Happy February, everyone! Listen, I’m trying my hardest to keep my weekly posts from turning into baby baby pregnancy baby baby, but it’s hard. SO HARD. I just hit the halfway mark of my pregnancy and have finally said goodbye to the nausea and exhaustion and HELLO to 2nd trimester energy!

One bonus of having another child (from an environmental standpoint) is that many items you need for the new addition have already been bought. Obviously, we don’t need to buy things like a crib, a stroller or a car seat. In fact, I’m keeping the fair share of my son’s clothing for our sweet daughter who will be making her appearance in June. (There’s nothing wrong with a little blue for ladies, right?)

Since most of the big-ticket baby items are already in our possession, I’m making a conscious effort to only spend money on environmentally-friendly baby gear from this point forward. Enter Little Alouette.** To say I am enamored with this company would be an understatement. Take a look at how the unique, environmentally-friendly company came to be.

Over a decade ago a handsome British boy and an Ohio lass met and fell madly in love at first site in a sleepy university town. The boy was a classically trained master carpenter and the girl a writer with a bit of wanderlust. They worked together creatively through the years on many projects involving woodworking as they restored and remodeled homes together. The boy taught his love about trees on their land in the country and how to use power tools and the girl read poems to him while they worked. They started a journey of following their bliss and eventually brought two wee ones into the world and began creating wooden toys for them. They decided to share these wee wooden toys with the world and Little Alouette, LLC was born over hot steaming mugs of cocoa in the winter of 2007.

Little Alouette’s toys are made of locally sourced hardwoods and, if not left unfinished, are finished only with certified organic flax seed oil. The products are completely made by hand and are perfect for little ones. (I am partial to the teethers** and block sets** myself.) You can drool over Little Alouette’s entire eco-friendly line at their website.**

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It seems the term “organic” has become a familiar part of the country’s lexicon over the past few years. Grocery stores, specialty markets and clothing boutiques are dedicating entire sections to organic goods, whereas only 5 years ago, that was just not the case. I’ve written about our family’s decision to purchase and prepare organic food, but I hadn’t thought much about purchasing many organic clothing items until after the birth of our son.

I remember thinking to myself, “Why should I buy organic clothing? How is organic clothing helpful to our environment?” After researching the issue, I learned that cotton is the most heavily pesticide-intensive crop grown in the United States.** In fact, the pesticide residue contaminates nearby water ways, the air and the soil, eventually polluting the ground water for years.

I now know that purchasing organic cotton benefits our environment by supporting a sustainable method of cotton production, which doesn’t pollute the air or the ground and surface water. The omission of synthetic pesticides greatly reduces the damage to our environment and human health.

Now that I have another little one on the way, I’ll will make a point to purchase organic cotton items for her clothing and bedding because supporting methods like these will make a difference in her future.

To learn more about sustainable cotton production and its effects on our environment, click here.**

photo credit: Sustainable Cotton Project

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One of my other online endeavors is a website called Hair Thursday,** which basically highlights all things hair. All Hair, All The Time. Product reviews, makeovers, celebrity hairstyles, you name it. As you can imagine, I receive a lot of information regarding hair products. However, the one thing that always gets to me regarding hair products and processes are the crazy chemicals involved in salons. Not good for your health, people!

You’ve noticed the smells, right? Chemicals everywhere. In fact, some salons perform as many as 50 chemical applications every day, filling the room with horrible indoor air contaminants, such as ammonia (found in hair dyes), formaldehyde (from manicures and pedicures) and phthalates, which are a possible reproductive or developmental toxin.

Well, one famous stylist is addressing this issue head on. John Masters, a longtime advocate for healthier beauty, runs a salon called John Masters Organics** in New York. At his salon, the dyes are ammonia-free and you won’t be able to get a manicure or perm. Masters also only uses his own product line in house, which includes no sprays or mousses. The trade off? His stylists and their customers are protected from the skin irritation and respiratory problems that can be attributed to the above mentioned chemicals.

Pretty cool, don’t you think? Maybe other salons will start to follow suit. To learn more about Master’s philosophy, click here.**

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I think it’s time for another round up of my favorite green Etsy finds, don’t you? Since January can be full of the blahs, let’s focus on some brightly-colored items to get our chilly blood flowing!

