Blog Posts by Ask an Organic Mom, The Daily Green

Hi there, I am wondering if I could ask a question maybe you could address in your blog someday. Flame-retardant free couches. Where do you get them? I found some online via "Debra's List" but they were $$$$$! Nice but way pricey. I am lying on my micro-suede one. I called the company we bought it from and they told me that "micro-suede is generally not treated" but could neither confirm nor deny that mine was treated or not. Ugh!

Thanks! Love your blog!!

- Laura

Hi Laura,

I agree, the furniture I have researched with the least toxic flame retardants in them - or none at all -- is quite expensive. If price is an issue you might do well with a natural futon on a hardwood frame, like those sold at WhiteLotus.net.

For inexpensive better but not totally pure furniture, Ikea says their furniture is made to adhere to stricter-than-American Finnish and German standards. For mid-range, you might want to do some research on places like Crate and Barrel. They're

The answer: Tap -- just test and filter accordingly.

The question: What water should I drink when pregnant and breastfeeding, and give my child when they start drinking water?

I cannot count the amount of times I have gotten this question - in person, via email, through web posts, etc. etc. - and responded, "Tap, just test and filter accordingly." It's like a mantra. In fact, I recently wrote almost an entire chapter based on that little sentence for my next book on green food and kitchens, due out from Clarkson Potter in 2010.

Some people have challenged me on this, saying testing isn't realistic. No one actually motivates to do it unless they're moving into a new place, or maybe as a good faith gesture when newly pregnant. Another argument/question -- why bother filtering municipal water that is felt to be "good?" Based on the recently disturbing news about lead in Washington DC's drinking water from 2001 to 2004, my mantra seems like good common sense, as well as

I've got the winter doldrums. Out of nowhere - well, after too many cold days being shut inside, actually - I decided my daughter "needed" a new sweater. That's in quotes because what almost three-year-old needs anything, really? As a former and reformed shopper (thank you, green movement!), this might signal a relapse of consumerism-itis. But no! We have the most tremendously wonderful stockpile of hand-me-downs. I walked over to the chest I keep the next size up in, threw it open and we played dress up for an hour. The chest reminds me of The Giving Tree. By the time we tired of it, she had not one but three "new" sweaters. Beyond delightful, especially in this economy. You, too, can have this embarrassment of completely eco-riches with out spending a penny, or at least spending less pennies than you thought. Here's how:

1. BE OPEN TO HAND-ME-DOWNS
I often hear from parents wondering how to get hand-me-downs, or who claim that they wish they had some but they don't have

One of the many things I disliked about giving birth in a hospital were the truly toxic products they had to use on my newborn - wipes, creams and the like I would never, ever have in my own home. (Looong story why I was there in the first place, and not in a birthing center.) I have yet to be able to figure out why hospitals -- and the health care industry in general -- have not jumped on the green bandwagon. You're a captive audience there -- elated, healing, exhausted, and learning how to nurse. Educate and send parents home with the basic info on how to create greener spaces at home - after birth, during pregnancies, and at pediatrician appointments -- and hospitals and health care companies alike are likely to have to take less care with the tots in the long run. Tom Daschle are you listening?

Which is why I was thrilled and delighted that an article about a new program to help makes homes toxic-free at Overlook Hospital in Summit, a regular ol' central New Jersey town (!)

To see this feature displayed with photos of the cribs, see How to Choose a Safe, Nontoxic Baby Crib.

Babies sleep. A lot. Maybe not when you want them to, but overall they do spend a tremendous amount of time in bed. Which means making sure they have safe bedding is important. Much has been written by green parents myself included -- on the topic of must-have organic crib mattresses, about using wool puddle pads instead of toxic vinyl to protect mattresses from moisture (pee, puke, faulty bottles), and even organic cotton sheets. But what about the crib itself? Most articles written about cribs discuss crucial safety issues (width of slats, etc.) but totally ignore environmental health issues. The fact is that the majority of cribs on the market are made of unsustainable wood, formaldehyde-filled plywoods, and VOC-heavy finishes. Here are four that aren't. You stand warned: the good stuff will cost you.

Q Collection Junior

The ne plus ultra of organic cribs, these

With the Bisphenol-A
As our government repeatedly goes back and forth on "deciding" if BPA is bad for us or not (ha), the fact that this hormone disrupter has been found in baby formula will likely resurface in the public eye. With good reason! It leaches from metal can linings into formula - ready to eat liquid (and to a lesser extent powdered). According to an Environmental Working Group report: "the amount of BPA ingested by some bottle-fed infants exceeds the doses that caused serious adverse effects in animal studies."

2. Water, water everywhere
According to the NRDC the water used to mix infant formula "might contain chlorine byproducts, weed killers, insecticides, solvents, lead and arsenic. In rural areas, nitrates from fertilizer runoff into water have caused the sometimes fatal "blue baby syndrome." Water in general -- not just when mixed with baby formula -- seems to be and will continue to be a hot button issue in 2009. I'm wondering if anyone is

I lost my toy tossing virginity last week. And I'm not happy about it.

Last year, I talked many parents through their anger, frustration, and anxiety as lead-tainted toy after lead-tainted toy was recalled. I calmly explained the issues regarding BPA and steered freaked out families towards safer bottles (and canned goods) as the stories about this hormone disrupting chemical popped up in just about every publication from parenting magazines to local newspapers.

But throughout all of this advice giving, I remained personally untouched. The extremely well-researched (fine -- over-researched) toys in my own house weren't being recalled. They're the tried and true green things -- not so-called natural toys.

Sure, sometimes I wish my kid could have every shiny plastic doll she develops a "thing" for, but I'm not risking it. Especially not when she's this young. In fact, since my daughter was born, we've never purchased a plastic toy (a few plastic gifts have been

Friends and family like to query The Organic Mom. Often. And good thing - their questions often spur me to find out tips and resources I'm glad to have at my fingertips for other families and myself.

For example, this question from a good friend/mom of two popped up in my inbox over the weekend:

We are in the market for some blackout shades (or just good, effective ones) for the children's room. I remember the ones I ordered in L.A. off-gassed so noxiously we had to send them back. Any recs? Xo

I set about poking around online and calling all of my go-to sources (including my co-author Deirdre, who made her own curtains out of dark velvet flannel with cotton lining). I remember the frantic emails from this friend about said stinky shades a few years ago when her older child was an infant. She - well meaning - bought blackout curtains to help her daughter sleep and wound up with some seriously smelly fumes. She tried to air them out to no avail and wound up returning