Sami Baby organic baby clothing separates and collections feature quality eco fabrics made from organic bamboo and organic cotton crops with sweatshop-free practices. Plus they have the cutest designs. Shown above are some sweet pieces all made with soft viscose of organic bamboo blended with organic cotton. …

• Sami Lap Tee Panda Tan
• Sami Hat Buttercup Yellow
• Sami Sleeper Counting Sheep Petal Pink

Dignity U Wear was founded in April of 2000 by philanthropist and Holocaust survivor, Henri Landwirth. Henri, knowing what it was like to be without the basics, including clothing, founded the program in hopes to create real change in the lives of children and adults in need. Change that restores broken spirits and restores hope, dignity and self-esteem which is why Dignity U Wear distributes only brand new clothes to families in need.

There are many more adorable Sami Baby pieces available including socks, pants, and onesies. Visit Jonäno to see all their goods, plus pick up one of their well-priced items before December 23rd to gift one to a baby in need.

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Get One, Gift One Eco-Baby Clothing

YOU (the parent) has to love nature. Actually love is pushing it, but you should at least like nature, talk about nature, get out into nature yourself, and be invested in keeping the earth healthy. This is the hard part for may parents. Especially busy parents who find it difficult to find the time to get outside. Still, difficult or not, your child will mimic you as he grows, both the good and bad so keep this in mind.

Jump in puddles. Playing outside is not just a sunny day activity. Get your child the gear he needs to tackle the outdoors no matter the weather. Let him jump in puddles, slide in the snow, stomp through hot beach sand and more. Experience nature in all seasons.

Observe and discuss. When outside observe the surroundings. Is there nature? If so what’s good about it? Is there mostly concrete and buildings near you? If so what sucks about that. Your observations help form your child’s opinion about nature so speak up.

Add to the fun. Nature alone is pretty darn fun – just ask an eight-year old skipping rocks in the lake or a toddler with a stick and a daisy. Still you can add to the fun with items like an outdoor tent, a skateboard, some garden seeds, and more. Make being outside just as much fun or more so as sitting inside.

Your house your rules! I rarely pull rank as a parent when it comes to activity. I believe I should respect my son’s decisions about what he wants to play and learn about. That said, nature time is not up for discussion. Kids who get outside regularly are healthier, more fit, and green-minded. I know parents who allow their kids to whine about, “Having to go outside” and then worse let the kids win so no one gets outside and it’s annoying. Most of these kids are overweight and addicted to sitting activities like TV and video games which yeah have their place but not at the expense of your child’s health. If you want a healthy kid, this is one issue you should pull rank on. Kids DO need to get outside and the more you push the issue from an early age the more they’ll learn to enjoy it.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Five simple ways to raise a nature kid

Why invest in kid-sized gardening tools?

• Kids love having their own gear for tasks and hobbies.
• Personal garden gear is a super way to entice your child into participating in the garden.
• Kid-sized tools are smaller and easier for little ones to handle than adult sized tools.
• Kid tools and gear tend to be brightly colored which translates to “easy to find” when your tot half buries his shovel or puts his gloves down to go chase a butterfly.

One of the best places ever to score adorable kids garden gear is at the New York Botanical Garden’s Shop. They’ve got it all from cool Kids’ Watering Cans to a complete Kids’ Garden Gear Set to brightly colored Kids’ Garden Hand Tools and so much more.

Rain boots or garden shoes – Hatley has many cute styles of rainy day / muddy garden boots just for kids such as Dinosaur Rubber Boots, Stars Kids Rain Boots, Strawberry Picnic Kids Rain Boots and more.

Kid’s Garden Apron.

Kid sized garden gloves.

Learn how kids can make a garden journal.

Let your kids get started with gardening indoors now with the very cool Green Toys Indoor Gardening Kit by Green Toys – made with recycled milk containers. Good for younger kids.

Grab a good garden book or two that are especially for little ones such as Green Thumbs: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening, Kids’ Container Gardening: Year-Round Projects for Inside and Out, or Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children.

Kids’ gardening gifts are perfect for the upcoming holidays or anytime of year to inspire participation in the garden. Are you planning on any holiday garden gifts for your kids?

