Follow Up

I just wanted to create a short follow up post on some of the

previously discussed

topics, so here it goes!!

--------------------------

Original Post 4/20/09: Door To Door Organics (Dot Com)!

We love being part of the Manhattan Beach Co-op. The fruits and vegetables are mostly produced locally and delivered fresh once a week. You can be part of the co-op or have your produce delivered right to your door! Save on gas by having your veggies shipped directly to you! As always, for

more informations, chat me up!

Original Post 4/21/09: GDiapers!

I have been using GDiapers for the last year on both of my boys. Yakov wears them at night and Ethan wears them 24/7. I love them. I rec

ommend them. I think they are cute, functional, healthy, and they make my babies happy. I nave have trouble with diaper rashes, I feel good about saving the planet, and I really feel there is no excuse NOT to use them at this point!!! Either way, I have tons of valuable coupons for ANYONE would may like, including this fantasti

c one which will save you tons of money starting up, originally priced at $70.00 it drops to $40.00 for 6 pairs of Everyday G's! Tell Them Julie Sent You With This Code: g559Wright, good though July 31st!!

Original Post 6/2/09: Eco-Sunscreen / Body Care:

I am using and Loving California Baby Products!

Original Post 6/23/09: Organic, Ethically Treated Meat:

Already picked up and ate our Mitzvah Meat Lamb, LOVED it. It was the BEST lamb I have ever eaten in my life; Roger agreed! We have a subscription to

Kosher Conscience and expect pick up to be sometime next week. This is the only type or meat I

will eat, in or out of my home. So

rry, but I will be going vegetarian unless it is at least organic!

Original Post 6/24/09: Open Microphone!

Looking for more questions, comments, concerns to address! Feel free to shoot some over my way!! Thanks to C.A. for that great question! Curious minds want to know, have you changed your water bottle ways for tap!? Fill us in!! ***Check for the update at t

he original blog!!

Original Post 6/26/09:

Soft Star Shoes!

Yakov has a pair of Soft Star Shoes and

loves them! I am now about to purchase a vegan pair for Ethan

instead of other more popular brands made in China. Roger and I are even considering "splurging" on some of the cute

moccasins for the Fall! I highly recommend them for your kid

s!!! Affordab

le and very well crafted. It is also great to know their leathers are formaldehyde free!

Original Post 7/2/09: Zigo Bike Rider!

I got my bike about 2 weeks ago and love it! I get looks everywhere I go! It takes a little bit of "adjusting" to get used to the feel of the bike, but it is really awesome. My boys, ages 3 and 12 months, love to ride in it. They talk to each other, usually it is a one sided conversation I must admit, but it promotes bonding between my two boys. Everyone asks me about it where ever I go and when asked about the price I just tell them it beats the price of a second car, no gas cost, no insurance, and tune ups are virtually free! Ask me for a discount code!!!

Build a Terrarium!

Build a Terrarium

Think having a garden requires heavy investment?

The Bite:

Here's a laissez-faire approach: Make a terrarium. Moisture-lovin' plants thrive in these mini-ecosystems with minimal to no regular watering. Building one is a great activity for kids - and artist Kat Geigershowed us how to make one with stuff you already have, so it's not taxing on your wallet either.

The Benefits:

• Getting macro fun with micro resources. Terrariums take care of themselves by auto-recycling water, which evaporates from the plants and soil, condenses on the container, and drips back down.
• Teaching a supply-side lesson. Terrariums are a fun, easy way for kids to learn how plants work - and after the initial setup, they can just sit back and observe.
• No pricey outlays. Any old jar with a lid will work, plus a few bucks' worth of garden supplies.

Wanna Try:

Garden Pet
1 hour

What You Need:

• Clean, dry Mason jar (or similar) with lid
• 1-2 cups pea-size pebbles (for 1 qt. jar)
• 1-2 cups garden-grade charcoal
• 2-3 cups potting soil
• Chopstick
• Terrarium plant (such as tiny toad or pennywort)
• Moss to cover
• Spray bottle

Directions:

1. Add pebbles to jar until they're about a 1/2-inch deep for drainage.
2. Add a 1/2-inch layer of garden-grade charcoal on top of the pebbles. This will keep mildew and mold from growing.
3. Then add high-quality potting soil to top of charcoal layer, approximately 3/4-inch deep.
4. Using the chopstick, dig a small hole in the soil. Add the plant, then cover the roots with soil and pat down.
5. Ease moss into jar so that it surrounds your plant, and use the chopstick to push the moss into the soil.
6. Use the spray bottle to heavily mist the plant and moss, twist on the lid, and you're done.

