Dressing

I've been looking at the dresser for a week and now need to do something with it. Before I can wash all the Babe's clothes and tuck them neatly in its drawers though I feel compelled to wash it down and make sure its as eco-friendly as possible. Even though the dresser is solid oak, the sides of the drawers are plywood which emit formaldehyde.

While The Complete Organic Pregnancy initially kind of freaked me out, I consulted it this week. In the nursery section the authors adivse how to treat nursery furniture that is constructed of plywood, using AFM's Safecoat Safe Seal product. It seems easy enough except for they don't sell the product anywhere in the city that I can see. Apparently, AFM has a Brooklyn location but didn't actually have the product listed on their website. Before I make the pilgrimage out there, I decided to test their commitment to "providing the best customer service in the industry" and sent an email inquiry.

Carcinogenic Cribs ... and why you need to check out HealthyChild.org

Given that we are only buying two very efficient pieces of furniture for the Babe, a lot went into our decision on the crib, or at least I thought. Cost, space and ultimately quality were all top considerations. Last weekend we ordered the Sorelle Sophia from Buy Buy Baby. I did a quick gut check in the infamous Baby Bargains book and found Sorelle cribs receive a B rating; they are tops for quality but get dinged for customer service. But perhaps I wasn't fastidious enough. I only wish I had picked up an issue of BabyTalk magazine before we committed. Going through the June/July issue last night, I dogeared an ad for Healthy Child Healthy World. It's websites like these that I both love and loathe. It's chock full of great information on toxins, pesticides and other scary things you can bring into your home. My mistake was to click on a blogpost about formaldehyde in cribs. Yes, FORMALDEHYDE IN CRIBS.

Author Jennifer Taggart, writes: "Formaldehyde in cribs and changing tables shouldn’t be a surprise. It is common for composite wood products – like particle board and medium density fiberboard (MDF) – are held together with formaldehyde based resins. Unfortunately, the formaldehyde escapes from these products, polluting indoor air. And formaldehyde can be released for many years. But, you might not have thought that a crib or changing table could contribute significantly to formaldehyde emissions in the home. Unfortunately, Environment California’s testing shows that cribs and changing tables can be significant sources. And when you consider that your baby spends a lot of time in that nursery, you might want to look for alternatives. A bit of good news? The California Air Resources Board has enacted a regulation that will start to limit formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products beginning in 2009."

The full blog post, which I highly encourage you to read, lists some of the most offending products. None of the Sorelle products were listed but how can I be sure my quality wood crib isn't fashioned with composite wood. The catalog says simply it is made of pine, but somehow I need more reassurance.

Googling "Sorelle Sophia" doesn't get me very far. I first click on a link for BabyCribsPlus.com which tells me that Sorelle products are "custom crafted with European designs using solid wood and veneers." Solid wood. Sounds promising. But this is not the bullet-proof affirmation I now find myself at 6:45 on a Sunday morning looking for.

After scrolling through a few pages of useless information, I return to my best friend, the Google search box. I punch in "Sorelle Crib Materials." (Kudos to NexTag for the good search placement; all I'm seeing on the first page is a bunch of product offerings. The only thing I learned so far is that we actually got a very good deal on our crib.) I see a few product reviews claiming that Sorelle cribs feature non-toxic finishes but the marketing speak makes me dubious.

Looks like I'm going to have to call the manufacturer on Tuesday, which means I now get to spend the rest of my weekend worrying about it.

Similac Organic Formula

Here is a very compelling article in today's New York Times on Similac's organic formula. Similac's rising sales appear to be fueled in part by a growing consumer group who are attuned to the benefits of anything bearing the organic label. This may be one case where shoppers need to re-think their purchases. Similac's formula is formulated with sucrose (cane sugar), which is sweeter than other sugars. No direct health risks have been cited yet but according to the article, some pediatricians suggest this may link to overeating, which in turn may lead to obesity.

The article also reports that competitive products like Earth's Best use lactose instead of sucrose, despite the fact that the costs of organic lactose has risen in recent years. A closer look at Earth's Best product information cites its use of organic lactose.

As part of our approach to sustainability and overall health, we're coming down on the side of "breast is best" (but SERIOUSLY need to come up with another term for it), especially in the early stages. This new information will definitely force me to scrutinize product labels of formula if we find ourselves having to supplement.

How Green Are You?

I just discovered a cool new tool developed by NatGeo and the research firm GlobeScan called Greendex, which allows you to calculate your level of green-ness. A bit scary, yes? We all talk about going green but how many of us are actually walking the walk? They conducted a study "measuring and monitoring consumer progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption" in 14 countries, including the U.S. Download the results here.

Being a bit of a research junkie myself I couldn't resist the survey. You can calculate how green you are here.

My biggest offenses are perhaps drinking bottled water and not growing my own food (sigh). But I got bonus points for having only one room in my primary residence (ding ding ding). More bonus points for using public transportation (many thanks to the 6 train). More points still for refusing plastic bags from the grocery store at least once a week (I am known to stuff veggies into my handbag). Tempted as I was to claim a child aged 5 and under (the Babe technically is -2 months), I didn't.

My overall score was a 59 out of 60. As much as I'd like to believe that, I think it might be a tad inflated. That said, compared to U.S. score of 44.9, I'm doing pretty well. Sadly the U.S. ranks last of all survey respondents. Major offenses like transportation, consumption and household living were cited.

In case you needed it, some extra motivation to forgo your bottled water today. Happy recycling!