Mother's Day Green Gift Guide for Eco-Minded Moms

Mother's Day is May 10th, and it's time to get our wheels turning about gifts mom will love and cherish. Click over to Inhabitots to see my Mother's Day Gift Guide for eco-savvy moms. If you have great, green gift ideas for Mother's Day, please share them with us in the comments section of this post!

Habitat Heroes: Environmental Website for Kids

HabitatHeroes.com recently launched on Earth Day. This site aims to inspire and educate kids about social and environmental issues affecting our planet. Through games and activities featured on the site, children may adopt an animal from an endangered species, and create a life for it through playing games and all the while learning facts about the planet. Paralleling the true to life circumstances of endangered animals, only a certain amount of children may select and personalize a specific animal avatar, such as the black rhinoceros. So, 3600 children may reflect the 3,600 black rhinos still in existence.

Young eco-warriors may socialize and make friends at the site's "Watering Hole" by communicating via chat boxes. HabitatHeroes.com was created by a mother and she wants all children to have a safe and worthwhile experience while online.

This site has a myriad of beneficial features for kids who are both curious and proactive about environmental change. I love that it teaches children through a medium they enjoy and connect easily with, so learning is both fun and makes a huge impact on a personal level. Go check out HabitatHeroes.com. Registration is free.

Love Letters

Portland Japanese Garden

We went to the Portland Japanese Garden last week and loved it. Olivia was elated to run down the paths to discover flowers, trees, sculptures, fishies and fountains. This was a beautiful, carefree way to spend a morning in nature.

Barley & Birch Clothing Evokes Happy Childhood Memories

I was born and raised in Arizona among the Saguaro cacti. I was a bit of a tomboy, and I had to navigate my way around our desert terrain while playing out and about, by avoiding and respecting these prickly giants, along with their shorter cousins the Jumping Chollas. When I saw Barley & Birch's Cactus Tee, my brain was flooded with nostalgia of childhood memories. What simpler times those were...

Anything that evokes a happy emotional response, such as the one I had while looking through the Barley & Birch collection, (hats, pants, onesies, tanks, lap tees, etc.) should be treasured. You'll find that their designs, ranging from the cactus shown here to their bold, vibrant Golden Gate Bridge tee and their gorgeous, feminine purple flowers tee, are pieces of art your tot may proudly wear.

Barley & Birch is a new organic clothing line for children that goes above and beyond green standards in the creation of their "planet saving" clothing. While their clothing is admirably made with the following attributes: 100% certified organic cotton, made sweatshop-free in the U.S.A., printed with water-based, toxin-free inks, they also ensure that every facet of their line is carbon neutral. They offset their carbon emissions, and they work with manufacturers and suppliers who are powered by solar energy.

Barley & Birch also improves the world by working with the environmentally conscious corporations listed here.

I think these clothes would make great, green gifts for savvy children who are blossoming into eco-minded planet savers. I like that they not only remind me of my past, they encourage us all to think of our future.

Raise the Bar: SkinnySkinny Organic Soap Set

I'm ending Raise the Bar week on Petite Planet with the suggestion of SkinnySkinny organic bar soaps, which come in an array of luscious scents such as organic lavender & eucalyptus with goat milk, and organic lemon and blood orange with oatmeal soap.

In addition to these soaps being fantastic in and of themselves, I love their packaging in a tree-less gift box, pictured below and described as follows:

This gift box is completely tree-less, sustainable and looks like a book. It is made from wild-grass and is made with Fair Labor practices. Each book-box is handmade and will make just about everything look great. The box comes in a very nice yellow-green color. We intentionally left these boxes free of any logos or branding, so it is easy to use this box as a gift box or as a hiding place for little trinkets.

The bars of soap are also wrapped in 100% recycled and reclaimed materials, I believe many are wrapped in actual pages from books. SkinnySkinny as a company is also 100% carbon neutral.

I hope I have convinced you, dear Petite Planet readers, to make the switch to raising the bar and ditching the bottled shower gels with my recommendations of fantastic bar soaps this week! Doing so is an easy resolution to make for Earth Week!

Filter For Good: A Green Meme for Earth Month

I've been tagged by Stefani at teensygreen for the FilterForGood meme. Here are the 5 ways I will Filter for Good for Earth Month and beyond...

1. Blog here on Petite Planet and on Inhabitots about green choices, eco-friendly design and ways to preserve the earth so that families may have resources for conscious living.

2. Make responsible purchases for Olivia and our family, from toys to clothing to household items, from companies who treat the earth and humanity well.

3. Continue to visit the library to borrow books instead of buying new books.

4. Shop til we drop at the gorgeous Portland Farmer's markets to support local farmers and buy responsibly grown produce.

