These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

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Last year I wrote a review of the book The Better World Shopping Guide. I reviewed it because I think how we spend our money is important. It’s not just about buying American or who will give the biggest discount. It’s about voting with your wallet and letting companies know what you support. If we keep sending billions of dollars to companies that act like global bullies they’re only going to think it’s OK to keep doing that.

When it comes to shopping, here’s what I believe:

I believe we should pay a fair wage.

Many of the every day products you use are grown or made in other countries, where workers are paid pennies for their labor. Products that are certified as Fair Wage are ones where we know the workers were given a living wage for their work. Your chocolate bar tastes a lot sweeter when you know the poor farmer growing the chocolate is going to be able to feed his family for his work.

I believe we should care for the earth and the things living on it.

Some companies just don’t care about anything other than their profit margin. But some comapnies, the really good ones, know that they can have a positive effect on the world around them rather than just amass wealth. Donating to causes, and as more than just a one time publicity stunt, can make a brand worth buying.

I believe things should be used more than once.

Use it once and toss it out only adds to the growing landfill problems we are facing. But recycling it so that it can be used twice, three times, four times, or more means less garbage piling up. Buying products that are made from recycled materials keeps the cycle going at least one more turn. And then recycling that thing again (like by doing a trash-free challenge) reduces how much trash we’re adding to the world.

I believe we should ingest as few chemicals and hormones as possible.

We weren’t made to live on preservatives, hormones, artificial colors, and antibiotic flooded animal products. The closer to reality we can keep our food the better our bodies will feel after eating it. Sure, we all can’t grow our own food and raise our own animals. But we can look for the foods with as few ingredients as possible on the label. Remember, if you can’t pronounce it you probably shouldn’t be eating.

I believe you don’t have to give up a normal life to be a better spender.

Go on and have a soda, just choose one from a better company and then recycle the bottle when you’re done. With a little effort you can find a better version of almost anything you normally buy. Yes, sometimes you have to spend a little more time searching and a little more money on the better products. But to me it’s worth it. Every dollar I don’t spend on companies and products that do more damage than good the better I feel about my spending choices.

You can sum up my shopping manifesto like this: Pay a fair price, contribute to the benefit of others, recycle, go natural, and be happy. And in the end, being happy is what really matters. I’m not going to martyr myself to be a super-hippy tree hugger. Just making small changes here and there can add up to a big difference.

So tell me, what’s your shopping manifesto?

TV Free July

photo credit: videocrab

Moderation is not one of my strong points. Blame it on my addicitive personality, but no matter how much I swear I’ll “only do a little” sooner or later I’m up to my ears and barely holding on. So I knew that when Dearest decided to turn back on the TV it was going to be a fight to keep it turned off. And it’s a fight I’ve been losing lately.

I can tell when the TV has taken over. The kids’ behavior diminishes, they are more loud and disruptive than usual. But the big thing is that meal times take a flying leap off a cliff. They’re too antsy to get back to the next episode of Mickey Mouse to bother eating the bowl of cereal they begged for. When it becomes a daily war I’ve got to put a stop to it.

So I’m instigating a TV-Free July. Goodbye cartoons, goodbye movies, goodbye mindless entertainment. And for me *gulp* goodbye news, TLC, and cooking shows. If I leave any stone unturned we’re quickly slip back into staring blankly at the screen when we should be doing other things. And frankly, this summer is going by too fast to miss out.

The only exception I’m allowing is sports. Dearest would morph into the Incredible Hulk if I even suggested not watching each and every baseball game being broadcast. He’s generally less than enthusiastic about some of my ideas, especially ones that require making any kind of change. He sort of lives in the “I did XYZ and I’m just fine” mode, despite clearly being not fine in that area at all. But it’s not a war I want to have, so his precious sports stay on. I’ll just make sure to get the kids out of the house when he’s watching his sports.

I’ve got a few bookmarks full of ideas and encouragement to keep me strong. It’s hard when the temps reach triple digits not to just reach for the remote and an ice cream to keep cool. But I’ve got to stay strong.

• Unplug Your Kids
• Instead of TV
• TV Free Living
• Trash Your TV

July will be over before I know it, and then it will become just one more summer wasted on the boob tube. Gods knows I have plenty of those summers in my own life. Hopefully I can break my TV addiction and curb it’s growth in my kids.

