I will risk my green cred by admitting that I never got the hang of riding the bus with my daughter.  Before I had a baby of my own, I’d see parents wearing their babies in slings or pouches, hopping on and off the bus with ease.  During the ride, the babies would sleep or calmly stare out at the view.  Maybe it wasn’t as easy for these parents as it looked–I know it wasn’t that easy for me!  I tend to choose walking over bus-riding most days, so I hardly qualify as a baby-bus-riding expert, but here are some pros and cons involved in the different ways of traveling with your tot.

Wearing Your Baby.  The most common baby-toting method for bus-riding in my town is a sling or baby carrier.

• Pros: You can get on and off the bus with ease and have your hands free for taking out money, tickets, and transfers. Joy swears by the sling that she used for Roscoe during his first six months and found that when she wore it he would quickly slip into a temporary coma. Very convenient for public transport!
• Cons: Some babies (like mine) do not cooperate with slings. My daughter would cry and squirm until I took her out. Then I’d have no place to put her if I needed to get my money out. Also, if I was wearing my baby, I couldn’t carry much else, like groceries or library books. This was a problem if I was taking the bus to run errands.

Taking the Stroller.  In Portland, we have to fold up strollers before getting on buses, but we can wheel strollers directly on trains or streetcars.  If you are planning on buying a stroller to use on public transportation, figure out how it works in your city.  If you have to fold the stroller up and carry it on, you’ll want something that folds compactly.  Look for a model that’s light-weight and has a carrying strap.  I chose the Maclaren Triumph because it weighs just eleven pounds–about the lightest I could find at the time.

• Pros: Strollers are nice if you plan to walk long distances to or from your bus stop. My baby preferred sitting in a stroller to being worn for long walks.
• Cons: It can be unwieldy to take your baby out of the stroller, fold the stroller up with the baby tucked under your arm, then get everything and everyone onto the bus.

Using the Stroller + Sling Combo.  I’ve tried wearing my baby in the sling and taking the stroller along as a backup.

• Pros: It’s easier to deal with folding up the stroller and getting it on the bus if the baby is secure in a sling or pouch.
• Cons: You’re still dealing with the unwieldiness of the stroller. If your baby doesn’t feel like riding in the stroller that day, you’ve brought it along for nothing!

Simply Carrying the Baby.  Last term I needed to take my toddler to work with me on Fridays.  This involved two one-hour bus trips, complete with stints of walking and transferring lines.  Because she was old enough to set down every once in a while, I decided to just carry her to the bus stop (or let her walk alongside me in her nonlinear fashion).

• Pros: No dealing with slings or strollers!
• Cons: It gets hard on the arms and back after awhile. If your child isn’t old enough to set down, you’ll have a hard time getting out your money and tickets.

Walking everywhere with my baby or taking her on public transportation works for me.  For more helpful Works for Me Wednesday links, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.  How are you managing taking your little ones on public transportation?  Please leave a comment with your traveling tales, stroller or sling recommendations, or questions for other bus-riding parents.

Like many tightwads and environmentalists, I am full of contradictions.  Joy confessed to loving take-out, and I’ve got to admit we’re guilty, too.  Obviously both eating at restaurants and ordering food to go costs much more than making homemade meals from fresh ingredients.  Going to restaurants might not be that bad for the environment, but takeout involves paper or plastic bags, napkins, and containers.

I blame our takeout habit on the baby.  While we used to eat out even more than we do now, these days we have to stay home in the evening hours so our daughter can sleep.  What I want to avoid is what I will call “unmindful takeout.”  Sometimes we don’t even want it, but we end up getting it because we failed to plan ahead.  So how can parents who want to save money and keep several takeout containers from the landfill deal with hectic nights when no one wants to cook?

Ways to Avoid Takeout (Or, advice I should take myself)

1. Prepare meals in advance and freeze them for future use. My husband kicked his cafeteria habit once we started making burritos and freezing them. (Read about that in my cooking black beans post.) I have also made big batches of scones and frozen them for breakfasts. Some people get really into cooking huge quantities and freezing them for dinners, but I just don’t like the idea of eating frozen food for dinner. Hence my restaurant problem.

2. Buy more convenience foods. I used to avoid almost all convenience foods until I realized that being such a whole foods purist is what was sending me out to dine. Buying a few convenience items keeps me out of the restaurants and saves me money. On the down side, buying more pre-packaged foods is not any eco-friendlier than getting takeout in disposable containers.

3. Do more food prep during the day or on the weekends. As an adjunct instructor, I am often home during the day. Dinnertime goes much more smoothly if I manage to do some prep work in the hours before dinner. If both parents work outside the home all day, it might be worth it to spend an hour or two on the weekends to doing a bit of food prepping. Joy makes her own mixes ahead of time so she can whip up pancakes or cornbread.

4. Plan meals in advance. I know some people have great success with meal planning. A housekeeping book from the ‘80s I read as a teenager suggested making Monday taco night, Tuesday spaghetti night, and so on, for ever and ever. I tried instituting a Friday night pizza night, but it lasted just a few weeks before I forgot about it or gave up. I do find we avoid going out if I plan ahead, so I should really work on this tip.

5. Make a list of fast homemade meals. Sometimes lack of imagination sends us to the neighborhood Thai joint. It’s easy to think “there’s nothing in the house,” when really there are always a few standbys we could make without too much effort. Paninis, baked potatoes, or macaroni and cheese from a box don’t require much cooking skill or clean-up. I figured out that spaghetti with jarred sauce costs just .$50 a serving. With the exception of potatoes, all of the items on my “easy dinners” list involve convenience foods encased in that pesky packaging, but at least I can recycle most of it.