5. Walk, run or skip as opposed to driving, at every opportunity.

Here are the rules for this meme:

If you’re tagged, post five things you plan to do for the environment this Earth Month on your blog. At the end of your list, tag five of your favorite blogs, and include a link back to this post using the hyperlinked text “FilterForGood Blog Meme Contest.” Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs, or on their Twitter accounts (using the hash tag #FFGBlogMeme). Also, be sure to include these rules at the bottom of your post.

*As an added bonus... at the end of Earth Month, FilterForGood will choose a few lucky bloggers who posted their five things to win some Brita gift packs to help you go green! Be sure you link back to the original meme post [http://www.filterforgood.com/blog/?p=1407] to enter the contest!

Here are the 5 people I am tagging:

Jennifer at Tree Hugging Family

Nicole at MomTrends

S + E at Fig + Sage

Allie at Allie's Answers

Jackie at Tiny Decor

Good luck!

Make Every Day, Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! I hope you and yours are out enjoying a planet loving activity or event. Here are eight ways to celebrate Earth Day today and everyday!

1) Save all of your greeting cards throughout the year, so you can donate them to St. Jude's Ranch, where kids recycle them into new cards.

2) Go green while saving yourself a load of money with these ten tips.

3) Wash your clothes in cold water to save energy.

4) Support your community and local farmers. Buy your organic fruits and veggies at your neighborhood farmer's market.

5) Stick your reusable tote bags in your trunk so you will always have them on hand for shopping excursions.

6) Use eco-friendly cleaning products to maintain the health of your home and the earth.

7) Pack lunches for work and school in non-toxic, reusable containers.

8) Subscribe to receive Petite Planet updates via email so you can read great green tips and news year round! (Subscription option is in right hand sidebar)

10 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day with Kids

Happy Earth Day! Please head over to Inhabitots to read my post, filled with ideas of how to celebrate Earth Day with your children!

Petite Planet Undergoing Renovations!

Hi Readers! Please forgive my changes in layout, colors and graphics during the next week or so, as I am making some changes and improvements to Petite Planet! Thanks for reading!

Raise the Bar: One With Nature Bar Soap

Need more convincing when it comes to trading in your shower gel for bar soap? One With Nature bar soap is far more economical than a pricey bottle of body wash. A giant bar of One With Nature bar soap costs only $3.79, and it lathers up so quickly and so well that it will last for many washings.

Made with all natural ingredients, One With Nature Dead Sea Mineral Soaps are 100% vegetable based, never tested on animals, wrapped in biodegradable packaging, triple milled, and infused with nourishing aloe, shea butter, pure essential oils and of course, Dead Sea minerals.

These soaps are manufactured a mere 20 miles from the Dead Sea. The collection features an extensive variety of scents ranging from Hemp Soap and Olive Oil Soap to Vanilla Oatmeal and Honey Almond Soaps. They have a clean, refreshing scent and they get super soapy, making it easy to suds up quickly from head to toe, thus decreasing shower time and saving water! I also love that the natural fragrance of whichever scent you happen to choose, remains in the bar even when it becomes the tiniest sliver.

One With Nature also boasts admirable earth conservation efforts. They have partnered with and donate money to Friends of the Earth Middle East to help reinvigorate the quickly diminishing Dead Sea.

One With Nature Bar Soaps are available at Whole Foods.

It's Raise the Bar Week on Petite Planet! First Up: Pangea Organics

This week, I'll be writing about my top choices of delectable bar soaps, in the hopes of converting readers from using shower gels, which come in plastic bottles... to using bar soaps, which contain earth-friendly packaging, and equate to little or no waste, making them a far greener option for lathering up.

I don't know when exactly the boom in popularity came about for shower gels, but their foamy suds and squishy loofah application have won them a place in many a shower stall. But since so many green thinkers are up for taking shorter showers in the quest to live a more eco-conscious lifestyle, why not do something even simpler and raise the bar? Here's my first pick of the week:

5 Reasons Why You Should Choose Pangea Organics bar soap.

1) Ditch the plastic bottles that house shower gels, and the loofah or sponge you use to apply them. The vast majority of shower gels contain toxic ingredients and foaming agents... and just think of the waste of plastic we could eliminate by switching from plastic bottles to bars of soap!

2) See the unassuming little box that contains a bar of Pangea Organics bar soap in the picture above? If you plant it, it grows into a Spruce Tree! Ingenious! Plant one now and decorate it next Christmas! (I'm pretty sure your shower gel's plastic bottle turns into nothing but landfill waste) Pangea suggests that if consumers buying the 90,000 bar soaps they sell this year, and plant the boxes their soaps come in, 90,000 trees will be planted.

3) Pangea as a company offsets 100% or their carbon emissions by planting trees on different continents. Their company philosophy is "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative." They practice what they preach.

