Yes, I know this is the Green Baby Guide, but I hope you will allow me to indulge in just one or two more back-to-school posts as we approach kindergarten. Last week I wrote about BPA-free lunch boxes, and now I’m left wondering what to pack inside them. What are some nutritious, packable foods that don’t come with a lot of packaging waste? Those of you with experience packing lunch for a picky kid, please chime in!


Stay tuned tomorrow for more school and daycare lunch ideas from Joy!

My beloved and beleaguered sister has spent over four weeks battling a lice infestation in her home. That means for the last thirty days she’s had to launder all bedding, spray down mattresses, and vacuum thoroughly… Every. Single. Day. Not only has it been incredibly time intensive, she’s invested hundreds of dollars in treatments that haven’t worked.

How is this possible? Apparently new strains of lice can quickly evolve to become resistant to toxic treatments–making natural alternatives even more appealing.

While she tried natural remedies such as Listerine, olive oil, vinegar, and many others, she’s finally found a product that has wiped out the infestation without hurting her young children’s skin.

A scientist developed ClearLice using a natural enzyme that lice excrete during molting, so they can’t develop a resistance to it and it’s very safe and comfortable for use on infants and small children. It’s a bit pricey at nearly $30 for a bottle of Clearlice shampoo or about $100 for a complete Clearlice family treatment kit, but since many other shampoos and treatments have to be used multiple times, it seems worth the investment to wipe it out in one attempt. (For the record, I’m not being paid to recommend this product. I’m just very thankful that my sister finally found something that works!)

There’s also a Clearlice Head Conditioner and Repellant, which I would consider using a few times a week once my children are back in school and daycare. (Often children with lice infestation are excluded from school for several days to ensure they are lice free. That’s a long time for families to take off work to de-louse every inch of their homes!)

Tea Tree oil is also supposed to be a natural lice repellant, and Trader Joe’s has some Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo for just $3.99 a bottle while Babo Botanicals also makes a Rosemary Tea Tree Lice Repel Shampoo that comes in at $15.99. We do use Tea Tree Oil shampoo with our kids, but careful rinsing is required as it stings quite badly in their eyes.

I hope your baby never, ever gets head lice. But if he or she does, it will be nice to know that there’s a product that won’t harm the planet or your baby, while quickly zapping the lice colonies nesting on their delicate little heads.

This is a quick drive-by post to recommend Twist biodegradable sponges. I picked up the Twist loofah scrubby on a whim at Whole Foods and used it until it fell apart after about eight months. (I realize this may sound extremely gross to some people . . . but it dried out completely between dish-washings and never seemed to smell or look bad.) When I was done, I put it into my compost bin. I recommend it!

I see Twist makes other biodegradable sponges and rags, too. Check them out!

Twist European Sponge Cloths

Twist Naked Sponge

Twist dish dumpling scrub pad

Twist natural kit

Twist naked kit

Have you ever longed for a personalized shopping assistant? Someone who can brief you on which products are best so that you can make quick decisions before the baby wakes up/your children start flinging legos at each other/the casserole burns in the oven? What if that assistant (let’s call her Betty) could also help you select goods that dovetail with your values, leaving you with a green afterglow following 15 minutes of online shopping?

She’s here! She’s free! She’s not actually human, but she’s more thorough than any person could ever be.

The Good Guide’s Transparency Toolbar (you may still call it Betty if you like) provides you with detailed product information for online shopping. You’ll be able to quickly bypass green claims, using the Transparency Toolbar’s data to choose items that are non-toxic, eco-friendly, and socially responsible.

So how do you use the Transparency Toolbar anyway? Simply install it as a web browser extension and it will pop up only while you are shopping online. You customize what date is important to you out of fourteen different categories including climate change, controversial ingredients, energy efficiency, organic, and nutritious. The Transparency Toolbar will then rate the product you’re viewing according to the criteria you’ve selected, as well as listing similar products that might meet your needs more completely. Isn’t Betty incredibly resourceful for being free?

