As a thrifty, green soul, Shift Your Habit by Elizabeth Rogers seems written just for me. How do I love it? Let me count the ways:

1. It’s infinitely practical. The tips are focused on tiny lifestyle changes that save money and the environment. Each shift is listed along with cost savings, extra positives, and planetary benefits.
2. It’s road tested. Elizabeth Rogers, who also coauthored “the green book” asked dozens of families from across the nation to participate in the shifts. Some were excited about going green, and some just wanted to save money. Everyone benefited from the changes and those stories are featured throughout the book.
3. It’s just a list. For those of us functioning on limited sleep and less time, the book really is just a bulleted list with subtitles. It’s easy to get something out of it just by reading for five minutes.
4. It includes baby. Of course, as authors of The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, we absolutely believe that going green with baby should save you money. Rogers writes about the positives of cloth diapering, making homemade baby food and much more. If you want a brief intro about how to go green with baby, this is a great place to start.
5. It inspires me. We all suffer green fatigue when we take on too much, too soon. This book focuses on so many small, easy changes that suddenly saving money and the planet seems rather simple. It’s a great place to start reducing your impact or to find simple ways to go a bit further.

Here’s a sample tip from the book:

• The SHIFT: Buy motion-sensor outdoor security or porch lighting instead of non-sensor lighting that runs throughout the night.
• Save $$: Up to $160 on electricity bills per year.
• Save the Planet: Conserve 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
• Good for You: Deters trespassers!

Doesn’t that sound easy!  And that’s the format that most of the book takes––although it’s also sprinkled with intermittent stories of volunteer “shifting” families.  A great and incredibly easy read!

If money is feeling a bit tight, we recommend requesting this little gem at your local library and putting a reserve on it so that you’ll be the first one to check it out. (You can do the same with our book too!) Have you read Shift Your Habit or heard of it? It’s a one to add to your reading list!

We’re ending our series of giveaways with a bang!  You could win a Naturepedic No-Compromise Organic Cotton crib mattress in this week’s giveaway.  That’s a $359 value!  You’ll also get a copy of our new book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet.  (Although it’s far less expensive, we think you’ll find it just as helpful.)

Since most mainstream crib mattresses contain vinyl and polyurethane foam which off-gas some nasty chemicals, buying organic is a comforting option.  Naturepedic’s No Compromise Organic Cotton crib mattress has a waterproof surface and is certified to meet GREENGUARD’s high standards for child safety.  The mattress also happens to be hypoallergenic and  is covered with a non-toxic fire protection system. How reassuring to lay your sleeping babe down on this gem and know that she’s safe and comfortable!

This is our very last in the series of large giveaways, and we hope that you are our winner.  See below to find out all the ways you can enter!

Nine Ways to Enter the Giveaway

How do you enter?  Guess what?  You can enter more than once! Each way listed below gets you one entry.  All comments have to be posted BEFORE Tuesday the 18th of April to win.

Remember, leave a separate comment on this post for each entry you want.  If applicable, please leave the link to your Facebook/Twitter/Blog in the comment you leave here.

1. Leave us a comment on this post.
2. Visit Naturepedic’s web site and then post a comment telling us what caught your eye!
3. Email a friend about this giveaway.
4. Join our Facebook fan club
5. Link to this giveaway post on Facebook or Twitter–tell all your friends to stop by!
6. Link to this post on your blog!
7. Add The Eco-nomical Baby Guide to your “to read” shelf on Goodreads
8. Go read our post on Five Ways to Score a Free Copy of  The Eco-nomical Baby Guide and leave a comment there if you’d like to review our book on your blog.  (Make sure to read the post for more details!) Leave a comment here as well to make sure we can keep track of your entries.
9. Does your library have copies of the Eco-nomical Baby Guide? If not, request a purchase! (Then come back and post your comment to let us know!)

***The contest ends on Monday, April 19th, 2010***

Winner will be randomly selected.

We will notify the winner via email and will get you in touch with these companies who will ship your products directly to you. Please Note: This contest is open only to U.S. readers.

Have fun everyone!

Win all of this homemade baby gear from talented crafters!

We’re no strangers to the homemade delights for sale at Etsy. Back in 2008 we highlighted several Etsy shops specializing in eco-friendly baby goods. In The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, we point out that supporting crafters on Etsy is eco-friendlier than buying factory-made junk that’s logged miles all over the world. We love the Etsy vendors who are offering all these products that one lucky winner will win this week:

1 copy of our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. Not only do you get some wonderful handcrafted gifts from Etsy, you get our book! What a deal!

