Accidentally Green

Making Healthy Decisions That Honor God and Happen to Help the Environment

My Big Move

We may be nearing the seven-month mark of living at my parents’ house (No, we did not ever, EVER think it would take this long to find a house and move) but my family is FINALLY moving into our new home. After visiting eighty-two different houses, making offers on six of them, enduring two months of being in contract on our home, and then spending six weeks remodeling our new house, the process is over. We’re moving.It’s wonderful. I don’t know if I can say it was worth the wait – because it ... Read more

6 Ways to Raise Healthy Eaters

Before Prince Charming and I became parents, I read an article about a chef explaining how he fed his own children. Not sparing them from any kind of food, the chef cooked his normal meals, his children ate what was on their plates, and they were not picky eaters. I knew that if and when I became a mother, I had to follow the same example. When I was pregnant with Big Brother, I read about how babies developed a taste for what their mothers ate by tasting the flavors through the amniotic ... Read more

Make Your Own Dishwasher Detergent

Some of you may remember my homemade dishwasher detergent fiasco of last spring. I tried making some with castile soap, vinegar, lemon juice, and water. It was an epic, epic fail. In the meantime, I've meant to try other dishwasher detergent recipes, but my intention has gotten away from me. Part of it was my first move, then it was because we were living with my parents and I didn't want to ruin all of their dishes. Now, I won't get a chance to try, because our new home does not have a ... Read more

Greening the Way I Treat My Sniffles

I've been dealing with a cold for the past few weeks and I just had to share what I've been doing differently. I'm making the switch to handkerchiefs. In a typical winter, my family can go through a lot of paper tissues, thanks to sniffles and various colds. But I've really been trying to cut back on our paper consumption. No, I haven't cut back on toilet paper and made the switch to family cloth. But we love using cloth napkins at mealtimes, I still use cloth diapers on Little Sister, and ... Read more

A Fun Way to Recycle Toys

Six months ago today, my family moved in with my parents when my husband transferred to a new job. Throughout the past half year, I have had plenty of time to sort through old belongings I’ve saved. I vaguely remember having a hard time choosing which toys to get rid of and which toys I should keep just in case I ever had children. Well, my children are here, and they’re now old enough to play with Mommy’s old toys. We've had so much fun together – I’ve had a great time unearthing my old ... Read more

One Clean, Easy, and Safe Soapy Change

Over the past few months, I’ve made one simple change in my home. Instead of using bottle after bottle of liquid hand soap, I’ve switched to bars of plain old Ivory soap. I’m pretty pleased with the decision for several reasons: At a score of three (on a scale of one to ten), Simply Ivory bar soap is rated as a moderate hazard by EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database. I can purchase this for a great price, which makes it an all-around good – and healthy – deal for me. I choose Ivory because it's ... Read more

Holy Cologne, Batman! Artificial Scents Can Affect Sperm

In honor of Valentine’s week we’ve been discussing the link between personal care products and reproductive health. (On Monday I addressed how women are affected.) Surprisingly enough, personal care products affect male fertility and a baby boy's developing reproductive system, as well. Between 2000 and 2003, a study was performed on 409 men who used cologne, aftershave, lotions, hair products, and deodorants. Men who used cologne and aftershave forty-eight hours before the test had ... Read more

Should We Coin the Phrase “Fetal Cosmetic Syndrome?”

There’s no better time than Valentine’s week to discuss reproductive health, right? Accidentally Green’s focus for this week is how toxic chemicals in personal care products can alter the health and reproductive systems of both women and men. A 2005 study revealed that almost half of all personal care products include ingredients that can harm reproductive systems or prenatal development. 1 Chemicals that harm babies are as varied as the products where they can be found: National ... Read more

Spend a Snowy Day Feeding the Birds

Looking for a way to spend a snowy day? Children of all ages will love making a simple bird feeder using just pine cones, wire (or string), peanut butter, and bird seed. Simply tie a piece of wire or string around the top of a pine cone. Coat the pine cone in peanut butter, then roll it in bird seed. Hang it on a tree or bush that's close to your window, and enjoy the view of some hungry new feathered friends. (I tried this project with Big Brother and Little Sister and ... Read more

Safe Bath Products for (My Own) Children

On Wednesday I exposed the unsettling truth that many children’s bath products are filled with toxins. And, I promised to share what safe products I use with my own children. Most nights, I just let Big Brother and Little Sister play in the water and I only rinse them with water. Ever since I learned more about the No Soap movement, I realize that every single bath doesn’t require soap. Twice a week, though, my babies (Who am I kidding? They’re 2 and 4 … hardly babies anymore.) know that ... Read more

Don’t Throw Your Baby In With the Bathwater

Unbelievably, most baby and children’s bath products are loaded with toxins. Even companies who claim to sell “mild” children’s products use ingredients that have no business being around babies. A March 2009 report from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics showed that sixty-one percent of children’s bath products tested included both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. 1 Both chemicals are probable carcinogens. Why are Americans bathing their children with these toxins? Chances are, most parents don’t ... Read more

Finding Natural Relief for Winter Itch

Aside from typical freezing cold temperatures and mountains of snow, the only thing that slightly annoys about winter is how my skin gets so dried out. No matter what I try, I always seem to get some sort of winter itch. (Granted, I'm talking about typical winters and not the freakishly mild one we're experiencing this year.) Instead of lathering on all sorts of lotions, there are some ways to find natural relief: Avoid taking long, hot showers. The hot water will dry your skin even more. ... Read more

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