SafeKiddo Blog

Considering giving up conventionally grown produce for organic ones?

For the Conscious Mom:

Quit. Give them up, and go organic instead. When it comes to nourishment and our children’s health, it’s important to know the facts!

The Facts:

A not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to improving public health and protecting the environment, EWG (Environmental Working Group), ranked 44 different fruits and veggies based on 43,000 tests collected by the US Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005.

Here is what they found…Note: 100 represents the highest pesticide load and 1 has the lowest.

Most Pesticides are applied at root level, thus infused into every cell of the plant as it grows, leaving every intruder harmed (THIS INCLUDES US AND OUR CHILDREN)!

Personally Speaking

I Buy Organic produce. I am NOT obsessive about it only because anything in obsession, in my opinion, is not healthy. When we are at my parents’ house, for example, I let my son eat their fruit, although it is not organic.

I DO believe that making changes to the amount of produce eaten daily will restore energy, renew and strengthen cells, and help heal our bodies. So then doesn’t it make sense to get the most nourishment we can from the produce we choose? The best fruits and veggies have been grown and harvested locally with no pesticides! Find your local farmer’s market, or natural food store!

We all know that once our kids reach a certain age, we can’t always control how much candy they manage to collect, but we can control the kind of Halloween we have at home! So, here’s a few eco-friendly, healthy ideas:

Trick or Treating Ideas:

Purchase a Halloween Limited Edition ChicoBag!
This limited edition reusable Green Halloween ChicoBag is eek-o-fabulous. Perfect for trick-or-treaters or for small shopping loads.

Like all ChicoBags, our Halloween version is compact and fits into your pocket or purse. This limited edition is designed by kids! The bag, designed by 12-year-old Estefania Vargas, features a happy skeleton watering his pumpkin field/ graveyard at night underneath a full moon. The pouch (inspired by artwork submitted by a 6-year-old) features a little ghost saying, “Keep our Earth Boo-tiful!” HOW CUTE IS THAT!?!

What’s even sweeter? A percentage of the sale of each bag will be contributed to Treeswing, the organization making Green Halloween (and other great initiatives) possible.

Holds up to 20lbs of treats and treasures. And remember - be sure to compost your children’s leftover candy.

Limited stock so get yours now! Find it here.

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DECORATING and Painting:

Check out this Pumpkin decorating kit!

This kit is great for kids of all ages! Allows little ones to participate without fear of sharp objects! Big kids will love it too because it’s so different from the carving norm!

It uses natural wooden eyes, ears, lips, and other facial features kids can decorate pumpkins with!  The pieces attach with wooden dowels and allow kids to make a unique pumpkin creation without having to use a knife. Don’t forget to use oragnic pumpkins!

Find it here.

Non-Toxic Halloween Paint– with these safe, non-toxic paints, your kids can have unlimited fun painting pumpkins or windows!

Squeeze tubes regulate the flow of paint, which goes on shiny and dries to a matte finish. No worries for moms - cleanup is easy! The nontoxic paints wash off super quickly with water and paper towels.

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List of “Healthier” Options:

Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops
Fruitabu Organic Smooshed Fruit Rolls
Fair Trade Gold Coins
Candy Tree Organic Cherry Laces

*If you’re looking for more ideas, go over to your closest coop, outpost, wholefoods, even trader joes! (DID I MENTION I LOVE TRADER JOES)
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FAMILY TIME IDEA:

Take your kids to the apple orchard, try to make it an organic farm. Anyway, when you get home, heat up some fresh organic apple cider and tell stories with your kids!

QUESTION: What’s your favorite kind of apple? I have a favorite, but I’ve asked people to try my fav, only to be disappointed by the terrible look on their face afterward! So, I want to know what people’s favorite apples are! PLEASE leave your comments…what is your favorite? What are your kids favorites, etc? I’m really curious, does anyone really like green sour apples?

Although it is one of Peter Gabriel’s best, I’m not thinking of the song here, I’m thinking of a fun, eco-friendly activity for you and your kiddo. Try creating a worm farm, or in Spanish, as my guy calls it, lombricero. It’s easy to do! By the way, this is not for the squirmish (is that the word I’m looking for?)

You may ask, why a worm farm?

4 Reasons:
Great for the earth
Less household waste
Makes GREAT, free fertilizer
REALLY fun for kids to make and care for!

A great deal of household waste is organic and doesn’t have to go to waste. It can kept and recycled by worms! Worms eat almost anything that was once living, including: food scraps, leaves, grass clippings, weeds, natural fiber cloth,manure (including dog and cat droppings)–I know, Yuck–, paper products and more! Worm castings (poop) is one of Mother Natures best natural fertilizers. Oh, and your worm farm won’t stink, as you think it may because of the rapid speed at which they eat.

Click Here for Worm Farm Directions.

Personally Speaking
My son and I had the best time making ours! We even dug up a few worms of our own to add (although I know I’m not sure if that was helpful or harmful) It feels really good and healthy to have a running worm farm. We recycle all that we can in there, more food than anything. I realized we eat avocados more than any other fruit or vegetable! We waste practically nothing between our dog and our worms.

Liza, a good friend and fellow mama, but to 2, aged 4 and 6 months, put her 6 month old in her Baby Carrier, and while he slept, she had her hands free!

Please help me come up with a better name for this category. Something catchy, but real, something that says little bitty tip…that inspires BIG results….

Those who post a name suggestion will get a 10% off coupon to SafeKiddo. The person whose category name I choose, will get a 20% coupon.

Maybe you need inspiration. Don’t turn the channel girls, Conscious Mom will start as soon as tomorrow!