Perhaps your tot delicately handles a spoon and carefully feeds herself without incident.  More likely, she flings food upon herself, onlookers, and any furniture in the surrounding area.

Between the feedings, the occasional blowouts, and playtime, stains can creep into clothing on a daily basis.  Often in the hectic pace of laundry, those garments get washed and dried, setting the stains and ruining the clothes.  Ugh! The angst of seeing that large brown blotch on your baby’s favorite sundress or the huge grass stains on his beloved khaki shorts.

So how can you prevent such a fate from befalling your baby’s wardrobe?  Line dry her clothing!  It will also prevent shrinking, save you money on utilities, and lower your carbon footprint.

In addition, be sure to keep a stain pre-treater right next to the laundry basket.  There are wonderful green options such as Bi-O-Kleen’s Bac-Out, a Stain and Odor Eliminator—which also happens to be great as a cleaning booster for laundering diapers.  Ecover Stain Remover is an easy option as is Nature’s Miracle Stain Remover.

Of course, there are several natural ways to get stains out of clothes once they seem to be set in.  Stay tuned for some great homemade remedies in the next post!

If–due to some natural disaster or some sort of post-apocalyptic situation–I’m ever forced to live off the land, I’m not sure I’d survive. Sure, I’ve messed around with gardening. Last year I had a bumper crop of tomatoes! But can a family of three survive on tomatoes alone? Probably not.

What about you? Do you grow your own food? Do you dream of growing all your own food?

I’ve never lived somewhere with air conditioning. That’s not exactly eco-boasting, as I’ve also never lived somewhere with unbearable humidity. Here in Portland, the thermostat soars past 100 degrees almost every summer, but I’m able to keep things cool—or at least stave off heat stroke—using some passive cooling techniques. Last summer my indoor temperatures reached 93 degrees, which was a bit uncomfortable, but I lived to tell about it. The worst part was having to stay indoors, as it was hotter outside than in!

This summer on the east coast, they’ve been suffering through record-breaking highs. This NY Times article highlights some of the ways city folk have battled the heat wave—such as wearing “dirt-colored clothing” to avoid doing laundry in a sweltering basement.

If you don’t have air conditioning, the planet thanks you. But how are you coping without the canned air? And how do you keep baby cool when even the nights don’t bring in a cool breeze? Here are our not-very-original tips for keeping baby cool in the hot sun. What are yours?

Interest rates are great, house prices are low, and the market is packed with great deals. So how can you find a cost-friendly, eco-friendly home without breaking the bank?

Consider purchasing a home with an attached apartment. I know this may not seem green or cost effective, but it is both!

If you keep your square footage relatively low, the attached apartment will improve the urban density in your home. A huge portion of your carbon footprint is just the square footage you occupy in your living space. Here’s an example: Our home is about 1,000 square feet with an additional 300+ square feet in a studio apartment. Since we add another person to our living space with that apartment, each of the five people living on the property occupies less than three hundred square feet apiece. That’s not bad considering that the average family of four lives in a home over 2,000 square feet.

In addition, the apartment rental price generates more than half of our monthly mortgage payment. In fact, we have never in all of our lives, paid so little for housing, even during our years in a tiny five hundred square foot university apartment.

We also get tax benefits which help us write off the depreciation of the rental unit, making the rental income come with a very small tax burden.

Does this sound super fantastic, but a little scary when you think about becoming a landlord? The great news is that several communities have a rental owner association that can help get you started with forms and workshops. It’s really quite worth the trouble.

In our case, we remodeled a very strange three hundred square foot addition that wasn’t complete when we moved in. In the last six years the apartment has paid back all the remodeling costs and now generates income. Between tenants we sometimes keep the rental open in the summer to use as a guest house for visiting family members.

Another thing to think about is that as our fixed mortgage eventually gets paid off, rents can keep going up. Theoretically we could stay in our house until we pay off the mortgage, and then charge whatever the going rental rates are. In 20 years we would be making money instead of spending money on living expenses.  So even though our house is very small and we all share one bathroom, I am grateful that it is so very eco-nomical!

One money-saving eco-tip I hear over and over again is grow your own food. Ever since I had a plot of land to call my own, I’ve tended a small veggie patch. Some summers my gardens flop, sometimes they take over the back yard—but even on my Year of Abundant Tomatoes, I doubt my homegrown efforts offset my expenses.

Last year’s tomatoes

Now, the good thing is, I am not doing it purely for economic reasons: I enjoy gardening as a hobby, and I like to dart outside to pull a scallion out of the ground or pluck a few basil leaves to garnish that tender homegrown zucchini. And of course it’s great knowing exactly where my food comes from.

So let’s take a look at my last two summers of gardening. Last year I spent over $200 on gardening supplies because we decided to make raised beds and fill them with new four-way soil. I also bought some soaker hoses, seeds, and starts. All of that yielded a great crop of tomatoes and basil—I’d estimate about $40-60 dollars’ worth. The carrots and lettuce flopped.

