DIY Sunscreen Recipe ½ cup olive oil ¼ cup coconut oil ¼ cup beeswax 2 tablespoons shea butter 2 tablespoons zinc oxide (high quality) Optional: a few drops of non-citrus, baby friendly essential oil Directions: In a double boiler (or a jar in a pan of water over low heat) melt the oils, beeswax, and…
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What your mama should have told you about the dangers of sunscreen

It’s that time of year again when the sun begins to shine and parents reach for the sunscreen. We are told that sunscreen will protect us from sunburn, wrinkles, and skin cancer. Yet, research now suggests that sunscreen might not do any of these things very well: instead, many of the most popular sunscreen brands might actually increase our children’s chances of getting some cancers.

Skincare Toxins to Know & Avoid We are swimming in chemicals, many that are known to negatively effect our bodies. So much so that now a newborn baby born in North America has over 100 known or suspected toxins already in his body at birth. Many of these chemicals can cause profound and lasting effect…
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It is so interesting that you sent this question as I was just talking about this with my friend who is the director of a nonprofit daycare. She had mentioned that they are required to apply sunscreen every two hours and that she was worried about the kinds of sunscreen that were being used. Licensing…
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How to protect yourself and your family from toxins in beauty care products It was a gift. The perfect little blue and white bottle of “Gentle! For Bebe!” baby shampoo in its foam pump bottle. I used it on my baby for two years before I thought to check if it was safe. It was…
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I’d been pouring over labels for years and considered myself a savvy shopper, but the skincare aisle almost had me duped.  I’m one of those people: the kind that stands in the Whole Foods aisle obsessively scanning every label.   I am not appeased by claims of Natural! Kid Safe! or Hypoallergenic. What I’m looking for are the ingredients. The rest, as far as I am concerned, is just fancy PR. I want to know what I’m putting in and on my body.

Tips and resources for healthier and more environmentally responsible birth control, sex toys, and lubricants. There are number of things that can be done to green-up sex itself. From using products such as condoms and lubricants that are healthy on the body, not made of estrogen-releasing plastics, and are gentle on the environment to avoiding birth control that routinely exposes your body and our waterways to persistent doses of estrogen.

We are all afraid of the green police. You know, those people who go around being more righteous than thou and shaming us lesser mortals for our shortcomings. At The Green Mama, we implore people to judge less (especially themselves): just start somewhere, just do something, and, gosh, have a little fun along the way….
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The Green Mama helps bring the best in natural, safe, effective products for mama and baby Sometimes, I am pretty earnest I believe in truth: in helping people find their individual path through the confusing world of parenting. To do that, I try to bring my talent for health research, my search for ecological answers,…
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“A beautiful, safe, healthy product with options for baby, teens, mama, papa, and even the dog.”

We are all afraid of the green police. You know, those people who go around being more righteous than thou and shaming us lesser mortals for our shortcomings. At The Green Mama, we implore people to judge less (especially themselves): just start somewhere, just do something, and, gosh, have a little fun along the way….
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How to Make Safer Face Paints for Kids Wanna make face paint that doesn’t contain artificial food colouring (which is made of coal tar dye), synthetic fragrances, or other dangerous ingredients? Here’s a basic recipe. 2 teaspoons of organic cornstarch 1 teaspoon of natural, zinc-oxide based diaper cream or straight zinc-oxide cream Natural, organic food dyes. (See below…
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This recipe has changed and morphed over the years – but it is basically the simplest and best skin hydration I’ve found. Not only do I make it to use at home, I make extra when I blend a batch to share with new mamas in my community. No photos will be shared of this…
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All the kids were lined up in rows in the gym.  It was the day the public health nurse came and combed through everyone’s heads looking for lice. That is the way it was done when I was young. Judging how often I am getting notes from my child’s school, head lice is just as frequent now as then and just as frequent in North America as in Central and South America.

It’s enough to drive parents crazy: “Slather your kids in sunscreen!” we are told. Yet, we are learning that the majority of popular sunscreens might NOT provide protection from the worst of the skin cancers and might actually increase our children’s chances of getting some cancers.

If we use chemicals that are known or suspected carcinogens in our daily lives (e.g. consumer products, food we eat, etc.) we are increasing our risk for developing cancer.

Summer is here in the northern hemisphere! Chicago had its first string of hot days – the lakefront path is crowded, kids are playing in the water and the air smells of sunscreen and B.B.Q’s.  With the sun shining down and the urge to take off all but my bottom layers, comes the inevitable question – Should I put on sunscreen today or not?

A few years ago I became super vigilant about looking at labels, scanning the ingredient list for some of the big offenders. I wanted to avoid parabens, synthetic fragrances, propylene glycol, dyes, 1-4 dioxane, petroleum based ingredients, and–most recently–nanoparticles.

When I was growing up my hair was a mess: frizzy, bushy and permanently dented from being tied in a ponytail. Part of this was due to era, the late 80s/early 90s, but a lot of it was because my hair was addicted.

I’d been pouring over labels for years and considered myself a savvy shopper, but the skincare aisle almost had me duped.  I’m one of those people: the kind that stands in the Whole Foods aisle obsessively scanning every label.   I am not appeased by claims of Natural! Kid Safe! or Hypoallergenic. What I’m looking for are the ingredients. The rest, as far as I am concerned, is just fancy PR. I want to know what I’m putting in and on my body.

It was a gift.  The perfect little blue and white bottle of “Gentle! For Bebe!” baby shampoo in its foam pump bottle.  I used it on my baby for two years before I thought to check if it was safe.  It was French, I thought, it certainly wouldn’t contain known carcinogens, neurotoxins, and allergens. But, it did.

Start counting now. How many personal care (or beauty products) have you used already today?