Across the nation, there is concern about one non-replaceable resource. Particularly in California, water shortage concerns are starting to make headlines.

As a country, we need to practice water conservation, or our children may end up in the middle of a drought no amount of rain can cure!!

I know I want my children to have plenty of good clean water to drink in the years to come. In fact, water has always been the top beverage of choice in our house, which I am rather proud of!

We try to conserve water by brushing out teeth with the tap off, taking quick showers or sharing a tub. We don’t water our lawn except sparingly with a hand held hose, and try to cover our kiddie pool with a tarp to increase the life of the water we use to fill it in the summer.

I wash dishes by soaking them thoroughly, scrubbing them off by hand, and then and only then running cram packed loads through the dishwasher on the light load setting. I only wash full loads of clothes as well - no great trick with three kids!

Despite the efforts of our family and others across the country, the water crisis looms larger and closer every year. Some experts predict that we will be having a world wide shortage as early as 2050 - just in time for our children to deal with it.

What can we do to ease this burden for our kids? Raise awareness about environmental concerns. Encourage everyone you can to conserve, to re-use and to practice good water habits. Call or write your congress member, your state representative and your local politicians to see what plans they have to protect our planet’s most valuable commodity.

The water crisis is closer than you think! Make plans to fight it today, so our kids won’t have to.

Sarah P.

There are five ways even the smallest child can help to save our planet’s resources. Leading by example is the best way to teach your children about the importance of conservation, and the following are ways your whole family can get in on the act!

• Save water. Show your kids how to brush their teeth without leaving the water running full blast, and let smaller children share or take turns in a bathtub of water rather than draining and refilling the tub for each child. Alternately, teach them to take a quick shower to conserve water as well. They can help wash their own hair, and you can add silly foam soap to make getting clean in a hurry fun!

• Save electricity. Turn off lights when rooms are not in use

• Recycle. Small children can be in charge of stacking newspapers or magazines, while older siblings can rinse out metal and plastic containers and sort them for recycling. If you have curbside pickup in your area, take turns setting the bins out for collection, or make a family trip to your local recycling center. For a special treat, plant a tree together for Arbor Day!

• Eat Green. Pick a day of the week to give up meat and eat a salad instead. Keep a bowl of veggie sticks and dip in the fridge, and serve up breakfast for dinner. Eggs and pancakes with maple syrup will thrill most children to death, especially if you are a strict ‘cereal and toast in the morning’ type of family. Let your children help you cook, and enjoy your special meal!

• Volunteer. There are so projects for conservation that are in desperate need of helping hands! Volunteer as a family at non-profit events focusing on resource conservation and green living, and spread the word about water and energy conservation. Offer to water a neighbor’s lawn by hand if they are using automatic sprinkler systems, or pass out homemade canvas grocery carriers in front of a local supermarket to encourage people to ‘bag their own’.

Teaching your children about green living can be a rewarding experience for all of you! Once your children get excited about it, just watch them come up with ideas of their own to ‘save the planet’. Earth day might just be the best day of all fro your kids next year!

Start your child off in life by feeding them the healthiest food you can find! More and more parents are turning to organic baby foods to limit exposure from high amounts of toxins from fertilizers and pesticides.

Organic foods are available from most groceries now; Gerber has come out with the Gerber Organic line and Earth’s Best carries jarred organic foods as well as a line of crackers and other finger snacks that are also ‘green’ certified. These are both good products, but new brands offering frozen or refrigerated organic products may be more palatable to your baby.

Plum Organics is found at Whole Foods and other health food retailers, and Target stocks Homemade Baby - both of these are refrigerated or frozen organic baby food options. Tastybaby is a relative newcomer currently stocked on the west coast only; developed by a former Cordon Bleu chef, these frozen delicacies are perfect for the organic baby.

Of course, all these options can be expensive, so you may want to consider making your own organic baby food from fresh ingredients. Buy organic fruits, vegetables, dairy, grain and meat products and do it yourself!

