Finding childcare that supports your green choices

A green-minded friend just had her first baby: a home-birth, mom, dad and babe are all doing swell -- lack of sleep, that crazy joyful adrenalin high, adoring new grandparents -- you know the drill. They've chosen breastfeeding and cloth diapers. Now the trick is to find a daycare when the mom goes back to work that wouldn't laugh her out of town when asked to support those green choices. Here's her dilemma:

we're not sure a nanny makes sense financially and a daycare facility just isn't great for an infant (think put in a bouncy seat in the corner) not to mention they're expensive, so we're thinking a small group in home daycare makes the most sense. they are affordable, about half the cost of daycare, and i like the child:adult ratio. the trick with these of course is finding the right person in the right location. we're ideally looking for one that is willing to do cloth diapers, supports breastfeeding by giving pumped breastmilk and preferably incorporates green activities, education, and outdoor adventures into their daily routine, not to mention good, wholesome food.

So, how did you find daycare for your infant or older children that was affordable and in-line with the green choices you've chosen in raising your child? I did suggest that my friend check out the Eco-Healthy Childcare Directory as a jumping off point. 

Service Club: Volunteering time and emphasizing reuse

I'd like to nominate a fellow mom to genius status. She is lead organizer of our elementary school's service club, and this year had the fantastic idea of using the teacher inservice days (when kids are out of school) to take the club to local service organizations and volunteer our time where they need it most. Last year, you may remember when I wrote about cleaning up donated board books for the Children's Book Bank. Another time our service club got together to make birthday kits, which we then donated to an organization that would get them to kids who might not otherwise have parties. Both activities taught our kids not only about volunteering and sharing their time, but to reuse things already on hand, and give creative new life to stuff if we bundle things in new ways.

Back to our most recent activity... A few weeks ago Friday, two groups of about 10 families from our elementary school went to the Northwest Children's Outreach. We brought with us carloads of clothing, diapers, strollers, car seats, high chairs, cribs, toys, books, etc. Our family in particular brought four bags of clothing, shoes, coats, socks, books and what felt like the world's largest collection of well-loved My Little Pony toys. We took a short tour and learned about this organization, then we rolled up our sleeves and helped sort and organize the donations into kits that they in turn hand off to other service organizations. I was in a group comprised primarily of second graders who counted out diapers from big donated boxes, and repackaged in smaller amounts. We were stunned to hear that 1,000 diapers are donated and delivered to families from this organization each week. Each family's baby can only get 20 diapers, which gives an idea of the vast number of people this organization helps.

Portland: check out the Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge

I know we've written a few Portland-specific posts recently, which probably don't interest 75% of our readers who live in other parts of the US, but I really wanted to mention this. My family explored the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge last weekend and it was really lovely, even on a gray day. The refuge opened a couple of years ago and hadn't been on our radar until we passed it the prior weekend on our way to the space museum (also awesome). The little education center is really nice, and the paths and terrain are perfect for small feet. We saw salamanders, sandhill cranes and lots of ducks and geese. We plan to come back each season and experience the changing flora and fauna. Definitely worth a visit -- we're so lucky to have it!

 

Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv in Tualatin on March 29

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and the man who introduced the world to the term "nature-deficit disorder," will be in the Portland area on March 29. From 11:30am - 12:30pm, Louv will be at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge dedication, 19255 SW Pacific Highway. The dedication will feature guided nature walks and hands-on activities from 12:30 - 4pm.

At 6pm, Louv will speak and sign books at the Tualatin High School auditorium. Tickets for Louv's apprearance are $10 for adults, $5 for students.

If you didn't see it, the Oregonian did a nice feature on Louv in today's Living section.

Feeling a little cheesehead love...

What seems like a million years ago, I lived in Wisconsin. My family moved there when I was in middle school. I remained through university (go Badgers!). At one point in my adulthood, I suggested to my husband that we move there. His response: "Doesn't it snow there???" Please forgive him, as he spent too many of his formative years in warm places like Florida, Louisiana and California.