I can do it. Who else is with me?

I Love Better World Books

I just saw a segment on CNN on Better World Books. It may be completely geeky of me, but that made me happy.

I’ve been buying used books from Better World Books for a few years now and loved it. When you’re both a book addict and a homeschooling mom you’ve got to know how to get your hands on books for cheap. And they never fail. A good selection of books for next to nothing cost.

But that’s overlooking the best part. The reason they are called Better World Books - each book you buy puts funds into several charities and groups that help others. They donate funds for Literacy in Africa, for schools in the US, and various other organizations. Plus you’re keeping books out of the landfill.

Fund Literacy, Care for the Environment, and get a Fair Price on the Books you Want.
http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

10 Things I Love About Babywearing And A Giveaway

As you all know HotSlings is one half of my amazingly awesome BlogHer sponsor duo. And for good reason. When I first attempted getting sponsors, thanks to Jessica’s ebook, I went only to companies that I loved that promoted things I adored. Babywearing is definitely one of those things. Seriously, half of my parenting awesomeness is the ability to carry baby + chase toddler + help big kid thanks to my pouch carrier.

So, in the spirit of sharing, here are the 10 things I absolutely love about babywearing!

1. Trips to the grocery store are easier. Having my hands free is a huge plus when I’ve got those two boys to keep up with.
2. Breastfeeding in public = easy, peezy, lemon squeezy. A quick adjustment of Saffron’s position, a flip up of the shirt, and I’m walking around breastfeeding without anyone even noticing.
3. Trips to the park are simplified. Have you ever tried pushing a stroller through the grass, or worse - gravel, at the park? Why do all four wheels suddenly go in four different directions? No thanks!
4. Speaking of strollers, why are the eisles in the clothing store narrower than a stroller is wide? Especially in the kid section, which makes no sense at all.No tight squeezes through the racks with the sling.
5. Saffron is always up out of the way of toddlers with dirty hands who like to poke babies in the face. Especially my toddler with dirty hands who likes to poke sister in the face. Repeatedly.
6. And while she’s held up there against my chest I’ve got easy access to kiss all over her fat cheeks. It’s an obsession of mine.
7. No matter where I am, I’ve always got a conversation starter on me. Which is great, since I tend to be shy in public. So far there hasn’t been a trip anywhere yet that hasn’t involved a stranger coming up to talk about the sling. Whether to ask me where I got it, if it’s comfortable, compliment me on the pattern, and a couple times tell me their babywearing horror story. Apparently Snuglis are the tools of the devil.
8. I’ve got an easy out of anything I don’t want to do. “Oh, sorry. I would but the baby just hates being put down. Maybe next time.” And yes, I totally use that excuse for cleaning around the house.
9. But really, I can totally clean the house when she’s fussy. Laundry, dishes, even vacuuming. I can hold her close and still get things down. You know, when I’m not making excuses about it.
10. She naps. Oh glorious golden sundrops she naps! Saffron seems to take after Trey in the hating to nap during the day stuff. So far Evan has been my only good napper as a baby. But if I get her settled into the pouch and take a quick 15 minute walk she will be out like a light.

Now you know my 10 favorite things about babywearing.

Oh, wait. Didn’t I mention a giveaway?

Yep, I did. For spreading the babywearing love HotSlings is giving a free sling to one winner at BlogHer. That’s right, your very own sling to rock out with. There’s just two rules: You have to physically be at BlogHer so I can give it to you, and you have to share with me what you love (or what you look forward to) about babywearing. You can either leave me a comment here with your answer or hit me up at BlogHer with it. In fact, if you leave a comment here and find me at BlogHer to tell me a second thing I’ll double your odds.

Then Friday evening I’ll be doing a little babywearing get together in my hotel room, chatting you all up, answering questions, letting you cuddle Saffron. Show up and if your name gets picked you’ll be the proud owner of a new sling. Mamas, mamas-to-be, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbor of the lady who looks like she could use a hand, whatever. Let me know what you love about babywearing and your name will go on the list, then show up at BlogHer to see if you’re the winner.