Acai Seed Rainbow Necklace** - These colors will brighten anyone’s day, and since the beads are made from acai seeds, the necklace is light as a feather and easy to wear.

Mini Blossom Wristlet in Red** - This wristlet is made with certified organic cotton twill in true red, lined with natural hemp. The wrist strap is removable, secured with a swivel clip.

Cowl Neckwarmer** - A cowl neck warmer that’s made using a recycled sweater on the outside and super soft recycled t-shirt fabric on the inside? Trés adorable!

ZigZag Eco Pillow Cover** - Loving this cheerful and modern pillow that was created from Eco-Felt, which is a felt produced from recycled plastic bottles. Awesome.

Gnome Baby Dolls** - These vintage-inspired gnome dolls are handcrafted entirely of natural and upcycled fibers and perfect for little ones!

Blue Starbursts Spiral Notebook** - Fun notebooks are made by wrapping tree-free lokta paper around 100% recycled chipboard to make the covers. Filled with 50 sheets of 100% recycled white inside paper and wrapped in a a biodegradable bag, these spirals are as eco-friendly as they come.

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

Oh my goodness. I was under the full impression that my Christmas tree crafting** was a one and one time only kind of deal, however THE CRAFTING CONTINUES. What has gotten into me? Crazy, I tell ya!

For this Christmas, my husband’s family decided to exchange handmade items instead of store-bought ones. Great for the environment, right? No purchasing of excess stuff - including packaging, transport, and the like. Just gifts that were created simply by hand. Now, not everyone was forced to get crafty - for instance, one of my sisters-in-law presented everyone with 30-minute foot massages. (They were very well-received, as you can imagine.)

Since I had such a good experience with felt, I decided to stick with that fabric and create keychains for several family members.

(Those were photographed before I inserted the keyring, but you get the idea.)

It was so fun to give a gift that I spent time creating, and the entire gift-giving idea was completely eco-friendly. Check out the darling coffee cup sleeve I received!

How perfect is that? I just keep it in my purse to slip on my coffee cups when I make jaunts to local coffee shops.

All in all, it was a fresh and environmentally-friendly way to spruce up our family’s gift-giving. However, the real question remains, what should I make next? Duh-duh-DUNNNNN. The suspense is killing me.

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I’m so happy I have a toddler because, at 35 years old, I still love playing with playdough. In fact, I have very fond memories of creating “masterpieces” with Play-Doh.** The scent is one of my very favorites. However, as much I love the scent of Play-Doh, I don’t like buying it for many reasons. First off, it costs money. Secondly, I’m not fond of the plastic containers the dough is packaged in and thirdly, I’m definitely not a fan of the chemical dyes used to create color.

Sounds like it’s time for a homemade playdough recipe, doesn’t it? This one takes no more than 10 minutes to create and is perfect for little ones.

Playdough Recipe:

• 1 cup organic flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• natural food coloring

Mix everything up except for the food coloring.

In a large soup pot, stir the mixture over medium heat until it thickens, trying to squash out any lumps. Remove it from pan and carefully knead it until blended smooth. Add your natural food coloring to create all sorts of colors, and voilá! You have playdough. (Which will last ages if you store it in an airtight container, by the way.)

What about food coloring, though? I prefer to steer clear of artificial food coloring, and according to this article,** you can use all different types of food to create completely natural dyes. (This specific article is addressing Easter eggs, but I don’t see why you can’t use it for playdough.) Here are some cool tips about what foods create which colors.

Red cabbage dye actually ends up making the eggs blue. Beet dye yields pink to red eggs. And the turmeric dye makes yellow. Coffee gives a brown coloration, spinach makes green and onion skin produces orange.To make each dye, put all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, then turn back the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain out the chunks and pour the dye into a dish deep enough to cover the eggs. You can also put eggs in while you are boiling the turmeric dye to get a stronger gold color.

I think we are going to try this coloring method next time around. What about you? Do you have any tried and true recipes for playdough and/or natural dyes?