4) All organic, natural, beneficial ingredients are good for your skin, your psyche, and the earth... don't forget the suds do go down the drain, so we must keep the planet in mind! Pangea's bodycare products start breaking down in 48 hours, while most conventional products take close to 200 years to break down!

5) With an array of divine scents meant to evoke good emotions, uplift the spirit, and cleanse the body as well as the mind, Pangea bar soaps turn every shower into a mini-spa vacation. And coming from someone whose only alone time is in the shower, I'll take all the serenity I can get!

*My favorite bar soap in the line is Oatmeal with Italian Bergamot. Runner up: Indian Green Tea with Mint and Rose Petals. Each make your entire bathroom smell divine... and you smell amazing after lathering up with them too.

Announcement: Healthy Child, Healthy World Now Available in Paperback

Healthy Child, Healthy World is now available in paperback. Pick up several copies for all of the moms and dads on your list... this book is the perfect Mother's or Father's Day gift- economical at $10.88, and priceless in content! Revisit my review of this book here.

Surf's Up: Healthy Child, Healthy World

I'm kicking off a new weekly feature on Petite Planet today, called "Surf's Up!" In these posts, I'll be linking to one or more articles I have found inspiring and useful from across the web. Today's post comes from Christopher Gavigan of Healthy Child, Healthy World. He is a true guru when it comes to securing our children's future via the betterment of both their home environment and the world at large.

Click here to read his post: "My Five," in which he lists the five most important things he thinks we can do to save the planet. I love that one of them is "being grateful."

I am always inspired by Christopher Gavigan, and if you haven't stumbled across his blog or website before, you're in for a real treat.

The Quintessential Earth Day Tee for Tots

It's no secret that I love Tiny Revolutionary. Their brand new organic Earth Day Tee bears one of my favorite proverbs: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." Dress your tot in this Tee on Earth Day and on many occasions after that, and she'll be a walking billboard, wise beyond her years.

I also love Tiny Revolutionary's organic Peace Tee seen below. You can watch the printing of the Peace Tee, using eco-inks, here.

Sick? Kids Sick? Stay Home!

Since we moved to Portland, we have spent at least one week of every month sick with a cold... and in speaking to other moms, this is the "norm" around here. I fully understand that due to winter weather, rain and close indoor proximities in play areas, areas in which kids congregate are literal Petri dishes...

However, I think these environments are exacerbated by inconsiderate parents who bring their kids, snot-nosed, coughing, and one leg dangling off a wheeling gurney, to storytimes and indoor activities. And not only that, last week, we had the misfortune of sitting next to an adult woman who was hacking up a lung and announced she was in the "middle" of an awful cold... she said this while sputtering all over young babies and toddlers in a tiny room at the back of a library. What is with people who know they themselves, or their kids are ill, but are happy to let you intermingle with them?

WHAT ARE PEOPLE THINKING? Or clearly, they are NOT thinking.

I will be as bold to say here, since no one has told these people otherwise: IF YOU OR YOUR KIDS ARE SICK, STAY HOME AND DON'T INFECT EVERYONE ELSE. I type this between wiping Olivia's nose from the second gallon of snot to run out of it today... and while trying to prevent my own nose from dripping all over the keyboard.

Preventing the spread of colds is eco-friendly too... no need to blow through tissues, meds, doctor's visits (gas), of which Olivia's last cold entailed us to go to the doctor 3 times in one week.

What's worse is that I stay home with Olivia if we have even the slightest tingle of an illness coming on, in order to protect the very same people who are happy to expose us to all of their health maladies.

Please send this post on to everyone you know. The common cold must have wiped out everyone's common sense.

10 Ways to Teach Your Family to Save Water

Take a moment to ponder the picture above. It really speaks to me, and to the fact that we take water for granted in our daily lives. Free flowing out of every faucet, shower head, hose and water fountain... always there at the turn of a nozzle. Yet there are people all over the world who don't have access to clean water to bathe in, or to drink.

I've written before about the mission of the Blue Planet Run Foundation. The issue of a water crises in our world bears repeating, and when Blue Planet Run contacted me again to help spread their message, writing about it here was the least I could do.

Here are 10 Ways to Teach Your Family to Save Water: (this list was provided to me by Blue Planet Run)

1) Take a shower instead of a bath and save 21 gallons of water.

2) Turn off the water when you brush your teeth and save 1.5 gallons each time.

3) If you wash dishes by hand, rinse them in a large bowl or sink instead of running the tap, and you'll save a whopping 15-25 gallons!

4) If you use a dishwasher, use the short cycle and save 8 gallons.

5) Running the dishwasher or clothes washing machine only when full will minimize both water and energy usage.

6) Buy a front-loading washing machine instead of a top-loading one and you'll use 24 gallons instead of 40 per load.

