poloppo

i found this awesome website, poloppo, through my blog savvy friend dana several months ago and loved it, so i was so excited that they were showing at bubble with us in new york this past weekend.

poloppo is a website that collects kid's artwork from all over the world. they then select pieces of artwork and license them and then incorporate them into the designs of their products. the children receive royalties that goes towards their education and poloppo dontates 5% of their revenue to fund arts programs to underprivileged kids. the picture above was drawn by annabelle age4. it's a spaceship. it's awesome right? if you know any little artistes, have them upload their artwork. you never know, it could get selected and then other cool kids could be wearing their art. what's better than that? click here to shop their online gallery.

bio-degradable diapers, yes way

i know what you're thinking, that i made that up. but, it's like a miracle really. they are diapers. that are biodegradable. yes way. the company is called nature babycare and they are european (of course) and they are here. the diapers are almost 100% bio-degradable, the and tabs and elastic waist + leg bands are won't break down, but everything else will. they also sell 100% compostable wipes.

as far as pricing, diapers.com does a great job breaking down the per diaper cost (ie. so you don't have to try to do division in your head or remember how to use your cell phone calculator). if you buy a case of the nature babycare diapers, they run you $0.26 per diaper for size 1 to all the way up to $0.51 per diaper for size 5. for comparison sake, pampers are $0.17 for a size 1 to $0.34 for a size 5. g-diapers will run you $0.33 for a size small and $0.41 for size med/large.

here is the 411 from the cooler choices website:
-chlorine-free absorbent materials – does not contribute to dioxin pollution
-100 % compostable/natural back sheet – NO plastic - reduce the greenhouse affect
-100 % compostable/natural distribution layer – NO plastic - reduce the greenhouse affect
-100 % compostable/natural consumer packaging – NO plastic - reduce the greenhouse affect
-No latex, fragrance, or TBT (tributyl tin)

did you hear them? NO plastic. NO WIRE HANGERS!!!! anyways, digressing.

i chased down a dad at my day care who was toting a package of these wonder diapers and asked for a real life opinion. he said he loved them, but they didn't use them for overnight. he was a man of few words. but then again, i'm not sure he loved being grilled at 8am trying to drop his kid off. i think he needed some coffee.

you can buy these fab diapers on diapers.com or if you buy them on coolerchoices.com, they will plant one tree for every package of diapers that you purchase. cool. i like trees.

i have to give a big shout out to cristina at green mom finds for pointing this mom in the right direction. she's always got the good scoop. i can't wait to give these a try.

dude, sweet bike

it seems like lately there have been articles ad nauseum in the boston globe and the new york times about riding your bike as a great way to combat high gas prices. these articles seem to focus on how to do so safely, but i'm here to tell you how to do so in style. ohhhhh yeah.

now you know i love just about anything european. and that's why i loved these bikes...the jolly bikes (pictured above) are imported from holland by 2 local ladies tecla and monet. literally this is the smoothest ride ever. and they come in so many fun colors. they are $700.00, but man, they are the coolest. monet will paint anything you want on the wheel cover. which secretly is a guard so your skirt doesn't get caught in the spokes. oh jolly bike - you had me at 'hallo'.also super spectacular is the electra cruiser. it's a bit more affordable at $300.00+. these really are a sweet ride, very very smooth. i love all the vintage styling like the white wall tires. if i didn't already have a retro schwinn from the '70's i would totally buy one. we did buy toby one of their kid bikes, it's so bad ass with flames. he loves it. check it out...who wouldn't?
the last fun bike option is a fold a bike. have you seen these? they are for the hard core train commuters, but they are totally rad. citizen bike makes a great one for under $300.00. that's like 70 gallons of gas these days. imagine you are so cool that you walk into work with this under your arm and sneer at all the car commuters. i love it.


oh and yeah, don't forget a helmet, use your hand signals and blahbeddy blah blah safety blah.