Best BIKE Invention YET!

*** UPDATE: Interested in a Zigo of your own? Enjoy 10% off with this code, good though July!! ZIGOJ4 ***

I am so so so very excited to be posting today! It is quite infrequent that one can find JUST what they were IMAGINING in one's mind sitting right there in a store, but it happened to me today!

As most of you may know, Roger and I love biking, actually... Yakov, Roger, and I all love biking!

Problem #1: What do you do when you're living in the City with two kids and hubby is not up for an adventure? Leave one kid behind?! It pains me to think about all the learning and exposure that child would miss!

Poor Solution #1: Back Seat Bike Trailers? Not so practical in the City I say. The fast cars, buses, the traffic, no one notices it all the way back there (even with those flags)!

Problem #2: Even with one child, what are your options past the one and a half year mark? I loved the IBert seat, had a great time with it. The child is right up close with you on the handle bars, you're able to see them, they see you, steering is a piece of cake! Only problem with that is if your child is tall, or past 2 years old, their legs hit the handlebars and they can not ride safely.

Poor Solution #2: Back seat riders? I am so not thrilled with this, and neither is consumer reports. The seat in the back affects riding stability, if the child suddenly shifts their weight you can tip over, it is not easy to get the child in or out, and I just was not comfortable with this solution. Consumer reports talks again about the rear trailer, but they did not know about this latest bike, our SOLUTION!!!!

Enter the Zigo!!! So today in my desperation to be a green living, biking-for-transportation family, I settled on what I thought was the only option for us, the backseat bike carrier for Roger's bike, while I maintained the iBert for the baby. Again, this meant we BOTH had to ride bikes to take the kids out and only Roger could take Yakov and I was stuck with Ethan. To switch would be too timely, so that was what we settled on.

I step into Roy's bike shop ready to buy when my eye pop at the greatest invention in biking history! a FRONT trailer, a bike with 3 wheels for added stability, the option to change the bike into a 2 wheeler without the trailer attachment, and the options to turn the trailer into a regular stroller as well as a jogging stroller! My mouth dropped. It looks sleek. Designed so well! So functional! And YESSSS It holds TWO children!!! You can even get attachments for a regular bike if you wanted to use the trailer as a rear option-- don't forget your back flag! But YESSSSS YOU CAN! It has a rain cover too!

Just wait, guess who will be sporting one of these sooner than you think? Come and check mine out for yourself! Give it a test ride! Lets bike! RIDE ON!!!!!!

Soft Star Shoes!

I am just loving these shoes! Check out Soft Star Shoes for amazing barefoot walking shoes for babies through adulthood. I bought a pair for Yakov and I, and Roger is considering splurging for himself as well! Chose from custom colors, cut outs, designs, and styles. The shoes are priced reasonably and hand made in the USA! Buy them, thank me later!

Just for background info, as to why shoes are important:

Caring for a child's feet will benefit their health, mobility and well-being throughout their entire lives. According to the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists,

the 26 bones in our feet are not fully hardened until age 18. In fact, children's feet are composed of relatively soft and flexible cartilage which gradually converts to bone with age. While children's feet are developing, the soft cartilage centers are fusing together. As such, the foot is at risk from injury and deformity due to ill-fitting footwear. Any postural foot abnormality can have an effect further up the body, permanently altering posture and walking style.

Open Blog Night, Day, Whenever! -First Up, Tap Water!

I am developing an open forum. Ask me your hardest, most pressing questions and I will blog about it!

