I gave up trying to find an acceptable foam play mat for Fergus and Sweet William. Many mats are made from EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), which is safer than PVC, but doesn’t guarantee that they are free of endocrine-disrupting phthalates. Some manufacturers will not say that their mats are PVC-free. Some mats are treated with [...]
Archive | April, 2012
Sweet William in The Big Easy
We arrived Sunday for an extended stay in New Orleans, my husband Willy’s hometown. The first thing we did was take Sweet William and Fergus to their first crawfish boil, hosted by Build Now, the nonprofit organization Willy founded to build new homes for people who lost theirs in Katrina. William devoured a pile of [...]
Mothers Challenge Tide
Have you followed this story about Tide Free & Gentle, a laundry detergent marketed to moms with babies? It contains the carcinogenic solvent 1,4 dioxane.
Boo Orajel
Sweet William is not excited about brushing his teeth, but we’ve been working harder at it lately, especially after that dismal report in the New York Times about toddlers with huge numbers of cavities. I bought William children’s toothpaste, of course, because it is free of fluoride and safer when he swallows it. I must [...]
Sckoon’s Earth Day Sale
The days are warming and Fergus has outgrown another round of baby clothes. Two good reasons for a little shopping. Sckoon has an Earth Day sale on its 100% organic clothing. Use coupon code sckoon439 to save 20%. Sckoon’s products are certified organic by Demeter or SKAL. The fabric, dyes, threads, and storage techniques meet [...]
Joining the Effort
We’ve recently seen how online advocacy leads to change — think of Pink Slime or BPA. What if we could get manufacturers to stop using cancer-causing chemicals in products like strollers and car seats? Take a few seconds to sign this petition to Graco telling its president that you oppose the use of flame retardants [...]
Toilet Paper
Sweet William decided he’s happy to play with toilet paper without unrolling it. I call that progress. Purchasing toilet paper that is whitened with hydrogen peroxide is a great way to vote against the use of chlorine bleach. Chlorine is a potent irritant to the eyes, the respiratory tract, and the lungs. It’s also extremely [...]
Fresh Air
It’s been warm in New York and we’ve had the windows open the last two nights. Soon I’ll have to dress the boys in the short sleeved versions of our favorite Hanna Andersson pajamas, which happen to be on sale now. I love the stripes and the soft, Oeko-Tex certified organic cotton. [...]
About Elizabeth
I'm a writer and the mother of William and Fergus. Before dedicating my work to children's environmental health, I earned an MA in Cultural Reporting and Criticism from New York University and was a photography editor at The New Yorker. My family is preparing to move to New Orleans, where my husband, an architect, is building us a non-toxic home.
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