Great green, learning gifts for new parents and babies

August is the month with the highest number of births in the U.S., according to the CDC, and it has held the top spot for ten of the last 16 years.

Doing a bit of gestation subtraction, its easy to see that there are going to be a lot of folks who are newly pregnant between now and Christmas.

If you're looking for a gift for an expectant parent or a brand new bundle of joy, why not make it a great, green one? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Baby Bee Getting Started Kit - made by Burt's Bees, this $13 set includes Apricot Baby Oil, Buttermilk Lotion, Shampoo & Wash, Buttermilk Soap, Diaper Ointment, Buttermilk Bath, Dusting Powder, and a cute Baby Bee Comb. The scents are natural and soft, not overwhelming, and the products are free of parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals, and phthalates, which are bad for everyone, but especially bad for babies! Most moms who have received this kit end up buying it for all of their pregnant friends! The only downside is that the products are so good, your friends will blame you when they can never go back to anything else for their sweet babies. . .and themselves! Available online at Burt's Beesand at many major retailers.
• Kiddopotamus & Co. Organic Cotton SwaddleMe - this baby "burrito" wrap is excellent and easy to use; a lifesaver especially for new parents who are stymied by swaddling protocol and flustered by a crying infant who just wants to be wrapped up in a little chemical-free warmth and love. Additionally, a little extra love goes to the planet because standard cotton is an extremely chemical intensive crop; organic cotton has all of the softness, but none of the chemicals! The organic cotton SwaddleMe is available in a variety of colors and patterns and two sizes, with prices ranging from $10-25 at retailers including Amazon,Target, and WalMart.
• Dandelion Classic Organic Toys - at just $10 each, you may choose to gift the new baby with more than one of these adorable little creatures - the frog rattle, the crinkle bear, the squeaker duck, or the baby doll. Each features a handy hanging loop and stimulates babies' hand eye coordination and brain development. Available at Amazon.
• Eco-Friendly Disposable Diapers & Wipes - new parents can never, ever have too many diapers! Unfortunately, the planet can. While many parents opt for cloth diapers, they have their own environmental impact through the need for washing. And, to be perfectly blunt, disposables are just easier. The gift of ease is a big one for new parents or, really, all parents. So, the disposables that are best for the planet? Earth's Best and Seventh Generationoffer chlorine-free diapers and wipes that perform as well as their traditional disposable diaper brand counterparts. They will set you back a good deal more than the traditional disposable diapers, but its the planet that profits through less nasty, toxic chlorinated hydrocarbon pollution.
• Made With Love Organic Cotton Infant Set - one of many super-cute and planet-friendly options available at UncommonGoods, these organic cotton onesie and cap sets are available for $35 in three colors: vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip. (If you think those are sweet, just wait till you see the baby in these adorable onesies!) If the parents have a good sense of humor, you should also consider the organic onesies available with sayings on the front, such as "Ask me about my compost pile," "All natural," "Produced Locally," and "Thanks! for all the global warming," ($28 each) or the Nerdy Baby "I love, love, LOVE my microsope," and dinosaur babysuits ($25 each).
• Recycled Plastic Tugboat Toy - also available from UncommonGoods, this $13 toy is made from 100% recycled plastic milk jugs and contains no BPA, PVC or phthalates that could go into baby's mouth when the tugboat inevitably does. (Because everything,everything, will eventually go into baby's mouth.)
• the little seed for Target Organic Bodysuits & Pants - tagless for extra baby comfort (and, therefore, less baby fussiness), these organic clothes are available in a variety of colors and sizes up to nine months - mix and match for just $8 each at Target.com.

And, if you're not into clothes or diapers, there's just about nothing better for baby humans than when their local, loving grown-ups read them books! Wrap up one of the classics listed below, write an inscription in the front, and tuck in a coupon for babysitting and/or book reading - mom, dad, and baby will love you for it!

Excellent Books for Greenie Babies

Try to get the board books when you can - they'll stand up better to baby's gnawing and so will make it to the used bookstore instead of the landfill.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle - a wonderful introduction to caterpillars and butterflies

Green Start book series, by Innovative Kids - each of these board books features a different "green" topic, including endangered animals, trees, green gardening, and the rainforest.

On the Day You Were Born, by Debra Frasier - a beautiful tribute to the earth and a warm welcome for the newest member of the human family, babies will enjoy the bold illustrations and parents will be truly touched by the message. This is an heirloom book.

Baby Einstein book series, by Julie Aigner-Clark - an outstanding primer on things in nature for babies under one. The simple shapes and iconic images along with easy to understand sentences will entertain and inform baby, and the books come in board book or bath book format!

Stay tuned - next up are great, green and educational gifts for kids ages 7-10. If you have a great, green gift idea, please share it with others by adding it as a comment on this article!

Great green, learning gifts and books for ages 4-6

The school year is only one quarter over and already Pre-K student Abigail Birch has been invited to six birthday parties.

While no one wants to be the mom who always gives the educational gift instead of the fun one, there comes a time (just about the same time as you receive the fourth party invitation in as many weeks) where shelling out a large amount of cash for one more piece of plastic junk makes you feel like a brainless cog in the overly-consumerist, made-in-China, mercilessly-marketed American buying machine.

