The Green Mama Blog

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Green Concoctions: Deodorant

Posted by Cecelia on Mar 03, 2010
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A few years ago I became super vigilant about looking at labels, scanning the ingredient list for some of the big offenders. I wanted to avoid parabens, synthetic fragrances, propylene glycol, dyes, 1-4 dioxane, petroleum based ingredients, and--most recently--nanoparticles.

Top 10 Green Faux Pas

Posted by Kari on Feb 24, 2010
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Top 10 Green Faux Pas (originally published on Chicago Now)

This list is based on observations I’ve made about the little things we can do every day to be green. Little things are important because they keep good green practices front of mind and visible to others, hopefully causing others to join in. To find out how you can make the biggest impact, calculate your total carbon footprint.

Here are my top 10 green faux pas:

The Greenest Games Ever? Vancouver and the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Posted by The Green Mama on Feb 18, 2010
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It is a once in a lifetime experience, being a spectator at the Olympic games:  a green mama spectator at the green Olympic Games. The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is being billed as the greenest games ever, and that is in the eco sense of the word.

Reflections from a Hair Addict: Finding Recovery

Posted by Cecelia on Feb 17, 2010
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When I was growing up my hair was a mess: frizzy, bushy and permanently dented from being tied in a ponytail. Part of this was due to era, the late 80s/early 90s, but a lot of it was because my hair was addicted.

Organic Ingredients and the Real Organic Brands

Posted by Cecelia on Feb 04, 2010
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I’d been pouring over labels for years and considered myself a savvy shopper, but the skincare aisle almost had me duped.  I’m one of those people: the kind that stands in the Whole Foods aisle obsessively scanning every label.   I am not appeased by claims of Natural! Kid Safe! or Hypoallergenic. What I’m looking for are the ingredients. The rest, as far as I am concerned, is just fancy PR. I want to know what I’m putting in and on my body.

Green Books Campaign: The Kid's Guide to Service Projects

Posted by The Green Mama on Nov 10, 2009
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This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.

A Greener and Healthier Menstrual Cycle

Posted by The Green Mama on Nov 09, 2009
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My friend N. called me yesterday to tell me she just got her period.  "What is the Green Mama approach to dealing with this?" she asked.  N. was new to green, but had already begun cloth diapering her baby, ate local foods, and had generally become curious about many things she used to take for granted.  I am always surprised when women ask me about this issue, but I shouldn't.  It's a big one: expensive in dollars, health effects, and waste. 

How safe is your kid's school lunch?

Posted by The Green Mama on Sep 02, 2009
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It’s back to school time again and do you know what your kid is eating? Chances are if she is eating the school lunch, you don’t. Behind the heading of “hamburger with fries,” “pizza with vegetables,” is a dirty little secret that might be harming your child.  (Yes, this is a re-post, BUT school lunches are one of the top green issues facing parents and children when going back to school.)

Milk: Does it do your child’s body good?

Posted by The Green Mama on Sep 02, 2009
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Milk is a $20-some billion industry.  Millions of dollars are spent by dairy producers and processors to advertise milk through such campaigns as Got Milk? and Milk: It does a body good.  What, however, has been the human cost of making milk into big money?

Don't just sit-in EAT-IN for healthy school lunches

Posted by The Green Mama on Aug 28, 2009
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Been to an Eat-In recently?  Wonder what it is?

An Eat-In is a new take on the grand old tradition of sit-ins, and being used today to bring awareness to the devastating effects that poor nutrition, and specifically, inadequate, unhealthy, and additive-full school lunches are having on children.  The Eat-Ins are sponsored by Slow Food USA.  And whether or not you make it to an actual Eat-In in your community the idea is easily do-able wherever you are: sit down with your children, your friends, or your co-works and eat a healthy meal.  And then, sign the petition to get a Child Nutrition Act that will actually get nutritious food to children in schools.