I was asked by a concerned Mom about fluoride in tap water. She has been giving her daughter, who is about 15 months old, bottled water only. She wanted to know what I thought about this topic. Below is my reply:

Hi "Mama C!" My biggest problem with what you are doing is the fact that all your water is coming from plastic bottles that are laced with BPA. Plastic bottles have been shown to "leach" toxic chemicals into water, juice, or baby formula that is stored in them, particularly after long periods of time or at higher temperatures. Bottled water is not dated, so you do not know if the bottle you are buy has been sitting in that plastic bottle for a year, or a month, or a day. FDA has stated that bottled water has, "an infinite shelf life." In addition it is highly unregulated, so if there ever was a problem it could be hushed much easier than the DEP water could. Remember the rocket fuel discovery? The fact that it was DISCOVERED is scary, but assuring that our water supply is monitored every minute of every day. You do not need to buy bottled water for health reasons in New York City, since the water meets all federal and State health-based drinking water standards. Also, bottled water costs up to 1,000 times more per year than the City’s drinking water and you are adding tons of waste with each of those bottles!

In addition bottled water contains:

• Antimony– Bottled water contains higher levels of antimony, a trace element with similar characteristics and toxicity to lead, the longer it is stored in plastic bottles. (1)
• Bisphenol A (BPA)– Found in plastic bottles and metal can liners, where it can leach into foods and beverages, bisphenol A is supposedly safe but some say it mimics naturally occurring estrogen and animal studies indicate that BPA may cause infertility, cancers, and hyperactivity. (2)
• Other Endocrine Disruptors– Chemicals that mimic estrogen and other hormones, altering the body's hormone signals, metabolism, and reproductive health.

More recently, it was found that some companies' bottled water isn't "spring" water at all, but tap water that has been sterilized again with chlorine and more, then purified for taste. Despite clever marketing, this is little better than glorified tap water.

Healthy Water Sources

The water resource situation is hardly an easy one to resolve, but there are a few sources of water that may be better than others:

• Filtered water– Charcoal or reverse osmosis filters provide readily available, reliable sources of clean water. Check to ensure that your filter actually removes what you want it to: many of the most popular brand-name filters take out only the most pungent chemicals, leaving the rest of the harmful (but tasteless) tap water additives in your drinking water. It's worth investing in a whole-house filter or, at the least, a kitchen filter for drinking water and a shower filter for the water you bathe in.
• Well water– One of the safest and purest sources of clean water, as long as the well is checked regularly for contaminants like bacteria, metals, and pesticides. Unfortunately not available in most cities.
• Distilled water– Distilled water is evaporated and then condensed, leaving nothing there except pure water. There is some concern about the way distilled water interacts energetically with the body. It also, unfortunately, carries absolutely no minerals.
• Bottled Water in Glass– One of the safer options is spring water that has been bottled in glass. But glass bottles are expensive and difficult to find – especially in large quantities.

You can also do the following to remove chlorine in a very easy manner:

• Fill a pitcher and let it stand in the refrigerator overnight. (This is the best way.)

• Fill a glass or jar with water and let it stand in sunlight for 30 minutes.

• Pour water from one container to another about 10 times.

• Heat the water to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Once you remove the chlorine, be sure to refrigerate the water to limit bacterial regrowth.

Despite the importance of a clean water source, a large-scale solution to the water dilemma isn't yet available that combines mass availability, cost effectiveness, and practicality. So, I know your original question was about fluoride, to address that directly, my recommendation is this: limit fluoride in all other sources and do not worry about the drinking water. Use Tom's children's toothpaste, fluorine free. In addition, it is in limited amounts in the water, In accordance with Article 141.08 of the New York City Health Code, DEP's water has a KNOWN concentration of approximately 1.0 part per million (ppm) fluoride. Not as much as you might have thought.

If you are still unhappy, see: http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/removefluoride.htm

Wild about Salmon!

http://www.wildforsalmon.com/aboutscokeye.html

Wild versus Farmed? What's the difference?

We do know that fish is important for our health. However, this is a complex issue. Logically we'd think farm-raised would be better for our environment and better for us. (by the way, "ocean-raised" fish is the same as "farm-raised" just a new marketing name. Farm-raised fish are fish in pens in the ocean and when this got a bad wrap they changed the name, that's all!) But we have learned that farm raised means that the fish don't get lots of swimming room, are prone to disease (and therefore fed antibiotics) and can get out and infect the fish in the wild. They are also high in mercury.

"Where does this come from?" is the most important question you can ask yourself about anything you are consuming.