This year I needed to lay down a lot less cash, but I still spent about $40 on various plant starts, some of which were immediately devoured by slugs. We had a really rainy spring and I didn’t even attempt planting anything from seed. And now it’s August and—due the aforementioned rainy spring and consistent cool temperatures—I’ve yet to harvest a thing!

I know Joy is an expert in acquiring free gardening supplies, which would be a great start to making gardening pay off. Do you feel like you not only break even but actually save money with your gardening efforts? What are the secrets to your success?

It’s official.  We’re done procreating around here.  Sad, but also relieved to be moving into a more sleep-filled future, we rounded up the baby gear (which was all handed down to us or purchased used) and gave it to a pregnant friend.

And here’s the bonus—my friend had read our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, and heeded its wisdom completely!  She and her husband have made it known that they’re open to all used gear and have been loaded up with hand me downs from family and friends.

Their nursery is almost complete and the only thing they have bought thus far is the paint.  The crib, the dresser, cloth diapers, changing table, car seat, clothes and much more have all been given to them.  When they shared what they read in the book about buying used instead of spending thousands on baby’s first year alone, they became heroes in their social circles.  Baby rearing families all proclaimed that they wished they would have bought less paraphernalia and acquired more of it used.

Yahoo!  I do wish all newly pregnant families could read The Eco-nomical Baby Guide just to consider it before the baby buying pressure reaches its full potential.  We gave a book to a friend when she was five months pregnant.  She thanked us profusely a week later, but also bemoaned the fact that she had bought so much already and now regrets it.  No worries!  I just hope she kept the receipts!

How are we spending all that baby money we saved now?  I’m staying home this year with our kids, we’re sending our son to preschool, and we’re going on trips to build relationships with family.  That’s so much more valuable to us than piles of new plastic stuff! (And far more earth friendly).  How are you using the money you’ve saved on baby gear?  How are you helping to get the world out to pregnant friends about buying less, buying used, and buying green?

The title pretty much says it all: What do you wish you’d known about cloth diapers before you tried them yourself? My main concern? What size Chinese prefolds to get! I felt sure it was possible to buy three dozen of just one size and stick with them from birth through potty training. I ended up getting the regular size with green stitching, and they did work until my daughter was out of diapers.

What were your concerns? (Or if you don’t have a baby yet, what are you wondering about?)

This post is a part of the illuminating “Why don’t you” series. No judgment! We’re just curious.

Back in the early days of the Green Baby Guide, I wrote a whole post about living without paper towels—even if you have a baby to clean up after. Really, I just can’t see paying money when there is a free alternative: rags. This is why I don’t buy paper napkins, either. They really add almost nothing to a load of laundry, so I don’t count the water and energy used to wash them.

If you use them, try recycled paper towels!

However, I know many eco-conscious people do use paper towels. If they’re made from recycled materials and home composted, they don’t do much damage at all. But still . . . why don’t you give up paper towels?

Many of you are schlepping your babes around this summer in nearly unbearable heat and humidity.  I am humbled and amazed by your braveness!  During our trip to Maryland, we all sort of stumbled from one ice cream stand to the next, swimming through the thick air in between.  I marveled at the women who were wearing babies and voluntarily walking outside during the day.

Most of the parks and sidewalks were totally empty as desperate herds of people flocked to the vast sanctuary of air conditioning called “the mall.”  I imagine it would be tough just using your Maya Wrap or an Ergo Carrier indoors all summer, but I bet some of you brave families manage to wear baby despite the heat.

Do high temperatures get in the way of baby wearing for you in the summer?  Are you lucky enough to live in Oregon or Alaska?  (I shall never again complain about the weather here after visiting the East Coast in late July!)  Have you found any cooler baby wearing devices?  Or do you just settle baby into the stroller?

Of course, in many hot climates in Asia, Latin America and Africa, baby wearing has been the rage for hundreds of years, so perhaps we should just buck up and strap baby onto our backs!

It started as a wholesome, organic, whole grain finger food for my baby. (I blogged about it here. We even sing the praises of puffs in The Eco-nomical Baby Guide!) I would sometimes eat a puff or two. Or three. Or a whole bowl full. Or multiple bowls full. After a few months, I had to admit I had a problem. I thought about puffs constantly. I panicked if I started to run low.  Soon I was going though four bags a week.

Rice puffs are the perfect finger food for a baby. My particular weakness, however, were the kamut puffs!

After three years of constant “puffing,” I finally cut back. No, I did not quit cold turkey; I was not strong enough for that. First I went four days without puffing—not once! That was a big step for me—one I was not willing to make for three years. I decided to go on a “healthy eating” kick and that involved more protein, fewer carbs. After the initial withdrawal period, I found myself better able to control my puff urges. Now I’m down to one—okay, or maybe two—small bowls a day.

So do I still recommend Nature’s Path Organic Puff cereals as a finger food? Yes, with reservations. Just learn from my mistakes so you don’t find yourself battling the urge to eat puff after delicious puff.