I'm not planning to visit Wisconsin anytime soon, but once in a while, there's seems to be a conspiracy about a place, and I keep running into reference after reference about the Dairy State:

• I don't know how this happened, but we never read any of the Kevin Henkes books before this fall. We recently read Chrysanthemum and Lily's Purple Plastic Purse. Hilarious. And bless that funny author's heart, he is from Madison, Wisconsin.
• I ran across Oompa Toys during the recall scares. They specialize in toys with no batteries, no blinking lights, no character endorsements, made from natural things like wood, in places with high safety standards like Europe. There are great toy stores like this all over the country, but this one jumped out at me. Why? Because they are based in Madison, Wisconsin.
• Then there was my dilemma over buying a down comforter for our guest bedroom. We keep our house cold at night in the winter. It's bearable because there are down comforters in all the bedrooms, except the guest room, but I've been wanting to get one for ages. I was highly tempted by all the post-Thanksgiving sales fliers flaunting rock-bottom prices on down and down-alternative comforters. I resisted temptation. I went with one that is made in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, by The Company Store. It has a lifetime guarantee. I have a similar one made by this company on my own bed, and I've had it for about 18 years. It will last forever. Again. Don't want to suggest you can't find a great down comforter made here or in your neck of the woods, but I felt this was tried and true and worth a few extra bucks and shipping.

OK. That's it for now. Does anyone else want to share a little cheesehead love?

Arlington: the end of the line for most Portland Metro trash

Have you ever wondered where your trash goes once your local hauler takes it "away"? I did. It was one of the first things we talked about in the Master Recycler course: solid waste overview.

We were greeted with that often-cited stat: Americans who comprise 5% of the world's population consume 24% of the world's energy and generate 30% of the world's waste.

Portlanders, for all our greenieness, are a little better than the average American. In the Metro area, we generate 8.3 pounds of waste per person per day. Haulers take the trash to a transfer station. There, recyclables are recovered, and the trashiest trash is compacted to fill large transport trucks. Our trash fills 80 semi trucks a day that travel to Arlington, OR (which is about 135 miles away). That's a lot of trucks and a lot of mileage.

Thanks to fellow Master Recycler Gretchen, here's a link to an article from the Seattle-Post Intelligencer about how the landfill got placed in Arlington and what the locals think about it. Despite those common "not in my backyard" arguments cropping up when something like a landfill (or a windfarm) is proposed in a new area, amazingly Arlington seems to be happy with the income and benefits this large landfill (serving Portland Metro and Seattle) has provided.

Iron Artist: SCRAP Sculpt-off on August 25

Last spring, while we were still young Jedi Master Recyclers in training, we had the opportunity to tour SCRAP -- the School and Community Reuse Action Project. If there's a cooler, more fun and creative non-profit out there in Stumptown, I want to hear about it. Otherwise, I think SCRAP takes the cake. One of the very fun things they do each year is the Iron Artist Sculpt-Off, coming up on August 25, from 12:30 to 8pm.

It's a crazy mix of Iron Chef and Junkyard Wars, where 10 teams of artists get exactly the same set of reuse materials and have three hours to build a sculpture based on a theme announced at the start of the event. Local celebs judge the final pieces and award the winning team the Cup du SCRAP and the title of Iron Artist Champion. 

How fun is that??

Innovative Ingenuity's Sustainable Children's Fashion Show on July 25

While I'm no fashonista, this is the kind of fashion show I can really get into:

Innovative Ingenuity's Sustainable Children's Fashion Show
Wednesday, July 25 at 6pm at Sip & Kranz

Event sponsors: Hoot n Annie (one of our fabulous ReadySetMom sponsors), Sip & Kranz, Lily Toad, Bella Stella, and Perrystar.

Each sponsor will have 4-5 models showcasing favorite summer apparel. Innovative Ingenuity will also be hosting a raffle at the event, with proceeds donated to the Morrison Center. We will have live music, yummy treats by Sip & Kranz and a LOT of fun!

Get out and smell the lavender

This weekend, July 7-8 is the Oregon Lavender Festival. Tour u-pick lavender farms and  "recharge your spirit" with the scent and breathtaking sight of the lavender fields. If you're a stressed out EnviroMom like me, this is your big chance to find a bit of relaxtion -- which the scent of lavender promotes.

SOLV Down by the Riverside on May 19

Coming Saturday to a river near you: it's SOLV's "Down by the Riverside" statewide beautification and enhancement project. You can help cleanup and beautify Oregon's watersheds on Saturday, May 19 from 9am to 1pm. In the Portland-Metro area there are 34 projects alone! Visit SOLV's web site or call 503-333-7658 for more information on where, when and how you can help.