An excellent way to make infant baby food is to prepare enough for a week at a time. Buy small ice cube trays to freeze the food after preparation, and small snack sized baggies to store the frozen cubes in.

Begin by cooking any raw foods until done and tender. Puree, or blend to desired consistency, and add thickener of your choice - commercial baby cereal is fine, or try mashed banana, yogurt or tofu.. Spoon into the ice cube trays, allowing room for expansion. After the cubes are solidly frozen, turn them out into baggies and label them with the date and ingredients for storage. One cube is equal to approximately one ounce of food.

Start with organic vegetables, and add fruits and oatmeal or rice cereal at intervals. Remember to allow at least four days between new foods to check for allergies. As your baby grows, you can add meats slowly; first pureed and mixed into the vegetables, then coarsely ground or shredded as your baby gets teeth to chew foods.
Feeding your baby organic foods is a first step to helping them live a ‘green’ and healthy life. Whether you buy yours ready-made or prepare your own, you can be assured that your baby is getting the best and safest nutrition you can provide.

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The whole country is trying to go green, it seems, and it’s time to join the parade! Did you know that using ‘green’ household product not only save trees and precious petroleum resources, it also is safer and healthier for you, your family and your pets?

Commercial cleaners contain harsh chemicals that can irritate the skin, eyes and nasal passages, as well as damage your home. Green products use natural cleansers to keep your house bright and shiny without these harmful additives.

Twenty Mule Team Borax is one of the best products on the market for cleaning bathrooms. Phosphate and chlorine free, this powdered cleanser is safe for septic tanks and easy on hands. Tubs, showers and sinks come clean with less effort than many brand name cleaners!

Seventh Generation Free and Clear boasts an impressive line of laundry and dishwashing products. These glycerin based detergents come in powder or liquid form and leave no residue to irritate your skin, and the softener is gentle and effective. Dish powder and gel leave your plates and silverware clean and grease-free. Their toilet paper, also green by virtue of its minimum 80 percent post-consumer content, is comparable to non-recycled brands.

Begley’s Best is a line of carpet and upholstery cleaners that is biodegradable and non-toxic, so you need not fear for your pats and children. Perfect Planet’s floor cleaners and polishers take stubborn dirt up off of hardwood floors and out of grouted tile joints with a strong but safe.

Each of these products can replace a commercial cleaner in your home, including those containing chlorine, ammonia and phosphates. Eliminating such toxic chemicals from your personal living space can only be beneficial, and helping conserve natural resources is a wonderful plus!
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Very often you can hear about green living, green houses, green cars, etc. It is important to live green and learn more about it. In our time, when pollution is everywhere, we have to be aware that raising green children is crucial for their health. The knowledge about a green life approach will help parents to prioritize they choices about food, products and services. There is great help you can receive from green pediatricians.

Moms are asking what is the exact different between a regular and a green pediatrician.

The green doctors are using green medication and products. To raise a healthy child it is a whole process from choosing the vaccination to using glass bottles. Not all the people know that the regular vaccine contains mercury and the liquid absorbs chemicals from the plastic bottle. One of the basic chemical compounds of plastic baby bottles and nipples is bisphenol A (BPA). Bisphenol A is now considered an endocrine-disruptor, which mimics the naturally occurring hormone estrogen. Studies have linked low-dose BPA exposure with such effects as: permanent changes to the genital tract; increase prostate weight; decline in testosterone; breast cells predisposed to cancer; prostate cells more sensitive to hormones and cancer; and hyperactivity.

Avoid the plastic bottles, which are made from #7 polycarbonate since these tend to leak BPA. A less-toxic options available is made from #5 plastic. You can find the plastic number on the bottom of most bottles.

The safest option is tempered glass since there is no chance of any leakage of any kind. More and more companies are starting to manufacture glass bottles once again and consumer demand is at its highest. Some of them are producing bisphenol free plastic bottles. 
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