When we do get takeout, there are a few things we can do to make it eco-friendlier.  Joy has found some places in her town that use recyclable containers.  While plastic clamshells and plastic tubs with lids (#5 and #6 plastic) are technically recyclable, most towns in the U.S. don’t recycle them.  Portland has one of the best recycling programs in the country but doesn’t pick these up curbside.  Those waxy white boxes have to be thrown in the trash.  Styrofoam containers are probably the worst of all, so I’m glad they’re illegal here, sparing me the guilt of tossing them.  Pizza is a good takeout option because it comes in a cardboard box, and the non-greasy parts can be recycled.  I’m going to make more of an effort to patronize the restaurants that carry biodegradable takeout containers.  Also, you can always ask places to forgo extra condiments and napkins.

If you have any great ideas for avoiding takeout, please let me know.  I’m all ears!

I’ve managed to go my whole adult life without owning a car.  When I was pregnant, I wondered if I’d finally succumb to automobile ownership, but I’ve found I get along just fine.  In the first few weeks of parenthood, I plopped my daughter into a sling and stepped out the door. 

At three months, she took her very first stroller ride, and at almost two and a half years she still takes a spin in it almost every single day.  I have found the stroller indispensible for a car-free lifestyle–jaunts around town are entertaining for the baby, and the basket provides some storage space for books or groceries we pick up along the way.  We enjoy what I like to think of as a European way of life: Instead of driving to the store every week or every other week and filling up an entire cart full of groceries, I stop by every few days and pick up the items I need by foot.

My husband does have a car, but I have only driven it once, and that was to take him to the emergency room (long story).  He does commute to work by car, and I have to admit that I rely on his chauffeur services to run to the store for particularly heavy or unwieldy items.  Yes, I am grateful that I don’t need to walk down the streets with a 24-pack of Seventh Generation toilet paper or a ten-pound bag of flour!

In many ways I’ve had to revolve my life around not driving.  It’s no coincidence that we live within walking distance of shops, libraries, restaurants, and coffee shops.  It can definitely be inconvenient to rely on walking or bus-riding, especially with a fussy baby.  A few times a year the weather is bad enough to keep me stuck indoors all day long.  Also, my hour-long bus commute to work would take a mere twenty minutes by car.  This may seem like a waste of time, but I use the bus ride to read or grade papers.

Despite the inconveniences and drawbacks, I love remaining car-free.  I hate driving and am thrilled to live a life that doesn’t require getting behind the wheel.  We save thousands of dollars by not buying a second car, not to mention all the time and money we save on gas and maintenance.  My husband’s commute by car is terrible for the environment, and I rely on the bus to get to work two to four times a week, so we can’t claim to be carbon-neutral.  However, we are able to cut back on our combined carbon emissions by running most household errands on foot.  On those bad days when I’m standing in the rain with my toddler in one arm and a bag of groceries in the other, at least I have the solace of knowing I’m doing the planet a small favor!

Check back soon for my tips on taking babies on public transportation.  And for more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, go to Rocks in My Dryer.

We love getting email here at the Green Baby Guide.  One of our readers is planning to switch over to cloth diapers and wrote in with the following questions:

I really want to switch to cloth diapers and have been doing a lot of research on the different kinds out there and it is really overwhelming!  I think I am leaning towards prefolds and/or flats with a Dappi cover for the most inexpensive option.  What kinds do you gals use?  Any specific brands of diapers and covers that you like?  Any helpful tips for someone just starting out??  Thanks for your time, I know you are busy mommies! -Amber

I wrote back to tell her about my experience.

Hi Amber,

Both Joy and I use prefolds with covers, although we have tried other types, too.  You are right that they are the least expensive option.  Starting out, I bought three dozen prefolds (the small size with green stitching) and about five newborn sized covers.  I have tried Proraps, Imse Vimse, and Diaperaps covers and they all work well.  You could get a couple different types, and then when it’s time to buy the next size up, you will know what types work for you and your baby.  I have actually gotten away with just one set of prefolds for over two years (my daughter is very small), so my cloth diaper supplies have cost me about $100 total!

Check out Sunshine Diapers for a Prefold Tutorial

So, all you cloth diapering parents out there–what would you recommend?  Does anyone have any experience with flat diapers?  I have never tried them myself, as they seem to require intricate folding and pinning.  With a prefold I can just fold a diaper in thirds and place on the diaper cover that has Velcro or snap closures (pictured).  Then I put it on as I would a disposable.

Thanks for writing in, Amber.  And thanks in advance to everyone who responds with tips, recommendations, or anti-recommendations for a first-time cloth diaper user!

This week’s Works for Me Wednesday has a theme: “Mom, I’m Bored!”  This summer will be the perfect time to bust out some homemade finger paint to keep my restless toddler amused.  Even very young babies can express themselves with finger paint–with a little assistance, of course.

A few months ago, I included this picture of Joy’s son Roscoe in our Eco-Valentine’s post.  I knew exactly what Andy would say when he saw Roscoe on Joy’s kitchen floor, wearing nothing but a cloth diaper, finger painting.  “What a mess!” he said, shaking his head.  I have to admit I felt the same way, and I marveled that Joy was definitely turning into the “fun mom” while I’d be forever known as the “uptight mom.”

You know what might work for me this summer?  Outdoor finger painting!

Here are some recipes to get you started.  Some are more eco-friendly and natural than others.

Basic recipe with food coloring

Finger paints with homemade natural dyes

Finger paints using juice for dyes

Easy corn syrup finger paint

With the warm weather ahead, I’m looking forward to making a batch of finger paints and letting my daughter go wild out on the driveway.  Clean-up will be a snap: I’ll simply hose her off when she’s done.