Hello and welcome!

EnviroMom has had a little bit of media exposure these past few days, which always brings lots of new visitors to the site. Thanks so much for coming, and we hope you'll stick around and become part of this supportive community. We have over 25,000 visitors to the site each month coming from around the country, and those numbers continue to climb. Renee and I work really, really hard to keep the tone of this blog friendly, funny, respectful and supportive because making lifestyle changes can be intimidating and overwhelming. For the 2+ years we've blogged here, we've never had a flame war and we'd like to keep it that way. (The planet is hot enough already -- badda-bing!) Debates are healthy, personal attacks not so much. Our readers are awesome, and we've learned so much from the back and forth that goes on here. We try not to preach or to judge because we are not model greenies, we are just like you, trying our best to learn to live lighter.

So! Here are some links. If you missed the KATU Go Green special, check it out. And yes, when I get nervous my skin gets really, really blotchy. I wish I could say it was the result of a night of acrobatic passion (with George Clooney!) but alas, it's my genetic curse. The problem with a two minute TV segment, is that you can't cover it all, and lots of ideas for green birthdays were left on the editing floor. Check out our Green Birthday Pledge page that has lots more ideas. Also, there's a good article on Parent Map about green birthdays.

The Oregonian's FOODday ran a great article today about keeping a low-carbon kitchen. (Thanks, Leslie, for the shout out!) The One Can A Month Challenge she mentioned is chock full of waste-reducing baby steps to take around your house. The Nightline video summarizes a few of those as we subject a good-natured family to a waste makeover.

We hope you'll join the conversation and share your own sustainable experiences with the EnviroMom community. Thanks!