Going Green Makes Me Blue

Let me just tell all of you that going green ain't easy. We do a bit to prevent Lyla from suffering the toxic effects of plastic, cotton, and bleach, but geez, when I started really trying to make a switch, it is daunting, and frightening. I bought this book called Organic Baby: Simple Steps for Healthy Living, and let me tell you it's worse than watching Dead Ringers (one of three movies that ever gave me nightmares; the other two are The Shining and that freak Lisa Bonet/Micky Rourke movie Angel Heart).

The book outlines all of the toxins in our every day baby necessities like diapers, wipes, toys, and even rugs. I always think twice about the gross plastic excersaucer living in my basement, and the waste of having three bouncer/rockers (at least I gave them away after Lyla was donezo--which the book says to do if you must partake in the poison that is plastic), but across the board it looks like grim! About the only thing simply broken down about any of her toys is their primary colors. So, Lyla goes on sucking away and the impossibly landfill-destined toys, is diapered daily by chlorine bleach dyed, and petroleum-heavy products, and sleeps on an off-gassing toxic mattress every night (we have since ordered an organic mattress).

Now, a word about the diapers. We are big fans of Seventh Generation products, and have tried their chlorine-free diapers, but they fit like a pair of True Religions. They are so low-slung, and barely absorbent. In fact, I think they are made of brown napkins. Then I bought gDiapers, which are biodegradable and compost(able). The first day I had to tell our nanny Jess that she would have to put an outer shell/panty on with an insert of the actual diaper into the nylon inner pocket. Then, when full, she would have to take the diaper apart in pieces, and feed it one piece at a time with a poker (provided courtesy of gDiaper)into our low flow toilet. Needless to say the toilet clogged the very first day, and I wasn't about to ask her to bury it in the backyard. So, we're back on Pampers, but I might try the g's this weekend again just to take a crack at it. If Julia Robert's (staff) can handle them, so can I. And since Oprah loves Julia Roberts, the whole world should use these, since everyone does what Oprah says. I actually think that the gDiaper manual is on her book club list.

Even onesies are cotton which is bleached with harsh chemicals unless they are made of organic cotton, which I try to get as much as possible, but they're certainly not at Janie and Jack my favorite haunt. They know me as Mrs. Walter there. Sad.

Curtains, those crunchy ends of toys that kids love, every plush toy: made of polyester, worst offender.

Oh, your upholstered chairs, same fibers as your death mattresses.

New furniture, hardwood floors? Coated with harmful varnishes. This is the one time having antique furniture has helped us! Now all we have to worry about is the splinters and lead paint it emits. Ha.

The list goes on...and as I made mine, it was pretty long in the catastrophic categories of my delightful new book. Hooray green...

Points Against Us
1. Anything plugged in her room (humidifier, baby monitor, iPod player)
2. More plush toys made of polyester than you can think of
3. Exersaucer, play mat, dinosaur with plastic balls, high chair
4. Disposable diapers
5. Dr. Boudreax's, Johnson&Johnson shampoo, Mustele Barrier Cream all contain phthalates (cut out lotions and never used powder)Didn't know this at first, so they are now bannedHowever, I blame all of those reading this blog for giving me these items at my shower! Damn you mothers!
6. Diaper Genie-Need I say More?
7. 80% of her clothes are not organic
8. 50% of her sheets are not organic
9. For the first three months we used Pampers Diaper wipes
10. All paint in the house has VOC (Ralph and Martha didn't get the memo from Al Gore yet)

Points For Us
1.Curtains made of bamboo or linen (renewable fabrics)
2.Everything Lyla eats is organic/50% is homemade
3.Aquafor is what I slather on her sensitive bottom 90% of the time
4.50% of her toys are wood, or organic cotton...and we try to limit the number of toys (as my book says, live simply)
5.The rug she sits and plays on every day is flokati (sustainable, animal and environment friendly product)
6.BPA-free bottles, sippy cups, and bowls
7.Organic wipes, detergent, (now) shampoos,and maybe we'll give the g's another go
8.Awareness

Ok, #8 is weak, but I try! So, our minuses outweigh the plusses I can think of, but we're working on it. Geez.