Let's look at Farmed Salmon. Since Farmed Salmon are fed pellets instead of what they eat in the wild, three elements are affected:
1. First, the food that they normally eat in the wild converts into powerful omega 3s for us; the farm raised salmon doesn't have as high nutritional value.
2. Second, the food they eat naturally helps them turn that beautiful pink color to which we are accustomed; the farm raised are therefore fed colorings to make them more palatable to our eye.
3. Finally, the food they eat affects how they taste and there is truly no comparison in flavor or texture.


When choosing to eat fish, we must consider:
1. The importance of fish to our health with valuable Omega-3s, protein, low fat.
2. The sustainability of the fish, that it is not overfished and that it is safe for our environment.
3. The health of the fish and the life of the fish (what it eats, how it lives).
4. Cost. We really can't afford to eat farmed salmon.
5. Taste.

Fish, particularly cold water oily fish, have valuable Omega 3s. We are just now exploring all the benefits of these EFAs and are finding that they are invaluable to good health. They help reduce risks of heart disease, cancer, age-related blindness and eye problems, arthritis, and other inflammatory diseases as well as keep a healthy circulatory system. We should strive for two to three servings (total of 6 - 12 ounces per week as one serving is considered 3 but can be as much as 6 ounces) per week of a fish high in Omega 3s.

We know that wild Salmon has great benefits; however, most grocery stores and restauants that offer "salmon" are offering a genetically engineered (farmed) salmon that is taking over the environment. Or, we find out, that because of the way the fish is caught, it's habitats are being damaged and it's becoming endangered. We have to carefully look at where the fish is caught and whether or not the fishery is sustainable. It is important that we make sure our fish is Sustainable and safe for the environment.

It is also important that we make sure THE FISH is healthy and therefore truly healthful. Farm-raised fish are raised in small pens in the ocean secured by nets or in ponds, depending upon the fish species. As with most industries, maximizing revenues is key so they will stock a pond with as many fish as they can leaving very little room for the fish to move about freely and they are fed pellets of food instead of their natural food (sounds like the chicken and cattle scenarios all over again). This, in turn, doesn't allow them to use their muscles naturally nor convert their natural food into powerful Omega 3s for us. Therefore, farm-raised fish doesn't have the health benefits of Wild fish. Therefore, farm-raised salmon doesn't have the color of natural salmon and they are fed colorings to help make the salmon palatable for our plates.

"Wild salmon become pink by eating sea creatures like krill, which contain a carotenoid called astaxanthin. Farmed salmon are naturally grayish but turn pink when they are fed various sources of astaxanthin, including one that is chemically synthesized and others that originate from yeast or microalgae." NY Times, Marian Burros



And since they are crammed in next to one another, disease can spread quickly so they are fed antibiotics. And they are infested with sea lice, 30,000 times more than normal! Then they get out of their pens and wreak havoc on our delicate ecosystem. These farmed fish consume more of our natural resources and infest other salmon with sea lice and other diseases.

We've heard this story all too often. Farm-Raised fish is bad for our planet, our bodies and our future. Make a powerful statement and refuse to eat or purchase farm-raised fish.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org), over 68% of all seafood consumed in the United States is imported, and most of it is industrially produced. Many of these commodities are farm-raised and often involve little oversight regarding antibiotic drug use. While the U.S. government has standards that should ban imports with high levels of antibiotics in seafood, there is essentially no enforcement. Farmed salmon have more antibiotics administered by weight than any other form of livestock. Farmed salmon have significantly higher levels of PCBs, dioxin, and other cancer causing agents over wild salmon.

We eat fish for the omega 3s and to lower your risk of a heart attack. Farm-raised salmon is high in mercury. Mercury can actually increase our risk of heart attack. Our waters, and therefore our fish, have become contaminated with mercury because of all the industrial pollution. When it enters the water, it is converted into toxic methylmercury and it is consumed by the smaller fish and then the smaller fish are consumed by the larger fish. Larger predatory fish are higher in mercury than smaller fish because it accumulates in their bodies over time. The older and larger the fish, the higher it's levels of mercury. Mercury is of particular concern to growing children and babies in utero. Therefore, women hoping to one day become pregnant (mercury stores in your fat, remember), nursing and pregnant moms, as well as growing children need to be even more cautious. It's important that we choose wild fish that is lowest in levels of mercury. As a guideline, adults should not exceed 0.5ppm of mercury and the women/nursing/pregnant /children group should not exceed 0.2ppm per week.
Many fish, including farmed salmon, are also contaminated with PCBs. Farmed salmon has far higher (7 times!) levels of PCBs in their system than wild salmon.

