Green Parent Chicago™

My Toxic Baby screening: The Green Mama Hosts a Movie Night

Green Parent Chicago is pleased to co-sponsor with The Green Mama and friends, the upcoming May 14 screening of "My Toxic Baby" by Min Sook Lee.

Filmmaker Lee describes the documentary as a personal essay that examines her search as a new mom for "safe, sane and affordable ways" to raise her child in a world "embedded with toxic threats."

Appetizers will be provided by Bleeding Heart Bakery, Gourmet Gorilla and Great Taste Café. Babysitting will be provided by Little Green Tree House at $10 per child for those who reserve a spot ahead of time. Space is limited. 

Where: Flourish Studios 3020 N. Lincoln

When: Friday, May 14th, 6 p.m.to 8 p.m.

Cost: Free* but space is limited.

RSVP is required. Email info [at] thegreenmama [dot] com or call 773.299.8502

http://www.thegreenmama.com/events/movie

Ask the Green Mama: Finding a Truly Green Printer

Dear Green Mama: I am interested in being more green at work and want to get green business cards, however I've heard that even a "green" printer might still use toxic chemicals.  Do you know a truly green printer? --Bob "Green"

Dear Mr. Green: Funny you should ask, I just went through a very similar process. I finally decided to invest in postcards and new business cards and I decided that recycled paper and soy ink wasn't enough.

I must admit, however, I didn't know much about what enough would be. Many printers now offer recycled papers and soy inks (although many still do not), however few printers are going the extra mile and also reducing the overall VOCs in their inks, solvents, and finishes. 

Even fewer are providing a healthy working environment for their employees, paying a living wage, and doing the printing on American soil. I did find a local printer, however, that does all of this and more. In fact, they are so green that I was encouraged to bring along my two-year-old daughter for the tour. I was amazed. 

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Ask The Green Mama: Can I recycle my baby's car seat?

 

Dear Green Mama: My friends and I swap, reuse, and hand-down everything from baby clothes, toys, and books to cribs, tricycles, and information.  What do we do, though, with our old car seats?  These days, the car seats come with expiration dates, yet I can't seem to find a carseat recycler.  Any ideas or connections that would help in this endeavor? --Distressed green driver

Dear D.: Carseat recycling is possible and of course it is preferable to throwing the plastic, metal, and material into the garbage where it takes landfill space and can leach flame retardants, plasticizers, and even heavy metals.  Unfortunately, the alternative is recycling and there are few places that recycle them.  I called one of these places, in Chicago, and spoke with the founder about what we can do to recycle our carseats if we DON'T live in Colorado, Oregon, or one of the other few places that have programs.

"Help people to get recycling programs going--Chicago is a natural place to get something going grass-roots.  It's not the most green thing to ship these across the country," says Bill Flinchbaugh of Colorado Children's Automobile Safety Foundation. 

"Okay. Okay," I said, "but what about in the meantime"

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming installment of "Ask The Green Mama"  Fridays on Green Parent Chicago.---

Green Parent Chicago related stories: Company Recycling Unwanted Baby Gear for Parents

Ask The Green Mama: Cast Iron Pans--Safe?

 

Dear Green Mama: Are cast iron skillets safe?
Thank you! —Julie

Dear 'Cooking Safe with' Julie:

I regularly bring Chef Ellen King to talk with The Green Mama Cafe and she has taught us a lot about cast iron. She recommends them as the BEST pans with which to cook. I have looked for more information and everything I find suggests that not only are they safe to cook with, but they might even be nutritionally beneficial as you can obtain a small amount of your daily iron need when using cast iron.

Remember: never use soap on them. Ellen described them as being porous and said that soap breaks down the important protective layer that helps them function and can even leach some soap taste into your food. Cast iron pans really like it if you dry them on the stove and periodically put a thin coat of oil on them.

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming installment of "Ask The Green Mama"  Fridays on Green Parent Chicago.---

 

Ask The Green Mama: Using Grey Water on Your Garden

My brother-in-law asked me if the used water from the washing machine could be used in the yard as a conservation effort w/o harming the plants. He’s an engineer so if this water is okay for that reuse, he wants to create a routing system from the utility sink to their yard. He has a high-effeciciency washer and uses eco-friendly detergents. –Deb, Turning Grey Water into Green Sister-in-Law 

Dear Grey into Green:

That is great that your brother-in-law is thinking so creatively about saving water. With that kind of thinking and skill, he will come up with an awesome plan. However, using your laundry water on the plants isn’t it. I wish it were! He is already thinking about some of the issues: laundry detergents (even if they don’t contain phosphates) do often contain fragrances, oils, or soaps that are NOT healthy for plants. 

Even if you used no detergent at all, however, it still wouldn’t be advisable because of the chemicals in clothes. Flame retardants, heavy metals from dyes, formaldehyde, and even dioxin residue from bleach have all been found in clothing and it all ends up in some amounts in the water in which we wash our clothes.  

