We just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for a couple of really nice nods we’ve gotten recently.

In December, Eco-Office Gals named The Green Mom Review as one of the top 10 green sites of 2009, along with the fabulous Big Green Purse  and Green & Clean Mom! Thanks ladies! We appreciate it :)

And more recently, Viewpoints named The Green Mom Review as one of the top mom blogs of 2010 alongside such notable sites as Cool Mom Picks, Dooce and  The Mommy Blog. Thank you for such a lovely honor!

Did you know that even if it’s marked “pure and gentle,” baby shampoo might contain contaminants linked to cancer. That’s what the Breast Cancer Fund’s Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found nearly a year ago, when product tests revealed formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in children’s shampoos, bubble baths and other cosmetics.

Yet because U.S. cosmetics are almost completely unregulated and the FDA has no authority to issue recalls on dangerous products, our government has taken no action.

Please support the Safe Baby Products Act, which would require the FDA to test kids’ products for contaminants and work to prevent contamination in the first place.

Find It Here:  Safe Baby Products Act

On Our Blog: We’re Blushing!

What: Food, Inc.

Features: Want to learn more about what you’re eating? Food, Inc., an award-winning documentary that takes a hard look at the nation’s food industry, is now out on DVD

Green Factor: Since its release, Food, Inc. has prompted thousands of people to re-think their eating habits, like eating more local and sustainably-grown food

Cool Factor: Check the web site for lots of cool features – watch the movie trailer, find out how to get involved, and sign a petition to support healthy food choices in schools across the country

Find It Here: Food Inc. movie

Target and Walmart have been recently caught selling products that expose your children to lead. AGAIN.

Tests conducted by the Center for Environmental Health found lead-contaminated Walmart and Target store brand shoes, belts and raingear for kids. One Target product contained more than FOURTEEN times the legal limit for lead. This post at Z-Recs details how very high amounts of lead were found in the snaps of Target brand onesies

These stores need to hear from you. They are powerful companies who have the resources to ensure the products they manufacture and sell are safe for you and your children. It’s time they committed to doing just that.

Please join thousands of children’s health advocates and send a message to Target and Walmart by sending them a letter and telling them you will shop elsewhere until they provide absolute assurance that they are taking the necessary steps to keep lead-containing products off of their shelves AND make public their independent test results on all store-brand products.

Walmart Knows What’s Best for Us Green Moms. Right? by OrganicMania — Lynn shares her thoughts on the Walmart Sustainability Index, which they are putting together with NO consumer input. (This makes me feel all kinds of stabby, particularly as one of our ad networks, despite past objections, has been running Walmart ads this week on our site.)

Bottled Water is Best by Crunchy Chicken — Bottled water isn’t nearly as bad as you might think and Deanna will tell you exactly why… It’s awesome satire with a sly side of sarcasm.

Cast Iron Cookware by Big Green Purse — Diane discusses alternatives to toxic PFOA (i.e. Teflon) non-stick pans. I personally use cast iron and love it.

Reviewing ‘The Story of Stuff’ by Enviromom — In this post, Renee reminds me of a fantastic short film—The Story of Stuff is twenty minutes of awesome that I promise you won’t regret watching.

Why Bother by Crunchy Domestic Goddess — CDG discusses a NY Times article by author Michael Pollan about reasons to NOT give up and throw in the towel in fighting climate change.

On Our Blog:  Bite on This: More Grocery Store Secrets

Here in our household, we’re gearing up for back to school. My kids hit the hallowed halls this week and I’ll be back to packing lunches and blowing my children curb side kisses within a few days. My kids are excited for school to start and I’m looking forward to the year that’s awaiting them, but with one exception: the fundraising.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for raising money for the school, but over the last couple of years I’ve often wished there was a fundraising campaign out there for schools that was a bit greener. I mean, I want to raise money for my kids’ as much as the next mom, but does it have to be by selling plastic bags or wrapping paper?

Enter Koru, a fundraising platform that not only benefits schools and their communities, but the environment as well. Koru offers natural, organic products that are fair trade and non-toxic. Their goal? To lead by example to inspire the leaders of tomorrow. Seventy-five per cent of Koru’s products – which range from bracelets and cosmetics to spices, household items and pet toys – are $10 or less, and all of them are green. They’re original items, too – you won’t find boxes of chocolate bars or packs of Christmas cards in Koru’s catalogue. What you will find, though, are unique products that you can actually USE. And that? Is reason enough to suggest greener fundraising with companies like Koru at your next PTA meeting.

Find It Here: Koru Fundraising

More:  EcoLabel Fundraising, Ecobags Fundraising

Sperm counts worldwide have been cut in half over the past 50 years and 60% of sperm is abnormal. Testicular cancer has doubled in the past 20 years and more and more cases of genital deformities in male newborns have been documented. And most troubling, significantly fewer males are being born.

The Disappearing Male is a disturbing look at how the chemical revolution has begun to affect the human race.

PLEASE watch and forward the link to your friends and family and particularly, people who are trying to conceive.

