Does your cutie patootie give a hoot about Ma Earth? Then enter him or her in the Eco-Cutey Photo Contest by Inhabitots—my latest writing gig—and stand to win a $50 gift certificate to the Inhabitat Shop, where you can go goo-goo-ga-ga over more green gear for your kidlet.
Photo by SaraBartsch
The best use for old, worn-at-the-knee jeans? Turn them into teddy bears, of course! These precious patooties are made by a stay-at-home mother of three, who obviously knows a thing or two about cute. ($10, Etsy.com)
Photo by Kunklebaby
How darling are these? Made from 100 percent domestic organic cotton by Kunklebaby over at Etsy.com. The hand-stamped seahorses absolutely SLAY ME. And I covet that pleasant blouse, and not for my kidlet. ($16-$50, Etsy.com)
Photo by Kunklebaby
Photo by Kunklebaby
Photo by Camden Rose
Tip: Find out if your child’s toys contain lead and other toxins at HealthyToys.org
» Things that make me so angry I want to spit #28123—from Reuters: FDA defends safety of U.S. infant formula (0) #
» Free download from the Center for Health, Environment and Justice: Pass Up the Poison Plastic: the PVC-Free Guide for Your Family & Home (0) #
» Seen on Bath & Bodyworks’ 3-in-1 Bubble Bath, Body Wash and Shampoo in Cool Kiwi Berry: “CAUTION: Use only as directed. Excessive use or prolonged exposure may cause irritation to skin and urinary tract… Keep out of reach of children except under adult supervision.” Seriously, people. What. The. Hell? (2) #
» From The Washington Post: “BPA Ruling Flawed, Panel Says; FDA Ignored Scientific Evidence of Harm, Report Finds.” (0) #
» 
No matter what the Corn Refiners Association would have you believe, high-fructose corn syrup is NOT all-natural (0) #
Illustration by Greg Bonnell
I’m loving the art and the subject matter of Mama Voted for Obama! by Jeremy Zilber and Greg Bonnell—and the knitting llama and the Chekhov cat (really the Clintons’ cat Socks, if you know your presidential kitties), of course!
Illustration by Greg Bonnell
Illustration by Greg Bonnell
Photo by Kirstinflo at Etsy.com
Kirstinflo makes adorable little girls’ jumpers out of men’s button-down shirts salvaged from thrift stores—and sews them out of her bedroom in Astoria, Queens, no less. I love the little clues to the fabrics’ origins that you can still spy on the dresses: a Lacoste alligator stalking a pocket here, a Columbia Sportswear label peeking from a seam there. A new silhouette with a billowing skirt, coupled with coordinating rickrack running across the bodice, imbues these former workhorse togs with a soft, Laura Ingalls-esque femininity. Frontier chic, anyone? ($85, Etsy)
More things you can do with discarded men’s shirts: Turn them into scented sachets or an apron.
Photo by Kirstinflo at Etsy.com
Photo by Kirstinflo at Etsy.com
» From The New York Times: “Pint-Size Eco-Police, Making Parents Proud and Sometimes Crazy.” Hey, that’s the kind of kid I want! (And to my parents, I am that kid.) (0) #
» Mysterious thyroid disease in cats linked to flame retardants? I’m officially freaking out, especially since Chekhov does have kidney problems, which the vet found odd because he was only 5 when he was diagnosed. (2) #
» These baby bottles are so frikkin’ KEWT. I’m such a sucker for packaging. (0) #
Photo by Wired
A Very Special Interspecial Reunion
A lion that was raised by humans, but was released into the wilds of Africa, reunites with his former handlers a year later. What else can Treehugger say but “OMGKITTIES!!!11!!!”
Wired’s Artifacts from the Future: Fusion Food
Possibly coming to a produce store near you: Monsanto’s Cinna-Del, the only GM apple that expresses both cinnamon and sugar, only $26.99 per kilo!