1 hooded towel of your choice from New England Gift Company. These towels are soft, luxurious, and trimmed in patterned ribbons. The New England Gift company also makes booties, quilts, and blankets for baby.

1 blanket and burp cloth set from Organic Quilt Company in the Eyes of the World pattern. Made from soft organic cotton, this set is sustainable as well as beautiful. The Organic Quilt Co. also makes hats, bibs, and more!

1 Elephant Eco Softie from Maidenlove. Maidenlove makes sustainable art, mobiles, toys, and more. Join their Facebook Fan page and get 10% your orders.

1 Lil Lark Maple Wood Teething Toy from Little Alouette. They make beautiful, organic, handmade wooden toys for baby!

1 “Laundry Day in Venice” print from G. Kelley Images. Adorn the nursery or the laundry room with this cheery 8×10 print on Hahnemuhle archival paper. As a new mother, you’ll appreciate the work (oh, and love!) that goes into laundering all these clothes!

Nine Ways to Enter the Giveaway

How do you enter?  Guess what?  You can enter more than once! Each way listed below gets you one entry.  All comments have to be posted BEFORE Tuesday the 5th of April to win.

Remember, leave a separate comment on this post for each entry you want.  If applicable, please leave the link to your Facebook/Twitter/Blog in the comment you leave here.

1. Leave us a comment on this post.
2. Visit the Etsy shops featured in this giveaway, then post a comment telling us what caught your eye!
3. Email a friend about this giveaway.
4. Join our Facebook fan club
5. Link to this giveaway post on Facebook or Twitter–tell all your friends to stop by!
6. Link to this post on your blog!
7. Add The Eco-nomical Baby Guide to your “to read” shelf on Goodreads
8. Go read our post on Five Ways to Score a Free Copy of  The Eco-nomical Baby Guide and leave a comment there if you’d like to review our book on your blog.  (Make sure to read the post for more details!) Leave a comment here as well to make sure we can keep track of your entries.
9. Does your library have copies of the Eco-nomical Baby Guide? If not, request a purchase! (Then come back and post your comment to let us know!)

***The contest ends on Sunday, April 4, 2010***

Winner will be randomly selected.

We will notify the winner via email and will get you in touch with these companies who will ship your products directly to you. Please Note: This contest is open only to U.S. readers.

Have fun everyone!

This post is a part of Works for Me Wednesday. Homemade baby gear from Etsy works for us! For more Works for Me Wednesday Wednesday tips, head on over to We are THAT Family.

Monday is the last day to enter the Great Green Giveaway!

I don’t buy books. This may seem like an odd confession for a former English major, current English instructor, and newly-published author. However, I do support the authors I admire and literacy in general by frequenting my library! According to my reading history at the Multnomah County Library, I’ve checked out 402 items since 2008!

So if you want to read our new book but don’t want to spend the cash, check it out at the library. But what if your library does not carry our delightful, informative masterpiece? Most libraries let you suggest purchases online. Just go to your library’s website and fill out the provided form. (And if you can’t find it online, ask a librarian.) You’ll probably need the following information:

Title: Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang
Copyright: 2010
ISBN: 1584798319
Price: $19.95
Description: A non-fiction guide for parents to save money and the planet while gearing up for a new baby. Tips include how to use cloth diapers, make homemade baby food, and find safe secondhand equipment.

If all of our readers suggested The Eco-nomical Baby Guide to their libraries, parents all over the country could get their hands on our book . . . for free!

So, we’re just wondering . . . does your library carry The Eco-nomical Baby Guide?

Were you worried about environmental toxins lurking in the Lysol, baby’s dirty diapers filing local landfills, or blinking plastic toys threatening to take over your household?  Were you motivated by family and friends or did they challenge your attempts to be an eco-conscious parent?

We’re very interested in what makes expectant families go green because the lure of mainstream baby rearing with its hoards of innovative gadgets and convenient products can be hard to evade when you’re nervous about the transition to parenthood.  When did you decide that you’d like to be a conscientious consumer or even less of a consumer?

When we were both pregnant at the same time, Rebecca and I typed flurries of frantic emails to each other trying to figure out how to use cloth diapers and make our own baby food.  Everyone else thought our cutting edge environmental parenting was a bit kooky, but with the support of each other (a two person green parenting community that has now been joined by all of you!) we took the plunge.  It was far less adventurous and much more fun that we ever expected to be eco-friendly parents.

