A few ways to green your driving

**Keep your car tuned up.
www.KBB.com recommends:
Reduce your air conditioning use,
Change your air filter at scheduled intervals
Check your tire pressure regularly
Keep fuel injectors clean


**Don’t warm up your car in winter (from www.about.com). Your car is perfectly capable of driving off without warming up (unless perhaps it’s an older model or has been out in sub-zero temps overnight). Use your eco-friendly scraper and some good old-fashioned elbow grease to clear the frost off your windows rather than the defrost button.

**Slow down. You’ll get better gas mileage. Because wind resistance builds up so much with higher speeds, every mile per hour you drive over 55 decreases your fuel economy by 2% (from www.about.com).Combine errands into one trip.

**Remember the old yellow pages ad, “let your fingers do the walking”? Get on the horn and make sure a store has your item before making the drive.

**Don’t leave your car idling. Use less fuel and help clean the air. According to the Hinkle Foundation (thehcf.org) each day Americans waste almost 4 million gallons of gasoline by voluntarily idling their cars.

**Map your route so you minimize left turns. This can reduce the amount of time idling while waiting for oncoming traffic. I heard UPS is doing this. Clever.

**Buy a carbon offset. There are several services to help you calculate your car's emissions and offset them. www.NativeEnergy.com, www.carbonfund.org, www.terrapass.com are a few.

**Carpool if you can. Ask a coworker, a neighbor, your sister, your cousin...

**Whenever possible walk, take the bus, ride your bike, scooter, rollerblades, etc.

Green Alternatives for Insulation and Sealants

Insulation

100% recycled paper thermal insulation. Warmcel High Performance Insulation from Excel building solutions – in the UK http://www.excelfibre.com/

UltraTouch Natural Fiber Insulation from Bonded Logic is made from 85% post-industrial cotton fiber http://www.bondedlogic.com/ultratouch.htm. Fire retardant, Made from recycled denim,

Water-blown policynene. “Icynene” Website for local installer: http://www.advancedthermaltech.com/

Formaldehyde free insulation from John’s Manville http://www.jm.com/insulation/building_insulation/4465.htm

Low- formaldehyde Faced and Unface Pink Fiberlglass Insulation Thermal Batts from Owens Corning. Greenguard certified. Made from R-11 to R-38 in the USA (may only be available in Canada). Pink Fiberglass Roll Insulation in various R-values and thickness, faced and unfaced.

Fiberglass Batts. Certainteed has several fiberglass batts that are greenguard certified. http://www.certainteed.com/. Most seem to be sized for commercial construction, but they may have residential products.

Green Fiber Cocoon Insulation. http://cocooninsulation.com/products/greenfiber_cocoon_insulation/ 85% post-industrial cotton fiber. Fire-retardant

Low-density, open-cell polyurethane spray foam insulation. BioBase 501 From BioBase. Derived in part from soybean oil (40%), performs like, but costs significantly less than petroleum-based open-cell polyurethane foam. R value of 3.7/in (R-13 at 3.5”). Costs significantly less than conventional. www.biobased.net.

Soybean-based polyurethane foam from Healthyseal. http://www.healthyseal.com/ (website under construction)

Blown-in cellulose Insulation from Redi-therm Insulation (810)972-6551. Note: US GreenFiber has acquired Redi-Therm Insulation, a cellulose insulation company in Salt Lake City, and the third company purchased by US GreenFiber in the last eight months. The company now has 14 manufacturing facilities and provides environmentally sound insulation using a minimum of 80 percent recycled paper products.

Safety Statement Regarding Cellulose Insulation

(from http://www.thegreenguide.com/)

When it comes to health concerns, blown-in cellulose has raised some debate about its safety for installers. Due to the high flammability of newspaper, cellulose insulation is treated with a fire retardant, either ammonium sulfate or a boron compound such as borax. According to an article in the British Journal of Industrial Medicine installers can inhale lethal toxic levels of boric acid. The article was quickly challenged by Energy Design Update for being written under the recommendation and funding of fiberglass manufactures, leading the author to recant, admitting that there was no definite evidence that harmful amounts of boric acid could be inhaled from exposure to cellulose. In any case, as with all insulation, cellulose should be installed with an airtight vapor barrier between itself and the living space. While fire-retardant levels in cellulose insulation could be toxic if ingested, as long as it isn't eaten it poses little threat to the homeowner or installers wearing proper respiratory protection.

Sealants

Consider the volatile organic compound (VOC) content. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.(From http://epa.gov/iaq/voc.html)

Use bulk tanks and reusable guns whenever possible.