With more birthday parties looming, not to mention the holidays fast approaching, here are a few excellent, green and/or educational and fun gifts for the four to six year old set, all for under $25:

• Green Toys Tea Set by Green Toys, $20.17 - made in the USA (less pollution because it doesn't have to ship from overseas) out of recycled milk jugs! Includes tea pot with lid, sugar bowl with lid, four cups and saucers and four teaspoons in lovely shades of pink, purple, blue, and green. Green Toys also makes a dish set, chef set, dining set, tool set, dump truck, and sand play set.
• Sprig Adventure Toys - a full line of toys made from recycled woods and plastics, encouraging imaginative play in which the characters explore the outdoors. Prices range from $6.95 for an Adventure Guide to $24.92 for the Dolphin Adventure Playset or $19.99 for the Side Kick Vehicle Baja Scout.
• Idbid Eco-Friendly Character Kits - Choose Waverly the Water Drop, Lola the Flower, or Scout the Cloud. Includes plush toy, organic cinch sack, and story book, and field guide that makes the concept of environmental sustainability simple for children. Packs in frustration-free packaging (no hard plastic cases or bindings - annoying and wasteful) and 50 cents of each purchase is donated to the Nature Conservancy.
• Melissa & Doug - classic wooden toys of all varieties, from kitchen pots and pans and pantry items to puzzles, trucks and trains. Also arts and crafts supplies, learning mats, doll houses, puppets and stuffed animals. These are well made, high quality toys that will not disappoint the child or the Earth! Available at Target, Amazon.com, and www.melissaanddoug.com.
  • ImagiPlay ColorMe Up Animal Puzzles - 3D wooden animal puzzles that come with water color paint kids so that children can paint and assemble their own chick, stegosaurus, bunny, love cows, or butterfly. Prices range from $10 to $15. Made from renewable, sustainable, and fair trade materials.
  • Global Green Pals - Recycle Kyle, Carbon Offset Chet, Pink Coral Laurel, Clean Air Kate, Pani Rani - each available for $25, are made of organic cotton and stuffed with 100% post-consumer recycled plastic stuffing. Each comes with a character tag with tips on how kids can help save the Earth. Adults help save the planet with each purchase, as a portion of proceeds go to environmental efforts around the globe via One Percent for the Planet. This toy won the Creative Child Magazine seal of excellence in 2009 as well as Dr. Toy's Best Green Product 2009 and Mom's Best 2009.
  • Eco-Friendly Arts & Crafts Supplies - Did you ever wonder what happens to all those broken crayons? Well, the lucky ones get recycled! Crazy Crayons makes recycled crayons in classic colors as well as crazy shapes and color mixes for less than $9 per pack. Pair that with a roll of recycled newsprint art paper ($12.90) and you've got an eco friendly, artistic afternoon for one kid or a bunch!

  If you'd like to pair an eco-friendly or earth education book with the gift you give, here are a few favorites for young children:

• I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Recycle by Alison Inches, published by Little Green Books, $4
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, published by Random House for Young Readers, $10 (a classic, worth twice the price!)
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, published by Harper & Row, $10 (a tree-hugger's primer, not to be missed!)
• The Let's Read and Find Out Science series of books, published by Collins, $6 each - this series covers everything from Clouds to What Makes Day and Night to How a Seed Grows to What's It Like to Be a Fish and Oil Spill (particularly appropriate for Gulf Coast kids right now). Series is divided into levels which are clearly marked on each book. Levels 1 and 2 are appropriate for ages 4-8. Outstanding introduction to all things earth science related; kids will love them and adults will learn something, too!
• Why Should I series of books, published by Barron's Educational Series, $7 each - includes Why Should I Recycle?, Why Should I Protect Nature?, Why Should I Save Energy?, and Why Should I Save Water?. All are right on target for this age group, simple and entertaining.

As a last note, prices listed above are retail. There are great deals to be had on like-new items at tremendously reduced prices - and buying these is even better for the Earth than buying new!

And, don't forget, wrapping in the colored Sunday comics or, even better, with your own child's art drawn on a roll of recycled newsprint will save money, paper, and the planet!

Stay tuned for green gift and book recommendations for other age groups, from infant to adult!

My Trash Can Runneth Over

Okay, so I'm not going to say that yesterday was an unmitigated disaster in terms of my quest to buy less.

It was a mitigated disaster.

The disaster part: Bed Bath and Beyond after-Christmas sale.

Bought twelve drapery panels, each in it's own clear plastic container (with zipper - why not just a flap, I do not know) and with a couple of pieces of cardboard stiffener inside.

Also bought a set of sheets on clearance, non-organic cotton. (I did just purchase an organic set for Abbey's new bed - part of her complete new bedroom suite. See? Mitigation and disaster.)

Also bought a new set of towels, non-organic cotton. Old ones have bleach stains, though I would swear they have never come within an arm's length of even a closed bleach container.

But they were all sooo pretty, and sooo cheap.

It's a quest for reduction, though, not a day trip.

Today's buying results were much better. I discovered Rouse's!!!

Rouse's is one of three local options for a grocery store. (There would be four, but I don't count Wal Mart - they're getting much better with eco-friendly products, but the noise and activity of the place gives me a twitch.) It's competitors are Winn Dixie and Lishman's.

Rouse's rocks!!!

Lishman's was too expensive, Winn Dixie was too expensive and the parking lot was a nightmare.

Rouse's is too expensive (but, then again, I'm comparing it to military commissary prices, so I may be a little biased), but it's got so many eco-friendly and organic products I was in green shopper's heaven!

Tonight we bought organic butter, cream cheese, broccoli, apples, cauliflower, lettuce, milk, and soy milk. We bought eco-friendly dish detergent and will be able to buy Mrs. Meyer's, Seventh Generation, or Ecover laundry and cleaning products when we need them!

Joy, joy, joy!

And I didn't even fill up the trash can with extra packaging when we got home!

Which was good, because they're all overflowing from the unpacking and new buying detritus of the past few weeks.

Seriously - when you can't recycle, the trash cans need to be emptied every day, it seems. Such a pain!

Then again, the mitigation there is that my dear husband is usually the one that empties the trash. Which he did (again) while we were out shopping.

Good husband.

Good grocery store.

Grateful wife/mother/tree hugger/shopper.

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