Yesterday we learned that some SIGG reusable bottles do, in fact, contain bisphenol A (BPA). As proponents of eco-friendly living and staunch supporters of reusable bottles, we at The Green Mom Review are very unhappy that we based our SIGG bottle feature (April 2008) on misleading information directly from SIGG.

The fact is, we featured SIGG bottles on April 15, 2008. A day later, we posted an addendum regarding SIGG’s proprietary inner lining material. In this addendum, we also included a link to an official statment from SIGG with the subject line “Quality and Safety  Guarantee.”

In that statement, SIGG clearly states that there is no presence of BPA in their bottles. This was dated April 16, 2008. SIGG announced yesterday that their bottles are BPA-free ONLY IF manufactured AFTER August 2008. That’s quite a discrepancy in the timeline and we are very disappointed over what appears to be an intentional attempt by SIGG to deceive consumers.

To clarify, SIGG knew their bottles had BPA in them and they were less than forthcoming with this information in an official statement released in April 2008, well over a year ago, when the bottles were STILL being made with a liner containing BPA.

Using clever wording like “no presence” of BPA may get SIGG off the hook legally but they were still dishonest and as an editor of a green living site, I’m not pleased. As a mother, I’m incensed that SIGG would use semantics to mislead parents who are doing everything they can to keep BPA out of their kids’ bodies.

To find out if your SIGG bottles have the liner containing BPA, please compare with the pictures below:

 
Click image  to enlarge

For further questions or comments, consumers have been invited to email SIGG’s CEO.

On Our Blog: Food Inc: The Truth About What We Eat

Minimal Mercury Marinated Tuna by Small Footprint Family — Like tuna but hate those pesky high mercury levels? Dawn highlights some sources for tuna with much lower levels of mercury and as a bonus, shares a recipe.

Will Your Kid Be Carrying a Pesticide (Triclosan) in His School Supplies? by The Smart Mama — Jennifer illuminates an issue that has been chapping my proverbial butt for a while now… Microban is in/on lunch boxes as well as a ton of other school-related items and it’s not good stuff.

Color My Driveway: Cornstarch Sidewalk Paint by Pink and Green Mama — This homemade sidewalk paint, made with ingredients you can probably already find in your own kitchen, is so cool that I wish I’d thought of it first.

Do I Make You Uncomfortable? by Heather’s Homemaking — Do you ever wonder if your commitment to the environment makes your less-green friends uncomfortable?

How to Clean a Toilet by Oooh Baby Green Living and Parenting — J. Claire teaches you how to clean your toilet the green way.

Cleaning Out Plato’s Reusable Closet with a Stylish Texas Teen by Greenopolis — Consignment stores can help fatten up a teen’s wardrobe at a fraction of mall prices. And? It’s much greener than buying new.

On Our Blog:  Back to School at the Thrift Store

I’m not really an outdoorsy type. I mean, I love being outside, but by that I mean reclining on a chaise lounge under a patch of shade with a sweating Corona and a good book. And maybe a cheeseburger. So yeah, I’m not what you would call an outdoor enthusiast. Even so, I think the concept behind Sierra Club Trails is a very cool one. It’s a unique and interactive site; a wiki that’s not only a catalog of trails, but a source of information for several other activities, as well. Users can create profiles and connect with others, post pictures and chat on forums. And they can update trail posts with the latest happenings – the weather in the area or the trails’ condition, for example. So if I ever went for a hike (hey, it could happen…) on a trail that had been closed, I could go home, log on to Sierra Club Trails and update that trail’s status, for other hikers to see.

You don’t have to be at one with nature to enjoy Sierra Club Trails. The gallery is definitely worth a browse; some stunning photographs have been added already. There are also tips and advice for beginner hikers, and a blog, too. Think of it as social networking for hikers and outdoorsy types!

Find It Here: Sierra Club Trails

We have many cloth diapering enthusiasts amongst our readers so we thought it would be helpful to have you all chime in on this reader question:

Hi, I’m new to cloth diapering and have no idea where to start or what would be best.  I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a good cloth diaper for an older child (almost 4) who doesn’t stay dry at night. He weighs around 37 lbs and is about 35 inches tall and wears a 6 in regular diapers, if that helps.

Thank you from a devoted reader!
Caroline

I know there may be a little eyerolling because Nike is this ginormous planetwide corporation and often times, those are not known for their eco-friendly practices but in this instance, Nike deserves props for their Reuse-a-Shoe recycling program.

What they do is collect old, unwanted athletic shoes (any brand) and grind them up to make surfaces for basketball courts, tracks, fields and playground surfaces for peeps all around the world. It’s a heck of a lot better than paving everything with nasty asphalt and certainly makes playgrounds safer for kids.

Additionally, reusing old athletic shoes decreases the need for virgin rubber and other materials which also decreases the environmental impact of using new materials. Since 1990, Nike has collected and re-purposed 23 million pair of shoes!

You can get involved by a) finding a recycling center and dropping your old shoes off (see map)  b) mailing them if you must (not as green) or c) setting up a recycling program in your community. Read here about how one mom, Lena, set up a shoe recycling program at her child’s school.

So yeah, gather up all those tired old shoes that are too stinky for Goodwill, too gnarly for consignment and give them Nike so they can give kids better places to play.