What is your motivation? Do you face resistance or enjoy support? Please share so that other new parents can be a part of the online green community! (And remember that our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet, is packed with everything we have learned in our journey as green moms!)

All-in-one diapers? Pocket diapers? Chinese prefolds?  Even if  you desperately want to cloth diaper your child, the vocabulary challenges our earnest efforts.  How do all these “diapering systems” work?  Is it worth choosing just one?  How do you launder them and what about the smell?

Fear not!  Our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet, features detailed, easy-to-read information on cloth diapering your child that even slackers like ourselves can manage.  We’ll highlight what you’ll find inside by sharing our favorite tips today:

1. Money saving tip: Don’t stock up on every size you think you’ll need before your baby arrives in this world.  Some extra chunky tots (like both of Joy’s nine pound newborns) never need the extra small sizes.  Others are preemies that stay in newborn sizes for months.  Get a few diapers and designate a family member or friend to run out and get more when baby arrives.   What else will you find in the book? Tips on buying secondhand cloth diapers for up to eighty percent less than new, tips on which diapers transition for babies between 7 and 35 pounds, and which diapers offer the best overall value.

2. Laundering tip: Though you may be tempted, do not use bleach!  People are shocked when we share this advice, but bleach will eat through your diaper fabric quickly, isn’t environmentally friendly, and can irritate baby’s skin.  Instead use baking soda, vinegar, non-chlorine bleach, or enzyme based stain fighters like Bac-out.  Other tips in the book include the all-time easiest method of diaper washing, tips for storing dirty diapers, ideas on how many loads per week you might have, and natural stain fighting tips that are free and eco-friendly.

3. Diapering tip: This may be obvious, but there are NO PINS REQUIRED!  It’s amazing how many people are still shocked when we share that fact.  We also found that neither of us needed Snappis or any other product to hold our chinese prefold diapers in their covers.  In our book you’ll find charts that help you understand what each type of diaper looks like, a cost comparison of different diapers, and options for eco-friendlier disposable diapers.

We remember how totally overwhelmed we felt entering the world of cloth diapers as new moms.  Now we have an outlet for our obsession in The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, where we ooh and ah over all the options!  Once you start cloth diapering, you may find that you fall in love with the whole adventure yourself.

Are you using cloth?  How did you find out what to use and how to diaper baby?  Do you have lots of support for your cloth diapering efforts in your local area?

5. We wrote it. And we don’t like to mention this often, for fear of appearing self-aggrandizing, but we are geniuses. We’ve composed poetic, emotional odes to cloth diapers. We’ve poured our soul into manifestos on buying used gear. We’ve conducted ground-breaking research on the best way to puree a steamed yam.

4. It has the power to change lives. Say your beloved friend has registered for heaps of plastic gizmos and coal-operated baby contraptions at Babys R Us. The Eco-nomical Baby Guide would be a nice, passive-aggressive way to say, “There’s a hole in the ozone layer. Let’s do something about it.”

3. We confess to sins against Mother Earth. We wish we could say we fed our babies nothing but homegrown organic vegetables, laundered their clothes in a solar-powered washer, and made all their toys out of corn husks and acorns. But the truth found between the covers of our book is much darker, and much more shocking.

2.  You will save thousands of dollars. See this Bugaboo Cameleon for $979? Or this Tiny Tots loft starting at $2,262? Or this Little Miss Liberty brass cradle for $6,500? Don’t buy them! There—we just saved you $9,741. The Eco-nomical Baby Guide steers you away from products you don’t need  and nudges you toward some well-considered, affordable, eco-friendly purchases.

1. Buy the book, save the world. It’s that simple, really. Once you buy the book and start following its advice, you’ll notice the Earth will start getting greener every day. (And no, this has nothing to do with winter making way for spring.) You’ll throw away less trash, eat more chemical-free food, and cut back on those carbon emissions. Children from all nations will join hands, singing songs. And it all starts with you.

Don’t forget to enter our huge giveaway of eco-friendly baby gear!

To happily welcome our newly published book and reward those of you who are in the trenches of green parenting, we have yet another green giveaway this week.  One reader will win ALL of the quality eco-friendly baby gear listed below! Here’s what you could win this week:

• 1 copy of our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet. Using the tips we offer in the book, we each saved thousands of dollars in our first year with baby–and we did it by going green!
  

