So maybe you still aren’t really sure how ethics, dollars, votes and organics go together. Lets start with an explanation of how your dollars equal votes. When you make your everyday purchases, big or small, you are essentially supporting the companies whose products your are purchasing. As you spend your dollars you are voting “yes” in support of that companies work and trade policies. If you spend your dollars with companies that support fair wages and work against sweat shops and child labor, then you are giving your vote of approval for that companies’ policies. In the same way, if you are spending your dollars with companies who do not care about the environment or fair labor laws, then you are giving your stamp of approval (your dollar vote) to this company.  This is the reverse of a boycott.

Now, how does this tie in to organics? Well, when you purchase products that are non-organic, you are voting for the companies’ policy of potentially environmentally unfriendly pesticides and fertilizers. You are also voting for the genetic modification that is going on with these mass producers. When you purchase organic foods and products you are casting a vote for the ethics of organic living. Products that are earth and family friendly. Which side would you cast your dollar vote on?

Within the organic and green movement there is some dissension about going organic or locally grown. Not all of your local farmer’s market participants are organic, but everything is generally locally grown by local farmers.  Buying locally has proven to have the lowest impact on our environment. Trucks weren’t needed to transport the produce across the country. You are also supporting the economy in your area. Others would argue that when you buy local that is non-organic, you are essentially letting the local farmers keep doing things the way they have, instead of encouraging them, with your dollar vote, to seek a more earth friendly way of farming. Each of us has the right to cast our dollar votes as we wish. It is a proven fact that organics are better for our health, our farmers and our local communities. When you vote organic you are effecting positive change in many ways.  The voting power is yours; use as you see fit.

So how does this work? It is really quite simple. Every one of us must make purchases, most of us on a daily level. Choose the products you buy based on the companies ethical standards. Do they use animal testing or exploit their workers? Are they environmentally conscious and responsible? If everyone who is concerned about these things would make green choices, then these companies would see a loss in profits and then they would have to make changes to woo their consumers back.  For companies to take notice they have to feel how serious we, as consumers, are about being green.

Green living follows the basic law of taking only what you need but leaving enough so that there will always be more. This is sustainable living at every level. To encourage this in your own community, as well as your own life, consider these green changes to your way of living.

Buy only organic and locally produced produce. Not only will you be supporting local farmers trying to do a good thing, but your family will be healthier. Eat a more well balanced diet that is lower or free from meat.  Find a group of local individuals or families who feel the same way you do and support each other in your green quest. Find ways to use less energy at home and on the job. Turn off your computer at night instead of just putting it to sleep.  Shop thrift stores and look for organic clothing. Consider walking or biking instead of burning fuel in your car when you don’t have far to go. Stay in to eat more often; you’ll be healthier and so will your wallet.  Green living is attainable and will make its mark on our communities and effect change.

Some tips to help you benefit from going green at home:

Your home is a place where you spend immense amounts of time and income, so it only makes sense to  enable your home to become more cost efficient and environmental friendly. You can go green using a few ways such as insulating your home, using alternative forms of heating e.t.c

You need to make sure that your house is well insulated in order to conserve heat, especially in the cold winter months.  You may find yourself using more heat and turning up your thermostat if you don’t have a well insulated house, this can result in a lot of money spent each month on the heating bill.

Many people also use too much water and this can result in an increase in the water bill.  You can save so much on your water bill as well as reduce your water waste by doing things such as installing a cistern for your toilet, this can help you to reduce the gallons per flush.  Especially in older toilet models, the gallons per flush can be quite high and this really makes a big difference !

You can invest in better lighting for your home by replacing your standard light bulbs and make your home more efficient in the long run. Many standard light bulbs are quite inefficient in their energy conservation.  Many standard light bulbs also last for a shorter amount of time when compared to LED lights.  You will find that although it may cost a few dollars more to purchase LED lights, they are much more cost efficient in  the long run than many compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Also make sure to wash your clothing using cold water, not only will this make for cleaner clothing, but it is also much more efficient in conserving energy.

There are more tips and tricks to achieving a greener home, and you can do your research in order to find out the most suitable and cost effective method for your green lifestyle as well as your home.  By making small changes, these changes can add up to significantly more in the future and you can also do your part in conserving and protecting the environment by going green!

The skin is the largest organ on the body – you will ingest these poisons right through your otherwise fashionable peice of clothing. This is why parents today are now turning to organic and eco-friendly baby clothing.

When buying organic baby products online, such as newborn baby hats, or when looking for organic newborn gifts, make sure that the label on the product does indeed say 100% organic. When buying textile products, check to ensure that the fabric is 100% organic cotton and does not have another textile blend. Avoid all blends that contain petroleum based fabrics such as rayon, nylon and polyester.

