A Green Baby is on the Way

A green baby is on the way!

It all started with a dream…

It is not often that I remember my dreams, and it is even rarer when I find any relevance by interpreting them.  In the span of a mere four days, I woke from two dreams that left me wrangling for meaning.  In one dream, my wife would call me from the hospital to tell me we just had twins!  Because this was dreamland, the fact that I didn’t know she was pregnant wasn’t an issue.  My conflict was how excited I was going to be to be a parent for the third time and how cool it would be to have twins.  In the second dream, my wife and I discovered elven-like creatures living underground in our back yard who had been “spawned” from the two of us.  My wife would remember in the dream that there was a doctor during her last pregnancy who did a blood test on her.  She would never see the doctor again and never knew what the test was for.  In the dream, I had accepted the responsibility of bringing them into the family but was conflicted about how that was going to happen.  A neighbor was clearly agitated by what we had discovered, and I didn’t know if it was better to bring them into the house or try to protect them from the world and leave them underground where they came from.

Now, at the time of these dreams I had no clue that my wife was pregnant.  Our youngest had just started kindergarten, so it was a time things would get simpler – an easier baby sitting schedule and a quite house if I was home during the day.  I assumed that the dreams were a subconscious way of making the mental transition a parent must experience as their children reach school age.  Silly me.  I was looking for a metaphor the whole time when it was reality that came knocking.

Oh, the questions that now arise!

In January of 2008 when I started going green in a serious way, I started this blog to document my efforts in transforming into a green lifestyle.  I wanted to be real about it – to be honest about what steps were easy to take and what steps were difficult.  As I began to develop this blog, it occurred to me that I might not have to address all of the choices a parent might make during a pregnancy and the first year of a child’s life.

There are now a thousand questions that are rolling around in my head, and I am looking forward to tackling them during the next several months.  There are so many questions that I have begun to compile, and I’m sure there will be many more on the way.

• Will we use doctors, midwives, dulas or a combination of them?
• Can Mom continue chiropractic care throughout the pregnancy?
• What should Mom be eating during the pregnancy to limit toxins from entering the placenta?  What can she eat to ensure the best nutrition reaches the baby?  Appetites and cravings are always volatile during pregnancies, how healthy will we be able to be?
• What will we do for diapers?  Resuables?  Biodegradables?
• What baby bottles are safe to use?  Are there any types of plastics or should we focus on glass?
• What about pacifiers and nipples for the bottles?
• What kind of medications, if any, are safe for my wife to take during the pregnancy?  Her allergies have been going crazy, are there any safe decongestants?
• How long will she be able to breast feed?  What formulas are safest?
• For the most part, we already use nontoxic soaps and lotions, but is there anything better we should use on the baby?
• Can we afford to purchase an organic mattress and organic sheets?
• Would we ever consider a home birth?  There is a small but growing niche of parents opting for this.
• What about the birth itself?  Will my wife want the epidural for the third time?  What are some natural birthing methods, and how much better can they be?
• If it’s a boy, will we choose circumcision?
• Should we have a baby shower or a baby blessing?
• Should Mom get the swine flu shot that her employer is encouraging all employees to get?  Do they even work?  Is there a negative impact on the baby?
• What are the best books to use as resources in answering these questions?

All of these questions will get a certain amount of examination, but it will be interesting as to what level of “green” we will take in addressing each of them.  Some of them will be simple – like breast feeding and glass bottles.  Some of them will take quite a bit of research – like resuable diapers and improved diet.  Others will challenge the finances like organic clothing and bedding.  Some of them will challenge our comfort levels in such a way that I can’t imagine at this point choosing a home birth or a baby blessing.  Either way, I am really excited about being a dad again – it’s one of my favorite things in life.

The nesting begins

Within hours of discovering that I was going to be a father again, my mind was already in “nesting” mode.  All of the projects that I have been putting off for cleaning, organizing, repairing, and greening the house are now suddenly a higher priority.  I have already been tasking at home, and the recent post about using SteamGreen to clean the carpet is a prime example.

