By Allison Wolff, originally published on Eco Child’s Play on October 29,2009

I knew going into having a baby that the mountains of diapers would horrify me from both a personal hygiene and environmental perspective. I also knew that I wasn’t game for potty-training-at-birth philosophies. Sure enough, if I calculate how many diapers I’ve changed for my now 15 month old, I’m horrified.

Two months before I gave birth to my baby girl I did some research on which diapers would have the least amount of environmental impact. Traditional, “non-eco” disposables were never even an option…I was interested only in comparing “eco” choices.

I assumed that organic cloth diapers would be a clear win. In fact, before Emerson was born, I pretty much planned on using organic cloth diapers, washing them at home, despite the rather daunting and disgusting work that would require. I even put a bunch in our baby gift registry. In doing more research, however, that choice may not have been best, particularly because of where we live (more on that in a minute).

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Published by Allison Wolff for Eco Child’s Play on October 15, 2009

Halloween, like many other holidays, is a love-hate day for me. I love the tradition, the fun of dressing up as someone or something completely different from myself, the excitement of walking the streets in the dark, leaves blowing, trying to figure out who is hiding under each costume, and, of course, gorging on piles of candy just before bedtime (of course I only did that as a kid). As I’ve become a concerned “greenie” mother, however, I am growing to hate holidays that fuel the consumption of toxic materials and goodies that ain’t so good for the planet or our bodies.

That said, I am the mother of a 15-month-old girl and, in an effort to not be a complete crumudgeon, I thought I would do some research to find eco-acceptable costumes and planet- and body-better goodies. Here are a few good finds:

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Originally posted by Allison Wolff on Eco Child’s Play on October 15, 2009

Last week, I participated in a community-based conversation about vaccinations at our local library that included two of our medical center’s nursing staff and a bunch of smart, well-researched, concerned moms. Though I’ve written two previous posts about vaccinations, I was compelled to write yet another to share the conclusion I and others came to at the end of this community discussion.

In my opinion, there are three vaccines that are clear examples of the government and the pharmaceutical industry pushing needless vaccines on the general public. These examples make me and other moms distrust the vaccination industry and the CDC, paralyzing us in our decision-making process about whether or not to vaccinate our kids and, if we do, for what diseases:

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