Non-toxic Tooth Care




I’ve known for a while to avoid amalgam (metal) fillings because of possible mercury exposure, but recently while flipping through Smart Mama’s Green Guide I found out that the white fillings may be a source of BPA.  Great.  Bottom line: for these reasons and more, I would like to avoid cavities and fillings.  Here is what tooth care looks like at my house.

Climate Change Resolutions


This month the Green Moms are blogging about Resolutions to Fight Climate Change. Check out Strocel.com on Monday, January 23 for links to all the other submissions. 

I already posted 10 Green Goals for 2012 last week. But today, I'm going to focus on some additional very modest resolutions related more directly to energy usage and climate change.

Book Excerpt: The Non-Toxic Avenger by Deanna Duke



Deanna Duke, long-time environmentalist and parent of two, used to believe that products sold in stores were generally safe since the FDA said they were. Although she started to think otherwise after reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck, still she was satisfied to let other environmentalists focus on toxins in products while she concerned herself with reducing waste and energy use. Then in 2007 Deanna received a "Double Whammy": members of her family were diagnosed with autism and cancer. Deanna was forced to confront the reality that environmental toxins, including those her family was exposed to through the use of everyday supposedly safe products, most likely played a role in these conditions. She then undertook a mission to reduce her family's exposure to toxic chemicals.

Through her very successful blog The Crunchy Chicken and her recently published book The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You, Deanna Duke shares with others her efforts to live free of toxic chemicals. Earlier this month, Deanna answered several of my questions regarding her transformation from a trusting consumer to the Non-Toxic Avenger.

Today as part of The Non-Toxic Avenger's Blog Book Tour I'm posting an excerpt from Duke's book (reprinted with the author's permission) in which she discusses using some expensive technology to identify toxic materials in her children's toys.

Ten Favorite Posts of 2011

Since I only know what Blogger tells me, I can only tell you my 6 most popular posts from 2011 (apparently, everyone loves a giveaway). So I'll add 4 more posts that were some of my favorites.

6 Most Popular Posts
Eat Less Plastic
Stainless Steel Drinking Straws by The Mulled Mind (Giveaway and Review)
Goodbye, Teflon. Hello, Le Creuset.
Green Cleaning - Laundry
Celeste Blake Designs Gallon-size Reusable Bag Giveaway & Review

4 of Eco-novice's Favorite Posts
How to Be a Green Consumer

What topics would you like to see discussed more by Eco-novice in 2012?

This post is part of

10 Green Goals for 2012



Last week I evaluated my performance on my half-year resolutions made in July 2011. Today I'm posting some goals for this year. These goals will mostly be modest, because I like to feel successful, and because I have a new baby and won't be accomplishing much of anything for several months.

Make my own hummus from scratch.
So, I know how to make hummus from a can of garbanzo beans and from garbanzo flour. But I don't like the BPA in canned foods, and I was never completely sold on the texture from the hummus I made from garbanzo flour. We own a pressure cooker, which my husband mostly uses to make black beans and pinto beans. But I know how to use it and it's not that hard, so it's high time I cooked my own garbanzo beans to make into hummus. Several of my friends do this and when they bring their homemade hummus to the park, my kids always gobble it up. This goal isn't particularly difficult in and of itself, it's just a matter of fitting it into my routine, which already entails making homemade bread, yogurt, snacks, etc. [Update January 2013: I now make my own hummus from dried garbanzo beans in 5 minutes. Read how in this post.]

Deanna Duke: Mom on a Mission


Deanna Duke, long-time environmentalist and parent of two, used to believe that products sold in stores were generally safe since the FDA said they were. Although she started to think otherwise after reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck, still she was satisfied to let other environmentalists focus on toxins in products while she concerned herself with reducing waste and energy use. Then in 2007 Deanna received a "Double Whammy": members of her family were diagnosed with autism and cancer. Deanna was forced to confront the reality that environmental toxins, including those her family was exposed to through the use of everyday supposedly safe products, most likely played a role in these conditions. She then undertook a mission to reduce her family's exposure to toxic chemicals.

Through her very successful blog The Crunchy Chicken and her recently published book The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You, Deanna shares with others her efforts to live free of toxic chemicals. Below, Deanna answers several of my questions regarding her transformation from a trusting consumer to the Non-Toxic Avenger.

A Little Announcement

Those of you who actually read my blog regularly may have noticed that the frequency of my posts has declined quite a bit in the last couple of months. In fact, I think Kelly of miskellany has been posting here more often than I have.

The reason? Well, folks, I had a baby.  A baby girl, in fact.



Generally speaking, I like to keep my personal life off this blog (excepting the documentation of our potty adventures, of course). I definitely did not feel like documenting my pregnancy month-by-month online. Think of me as the opposite of the person who tweets during labor. But, I thought I would give you all the heads up that there is a newborn in my house so that you'll understand why I'm suddenly discussing breastfeeding, nursing pillows, baby carriers and cloth diapers for infants. Also, so you'll know why I'll probably be posting less in general for the foreseeable future.

I hope to post here once or twice a week, and will also be posting two Thursdays a month over at The Green Phone Booth
Happy New Year!

A big thank you to Kelly of  miskellany  for keeping this blog going during the last couple of months!

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