Unlike farmed salmon, wild Alaskan salmon species grow free of antibiotics, pesticides, synthetic coloring agents, growth hormones and GMOs, and Wild Alaskan Salmon has the least amount of mercury of almost any fish.

Cost...Can We Afford It?
It may seem that farmed salmon are cheaper than the real thing. The price per pound may indeed be less. However, we can't really afford farmed salmon. There is actually a Net Loss with Farmed salmon. How so? Salmon is carnivorous and need to eat fish. The fish farms instead feed them pellets of fish meal and fish oil (and added coloring agents to give their flesh that orange glow that we are accustomed to seeing on salmon) and this fish meal food is made up of, you guessed it, wild fish. Instead of making the fish venture off to find their food naturally, we are giving them free processed man-made fish meal. It takes about 8 tons of wild fish to make up only 1 ton of fish oil for their feed. That 8 tons of wild fish would have fed a lot many more fish in it's natural state. Therefore it takes almost 3 tons of fish to make 1 ton of farmed salmon. This is diminishing our resources of wild fish. There is a real problem that there may not be enough fish to create the fish meal. They are now looking into alternative sources of protein and colorings to make them seem "real" to the consumers. Plans are in the works to force this carnivorous fish into becoming vegetarian. Of course, there are no studies on the effects this will have on the fish or on the value of the fish as food for us.

Plus the fish aren't eating their natural food. They are being "forced" to eat ground up fish that are highly contaminated. Farmed salmon also has "significantly hither concentrations of PCBs, Dioxin, and other cancer-causing contaminants that salmon caught in the wild" according to a new study.

We also know that farmed fish don't have the same valuable omega 3 as wild salmon. How much more do we need to consume (and purchase) in order to get those Essential Fatty Acids? That alone should cause us to pause over the cost. At the very basics, we eat for nutrition. That is being washed down. Farmed fish are not nearly as healthful for us.

At present, farmed salmon presents a tremendous stress on our delicate aquatic ecosystem. This means less fish for us as consumers and less fish for our oceans, which in turn affects other fish as well as plant, algae, and other living creatures of the ocean. How much more will we spend to try and correct this problem in tax dollars and consumer dollars? It's more expensive to harvest farmed salmon.

Furthermore, farmed fish are in overcrowded pens in the ocean who live in feces infested waters. They are ridden with sea lice. This spoils the surrounding marine life and fish migrating (like wild salmon) past the pen. Since they live in such close proximity, farmed fish are fed antibiotics to ward off infection which could wipe out the entire lot. They are given other drugs also. This takes a toll on the surrounding aquatic life as well as on us consumers. Farmed salmon have more antibiotics administered by weight than any other form of livestock.

Atlantic salmon is being farmed in the Pacific. Atlantic salmon is actually not a natural species of salmon to the Pacific Ocean. They are escaping from their nets (or being let free, especially when there is a sickness in the pen so that the "fishermen" can avoid a fine and avoid a costly clean up - they are fined if they let them free officially but they are not if they "escape" and that way any additional costs to clear up a disease are also eliminated) and are wreaking havoc on the delicate ecosystem. They can spread disease. Many are genetically modified to grow quickly so they eat more. The farmed salmon that escape are causing the demise of the Wild Pacific Salmon. Millions "escape" every year.

Farmed fishing is not sustainable fishing. Farmed fishing is damaging to our environment and our future.

And who do we trust to get wild salmon? To add another layer to our frustration, now we must know our source is reputable.

According to recent testing done for the New York Times in March 2005, most supermarkets that offer "wild" salmon are really selling farmed salmon with a heftier price tag! (Farmed goes for $5 - $12/lb while Wild can go for $29/lb.) The NY Times tested for artificial color in the salmon! And it's not necessarily the fault of the store, people have seen truckloads of fish get remarked as wild and sent out across the stores. Information gathered from www.deliciousorganics.com