A first step is to find out what kind of paint is already on the walls of the baby room. If it is “safe” or at least non-toxic paint, then that’s great. But if not, there are so many kinds and brands of eco friendly paint on the market today. A quick visit to your local paint store will give you the best idea on what’s available or even affordable for a mini-renovation. Just remember that the air the baby breathes every moment they are in the room can be potentially toxic because of the paint and products in the room. So be sure!

Once you know the paint is safe for baby, the next thing to consider is the bedding and furniture in the room. If you are buying new, there are several places online where you can find eco friendly baby products. Look for natural bedding products that aren’t loaded with toxic flame retardent. The very products that make mattresses flame retardent are extremely toxic – and you breathe them in every night. So for baby, be sure the mattress and bedding is safe.

Organic products are a sure bet. Organic bedding and wood based furnture that was grown without pesticides or toxic dies and glues added during processing is not so difficult to find these days. Again, a simple search online will reveal what is available and where you can find it locally.

Even when it comes to educational toys and teddy bears, you can make eco friendly choices. Natural organic wool, cotton or even bamboo is now being used to create many baby products. It’s just a matter of finding out what you can get locally, or buy it online. Find cute bears for the home and of course the baby’s room.

Avoid furniture that is made with plywood, particle board, or fiber board (MDF). It all has been extremely processed with toxic chemicals that your baby will breathe in and ingest on a daily basis. Look for natural wood products and even consider bamboo – the quickest growing wood in the world (which makes it highly desirable for sustainable living).

Once you’ve got your eco friendly baby products chosen and in place, you’ll have peace of mind. You’ll know for a fact that your baby is living in a safe and eco friendly environment because you did your homework and made it so.

Feeding your pet the healthiest diet entails providing the highest quality, organic diet available. Going organic may seem to be more costly but the benefits outweigh the cost. Organic diets help your dog or cat throughout their lives. They live longer, stay healthier, and are much more energetic and spirited. The food you feed your pet has a direct connection to their wellness and longevity.

Providing organic meals leads to shinier coats with fewer skin ailments, not as many bowel movements, less odor, and lower incidents of digestive problems. In the long term organic foods have been proven to prevent cancer, muscle degeneration, obesity, coronary disease, arteriosclerosis, lung and heart diseases and premature aging. An organic diet can also lessen the likelihood of diabetes. A high quality healthy diet can also boost your pet”s immune system saving you costly veterinarian bills.

I, personally, have seen the benefits of organic food for my pets. My ten year old dog used to suffer from severe allergies causing sneezing, runny nose, and skin ailments. He also, limped around and had very low energy. He literally went from one soft spot to the next. The vet told me it was just age and arthritis and gave me some pills. Soon after, our visit I began researching dog food and found that my dog’s food affected him as much as my food affected me. I then decided to try an organic pet food to see if it would help with his symptoms. I searched the web until I found a high quality organic dog food and I started him on it right away. I saw a difference in only two weeks. He had a shinier coat, his allergies were improving, and he was much more energetic. After a few months he became as lively as a five year old, bounding around and playful. He now spends his day playing with my three year old dog and the children. Oh, and I took him off his medicines.

Another benefit you can reap from serving organic pet food is not worrying each time you purchase dog or cat food whether the food will make your pet ill. Certified Organic food or “human grade” are terms certified by the FDA to only use organic ingredients, be free of hormones, antibiotics and to be free from cruelty to animals. (www.fda.gov) Words such as: all natural, wholesome, holistic, and organic (not certified organic) are examples of descriptions not regulated by the FDA.

The next time you go to purchase pet food just remember why your pet should go organic and then find a high quality certified organic dog or cat food that fits your needs.

The ideal pet treat is made from whole foods that supplement your pet’s usual diet with nutrients he or she does not normally get. Healthy pet treats are free of allergens and contain only ingredients that are appropriate for the type of animal for which they are intended. The best natural treats are those in which real foods supply the nutrients. Although raw fruits and vegetables may not always be fully digestible by carnivores, the textures and smells of these treats can be an invaluable contribution to an animal’s pleasure. This in turn can benefit the animal’s well being via an enhanced immune system. Moreover, the gut bacteria, which are of crucial importance to a healthy immune system, will get a special boost from certain plant materials.