• An Eco Cradle from Green Lullaby.  A $69 value! This ingenious product can be assembled in minutes without tools, is completely fire retardant while remaining non-toxic, and is designed for a real human baby!
  
• 1 pair of organic cotton tights from hessnatur. This company makes adorable organic garments for baby (and adults!) that are just as fashionable as they are functional.
  
• 1 Speesees crawl turtle teether. We love the spunk and style Speesees and recommend this organic baby and kids clothing  in our book.
  

• 1 pair of girl baby shoes from Pedoodles, in the style and size of your choice. We used Pedoodles for our own children. Read our old review of them here!
  
• 1 organic teething toy from Momma’s Baby. Dip it in water and freeze it to soothe your baby’s sore gums. Unlike plastic teethers, this cute little mouse doesn’t contain BPA or other harmful chemicals.
  
• 1 Fuzzibunz one-size pocket diaper. These fabulous diapers contain a moisture wicking layer between baby’s bottom and an absorbent insert.  Plus this one diaper adjusts to fit babies between 7-35 pounds!
  

• A HappyBaby gift pack, including organic baby food samples, an Eric Carle growth chart from YoBaby, an Infant & Toddler Nutrition guide co-authored by Dr. Sears, and a set of HappyFamily recipes. HappyBaby is the company behind this fabulous organic baby guide, and their organic foods are available in supermarkets everywhere.
  
• 1 Snugglebottoms w/Velcro diapers (unbleached ‘green’ cotton flannel) in the size of your choice from Baby Bunz & Co. Baby Bunz & Co. is a great online source for cloth diapers–they’ve been selling them since the ’80s!
  
• 1 Green Dragon Pest Solutions. an eco-friendly product that will hurt household bugs such as roaches and silverflies without harming baby.  It comes in a gel so that you can avoid toxic sprays with baby nearby.
  

Nine Ways to Enter the Giveaway

How do you enter?  Guess what?  You can enter more than once! Each way listed below gets you one entry.  All comments have to be posted BEFORE Tuesday the 30th of March to win.

Remember, leave a separate comment on this post for each entry you want.  If applicable, please leave the link to your Facebook/Twitter/Blog in the comment you leave here.

1. Leave us a comment on this post.

2. Email a friend about our book, our blog, or this month’s giveaways.

3. Subscribe to our blog (look right under the search bar) Again, be sure to comment about it below!

4. Join our Facebook fan club

5. Link to this giveaway post on Facebook or Twitter–tell all your friends to stop by!

6. Link to this post on your blog!

7. Add The Eco-nomical Baby Guide to your “to read” shelf on Goodreads

8. Add our blog to your blogroll

9. Go read our post on Five Ways to Score a Free Copy of  The Eco-nomical Baby Guide and leave a comment there if you’d like to review our book on your blog.  (Make sure to read the post for more details!) Leave a comment here as well to make sure we can keep track of your entries.

***The contest ends on Monday, March 29, 2010***

Winner will be randomly selected.

We will notify the winner via email and will get you in touch with these companies who will ship your products directly to you. Please Note: This contest is open only to U.S. readers.

Have fun everyone!

In celebration of our newly-published book, we’re showering one lucky reader with all the wonderful, eco-friendly baby gear below! Here’s what you could win this week:

• 1 copy of our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. We may be a bit biased, but in our opinion this is the best gift of all!
  

• 1 organic cotton romper from hessnatur. This company makes adorable organic garments for baby (and adults!) that are just as fashionable as they are functional. The romper has a gnome applique on the front.
  
• 1 Fuzzibunz one-size diaper. Fuzzibunz makes the popular pocket diapers with snap closures. You could win their one-size diaper, which adjusts to fit babies from 7 to 35 pounds. They’re sturdily made to withstand 3+ years of use. (Color may vary.)
  
• 1 Speesees crawl turtle teether–organic and BPA-free! From their website: “We believe in being fun, fair, and organic in the products we make, the way we conduct business, and the baby steps we take towards creating a more sustainable future for the animal, plant, and human speesees on our children’s planet.”
  

• 1 pair of boy baby shoes from Pedoodles, in the style and size of your choice. We used Pedoodles for our own children. Read our old review of them here!
  