Stay tuned to answers to the questions above and evidence of my nesting process as it continues to develop.

Green Carpet Cleaning with Steam Green

Steam Green Carpet Cleaning

I like a clean and organized house.  As a single bachelor, it was easy for me to keep my place in a consistent state of organized bliss.  Being a husband and father has taught me many things, and learning how to compromise what it means to be “clean and organized” is one of them.  When living alone, it was pretty simple to keep everything in its right place.  Now, as long as the dishes are done before everyone is in bed for the night, it was a good day.  If the toys are picked up and the carpet is vacuumed – even better.  If my desk is clear of clutter, it is the closest to a clean-and-organized bliss that I will come to on a regular basis.

For reasons of a tight budget, my wife and I haven’t stayed on any kind of carpet cleaning schedule.  Not to mention that it can disrupt the living space for a day or two as furniture is moved and the carpet needs time to dry.  I won’t mention exactly how long is has been since we have had the carpet professionally, but let’s just say it was overdue and leave it at that.

I first ran across SteamGreen at the Earth Day Festival at Forest Park Nature Center in 2008.  I have already removed all of the toxic cleaning chemicals from my home, and selecting a company that uses natural and biodegradable products was the obvious choice for me.  My wife and I had already seen evidence of their work at our chiropractor’s office, and were excited to use them to clean the living room and hallway carpet.

I used the service yesterday and was not disappointed.  In fact, the carpet looked better than what I was expecting.  There were a few spots that had been in the carpet for quite some time that are now completely gone!  Despite the age of the carpet, it looks great and even smells great.

He arrived right at the scheduled appointment time, and the company van and uniform added to the professional appearance to make a great first impression.  We did a quick walkthrough, discussed what services he offered, and decided to do the upstairs carpet (living room and hallway) as well as the upholstery (couch and armchair).  Kodie communicated very well as he answered all of my questions with detailed answers.  He was efficient in his work and was finished in less than 2 hours.

All of that is great, but it is the product he used that made all of the difference to me.  The cleaners were natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable from companies like Planet Guard, Biokleen, and Envirox.  Many of the products carry the touted Green Seal approval – a independent, nonprofit certification for items like household and industrial cleaners, paint and paint coatings, and even windows.  SteamGreen also has an enzyme cleaner that can be used to get rid of bacteria (and smell) from organic material like spilled milk, vomit, urine, and feces that get introduced into carpet and upholstery from people, children, and animals.  Any parent with a small baby knows that “urp” can land anywhere!

When I am at work while the carpet is being cleaned, I always develop watery eyes and a runny nose until I am out of the building.  I don’t know what it is about the cleaning products used, but I get an allergic reaction from them.  With SteamGreen, I had none of that!  What a relief.  In the end, I can now breathe easier – literally and figuratively – that the carpet looks great, smells great, and there is one less exposure to toxins for my family.

I should also mention that SteamGreen’s prices were very reasonable.  While I didn’t shop around, I know that I paid less for the carpet cleaning yesterday that I have in the past.

Final result:  5 Stars out of 5.

Contact Information for Steam Green Carpet Cleaning

Peoria, IL 309-278-5510

Bloomington/Normal 309-807-85252

www.steam-green.com*

*The web site was down when I checked it out.

Stop Junk Mail with GreenDimes

Wouldn’t it be nice to stop junk mail?  Tired of filling up your paper recycling with unwanted advertising?  Worried about prescreened credit card offers getting into the wrong hands?

Now you can stop junk mail from ever being delivered to your mail box using a service like GreenDimes.  By registering for the service for $20 a year, GreenDimes claims to reduce your junk mail as it easily guides you through the steps to removing your name from the 9 major marketing companies that supply thousands of companies addresses for direct mail advertising.  GreenDimes consolidates all of the opt-out information into one tool.  They provide the direct links to web sites that let you fill out a form requesting your removal.  For those companies that don’t offer the web site removal tool, GreenDimes lets you print out a letter for you to sign and mail.

www.greendimes.com

I had signed up in November of 2008, but I procrastinated.  I looked at the list and was not enthused about working through it.  In February, I finally decided to get it done and was pleasantly surprised how quickly it went.  I was done in 20 to 30 minutes.  I whipped through the web site removal tools and printed out the letters.  The only thing I didn’t like had nothing to do with GreenDimes;  one company – DMA Choice – required me to register on their site and create a password.  That seems counterproductive – to give them MORE information just so they can remove it.