To quickly get a sense of how the Transparency Toolbar works, simply invest four minutes of your life viewing Good Guide’s Transparency Toolbar Video . It walks you through how to download the application and use it while shopping—showing you just how empowering it is for consumers.

For those of you who are currently gearing up for a new baby, the Transparency Toolbar can help you quickly decide which baby products you’d like to purchase or register for without having to spend hours researching companies or possible toxins.

Now honestly, I don’t do a lot of shopping online, but I’m thrilled to know that Good Guide’s Transparency Toolbar will soon be available as a mobile app! Imagine rolling through the grocery store and being able to challenge a label’s green claims on the spot with Betty’s capable assistance!

We love The Good Guide, not just because it’s so consumer-friendly, but because one of its authors, Josh Dorfman, is a green hero of ours. He wrote The Lazy Environmentalist and also penned the forward to our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. In his television series on the Sundance Channel and his SiriusXM Radio show, he embraces the “progress not perfection” spirit that we promote in all our green endeavors. In addition to all those accolades, he’s currently in the trenches of early green parenthood.

So thanks to Josh Dorfman and his colleagues for The Good Guide’s Transparency Toolbar! It isn’t just about keeping our families safe and helping the environment. It’s about holding companies to a higher standard. Because The Good Guide makes information so easily accessible, companies are bound to start watching their ratings and realize that consumers are choosing products with superior records. If each of our dollars is a vote, then the Transparency Toolbar is the key to electing better businesses!

You may have noticed the little Baby Eco Trends ad in our sidebar. If you visit Babyecotrends.com, you’ll find hundreds of eco-friendly products for your baby. If I had an unlimited budget (and a baby), I’d get the Oops crib made from reclaimed wood.

One great thing about ordering a crib–and other baby furniture–from the Baby Eco Trends site is that they explain the origins of the products, materials used, labor practices, packaging materials–everything you need to know to make your decision.

In addition to furniture, the site carries unique wooden toys, including toy kitchens and art supplies. Find an eco-friendly rocking chair or glider, organic mattresses and bedding, and even nursery art.

We’re pleased to have Baby Eco Trends as one of our sponsors on the Green Baby Guide. If you love their eco-friendly products as much as we do (and you actually have a baby to spoil, unlike me!), start a baby registry!

One week. That’s the last bit of my summer before I start cracking open teacher guides and scrawling out lesson plans.

I was going to make homemade jam from the hundreds of pounds of berries I was planning on picking.

I was going to read three novels in Spanish, develop abdominal muscles, and swim in a cold lake on a summer day.

I was going to camp in a yurt, make a pinata with the kids, and call my college friends.

And all we did was move. We packed, tossed, gave away, and lifted everything we own. Now our garage is littered with boxes and random tools. I still can’t find the hole puncher.

But the view out this window is lovely. The hydrangeas are in bloom and we did manage a few picnics on our new deck. We went swimming at sunset today in the local pool and we picked a handful of blueberries in the backyard. I’ve watched one telenovela and studied a dozen Spanish verbs.

And that will have to do. Because expectations aren’t always our friends–especially when we’re raising small children. If we get caught up in what we could be doing, we forget about that magical thing happening right in front of our eyes. And who’s to say that my kids’ random dragonfly sighting in our backyard isn’t more exotic than any expectation on my list this summer?

Maybe our work as eco-conscious parents is to remember that the “progress, not perfection” mantra we use in The Eco-nomical Baby Guide is about more than just the planet. It’s about our ability to sustain ourselves as parents, partners, and friends during this crazy-wonderful era of our lives. I shall also try to remember that this phase of parenting will fly by before I even have time to realize it’s gone.

And my expectations for sleep, order, and homemade jam will have to be downgraded considerably. (Can you really buy “homemade” jam? The company above is based close to our home. I may have to settle for something made in my region instead of something in my kitchen…)

Have you lived your summer dreams this year? Have you also found that you must shift your goals dramatically to accommodate a family lifestyle?