Penguins March into New Patagonian Marine Park
Squawk if you’ve heard this one: The government of Argentina is creating a new marine park along the isolated Patagonia coast to officially safeguard more than half a million penguins and other rare seabirds, according to the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
Peace, Love, Earth: Yeah, Baby
Designer Anna Mkhitarian reinvents that tired hippie standard—the ol’ peace sign—into physical, wearable mantras that, though unsubtle, remind us what our groovy voyage on Spaceship Earth is all about.
Global Warming Wants to Eat Your Flesh
We’d have used a picture of flesh-eating bacteria diligently at work, but all our options made us want to disgorge the contents of our stomachs, so here’s a nonthreatening—dare we say even cuddly?—microscopic look at the insidious beasties themselves.
» For kids, it tastes better if it’s in a McDonald’s wrapper. You know, I was probably one of those kids, but McDonald’s was a special treat back then, not the dietary supplement it probably is now. Disturbingly enough, whenever I get stressed out of my mind, I have to fight this deeply visceral craving for a Fish-O-Fillet—remember when they used to come in blue styrofoam clamshell boxes?—and I don’t even eat seafood anymore. Dayum, people. (0) #
» Another reason to make your own eco-cleaners: Study says many use chemicals linked to fertility problems. As always, this is my fave resource. (0) #
Photo from Sparkability
If you don’t want your chilluns getting their sticky fingers on your antique Victorian dollhouse, the Dutch-designed MobileHome is made from 100 percent recycled cardboard. Has 8 rooms, stair openings, and spyholes, plus an attic for storage. Another 10 smackers gets you a kid-size playhouse they can paint and decorate. ($35, Sparkability)
Photo by yamiq, under a Creative Commons license
Answer summer’s call to sun, surf, and sand, if you must, but remember to slather on the sunscreen, wherever you may roam, to ward off crispy bits, premature aging, and potential skin cancer caused by the sun’s UV rays.
But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved new chemicals sunscreens since 1978, which means that the United States has at least 12 fewer approved—and possibly safer and more effective—sun-blocking ingredients than Europe does. (If you do some quick mental math, that means the FDA has been dawdling on this matter for the past 29 years; it made its last resolution back when the Internet was merely a gleam in Al Gore’s eye, Michael Jackson still looked human, and I was a mewling bairn whose only concern was making doodie.) At the same time, sunscreen products on the shelves go largely unregulated, says the Environmental Working Group, which analyzed the safety and effectiveness of more than 700 name-brand sunscreens.
The Washington, D.C.-based non-profit found that a staggering 84 percent of 785 sunscreen products (with an SPF rating of 15 or higher) offered inadequate protection from the sun’s rays or contained questionable ingredients. “Ironically, some popular sunscreen chemicals break down when exposed to sunlight and must be formulated with stabilizing chemicals,” says EWG, in a press release. “Others penetrate the skin and present significant health concerns.”
In fact, EWG found 50 percent of the products currently on the market to bear claims—such as “all day protection”, “mild as water,” and “blocks all harmful rays”—on their bottles that are “unacceptable” or misleading under the FDA’s draft sunscreen-safety standards. Because the FDA’s standards have not been finalized, however, companies are free to flout and hype up claims that have led to recent class-action lawsuits, involving major brands such as Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat, Bull Frog, and Neutrogena, in California, says EWG.
Of the 700-plus sunscreen products EWG scrutinized, it can recommend only 130. It promotes caution with 618 of the products and suggests outright avoiding 37 of them. (Learn more about the methodology used here.)
Check out EWG’s database of sunscreen products it rates the best or considers the worst. Or use its search tool to find out how your current sunscreen product rates. Plus, if you have to spend any amount of time outdoors, be sure to read these tips for both grownups and kids. Apply sunscreen early and apply often. Well, unless looking like freshly tanned leather (or Dina Lohan) is your thing—I don’t judge1.
1I will completely judge you.
The Essential Bordertown (Borderlands) by Terri Windling, Delia Sherman