The process may have been easy, but how well did it work?  How much mail did I receive that wasn’tt covered by these mailing lists?  GreenDimes suggested waiting for 90 days for all of the removals to be in effect, so I set a reminder in my calender to follow up at a future date.

It has now been 7 months since I went through the process of limiting my junk mail.  Now, I didn’t exactly track every piece of advertising that has come through my mail box, but I can tell you that the amount of junk has been dramatically reduced.  I no longer get ANY credit card offers.  I still get some advertising, but I believe most comes from area businesses which doesn’t bother me too much.  I try to limit my spending to my local economy when it makes financial sense to do so.

Now, I just need a service that make all of my bills disappear!

Todd

Vegetable Garden Update

At this point last year, I was so distracted by everything else going on in life with school starting, being busy at work , and trying to keep up the house with 3 jobs between my wife and I that my vegetable garden was neglected.  This year, I felt that same pull now that I have both girls in school, we still have 3 jobs, and I’m working on an upcoming project that will take my green transformation to a whole new level.

I made it out this morning to weed the garden, remove one of my six tomato plant, both of my garden beans, and one of my two green peppers.  As I posted earlier, all of my tomato plants are pathetic and really don’t expect to get much from the rest that are still in the ground.  The garden beans had discolored leaves;  when I pulled them from the ground there were at least 3 different bugs in the area but I have no idea if there purpose is for the benefit or detriment of the plant – probably the latter.  One of my green pepper plants had dark discoloration in the skin of the peppers, so I yanked the whole thing.  There is a second green pepper plant right next to it that doesn’t appear to be affected by it, so there is still some hope left.

I’m considering planting some greens to get a bit of spinach and lettuce before the first frost.  However, time is of the essence in other areas of my life.

The garden beans plants were discolored.

What are those dark spots on the green peppers?

The Evergreen Long White Bunching Onions Look Good!

The last Kurota Carrot Plant

The corn is almost ready

It's been a sad, sad year for the tomatoes.

Tomato Woes

Tomato Woes - Is it blight?

The 2008 growing season was my first attempt at gardening of any type.  The core success of that season were the tomatoes.  They flourished so well, that there placement next to my raised bed dwarfed the rest of the plants inside the bed.  The fruit was abundant, and the plant overgrew the tomato trellis.  We had more tomatoes than we knew what to do with and many of them ended up in the compost heap.

2009, is a very different story as they vines are shorter, skinnier, and just are bearing much fruit at all.  What’s changed from last year, you ask?  I had made several improvements including blending mushroom compost into the soil, moving the plants away from the raised bed, and giving each one more space in between.  There are 2 plants from 3 diferent varieties, and even my Seeds of Change organic cherry tomatoes seem to be suffering.

After listening to the Environment Report podcast today, I believe that I have my answer:  tomato blight.  Apparently, the very same blight that caused the historical potato famine has infected some of the national crops and is being spread through many of the chain stores around the northeast and midwest.  I’ll have to be more careful how I select my crops next year.

Semi-Organic Gardening; or the Trials and Tribulations of Gardening with Rabbits

Semi-organic gardening; or the trials and tribulations of gardening with rabbits

In an effort to salvage my gardening season, I have given up on my efforts to simply use repellent to keep the rabbits out of the raised bed.  The bottle recommends spraying about 6 hours before any rainfall for a dosage that should be effective for 2 months.  Nope.  Didn’t work.  I’ve sprayed on three different occasions and have found the rabbits to be eating way most of the raised bed including the garden beans, the bell peppers, and the carrots.  I have even spied them through the dining room window and ran outside in frustration to chase them away like a madman.  Grrrr…..