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Christmas is this week! Whuuuuut? How did THAT happen? Fortunately, I completed all of my shopping online, but I get the feeling some of you might be looking for a few last-minute items in stores. Now, I can’t advise you on many gifting categories, but I am the makeup and skincare gifting DIVA. (Just ask my girlfriends!)

My very favorite beauty mecca, Sephora, has some great natural and/or organic beauty gift sets that are sure to please the beauty addicts in your life. Take a look. Who knows, you might want to spend your holiday money on the sets for yourself!

1. Bare Minerals Get Started Kit** - According to Bare Minerals, this makeup is so pure you can sleep in it! Free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, petro-chemicals and phthalates, this kit will make your complexion look flawless. (Which is important after multiple nights of holiday parties.)

2. Tarte Day-To-Night Palette** - I adore Tarte Cosmetics, and this palette has everything you need to go from daytime simplicity to nighttime smolder. No parabens or sulfates either!

3. Ren Six of the Best Set** - This exclusive ensemble of top-selling facial products covers everything from cleansing to repair. The best part? The products do not contain TEA, DEA, glycols, silicones, or PEG.

4. Korres Love Your Lips Collection** - Lip glosses made from cherry oil. Mmmm. Need I say anymore?

5. Tarte Infinite Glow** - Are some of your friends looking a little pasty this winter? Might I recommend a trio that creates the best-looking faux glow? Once again, no parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, petro-chemicals or phthalates were used to create this product, so they can truly rock a healthy glow.

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I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately. Maybe it’s that I’m finally coming out of the groggy and nauseous first trimester of pregnancy, but I’ve been bitten by the crafting bug in the most serious of ways. Now that I’ve regained some energy, I thought making some handmade, eco-friendly decorations for this year’s Christmas tree would be a fun way to satiate my crafting urge.

I knew I wanted to work with felt, so I decided to make a felt garland and star as my project. While looking into felt options, I found Rainbow Classic Felt by the Kunin Group,** which is made from Eco-fi.** In fact, all of Kunin’s products are made from Eco-fi, which is a high-quality polyester fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. 100% recycled plastic bottles! How awesome is that? Eco friendly? Check!

The garland was super easy to make, although cutting hundreds of felt circles did become rather boring and monotonous over time. (This tool** came in very handy, though.) All you need are the felt circles, a fun color of thread, a sewing machine and voilá! Instant eco-friendly garland.

After the garland was strung, I gathered several colors of felt and created this star. Some fabric glue, 6-strand embroidery floss and a blanket stitch later and the star was ready to go.

All in all, I was happy with the way our eco-friendly decorations turned out.

Happy holidays, everyone!

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

Nothing makes me happier than a big bowl of clementines, so naturally I have a huge smile on my face this time of year. Currently in the first trimester of pregnancy, fruits and vegetables have been about the only thing appealing to my tastebuds and tummy.

However, I’ve been very careful to only buy produce that is currently in season. As much as I CRAVE strawberries right now, I haven’t been purchasing them at the grocery store because I know they aren’t coming from local growers.

Why is it important to buy produce that is in season locally? Well, for starters, it is fresher, tastier and more nutritious. It is also good for your local economy–buying from local farmers helps them stay in business. Did you know that most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold?** And this is only taking into account US-grown products. Can you imagine the distances produce travels when imported from Mexico, Asia, Canada and South America?

One of my main goals in the upcoming months is to only buy produce that is in season. Thanks to localharvest.org,** you can stay up-to-date on what fruits and vegetables are in season each month.

This month, your best bet for the freshest fruits (besides clementines) are:

• Cranberries
• Dates
• Grapefruit
• Guava
• Kaffir Limes
• Kiwi
• Kumquats
• Lemons
• Limes
• Oranges
• Passion Fruit
• Tangerines

If you live in my neck of the woods, good luck finding clementines, though! I’ve been eating my weight in them daily!

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The holidays are really an interesting dichotomy. On one hand, I get completely caught up in the songs, the decorations, the shopping and the gift-giving, but on the other, I find myself thinking about the less fortunate all of the time. You can really become inundated (and a little overwhelmed, actually) with all of the wonderful charities during the holiday season, but one that has really resonated with me as a mother is the Unicef Inspired Gifts program.