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming weekly installment of "Ask The Green Mama" every Friday on Green Parent Chicago.---

-photo credit: Water Saver Technologies

Ask The Green Mama: The Dirty Dozen

Dear Green Mama:  I am a mother of a beautiful baby boy.  I do my best to feed him unprocessed and organic foods.  Unfortunately both my hubby and I were laid off and the budget is tight.  I have heard of "the dirty dozen" and hoped you could shed some light on it. What are the most important foods for me to purchase organic and what are the ones I can "skimp" on.  -- Organic & Budget Conscious Sue

Dear Organic and Budget Conscious Sue:

I applaud you for working so hard to make sure your son gets the best possible foods.  It isn’t always easy or cheap, but it will pay off. Since you already choose organic, you probably already have some inkling of how important it is for children. Pesticides in foods have been linked to obesity, autism, childhood cancers, birth defects and neurological problems in children. 

There are, however, some foods that are simple MORE important to buy organic. Consumer Reports  says these foods include: ALL meat and dairy (for meat and dairy, I consider organic to be the baseline, try to also get grassfed), the most contaminated fruits and vegetables (or the Dirty Dozen as you refer to them), and ALL baby foods.  Why all baby foods? This is 1) because babies are so susceptible to even small amounts of pesticide: their organs and systems are still developing so small effects can have major impacts and  they breath and eat more per pound than adults do.  As well, they don’t detoxify nearly as well as adults (or in some cases at all). AND 2) Baby foods are often concentrated (and sometimes overcooked and processed and preserved with additives).  So, getting a jar of apple sauce means there isn’t just one apple in there with the pesticides of one apple, but rather MANY apples with the pesticides of all of those apples.

To this list, I also add grains, in particular rice, as well as any concentrated foods, e.g. ketchup, apple sauce, tomato paste, etc., and eggs.   The organic standards for fish aren’t up and running yet, but I am also very careful about my family’s fish consumption.

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming weekly installment of "Ask The Green Mama" every Friday on Green Parent Chicago.---

Ask The Green Mama: Better School Lunches

Dear Green Mama,
I'm a school teacher in Chicago. After researching our CPS lunches, I am concerned about recalled meat and rGBH that may be in our students’ food and drink. 

Chartwells is our present vendor. Is there a vendor that can stay within our limited budget while offering CPS students healthier school lunches?
-- Is A Better Chow Possible

Dear ABC:

School lunches can be pretty bad:  growth hormones in milk, recalled and irradiated meat, and fruits and vegetables high in pesticides.   Meat and dairy are the staples of the school lunch program and there are few options available for those who want to avoid either.

The USDA, which is on record as saying that rGBH milk is safe and cloned meats are fine, is responsible for the school lunch program. They in effect buy up foods that consumer don’t want and serve it to school kids in their lunches. The farm bill that was passed in May of 2008 directs the USDA to buy irradiated beef for the federal school lunch program. Almost 1/3 of the recently recalled meat went to schools and public nutrition programs. 

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming weekly installment of "Ask The Green Mama" every Friday on Green Parent Chicago.---

Ask The Green Mama: Textile Recycling

 

Dear Green Mama,
My sister has three children and lots of old children's clothing that isn’t fit for the Salvation Army.  What can be done with old clothes that are too stained or tattered for reuse? --A stained and tattered uncle

 Dear Stained and Tattered:
This question hits close to home for the Green Mama!  We get almost everything handed down to us and though it comes looking practically like new (despite having usually had at least three owners prior to us), it often ends its life with us stained, torn, and generally beyond reuse.  So what can one do?  

The answer isn’t that easy.  Reuse should be the first answer when possible. When clothes are beyond being donated to a thrift store, we try to give them new life through dying or sewing or handing them down to a friend that cuts up the pieces to make them into other clothing.  Often reuse in this way isn’t possible or practical.  

Then what?  The next steps of reuse are turning the clothes into rags.  We use the rags around our house. You can also donate old clothes to dog kennels and pounds; car washes or garages; or just about anywhere they use rags.  You should clean the clothes first and certain fabrics are more easily reusable (like cotton).  

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming weekly installment of "Ask The Green Mama" every Friday on Green Parent Chicago.---

New Faces and Features On Green Parent Chicago

As editor of Green Parent Chicago, I am thrilled to announce two new regular contributors to Green Parent Chicago:

Manda Aufochs Gillespie, better known as Chicago's green parenting guru, The Green Mama, offers timely firsthand advice on green parenting in her new Friday feature "Ask the Green Mama".

Eco Chic is a local writer and green mom who beginning today will share her personal experiences as a green mom of two and her adventures.

Don't forget to stay tuned to Green Parent Chicago in the next two weeks, when Green Parent Chicago and The Green Mama will announce a new collaboration to unite Chicago moms and dads interested in living the eco-friendly life.

-Christine Escobar

Ask The Green Mama: Milk With School Lunch

Dear Green Mama,
Does it really make a difference whether my child gets chocolate, white, or no milk at all at school? She has been complaining about feeling poorly after eating her school lunch and wants to stop drinking her milk. --Skeptical and confused

Dear Skep,
When I was young, I remember being shocked to find out that my younger brother was taking the chocolate milk at school instead of the white milk that my mom told us we were supposed to buy.  I was a rule follower.  I couldn’t imagine straying all the way over to chocolate.

Today’s choices aren’t much different than they were when I was in school: white or chocolate.  Yet the risks may be greater than ever. (Read my recent blog on milk to see more.)

Milk is a staple of the school lunch program. According to the National Milk Producers Federation, nearly 430 million gallons of milk were distributed through the National School Breakfast, Lunch, and Special Milk programs during the 2005-2006 school year. 

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming weekly installment of "Ask The Green Mama" every Friday on Green Parent Chicago.---