Comments holmbere has made

  • Car seats that last longer

    Another method for reducing the impact of car seat purchases is to get one that lasts a long time.  Several toddler seats can last from 5-35 lbs rear facing and up to 65 lb front facing - the Britax Decathalon is one example.  Infant seats with a separate base are incredibly helpful for their portability, but by 9 mos an infant is often too heavy to carry in an infant seat anyway.  At this point, if not before, it is smart to make a long term investment in a convertable toddler seat rather than getting one that only goes up to 40 lbs.  I bought a used infant seat - since it was only used for 9 mos or so, another child would be able to use it as well.  

    There are also a number of toddler seats that convert to boosters.  In Massachusetts children are required to be in a booster seat until 8 years old - that would be a lot of car seats if you have to buy one for each 10-lb weight gain!

    And CountBlah - I thank you for taking a slightly less reactionary approach than some - I agree that those are terrible reasons to bring a new life into the world.  I also think Grist (and other enviro-mags) have realized that parents have strong environmental interests and it doesn't make sense to exclude them from the conversation.  Yes it would be environmentally better not to have children - there's no way around that.  But if you choose to have children (and your points adress this choice), there are more environmentally friendly ways to do things.  On Umbra on car seat recycling posted 1 year, 5 months ago 8 Responses

  • example of a galvanized tub

    http://housewares.hardwarestore.com/35-175-utility-tubs/r ...

    They make long oval ones too.  More expensive, and much smaller, than a kiddy pool but this seems like a good environmental choice particularly if it can be found used...On Umbra on kiddie pools posted 1 year, 5 months ago 11 Responses

  • Thanks!

    Perhaps no one has asked the question because we know there are no good alternatives.  I love the idea of a folding canvas pool, like the dog water dish!  Someone please make this!  

    Yesterday (90+ degrees in New England) my two year old ended up sitting in a small plastic dish tub (polyethylene, TYVM) for a while, after we'd come home from the sprinkler park.  Big pools are nice but a little bucket for splashing, sitting, scooping can be good too and certainly uses less water.  A galvanized tub (antique bathing tub?) would be perfect for this method.On Umbra on kiddie pools posted 1 year, 5 months ago 11 Responses

  • Eco-registering

    I was able to convince most gift-givers for my (now 9-month-old) first baby to stick to my registry, which was as eco-friendly as I could make it.  I used www.findgift.com but I have also seen www.myregistry.com - this one makes it hard not to have to "answer" whether a gift was purchased.  I tried to make it very clear that hand-me-downs were very welcome, as well (one friend included in the description of each item, "Used or New...").  Some people complained that there wasn't "enough" on the list.  I usually responded that my sister handed down a lot of stuff and I had registered only for what I really needed.  Some people seemed a little sad not to be able to get more for us, but since most of the things I registered for were at websites that only sell eco-friendly stuff, they tended to go beyond the registry with organic cotton onesies and the like.  At the top of my registry page, there was a place to put "my website" and I linked to a past Umbra column about natural/safer nurseries.  I think that helped too.  On Umbra on baby gifts posted 2 years, 7 months ago 14 Responses

  • Melamine

    The other writer is referring to the melamine contamination in pet food that led to many cats (and possibly some dogs) dying of renal failure (and to a massive pet food recall).

    And I can see what they mean, except that presumably the melamine contamination of the wheat gluten was at a far greater dose than what would leach out of plates and cups etc.  But perhaps that is naive of me...  I will continue the search for a safe sippy cup!On Umbra on plastic and kids posted 2 years, 7 months ago 13 Responses

  • Melamine?

    I have a melamine sippy cup that I bought as an alternative to the polycarbonate sippy cups, but can't find any info on where melamine falls on the safety spectrum.  There just doesn't seem to be any info out there on this type of plastic, and it is widely used in kid-friendly dinnerware.

    Any resources people have would be most welcome!On Umbra on plastic and kids posted 2 years, 8 months ago 13 Responses