Stuff

Food - I don’t really need to go into eating healthy organic food. You find these products everywhere because it’s all the craze. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then check out your local Target or Whole Foods Store.

Toys - It really isn’t necessary to get into why we should or shouldn’t buy Green toys. Toys are toys. They are fun regardless. However, with the abundance of toy recalls in the past year because of lead, maybe going Green is the better option. They also seem to appeal to me and most of them are designed and marketed so beautifully, it’s no wonder why I’m attracted to them. Check out some of these examples.

Where to buy and how much?

Branch: Sustainable Design for Living - I would probably spend way to much on this site if I could. I especially like the Standing Leopard, which is made out of natural wool yarn, treated with natural vegetable-based dyes, and costs only $24.00.

Our Green House - This website has a variety of natural toys that range from dolls to puzzles to natural crafts.

Clean Green - Cleaning products are a necessity in any family. More so when you have a baby in the house. Buying Green cleaning products can help you not only have a clean house, but a toxic chemical free house as well. Check out this guide on Treehugger, How to Green Your Cleaning.

Need more Green? Check out these links:

Treehugger
Go Green Initiative
Great Green Baby

In conclusion, I think the whole Green revolution is great. It’s a needed step towards progressing society into sustainable living. We do so much that’s destructive to our environment and it’s great to see a growing trend on making sure we don’t do any more damage than we have to. So, are we going to go Green with our baby? We’re definitely going to try. It will take a lot more work, and maybe even a little extra money. You have to ask yourself if spending that extra dollar, and taking the extra time is worth the trouble of going Green. As I always say, the truth is in the middle. We want to save money and make things easier on the family, but we also want to save our environment, so meeting somewhere in the middle is what we’re going to try and do. As time goes by, society will start to accept Green products as the norm, which in turn makes the products cheaper, and more accessible for everyone. Sooner than later I hope.

 I finally took some more pictures of Avin’s awesome duds, and i’d like to thank our family and friends who got him some of this awesome stuff.

A special thanks for Jeff and Kaylin, the cats love their new bed!

 Baby Mocs to match dad’s!

Hot Panda Collection 

Project Red from Gap, a gift from Aunt May and Uncle Dave!

Avin had his first, well technically his first christmas, considering he got more presents than we did. Little guy gets to sit inside a liquid sack all day, take his mom’s food, and have presents waiting for him when he gets out. It’s perfect! With all the supportive family and friends we have, I think Avin will be well taken care of. Which is awesome. And I hope he never takes that for granted.

I haven’t completely photographed the entirety of Avin’s stuff, but here is a sneak peak at  how trendy our baby will end up.  And by trendy,  I mean just perfect. Here is the first batch of photos. More to come soon.