I can hardly believe that my little “green baby” will be entering kindergarten in a month! I thought I’d take a quick break from the cloth diapers and homemade baby food and talk about the latest in eco-friendly lunch boxes. While many of the options below are made from plastic, they are all BPA-free. I’m going to strive for waste-free school lunches, which means I’m looking for reusable containers to avoid buying juice boxes, individual tubs of applesauce, and other products with disposable packaging.

Now, Audrey is lucky enough to have a grandmother who bought her a Crocodile Creek Pocket Lunchbox ($13.66). These lunch boxes come in several adorable designs; my future kindergartner chose the princess.

Her lunchbox does not come with containers inside, but I’m thinking of getting the EasyLunchboxes 3-compartment Bento Lunch Box Containers. A set of four costs $13.95. I like that there are fewer pieces than other bento sets. This should make things easier for Audrey and for us.

LunchSkins Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags Set ($25) look like a good choice if you want to avoid buying disposable sandwich bags.

The Kids Konserve Go Wild Waste-Free Lunch Kit costs $38.07, but it does come with everything your child could possibly need in a lunch set!

I know that Laptop Lunches Bento Kits are very popular here in Portland. The outer lunch box comes in different patterns, and the inner bento sets are available in a variety of colors. The components of the kit are often separately, or for $40.00 you could get a complete kit with a recipe book.

This Collapsible Lunchbox ($20.00) looks like a novel invention!

Finally, the Eco Lunch Box three-in-one set ($20.95) is your choice if you’re looking for a stainless steel lunch box. Once upon a time I looked all over the place for a stainless steel bento box, and I ended up getting something very similar to this. It’s a great option if you’re opposed to all plastics.

We’ve yet to try out our lunch box system, so I can’t give it a personal endorsement. If you have experience with any of these products–or if we’ve left out a great lunch box–let us know in the comments!

We welcomed herds of relatives all weekend for reunions in our new home. The next day we found out that one of my cousins had gotten lice. A few days later we heard that five other family members were carrying little colonies on their heads as well. Yuck!

That was eight days ago. Since we found out late last week, we’ve neurotically done head checks every day–and luckily, we haven’t contracted it. Yet. We’ve lathered up with tea tree oil shampoo, sprayed our furniture with tea tree oil and water, and sat under shower caps while our hair was saturated with Lysterine and vinegar. (Tea tree oil is supposedly a natural deterrent for lice. Let’s hope it’s working!) In the meantime we’ve been crawling with paranoia about every little tingle on our scalps.

The above picture captures just how alluring I felt with my shower cap on and minty-pickle scented Lysterine/vinegar mixed on my head.

Although the Lysterine and vinegar remedy is somewhat homemade, it still smelled utterly toxic. I’ve also read you can sleep with your head saturated in mayonnaise or olive oil, with a shower cap on top so that the bugs actually suffocate. Still, the thought of trying to sleep with my head saturating in mayonnaise made me feel nauseous–maybe even more nauseous than the idea of a head lice infestation!

Instead I prophylactically treated me and the kids with LiceMD. It’s pesticide free, odorless, kills lice and nits, and works in just ten minutes. (And because it’s non-toxic, you can reapply it as many times as you like.) It also comes with a nit comb which helped convince me to shell out a whopping ten bucks on the purchase. I wanted real evidence if I did have lice, and the ability to individually comb every hair on my head if I didn’t.

I don’t! Yahoo! One four ounce bottle was enough for my medium length hair and my son and daughter’s little heads as well. Does it work? I’ll tell you in a few more days if we’re still lice-free!

What else did we do to limit the family reunion lice epidemic? We put all bedding in sealed plastic bags for two weeks or threw it into the dryer for at least 20 minutes on high heat. We vacuumed throughly and deposited the contents directly into the trash. The room where my poor relatives passed it to each other is off limits to the kids, although I’m typing this post from there at this very moment. Ew….