A neighbor gave me some chicken wire last year to put around the bed , but it was limited access to weeding and harvesting inside the bed and eventually rusted in the rain.  This year, I have purchased a galvanized rabbit guard fence and added a fence post on each corner to help keep it supported.  After 2 days and a severe thunderstorm, it appears that I have a winner.

I had to replace nearly half of the produce in the bed with new seedlings.  I dug out what was left of the bell peppers and garden beans.  While June 26th is a bit late to be planting in central Illinois, I’ve added transplant seedlings of 2 bell peppers, 2 garden beans, 2 pea plants, and even 2 corn plants.  For several weeks now, it seemed that my vegetable garden was going to result in a tomato garden.  This was all a lost ditch attempt to salvage my growing season and reap the fruits of my labors.

This crop is more of a semi-organic vegetable garden as I have had to add transplants purchased from local nurseries including my local Lowe’s store.  I can’t vouch for any fertillizer that may have been used on them before the purchase.  However, I now have control over the rest of the growing season, so we are going organic the rest of the way.

Rabbits and I have been at odds with each other this year.  Chasing them out of my garden hasn’t been my only problem.  I found a nest of baby rabbits at my mother’s house.  Finding a nest might seem like a fun discovery, but I didn’t know I had found a nest in the middle of her front yard until I moved over it and found fur flying up in the air!  Fortunately, it was only bedding from the next and the babies were fine.  However, I knew that the parent would not return to a destroyed nest and the fate of the 6 baby rabbits now rested in my weary hands.  Briefly, I considered keeping one as a pet for my girls, but the idea of bottle feeding these infants every few hours around the clock was more that our family could handle.  So, I managed to find a way to donate them to Wildlife Prairie State Park.  They told me it would be hard to care for them and that it wouldn’t be likely they would survive, but that they would try.  Since that episode, I have often wondered if any of them survived, but I’m not sure that I want to tell my girls that they rabbits they fell in love with were all… well… you know… dead.

Natasha and Sydney discovering a nest of 6 baby rabbits

Going Green With Medical Advice – Part 2

It has been about 2 months since I was at the hospital getting tested, poked, and probed to see what is wrong with my stomach.  The gastritis that I had been having turned out to be bile reflux.  The pyloric valve between the liver and the stomach isn’t working properly and is allowing bile back into the stomach.  I don’t know what this means for the future.  Will the valve always be defective?  Certainly, if I don’t change any of my diet and don’t work to protect my stomach lining, I could end up with something like a cancer of the esophogus.

In response to these results, I have since altered my diet and begun an chiropractic-related enzyme replacement therapy to help my digestive system better deal with the bile.  I don’t know if the valve will always be defective, but I am confident that my efforts will give my body the tools it needs to maintain excellent health.  Since I implemented these changes, I have felt great!  I haven’t had so much as a cold or sniffle.  My energy levels have been steady with no crashes.  The enzymes are certainly helping my stomach, but there are still some moments where the gastritis is apparent like when I took a nap right after lunch today – the 30 minutes after I woke wasn’t a picnic.

An unexpected benefit of the new diet is the loss of 19 pounds in 8 weeks which is largely a result of my food intake and moderate exercise.  I have challenged myself to try to follow the dietary recommendations of several programs simultaneously.  There is the enzyme treatment, recommendations of my nutritionist, and my attempt to be gluten-free.  I also follow some principles of the Blood Type Diet, the Abs Diet, and even Michael Pollan’s tips from his book In Defense of Food.  So, coordinating the best of all of them is a challenge.  To put it simply, the bulk of my diet is fruit, vegetables, and meat or eggs.  I have eliminated all wheat products because I have continued to suspect I have celiac’s disease.  My nutritionist has encouraged me to eliminate grains and dairy – although I have made exceptions with mozzarella cheese as the enzyme diet allows for it in moderation.