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The best kid-sized gardening tools

If you want to get your child involved in gardening early on, try the ideas below.

Make it fun not a drag: Kids don’t need to be told they’re doing it wrong over and over. Some mistakes are best learned by accident. For example, for my son’s first container garden I did show him how to plant the seed at a proper depth, but then he decided to plant some WAY deeper. Results; some of his carrots didn’t come up – which made him realize that how you plant does matter. But telling him, “I told you so” or making him re-plant would have been overkill. You want your child to have success in the garden but also to have fun and you sure don’t want to make it stressful. Later Cedar planted his new crop closer to the surface without any coaxing from me.

Think small scale: Large plots can seem overwhelming to an adult so imigane how a little one must feel. Start small. It’s fine to plant seeds in an egg carton or small window box. Thinking small also allows kids the time to care for their plants. At six my son likely wouldn’t have watered a whole garden daily, but he did care for two small planters just fine.

Aim for faster results: Time can pass slow when you’re a kid waiting for plants to sprout. Hold your child’s interest in his garden by helping him choose quick growing plants and veggies. The faster the results the more a little kid feels like their work has paid off.

While you wait…: Look for veggie recipes that incorporate what your child has grown. One good kids resource is Kids’ Kitchen 40 Fun and Healthy Recipes to Make and Share written by Fiona Bird. This is a  cool cooking deck with 40 cards (6″x8″ ) that share healthy ideas for easy recipes that kids can make. The focus on veggies is huge in this deck.

Think total fun: If you’ve got the room you can help your child grow a fun theme garden such as an organic pizza garden, a sunflower house, or an edible flower garden.

Make it safe: Don’t let garden hazards ruin the fun. Gardens are healthy for kids, but there are also some garden dangers you need to be aware of. Learn to child proof your garden.

Get the right tools: Kids can’t handle large garden tools well. They’ll have more fun if you get them their own special small gardening gear – tomorrow we’ll take a look at some cool garden gear made especially for kids. With winter holidays coming up garden gear for kids will make a nice gift.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Expose your child to gardening early on

To raise a child who seriously loves the planet you should:

Get outside often and actively: If you’re reluctant to go hiking, swim in the lake, or even take a daily walk, then your child will be happier in front of the TV. If you don’t care, why should they? You have to not only get your kids outside but make it a positive experience. Dress for the weather so no one can complain. Take along gear to make it fun, like a bag for collecting rocks and leaves or a sled. Go to places with diverse nature – the beach, the woods, a marshland, a wide field at a farm.

Use nature for fun Get books that highlight the benefits of nature. My son always liked rock collection books, and he’d want to go hiking to find new rocks. Do art projects that use nature, such as build a solar cooker, make sun prints, make holiday decor with leaves, and so on.

Talk about nature: Getting outside is key, but when you’re outside you should also be talking about it. Discuss why leaves change color. Comment on that trash you see on the ground. Bring up why all those new buildings take away from the land.

Join community efforts: A community garden, beach clean-up, tree-planting event, and more makes for a fun and memorable day and also teaches your child that nature activities aren’t all solo. You can hang with others outside too.

Make family vacations count: You can hit a fancy spa or hotel or you can combine nature and relaxation by using your vacations to camp or hike or even join a green event.

To learn more or to gather ideas about how you can get your family active and outside more often visit the following links…

• No Child Left Inside
• The Girl Scouts
• Children & Nature
• Nature Explore
• Camp Fire USA
• Earth Scouts
• 4-H
• Nature Rocks
• American Hiking Society

[image via No Child Left Inside]

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Raise an Earth Loving Child

Skip Hop makes some of the most adorable BPA-free feeding gear in town. Their Palette Plate and Mate – stay put plate are safe, non-toxic, and way too much fun.

The complete BPA-free feeding set from Thinkbaby – I love the Thinkbaby set because it comes with every little thing you need to feed a baby and older kids too.

Boon makes so many cool BPA-free feeding products that it’s hard to know where to start. They’ve got snack balls, many utensils, catch bowls, toddler cups, and more. All of it non-toxic and BA free.