Have you encountered lice in your family? What remedies did you try? Did you also feel just a little more grossed out about it than you logically should? (Why is there a weird stigma about something that affects all people equally? ) Did you know that lice are especially attracted to clean hair?

I must have heard this toy organization tip a hundred times. We even wrote about it in our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. To keep toys fresh and interesting for your child, simply box up a nice selection of games, books, and dolls and forget about it for a month or two. When the box reappears, your child will delight in all the “new” stuff, and you’ll rotate out some other playthings.

Not really Audrey’s room. She was asleep while I posted this and I couldn’t go in to snap a picture!

This always sounded like a great idea—I just never did it. Recently, however, I decided to simplify my daughter’s room. I always thought we had fewer toys than average, yet somehow keeping her room organized had become a major ordeal. Her room was a mess. Now, I’m lucky enough to have a lot of storage space in my partially finished attic, and I cleared out an entire closet. I then stashed all of these toys and books away.

All of her toy kitchen supplies, toy food, baby books, vintage Little People, and tiny little dolls with rubber clothes are in there. Her room looks positively Spartan, with its piles of library books, a dresser drawer of art supplies, and a few beloved dolls.

But the crazy thing is this: I did this a couple weeks ago, and my daughter has not noticed! I deliberately moved them into this closet to make them accessible to her, thinking she could take one thing down to play with, but she has yet to ask for any of it.

Audrey’s impressive collection of wooden food is no longer strewn throughout the entire house.

I want my daughter to care about her possessions and use them—but I also understand that if she has too much, none of it is valuable to her. (I’d like to note that I have bought her only a few toys in her life. She acquires 98% of her things through hand-me-downs and gifts.) How do you deal with the piles or toys threatening to overtake your child’s room? Have you tried the toy rotation system? What has worked—or not—for you?

Do you really need a whole slew of products to successfully breastfeed your baby? Absolutely not! But what items are a good support to breastfeeding women?

Some moms and babies gracefully make it through the first few months of breastfeeding without a hitch, but many of us suffer from cracked skin and even bleeding in the early weeks. The purple tube of Lansinoh Lanolin that my midwife brought on her first visit was a huge help. Between feedings it eased sore skin and I didn’t worry about my baby consuming it since it’s an all natural product. (I suppose if you have wool allergies in your family you may want to consider an alternative.) You can also later use it as a diaper cream for baby or an ointment for cuts or abrasions.

Many women swear by their Boppy Pillows, but I can honestly say that I didn’t use mine all that often. I wadded up nearby bedding or couch pillows most of the time. Later on my son loved sitting up in his Boppy, but it wasn’t an essential piece of breastfeeding gear for me.

When me sister-in-law gave me a Hooter Hider, I thought it was an extravagance I didn’t really need. It ended up being one of my favorite pieces of gear! For early breastfeeding, the Hooter Hider had a wire in the top that arced out from my chest, allowing me to see well enough to get her latched on without feeling so stressed out that my milk wouldn’t come down. It was especially handy when my eight-month-old started pulling every single blanket off while nursing in public.

Since I worked with both of my babies, our breast pump was an essential piece of gear that served me well. I borrowed a Medela Pump from relatives, but would have bought a Hygeia Pump if I didn’t have that option.

I bought just a few Born Free glass bottles for my babies, but they each had their own opinions about which nipples they liked best. In the end, they both drank from BPA-free plastic baby bottles simply because they refused all other brands. In the end I spent a tremendous amount of money on bottles they never used!

When my milk supply suddenly plummeted during stressful transitions to work with both babies, I depended on Fenugreek to help get my production back up. The very nice side effect is that I smelled slightly like maple syrup for weeks!

What are your favorite pieces of breastfeeding gear? Have we missed something that hadn’t even been invented a few years ago? Thanks for sharing your comments with other breastfeeding moms!