Springtime Pals

Since I was a girl, I’ve loved dandelions.  Bright splashes of color across a field- what’s not to like?

Dandelions provided hours of fun for me as a kid.  They were magic wands & floating boats. You could weave them into a crown of flowers, decorate the spokes of your bike wheels, or turn a puddle into flower soup.  Then all of a sudden the dandelions turned into fuzzy puff balls that you could send flying through the air with a breath.

And remember, “Mama had a baby & her head popped off!”- then you’d use your thumb to pop off the flower?  OK, that sounds kind of sadistic now that I’m old enough to notice.  But at the time, decapitating dandelions was about as cool as it got.

I understand not everyone shares my love of the humble dandelion.  Some call it a pernicious weed.  A pox on a manicured lawn.  To each his own.  But before you bust out the weed killer, consider this: in the early spring, when other flowers are scarce, dandelions provide crucial nutrients to bees.  And bees could use a little help.

Over the past 50 years, wild & domesticated bee populations have been cut in half due to invasive mites & pesticides.  Bees don’t just make delicious honey.  They are the unsung helper to the American farmer.  Many fruit, nut, vegetable, legume, & seed crops depend on bee pollination.

So I say we (re)learn to enjoy the spritely yellow dandelion & give our worker bees something to snack on till summer.

Long live the dandelion & the bee!

-m

Read more at Suite101: The Honey Bee Crisis: Decline in Honey Bee Population Worries Farmers

Eco Modern Baby hits ddg!

Tomorrow is the first day of spring!  After all of this gray winter nonsense, I’m anxious for some sunshine & color.  Luckily Eco Modern Baby hit Duck Duck Green this week.  Their bold patterns & saturated colors have brightened up our shelves!

Eco Modern Baby designer, Kristen Angelo, brings a fresh perspective to the stuff parents use every day.  The Kerchief is the best bib idea ever.  Your mini-hipster will look too-cool-for-preschool.  (My daughter has been rocking one all week to rave reviews.)

Kristen has kids of her own & it shows in all the little details that make parents fall in love.  Check out the Infant Sleeper with snap & zip closure for fumble-free midnight changes- smart!  Sleeper sacks are a really smart idea for newborns in general.  No loose blankets means a safe & snug sleep.

The Burping Cloth is made with soft organic cotton, so you don’t have to worry about nasty pesticides or chlorine touching your baby’s sensitive skin.  Nice!  The Change/Play Mat is great for quick diaper changes on the go.  Just roll it up & wrap with the simple elastic strap.  It’s larger than most baby mats, so it’s great for Tummy-Time too.  In fact, we dig it so much, we put it in our Bum Bums Kit!

But what I love most about Eco Modern Baby is how they’re made.  All EMB products are designed & manufactured in Seattle, Washington. They even use certified organic cotton textiles grown & milled right here in the USA.

Oh, & they’re nice, too!  They recently donated baby blankets to child survivors of the 2010 Haiti natural disaster.

We are so excited to offer these great new products for your baby.  Now let the sun shine in!

-m

From the moment they are born, over 200 toxic chemicals pollute infant bloodstreams.  200.  What is going on?

Scientists used to believe that the placenta provided an effective barrier against most chemicals.  Now we know that all manner of environmental pollutants are being carried to the developing fetus via the cord blood.

In 2004, The Environmental Working Group conducted a study on the umbilical cord blood of 10 babies born in the US.  The results were shocking.  Two major labs found, on average, 200 industrial chemicals & pollutants in the blood.  Of the total 287 chemicals detected:

134 are known to cause cancer.

158 are toxic to the brain & nervous system.

186 cause infertility.

151 cause birth defects or abnormal development.

PLEASE watch this video.  Share it with friends.  Help send a universal wake-up call to inform parents about the dangers of toxic chemicals in our world.

-m & a

Want to learn more?

• Visit Healthy Child Healthy World

• Visit the Environmental Working Group

• Join Seventh Generation’s Million Baby Crawl for safer chemicals

• Watch the presentation 10 Americans by Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group