7) Challenge your family to take 5 minute showers and install an ultra-low-flow shower head.

8) Want to save another 20-30 gallons of water? Use the shower just to get wet and lather up, then again to rinse and you'll use just 5 gallons.

9) When shaving, use a bowl or the sink instead of running the tap and save 19 gallons of water.

10) Install a low-flow toilet and reduce the number of flushes. An alternative is to put a 1-gallon plastic jug of water in the toilet tank, which will reduce the amount of water used for flushing by 12 gallons per day.

Want to learn more? Visit blueplanetrun.org, register for their newsletter and get a free download of their book "Blue Planet Run: The Race to Provide Safe Drinking Water to the World."

Top 5 Green Tips for New Parents

I recently had the pleasure of working with Nicole, the Editor over at Momtrends. She asked me to provide my top five green tips for new parents. Stroll on over to Momtrends to read them here!

Easter Bunny? Make Mine Chocolate!

Last Easter season, I briefly wrote about the advice from The Humane Society to not purchase real bunnies for Easter via the Make Mine Chocolate campaign. I thought this topic was important enough to repeat this year, because while bunnies are sweet, cuddly and irresistibly cute, they are also pets that require a great deal of care and attention... same goes for every other pet! The Make Mine Chocolate campaign seeks to, "break the cycle of acquisition and relinquishment (of rabbits) by educating the public about the responsibilities involved in keeping a companion rabbit before a rabbit is brought home..."

Thinking of placing a real, furry rabbit in your tot's Easter basket? Check out this awesome "Interactive Bun" to learn all about what your bunny needs to be cared for properly, and whether bringing one into your household is the best decision.

If you make the educated decision to be a proud, responsible rabbit owner, I wish you nothing but "hoppiness." We'll be sticking to chocolate bunnies at our house this year!

This Egg Dyeing Kit is "Tie-Dye" For!

Hop on over to Inhabitots to see my write-up of the awesome, eco-friendly egg dyeing kit seen above. You use vintage ties to transfer patterns onto eggs! It's easy to make these clever, colorful, mini-masterpieces. I also love that this kit costs under $10. Eat your heart out Faberge!

Read More at Inhabitots

Cracking Up

I found this magnificent DIY tutorial on egg sprouts on ...all the little things. We'll all have plenty of eggs around the house this week for Easter purposes, and reusing egg shells to plant seeds and sprout blossoms is such a fun, ingenious project for parents and little ones. Enjoy!

Bunny Love

Easter is around the corner, and the bunnies are multiplying! Enjoy these handmade, eco-friendly bunny inspired finds from Etsy!

Millicent, an Old Fashioned Bunny

Little Bunny Shoe- Felted Merino Baby Mary Janes

Pink Chocolate Easter Bunny Sweater Pillow

Organic Cotton Baby Hat- White Chocolate Bunny

Loomstate Hits Target April 19th!

Mark your calendars! Loomstate is coming to Target on April 19th. As a work from home mom who is often muddied by a puddle loving toddler, I don't have the luxury or the desire to buy pricey threads. Target affords me some options of cute, inexpensive clothes, and I'm delighted to see Loomstate's new collection debut there this month. Loomstate's clothing is sustainably designed with 100% organic cotton. Typically, chic, green clothing is out of my price range, so it is thrilling to me that these threads will be available to mainstream consumers at Target prices. (The line ranges in price from $14.99-$44.99) That gray dress above has my name written all over it.

Read More at Inhabitat

Today is World Autism Awareness Day

1 in 150 children in the United States has Autism. That is a staggering statistic. In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, I am including some links in this post that are resources about a topic I believe should no longer be ignored, but put at the forefront of every parent's mind. Clearly, something we are subjecting our children to is causing a rise in Autism. Whether it be environmental toxins, administering too may vaccines at one time, or another yet to be determined factor. We must continue to ask questions and demand answers.

Surfers Healing

Autism Society of America

TACA: Talk About Curing Autism

Dr. Jay Gordon

Healthy Child, Healthy World

My Previous Related Posts on Petite Planet:

Another Shot in the Dark

Green Our Vaccines

Vaccines are Not One Size Fits All

Dr. Think Outside the Box

April Showers Reminder: Kamik Rainboots

We're pretty much pros by now when it comes to rainfall. Portland sure has its share of rainy days. As April rolls in, I am spotting tons of online and magazine editorial geared toward rain boots, commemorating "April showers." It's unsettling though, to see that these boots are not made from sustainable materials, and are not easily recyclable. So, I wanted to give a reminder about Kamik rain boots for kids. They've just released their 2009 summer collection, and all of their boots are free of PVC and other toxins... and they're recyclable too! Please re-read my post on these eco-friendly rain boots and make them your top choice... after all, April is Earth month too!