In most pet food treats, cheap, chemical-laden ingredients are processed with excessive heat, which render these treats little more than calorie-dense and nutrient-poor blobs. Baked treats made from white flours are a far cry from anything that most animals should eat. Most pet treats are composed of refined ingredients, which have been associated with chronic diseases among pets (e.g., obesity and diabetes). Some treats contain addictive ingredients, such as sugars, sweeteners, or refined salt, which are as unhealthy for animals as they are for people. The addictive properties of sugars, for example, have been amply demonstrated.

In general, the best natural pet treats are those that are USDA certified organic, which guarantees that no agricultural toxins are present in the food. USDA certified organic pet treats are verifiable free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), hormones, antibiotics, and other unhealthy synthetic additives. USDA organic certification also guarantees that no toxins are used during manufacture and that neither the treat nor its ingredients are sanitized using gamma irradiation or pesticides. The USDA organic seal and the name of the certifying agency are the only assurances you have that what you’re buying is organic because, in the case of pet foods, only organic certification warrants that a manufacturer’s organic claims are true.

Over-processing at high temperatures, as occurs during baking and most extrusion processes, may yield cute-looking treats, but certainly diminishes the nutritional qualities of even the best organic ingredients, and may even render some ingredients allergenic for your pet. Nevertheless, adorable shapes seem to have a big impact on consumer choices. The same is true of synthetically colored pet foods and treats. Of course, if animals were to choose, they’d probably go for any shape and color, as long as it tastes good and is generally healthy. Indeed, studies have shown that animals tend to choose organic foods over conventional varieties. If your pet can’t catch or choose his or her own treats, and you can’t provide fresh, natural treats, choose natural, USDA certified organic, whole food-based treats that are free of chemicals and have been treated with low or no heat. Your pet will be happy and that healthy diet will contribute to good psychological and physical health.

Eric Taylor has years of expertise on pet care and pet rearing. He writes on organic pet products, raw pet foods and pet treats that could be used as diet for your pets and ensure their health and wellness.

Depending on the processing methods employed to produce them, commercial pet foods fall into one or the other of the following two categories: heat-treated and raw.

So-called ‘heat-treated’ pet foods are processed using all-too-often excessive levels of heat. These foods are baked, cooked (canned), extruded, or heat-dried (often the case with kibble- or pellet-type pet foods). Diets based on such heat-treated pet foods are probably the least desirable in terms of maintaining the health and general well being of most animals.

Heat processing of food destroys all enzymes, many vitamins and antioxidants, and changes the molecular structure of proteins and even fibers. Attempts to replace nutrients that have been destroyed by heat with supplementary-and predominantly synthetic-nutrients can never compare nutritionally with the benefits and quality of natural, minimally treated nutrients. At present, there is no way to replace structurally altered fibers or denatured proteins. These alterations make heat-processed foods and their constituent nutrients less bio-available or beneficial, and certainly less effective in maintaining health, preventing disease, and helping the healing processes that normally follow injury. Structurally altered pet foods may actually contribute to health problems (e.g., food allergies or inflammation).

Mineral and vitamin supplementation is often used to comply with the American Feed Control official standards for balanced or complete diets. However, these standards can’t possibly reflect the actual nutritional requirements of every domestic animal species. Accordingly, Dr. Junger believes that animals should eat a variety of foods that provide a broad spectrum of natural nutrients. If animals are fed a variety of quality foods to begin with, supplementation with select high quality products can then be used to support good health at different life stages, to prevent age-related deficiencies, or to promote healing after injuries.

Today, with the availability of raw pet food options, consumers and their pets have good diet options. The best raw pet foods are fresh, consisting of raw animal products, plant material, or a combination of the two. Frozen raw pet foods are often a more convenient choice. If fresh or frozen raw foods aren’t available, dehydrated raw foods are a good second choice. The advantage of these dehydrated foods is that they can be stored easily for longer periods of time with little mess and no worry about short-term spoilage.

In terms of nutritional quality, not all dehydrated raw pet food products are the same. Apart from the ingredients used, the quality of this variety of raw pet food depends largely on the temperatures to which their ingredients were exposed during the dehydration process. Dr. Junger’s company, Onesta Organics, uses a truly gentle and slow dehydration process that preserves overall nutritional quality.

As with all pet food products, an important determinant of quality is the choice of ingredients used by manufacturers. Onesta Organics uses only human grade ingredients that are certified organic by a USDA-accredited organic certifying agency. This assures that the ingredients used are verifiably organic. USDA organic certification also ensures that Onesta Organics products are free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), hormones, and antibiotics, and that no potentially toxic or otherwise unhealthy synthetics are added to your pet’s food.