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BPA in baby food dishes

The idea – Design a killer original design for a ChicoBag depicting the “spirit” of a Green Halloween. Children ages 1-13 can enter their original design up until October 24, 2009 by 5:00 PM Pacific Time.

The winner will have their design featured on ChicoBag sold through retailers nation-wide. (Last year’s bag was even featured on The Bonnie Hunt Show!). First and second place winners, as well as a runner up, will receive a variety of fantastic from some awesome eco-conscious companies like Klean Kanteen, Gleegum, Kids Konserve, Hannah’s Dream, A Toy Garden, Weisenbach Recycled Products, Hybrid Light and Healthy Child Healthy World.

Bonus! Proceeds of the sale of the bags benefit Treeswing, a non-profit working to raise generations of healthy kids. This is a super cool contest and it’d be great if a reader here wins. Let me know if your child is entering – and good luck!

Enter the ChicoBag & Green Halloween’s 2nd ANNUAL TRICK-OR-TREAT BAG DESIGN CONTEST.

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Trick-or-Treat Green Bag Design Contest!

Other green options that Bonnie Plant Farm uses currently are more organic fertilizers and pesticides, plus they’ve got a new recycling facility at their headquarters which reuses and recycles supplies, tags, pots, and plant container trays. As time goes on they have plans to further increase their use of environmentally friendly products and methods.

One extra cool aspect of this company is that they hold an annual Third Grade Cabbage Program. Each year, the company goes into third grade classrooms in schools in all of the lower 48 states that have signed on for the program and gives away one O.S. Cross (huge heads) cabbage plant to each child. Students in each third grade classrooms get to plant their very own cabbage, take care of said plant then harvest. At the end of each annual program, Bonnie Plant Farm awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each state. One of the 2008 winners and her giant cabbage is shown above! Wow right.

Bonnie Plant Farm hopes to increase both an interest in gardening and the environment with the program and in recent years they’ve involved over 1 million kids in the program. That rocks because kids who dig into the earth learn to care for and adore it. Right now the 2009 event is closing up, but you can visit the Cabbage Program page to learn more and see how kids in your area can get involved.

Bonnie Plant Farm grows and ships all over the country, providing starter plants to some of the biggest mass merchandisers in the US, including Kmart, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, and Fred Meyer, as well as independent farm supply and hardware stores. You can visit their website to find a dealer near you.

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Grow eco-friendly gardens and kids

Put your kid in charge: When you give them responsibility in the form of “You’re in charge” kids tend to take on a task with gusto. My son, for example, at six and seven years was in charge of lights (keep them off), reusable bags (don’t forget to take them), and checking the thermostats. He did other green stuff too – but these were his, “In charge” tasks and he kept up with them perfectly.

Water conservation: This is maybe the easiest green kid task. All kids can take shorter showers and turn off the water when brushing their teeth. Your child can make signs to help him remember if he forgets.

Recycling know-how: Recycling is complicated for kids. My son, who is eight now, gets that we recycle almost everything, but he does get confused about which bin is which, unless they’re marked. Marking bins with pictures of recyclables is a good way to teach your kids about recycling as you help them to complete the task.

For a 50 great ideas about how your child can go green and make a difference take a look at The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Super Simple Green Steps for Kids

Why greenwashing matters to you:

First of all for anyone trying to go green, greenwashing immediately becomes an issues. Green products are already tricky to navigate, and greenwashing only makes it harder to choose the best green goods.

Greenwashing steals your hard earned cash. Why pay more for an item that you think is green, organic, or natural, only to find out later that you could have paid less for an item that’s totally comparable conventionally.

Greenwashing halts sales of actual green companies. There are plenty of companies out there who actually care about the environment and human rights related to production. Companies who greenwash, are only using green to gain business, not because they care about the issues. However, these greenwashing companies get business from uneducated consumers. AND by uneducated, I’m not totally blaming consumers. Companies who try to trick people make it confusing and it is hard to make smart consumer choices.

Learn more:

• Be a good green consumer
• Kids & Shopping – How Green Kids Can Be Smart Consumers
• As a parent, do you understand the impact of the need for stuff?
• Greenwashing Index: Watch and Comment on “Green” Ad

Do you find that greenwashing makes it harder to shop smart and green?

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Greenwashing all around us