under the nile cute-ness

my girl jasper is teething. poor thing. she has been busily chewing her way through her entire box of toys, but thankfully she has really settled on gnawing on this one. we got this bundle of organic chew toy goodness as a hand me down from baby reese. it's 100% organic cotton from egypt from the geniuses at under the nile. they have all kinds of other fruits and vegetables too. kate browning got jasper the banana as well, which is also super cute and easier to hold but for some reason she is really partial to this little guy. i think it's the adorable little face.

the best part is, you can run part of the toy under water (we put the head, hat and leaves of the grapes) and pop him in the freezer and voila! frozen teether that you don't have to wonder if it's covered in lead or if the plastic contains anything icky.

there is even a little crate of 4 vegetables that you can give as a gift. so cute. individual veggies are $6.00 and the crate is $26.00. available at under the nile, or locally at crunchy granola baby in salem.

sugar spiked formula

i have actually had to sit with this for a week before i felt like i could write this post and not rant like a lunatic. the new york times recently reported that similac's organic formula actually has significantly more sugar in it than all other formulas on the market. wait. what? i don't even let my 3 year old drink juice that isn't watered down. i have been giving jasper this formula since she was 8 weeks old thinking that i was doing the 'right' thing by giving her formula that was created with organic milk. but apparently all i was giving her a sweet tooth and a propensity for obesity. awesome. similac is the only organic formula that uses cane sugar (parent's choice and earths best, two other organic formulas, use organic lactose which is less sweet) but similac maintains that is 'wasn't optimizing for taste'. yeah, whatever.

here is the scariest part of the entire article, which caused me to round up all unopened formula canisters and return them immediately to target:

"The sweeter taste of Similac Organic was observed by a professional sensory-tasting panel, commissioned by The New York Times to do a blind tasting of eight nationally available formulas, soy and dairy, organic and not. Seven of the formulas were as sweet as unsweetened apple juice, said Gail Civille, the director of Sensory Spectrum, which performed the tests. Ms. Civille said Similac Organic was the sweetest, with “the sweetness of grape juice or Country Time lemonade."

COUNTRY TIME LEMONADE? oh no. oh no no no.

you should have seen the poor guy at target when i dumped 4 canisters and 3 liquid containers and he said 'is anything wrong with it?'

aren't you glad you don't work at the target returns counter?

i am happy to report that jasper is loving her new formula.

modern organic bedding

our kids spend over 50% of their little lives in bed. our favorite retailer and green guru, jennie at crunchy granola baby says 'if you are going to go organic, go with organic cotton in all of their bedding. mattress, mattress pad, sheets; the whole kit and kaboodle'. but, if you are like me and like beautiful modern patterns, you are out of luck right? think again my funny friends. i have found some super cute organic bedding designers and here are 2 of my fav's:

1. pixel organics - these prints are so childlike and fun. the print at the top of the post is called 'lions and tigers and kitties, oh my!' it reminds me somehow of the retro barkcloth fabric, but in a new fun + funky way. i love it with the chartreuse walls. ( i actually just love the word chartreuse and i really don't find that many ways to use it in casual conversation)



2. argington bedding - this modern furniture designer has created a line of organic bedding that is so beautiful. the pattern at above is their butterfly print with complementing pattern in twigs. it's just so girly and pink i can't stand it. they have an adorable dinosaur pattern for those with boys.

both companies boast that their cotton is 100% certified organic and they use low impact dyes and regenerated polyester that doesn't off gas. pixel organics even states that the fill on their comforters may have been your plastic water bottle from last month. as if you still use those. please.

organic consignment-delightful!

i am totally addicted to ebay and craig's list. i love buying used things for my kids, so eco friendly right? but they just aren't meeting my organic needs right now. so i was super excited when green mom finds (do you not read this blog? it's fantastic) turned me on to this fabulous website called the conscious child. it's an online consignment store for organic and non organic kids clothes. so, if you are like me and buy the organic stuff and then want to recycle it, now you have a place to sell. also, if you are like me and you love the organic stuff but are truly broke even after the federal stimulus check came, this is a great place to buy.

check out these awesome lanacare booties for 9.99. so cute, and cheap, they are normally 20.00!! they also sell some pretty cute new organic stuff, maybe they will carry toby + rei soon. who knows?