I have also seen a significant improvement in the skin rashes.  They are much more manageable!  I don’t know which element is helping my body fight them off, but I’m not complaining!

The bottom line:  so far, so good.

I have yet to take a medication to treat the symptoms of the gastritis and have largely been satisified with my improvements.  Additionally, my “green” diet already incorporates organic foods as much as I can afford.  Taking control of my health through diet, enzymes, chiropractic care, and excercise hasn’t just benefitted the stomach problems;  it has improved functions such as immunity, mental clarity, and many ofher phsyical functions.

5th Annual Earth Day Festival at Forest Park Nature Center

5th Annual Earth Day Festival at Forest Park Nature Center

2009 Earth Day Festival at Forest Park Nature Center

This is my second consecutive year of taking and “Earth Day” vacation from work.  I purposely scheduled the week to coincide with events like the Earth Day Festival at Forest Park Nature Center.  This particular event now holds a bit of sentimental value for me as it was the first real step I took in entering the environmental community.  It was at this event last year when I met David and Kiersten who essentially recruited me in helping with their Global Warming Solutions Group of Central Illinois which is a group that was spun off of the local Sierra Club chapter to focus solely on presenting solutions to climate change to Central Illinois.

A year ago, I was a casual visitor to the event.  This year, I was a participant at the the booth shared by the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club and the Global

Sierra Club and Global Warming Solutions Group Booth

Warming Solutions Group.  I felt like event was a success as we talked with visitors about energy efficiency, the Cool Cities program of the Sierra Club, and even rain barrels.  In fact, it was a last minute decision by Kassy to bring the rain barrel that she has purchased but had not installed yet that brought the most attention to the booth.  By the end of the day, I felt very comfortable talking about how to install them despite the fact that I have not yet at the opportunity to do so.  In retrospect, I wish we were selling the barrels as it could have been a great way to raise funds for the Solutions Group.

Sydney enjoyed the face painting.

We decided recently to build an e-mail list so we can contact local residents with a monthly newsletter or special announcements.  In order to motivate people to sign up, we offered a prize drawing for e-mail subscribers that consisted of one of 3 copies of the book Cut Your Energy Bills Now by Bruce Harley and a package of CFL light bulbs.  I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to take a look at the energy usage in their home.  It is presented in a very user-friendly style with steps that even I can accomplish with my amateur handyman skills.

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable event.  The weather flirted with us throughout the day delivering wind gusts early on, but the cloud cover never resulted in any rain.  It wasn’t until the last hour of the event when the clouds cleared up and the sun heated things up.

Live entertainment throughout the event.

The bulk of my time was spent working at the event, but I did escape long enough to visit with some of the other booths including Peoria Wilds, the South Side Mission, Goodwill, and Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste.  All of them had great information, and I found myself trying not to dive in to all of their causes and helping them out.  I have to carefully pick and choose how many commitments I make.  It’s a case of quality over quantity.

Kids decorate an Earth Day 2009 banner.

Bob Lindsay Honda provided some hybrid cars for viewing.

2009 Illinois Sustainable Living and Wellness Expo

The Illinois Sustainable Living and Wellness Expo

With my busy schedule in the past few weeks, I wasn’t able to make a full day of this event with the family.  It was held again this year at Illinois Wesleyan on April 17th and 18th.  In fact, I had just an hour to blitz through the show.  I am starting to run into people I know working at these events as our paths are beginning to cross with our common interests.  It is nice to see familiar, friendly faces.  There were a lot of exhibitors that I had seen last year and several new ones, so it was easier for me to make a quick run through the exhibits.

The exhibit that caught my attention the most was the Central Illinois Buy Fresh Buy Local table that is sponsored by the Illinois Stewardship Allliance.  They focus on “connecting you with fresh, locally grown food.”  They have a BFBL directory to find locally produced food, BFBL member restaurants, and event labels in grocery stores.  Sounds like a fantastic idea to me!  I loved shopping at the farmers market’s last year.  I find the food to be fresher, tastier, and more nutritious.  I am taking the following text directly from one of their brochures:

Why Buy Local?

