advocating for cloth!

i'm sure you've already noticed that i'm a strong advocate of cloth diapering. :o)

i came across this article on another blog earlier today that i thought was quite interesting. apparently disposable diaper companies are catching on that there is a cloth diaper movement underway and are out to convince parents that disposables are the better choice. of course they're the better choice ... for their own profit margins. anyway, i thought this blogger did a good job of dispelling the supposed "facts" that the disposable diaper companies are spreading to parents. check out the article for yourself here:
http://extraordinarybabyshoppe.blogspot.com/2010/05/disposable-diapers-fact-vs-myth.html

rockin' green

we've found a new laundry detergent for our cloth diapers and it's awesome! when i originally started cloth diapering, i researched online about how to treat them, what to wash them with, etc. one of the sites i found said that it was okay to use tide to clean them. even though it seemed like the diapers were clean and overall smelled okay, they just always seemed to have a mild lingering odour to them. so after purchasing my grobaby shells from sogreenbaby.com, i noticed they had something in their "laundry care" section called rockin' green cloth diaper detergent. i thought i'd give it a try. i went to their official website (www.rockingreensoap.com) to get the low-down on the how-tos, etc. so they said that initially if you've been using other soaps that aren't clean rinsing, you might end up with a major case of stinkies as all the guk that's been living in the diapers gets released. so i did an initial hot soak with the rockin' green, and then a wash with no soap. that seemed to do the trick. i've since washed with rockin' green a couple more times and gone is that mild lingering odour that was there before. even better is that rockin' green soap is dye free and 100% phosphate free so it's good for the environment and for baby's sensitive skin. we bought unscented to use on our diapers, but rockin' green also comes in other fun scents:

• Orangevana - orange and cream combine together to reach a new level of cleaning awareness.
• Smashing Watermelons- this juicy watermelon blend is like a kick to your senses.
• The Green Tea's - the zen like blend of green tea and aloe, is sure to make it to the top of your playlist.
• Rage against the Raspberry- this raspberry and honey blend will have you running around the laundry room looking for the mosh pit!
  
• Mötley Cleän - there's clean and then there's Mötley Cleän. This fresh blend has hints of ocean, fresh linen, and sunshine.
• Lavender Mint Revival- this medley of lavender and mint is like nothing you have heard or smelled before!
• Bare Naked Babies- because we love the smell of babies, we offer an unscented variety too!

next time i think i'll get a scented one to use on our regular laundry!

eco-friendly toys

when i was at the green living show last month, i came across a company called sprig toys. they distribute some pretty cool eco-friendly toys. one of the ones i saw demoed was the "discover rig". this thing is so cool! it's electronic, but not battery-operated. you basically roll the rig forward in activate the generator which fuels the lights and sound. it can hold up to 3 different "adventure guides" and each one tells a different story. it is made with recycled materials AND made in canada too! can't wait to get this for nate when he's a bit older (for ages 3 and up).

vacation diapering

recently, we went away for an extended weekend with nate. we had been searching for an eco-friendly diapering option while away from home and we finally found something that is a great alternative to regular disposable diapers. grobaby offers a travel system using biodegradable soaker pads in combination with their diaper covers. their "bio soaker pads" are made with biodegradable and compostable materials. i believe that the soaker pad itself will completely biodegrade within 50 days. their covers also dry super fast, which make it a really great travel option. we took 2 covers with us and 20 bio soaker pads with us for the 4 days that we were away. all you do is lay the soaker pad in the cover and then fasten it shut. for diaper changes, you just remove the soiled soaker pad and replace with a fresh one. if the cover isn't dirty, you can just reuse it. we even used this on nate for overnights and it did not leak. we had the second cover as a back-up during the day in case the first one got soiled, but the soaker pad was so absorbent that we didn't need to change the cover until the next day. so i would handwash the cover each night and hang it to dry. i think it would only take an hour or two to dry, but we left it for overnight just in case. right now all grobaby products are on sale as they're renaming their product line, so it's a great time to try them! we bought ours from natasha at so green baby. she's super nice and helpful.

seventh generation coupon

right now you can save $2.50 off the purchase of 2 or more seventh generation products. look for the coupon of the top of the bottles. i bought 2 bottles of dish liquid @ loblaws yesterday for $5.48. a decent deal, i think. click here for more coupons direct from the company.

no batteries necessary

while on a family road trip this past weekend, we visited this awesome toy store (benjo) in quebec city. it was probably nate's favourite spot on our entire trip. he was able to run around and explore and see all these fun toys. he even got to ride on a train around the whole store! but enough about that. while we were there, i noticed these cool looking toys packaged in environmentally-friendly packaging. they are all wind-up, so they require absolutely no batteries. how great is that?! they are made by a uk-based company called ecotronic. they have a rocket, a pocket radio, a boombox, and a phone amongst other things. check 'em out!