• 1 organic teething toy from Momma’s Baby. This organic teething toy can even be dipped in water and stored in the freezer to soothe baby’s sore gums. Visit Momma’s Baby for a wide selection of wonderful organic baby, maternity, and home products.
  
• 1 sample pack (diapers, 1cover, one diaper liner plus an infant size hemp/organic cotton fitted diaper) from Diaperaps. Diaperaps are one of our personal favorite diaper covers; we used them over Chinese prefolds.
  

• A HappyBaby gift pack, including organic baby food samples, an Eric Carle growth chart from YoBaby, an Infant & Toddler Nutrition guide co-authored by Dr. Sears, and a set of HappyFamily recipes. HappyBaby is the company behind this fabulous organic baby guide, and their organic foods are available in supermarkets everywhere.
  
• 1 Snugglebottoms w/Velcro diaper (unbleached ‘green’ cotton flannel) in the size of your choice from Baby Bunz & Co. Baby Bunz & Co. is a great online source for cloth diapers–they’ve been selling them since the ’80s!
  
• 1 Green Dragon Pest Solutions, an eco-friendly product that will hurt household bugs such as roaches and silverflies without harming baby.  It comes in a gel so that you can avoid toxic sprays with baby nearby.
  

Nine Ways to Enter the Giveaway

How do you enter?  Guess what?  You can enter more than once! Each way listed below gets you one entry.  All comments have to be posted BEFORE Monday the 22nd of March to win.

Remember, leave a separate comment on this post for each entry you want.  If applicable, please leave the link to your Facebook/Twitter/Blog in the comment you leave here.

1. Leave us a comment on this post.

2. Email a friend about our book, our blog, or this month’s giveaways.

3. Subscribe to our blog (look right under the search bar) Again, be sure to comment about it below!

4. Join our Facebook fan club.

5. Link to this post on Facebook or Twitter to let everyone else know about our giveaway.

6. Link to this post on your blog!

7. Add The Eco-nomical Baby Guide to your “to read” shelf on Goodreads.

8. Add our blog to your blogroll.

9. Go read our post on Five Ways to Score a Free Copy of  The Eco-nomical Baby Guide and leave a comment there if you’d like to review our book on your blog.  (Make sure to read the post for more details!) Leave a comment here as well to make sure we can keep track of your entries.

***The contest ends on Sunday, March 21, 2010***

Winner will be randomly selected.

We will notify the winner via email and will get you in touch with these companies who will ship your products directly to you. Please Note: This contest is open only to U.S. readers.

Have fun everyone!

Don’t forget to enter our fantastic giveaway! Win a copy of our book, cloth diapers, organic food, and MORE!

We met back in the early 1990s—Rebecca an impressionable freshman in college, Joy the older and wiser resident assistant. Little did we know that several years, boyfriends, and trips around the world later, we’d be emailing each other back and forth about . . . diapers.

Us in 2007

“What’s the difference between a prefold and a pocket diaper?” “How do you wash your diapers?” “Have you tried making your own baby food?” After months of stimulating conversation on these and other life-and-death topics, Joy had the inspired idea to put our new-found knowledge into a book. Early in 2007, we drafted our first book proposal. Convinced of its brilliance, we immediately sent it off to a few major publishing houses.

Nothing happened. We heard a few encouraging responses, and a few not-so-encouraging responses. One publisher suggested we write up our ideas in a magazine article—they didn’t think we had enough to say on the topic of eco-babies to write an entire book. (This is the number one reason most non-fiction book proposals are rejected.) Finally we stumbled upon Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write: How to Get a Contract and Advance Before Writing Your Book by Elizabeth Lyon. Parts of it are now a bit dated, but the information on its pages are invaluable! She clued us in to the idea that we needed to get an agent rather than submit directly to publishers.

Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write led us to publication!

I’ll skip the boring stuff about us writing, writing, writing, revising, revising, revising that proposal and sending it off to agent after agent. We found a wonderful agent in 2008, and she gave us the advice we wish we’d gotten much earlier: Build a platform! We needed to find ourselves an audience for our book before she could sell the idea to publishers. And thus, greenbabyguide.com was born!

She sold the book to Stewart, Tabori, & Chang in the summer of 2008, and they planned to publish it in March of 2010. “2010!” we exclaimed. It seemed like a date in the far and distant future, light years from the days we used to sit in our dorm rooms, dreaming of being writers.

But that day is finally here. We have a blog. We have a book. We are writers!