Taste – Fresh from the field to your plate, local foods are bursting with flavor and a taste that can’t be beat.

Freshness – Local foods are harvested at their peak ripeness and are available right after harvest, not after a long haul.

Economy – Buying local supports family farmers and keeps money in the local community.

Buy Fresh Buy Local

I would add one more section:

Ecological Footprint – In the United States, food travels an average of 1500 miles to get to your plate.  Buying local reduces the carbon footprint of your food and helps in the fight against global warming and climate change.

For next year:  I would like to be able to plan a day of the event in order to attend some of the workshops they offer each year.  Some of the events that would have been interesting to me had topics covering organic and sustainable gardening, rain gardens, energy efficiency in the home, and affluenza.

The event was sponsored by the Ecology Action Center of McLean County and the Illinois Wesleyan Wellness program.

Participating Exhibitors:

• Adam Hoeper Licensed Massage Therapist
• Advanced Energy Solutions
• AdvoCare
• AHHH Hypnotherapy
• Alexander Technique
• AlignLife of Bloomington
• Aqua Ranch
• Arthritis Foundation
• Bliss
• Bloomington Parks and Recreation
• Brenda Bernt, Licensed Master Esthetician
• BroMenn
• Brown Chiropractic Center
• Center for Sustainable Community
• Citizenre Bringing Solar Power to Your Home
• Citizens Utility Board
• Common Ground Grocery
• Communication Sciences and Disorders Dept. Illinois State University
• Community Cancer Center
• Cortese Foot & Ankle Clinic / Sole Savers Shoe Store
• Crossroads Global Handcrafts
• Don Smith Paint
• Donate Life Illinois
• Eco-Lawn Organics
• Ecology Action Center
• Eden Energy Medicine
• Energistics
• Environmental Education Association of Illinois
• Environmental Maintenance Systems
• Friends of Kickapoo Creek
• Frog Cottage Jewelry
• Healing Arts Network Association
• Heartland Local Food Network & Buy Fresh Buy Local
• Heartland Community College
• Illinois Environmental Council
• Illinois Stewardship Alliance
• ISU Horticulture Center
• IWU School of Nursing Eating In – Healthy Options
• IWU – This is Public Health
• Juice Plus+
• Laser Resolutions & Ascent Counseling & Coaching Services
• Little Miss Save the Earth
• Luther Oaks
• Mended Hearts/Am Heart
• Natural Health Solutions
• Natural Pathways Reiki Center
• Northern Sun Merchandising
• Nudura
• OBGYN Care Associates
• Old House Society
• OSF St. Joseph Medical Center – Center for Healthy Lifestyles
• Paw to Paw
• PinStripes and PolkaDots LLC
• Progressive Asset Management
• Recycled Office Furniture
• Robert Hermann DC
• Ropp Jersey Cheese
• Shaklee
• Sneeze, Wheeze and Itch Associates
• Successful Aging Center
• Sugar Grove Nature Center
• Sustainable Community Development
• Sweet ‘N Clean Goat Milk Soap
• The Green Gourmutt
• Tobacco Prevention / Cessation
• Tri-Sharks
• Upper Limits
• Young Living Essential OIls
• YWCA McLean County

Planting Vegetable Seeds with my Daughter’s First Grade Class

Planting Seeds in First Grade

While my “Earth Day” vacation doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, I visited my daughter’s first grade class today and helped them plant vegetable seeds.  I brought in the supplies and each child planted a seed in a cup or glass jar.  To start, each child scooped vermiculite plant mix into their container.  We then passed out the garden bean seeds which were a nice size for first graders to handle.  They each planted the bean under a thin layer of soil and added water.  It looks like they are going to keep the containers in the class for a week to see which ones sprouts first before taking them home.

The class asked some very intelligent questions such as how long it would take to grow and how often they should water the plants.  I was a little nervous taking on the project because I am only in my second year of gardening – certainly not an expert.  But, we kept the project simple and I think everyone had fun with it.