In 2007, UNICEF launched the Inspired Gifts program to give consumers the opportunity to purchase actual lifesaving items for children in need. Thanks to this program and others like it, childhood mortality rates worldwide have been reduced from 25,500 to 24,000 children per day over the past three years, but UNICEF will not stop until that number is zero.

Many of the lifesaving Inspired Gifts cost only a fraction of what Americans spend on gifts, decorations and celebrations during the holiday season. Check out some examples:

• The cost of one stamp to mail a holiday card can purchase 44 Vitamin A capsules that are used to prevent and treat Vitamin A deficiency as well as measles complications.

• The cost of one box of candy canes can purchase 1,250 water purification tablets (each tablet can treat 4-5 liters of water enabling children to drink and wash safely).

• The cost of one roll of wrapping paper can purchase 50 auto-disable syringes so that children can be immunized with safe equipment.

• The costs of one holiday wreath can purchase one School-in-a-bag kit, which contains individual school supplies for 40 students and one teacher.

If you are looking for a wonderful program to help the less fortunate around the world, check out Unicef’s Inspired Gifts website**. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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For the same reasons I like the foods on Foodzie,** I prefer buying handmade accessories, clothing and housewares on Etsy.** I really enjoy wearing items that are one-of-a-kind, but I find when asked about my source, many people shrug and say that they don’t have the time to weed through the enormous supply of handmade goods on Etsy.

Trust me, I get it. When I entered “eco-friendly clothes” as a search term on Etsy, I received 6,117 results. A little daunting, yes? However! If you just hone down your search by being a little more specific, you can find some wonderful handmade gems made by talented artists all over the world.

Here are are few items that currently have me smitten.

Oh boy, am I a fan of the wrap top! You can wear this style in so many ways, and it’s the perfect look for moms-to-be. (Just keep loosening that tie as your belly grows!) This top, by Econica,** is made from a very soft and stretchy blend of organic cotton and bamboo, and comes in tons of colors.**

Also by Econica, this dress** could last for years and years. The style is timeless, and the cotton/bamboo blend looks so soft and comfy. If brown isn’t your thing, choose from several other colors.**

For the Starbucks junkies out there, how cute is this reusable coffee sleeve? Forget all those paper sleeves, just keep this one in your purse and you’re good to go. By joyfulstar,** this 100% cotton sleeve also comes in several prints.**

Last, but certainly not least, these reusable snack bags by evelynfields** could completely cut down your plastic baggie usage. No synthetic or plastic liners, just natural unbleached cotton fabric next to your food. Sounds like a win-win to me!

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In early October, I spent an amazing weekend in Sonoma County with a slew of lovely ladies. Besides the great conversations, chilly fall weather and wine tastings in beautiful vineyards, I learned about some great new companies and websites that I hadn’t heard of before. My #1 new favorite? Foodzie.com.**

First off, I should probably tell you how much I love handmade, unique foods and gifts. I’m a total sucker for jam jars filled with fresh strawberry preserves and treats made with love. In fact, to this day, I dream of this wonderful horseradish cheese sauce and ancho chile chutney that was purchased near my grandparents’ home in Palm Springs. When we visit Palm Springs this winter, you can be assured I’ll get my hands on those two products again.

Well, this is the place** where you can find wonderful non-mass produced foods from all over America. In a nutshell, Foodzie** is an online marketplace where you can discover and buy food directly from small passionate food producers and growers. (Oh! But it’s so much more!) In fact, I challenge you to spend LESS than 5 minutes on the website. It is totally addictive. Cookies, coffees, jams, preserves, ethnic foods, cured meat, candies, you name it. (I’ve got my eye on the Bacon Potato Chips** and this Alfajores Sampler Box.)** Foodzie has it all, and the greatest part is that all of the wonderful food is produced by small producers and growers. You won’t be browsing through any bulk-wrapped “made in China” goods, if you know what I mean.

I highly recommend checking out this online marketplace, if not for the mouthwatering foods, but for the lovely guides Foodzie creates to help educate about products. This month’s guide about tasting tea** is full of tidbits on how to better understand the world of teas. If you are a tea enthusiast, I highly recommend taking a look!

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