It also means that all ingredients used are traceable back to their original source. Such sourcing is impossible in the case of conventional pet food manufacturers. Unlike the products of companies which state that their pet food is organic-and, in some cases, might even claim GMO-, hormone-, and antibiotic-free status-only USDA certified organic pet foods are inspected and scrutinized by an independent third party, which assures that all claims made are indeed true. Aside from the fact that Onesta Organics uses healthful, certified organic ingredients in their raw pet foods, unlike other pet food manufacturers, this company sees no point in adding ingredients that are known to be highly allergenic to its pet food products.

The folks at Onesta Organics believe that USDA certified organic, raw pet foods are among the healthiest choices for your pet. Moreover, it’s critically important for pet owners to provide their animals with a wide variety of food choices. In most cases, such a broad-spectrum feeding approach will minimize, or perhaps even negate, the possibility of the kinds of nutritional deficiencies and chronic diseases in pets we hear about all too often these days.

There are 7 elements of development

The five senses.  Through the five senses, babies receive information from their surroundings, so that they are able to explore and process it. Our babies senses open the world to them and help to expand the scope of their understanding. When our babies see, they learn to distinguish between size, shape, colors and movement. They hear sounds, with their volume, pitch and tone. They taste and smell, and grasp and feel texture, temperature, weight.

Gross motor development involves the group of large muscles that control the head, shoulders, arms, back, abdomen and feet.

Fine motor development involves development of control over the group of small muscles – in the palms of our hands and fingers, and surrounding our mouths and eyes — that enable us to carry out specific, very controlled movements such as grasping and manipulating objects, coordinating our eye and hand movements ( hand-eye coordination), speaking and moving our eyes.

Language and Communication.  Receptive verbal skills precede the ability to speak, and this is a far better indication of your baby’s developing language skills than her verbal repertoire in the first months of life.

Cognition.  Babies are born with a variety of cognitive skills that help them acclimate to their new reality outside the womb. They are constantly learning, and each and every day their cognitive skills grow and develop.

Object Permanence- During the first few months of a newborn’s life, the entire world as she knows it is what is before her eyes. As soon as something disappears out of her eyesight – it’s as if it never existed. Gradually the world opens up to encompass what is outside the range of her senses, and she begins to think and imagine people and objects that she doesn’t see in front of her. This is object permanence – the ability to understand that objects still exist after they are no longer in sight. Object permanence is an important element in a baby’s intellectual and emotional development. As soon as a baby is able to conjure up an image of a person or object in her mind, she is also capable of cognitive thought: remembering, imagining

Emotional intelligence, or EQ, encompasses all the social and emotional skills that make up our character.

It is important to when choosing developmental toys to look at the recommended age since babies develop certain skill sets at certain times during their first year.  If the toy is too young, your baby will become bored.  If the the toy is too sophisticated, your baby will become frustrated.

It is also important that when choosing developmental toys for your baby that they are safe, earth-friendly, earth friendly developmental toys that meet or exceed American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the European EN-71 (CE) standard, which means that there are no sharp edges, no small parts, flammability is tested, NO LEAD or lead paint, NO heavy metals or toxic elements.

Would you be surprised to know that 50 million disposable diapers enter the landfill every day, where they sit for up to 500 years!! You’d be amazed how much baby poop from disposable diapers ends up in the landfill where the potential health risk and ground water contamination from viruses and bacteria in feces are real threats.

Flushable Diapers inserts break down and sends everything to the wastewater treatment facility where it can be treated safely with the rest of our human waste and where valuable nutrients can be recovered.

Because Earth Friendly Diapers are flushable, they don’t have to end up in a landfill. They go down the toilet. That means no over-flowing garbage cans and no smelly diaper pail full of poopy diapers in your baby’s room.

If flushing is not your thing, you can do home composting, which many people are finding a great way of recycling their garden and green waste at home, you can add the urine soiled (the wet ones) flushables into the mix. In 50-150 days they’ll completely decompose becoming a welcome addition to your garden. Now that’s a sustainable diaper system. NOTE: NEVER COMPOST THE POOPY ONES! THEY MUST BE FLUSHED!!!

Diaper Rash is mainly caused by skin wetness and allergic reactions. Urinary wetness raises the skin pH and make the skin sensitive to additives. This intensifies with stool enzymes and other irritants that inflame the skin. By using Earth Friendly or Chlorine Free Diapers this lessens the irritants on your babies skin to reduce Diaper Rash.

Diapers that are plastic free are breathable and reduce wetness. Plastic holds in the wetness. Diapers that do not contain any chlorine, perfumes, inks or dyes will also reduce allergic reactions, which can be another cause of diaper rash.

There are many new “earth friendly diapers” that are out there on the market today.