Products:

Pro Foam II Minimally Expanding Sealant is a low VOC, polyurethane foam sealant designed for filling gaps around windows, doors, utility and HVAC penetrations. It insulates with a value of R5 per inch of cured foam, helping to protect your structure from heat and energy loss. Pro Foam II will adhere to all surfaces, with exceptions to PTFE, silicone, and polyethylene. Its high insulating quality helps reduces sound transmission, and is also moisture resistant. http://www.greenmakersupply.com/ 773-384-7500

OSI Green Series Products - professional grade, environmentally-friendly caulks, sealants and adhesives. - www.greenseries.com/product for additional product information. Developed and marketed by OSI Sealants, Inc., now part of Henkel Corporation 32150 Just Imagine Drive, Avon, OH 44011, 800-321-1733, www.henkelna.com.
OSI Green Series PF-33 Quick Set Pro-Foam II (TM) acrylic urethane sealant (VOC level 0%) is a one component, minimal expanding urethane foam sealant used to insulate, seal, and fill around heating and air conditioning units, plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, windows and foundation to eliminate drafts and stop expensive energy loss. The foam adheres to all surfaces except Teflon, silicone and polyethylene and provides an R-Value of five per inch of foam, while also doubling as a sound barrier. It is available in 24- and 33-ounce cans.

OSI Green Series FlameSeal® Fire, Smoke & Draft Stop Sealant (VOC level <55 href="http://www.greenguard.org/">www.greenguard.org

OSI Green Series SC-175 (TM) Draft & Acoustical Sound sealant (VOC level 25 g/L [1%]) is a non-flammable, water-based sealant designed to reduce sound transmissions in walls and partition systems. The sealant is used for exposed and unexposed applications at perimeter joints, floor and ceiling runners (either wood or metal), cut-outs in gypsum board, veneer plaster systems and other areas where a sound rated assembly is required; paintable, remains permanently flexible even through freeze-thaw cycles, and cleans up easily with soap and water. It is available in 28-ounce cartridges.

Geocel Quick shield VOC-free, chemically reactive sealant bonds to wood, aluminum, brick, concrete and vinyl without a primer. Resistant to water and rain within 5 minutes. Mold and mildew-resistant formula is excellent for perimeter sealing around doors, siding, countertops, tubs and sinks. The minimum recommended joint size is 1/4 x 1/4" and the maximum joint size is 3/4" wide by 3/4" deep. Cleans up with water. 50 year durability. 10.5 fl. oz. cartridge. Geocel Corporation P.O. Box 398, Elkhart, IN 46515 USA (800) 348-7615, http://www.geosealusa.com/.

Phenoseal –at Home Depot that “meets VOC regulated limits” http://www.phenoseal.com/ 800-343-4963

Polyseamseal 100% silicone sealant. For indoor and outdoor use. Ideal for HVAC applications, sealing around windows, doors, skylights, gutters. Withstands temps from -65 to 450 F. Adheres to glass, porcelain, clean metal, ceramic tile, and some plastics. http://www.polyseamseal.com/

Green Building Supply http://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/utility/showProduct/?objectID=3135 offers several types of 0 VOC sealants

Safecoat Caulking Compound - A general caulking compound. From American Formulating & Manufacturing (AFM) San Diego, CA 619-239-0321 http://www.afmsafecoat.com/ Non-toxic, water-based, elastic emulsion type caulking compound designed to replace oil caulk and putty for windows, cracks and general maintenance work. It will not dry out or crack and does not release any solvents or obnoxious odors. For use on windows, sealing cracks, filling holes, door perimeters, walls and woodwork, air duct openings, venting and plumbing areas, siding openings and masonry cracks.

ChemLink sealants http://www.chemlink.com/ and adhesives are engineered with Polyether technology combining the chemistry of urethanes and silicones but with none of the side effects. Unlike urethanes, polyether-based sealants resist the damaging effects of sun, rain and temperature extremes. Unlike silicones, polyether sealants are paintable! Unlike urethanes or silicones, polyether sealants do not smell and can be used in confined spaces. Non toxic, solvent free, superior adhesion, high flexibility, superfast set, non-shrinking, VOC-free.

Duralink contains no solvents or V.O.C.’s. designed to adheare and seal most construction substrates including KYNAR coated metal! 10.1 oz.cartridges

Meangreen - “exceeds all current VOC regulations”. “The Universal Construction Adhesive is the only construction adhesive you'll ever need for use with almost any construction substrate” is a high performance, moisture curing, elastomeric, construction adhesive - sealant formulated with polyether technology. MEAN GREEN has excellent adhesion to: concrete block, brick, stone, masonry, wood, metal, aluminum, galvanized metal, PVC, SBS mod bit, foam and vinyl.

GREENGUARD CERTIFICATION: Product certification program for low emitting interior building materials, furnishings, and finish systems. All GREENGUARD Certified Products have been tested for their chemical emissions performance and can be found in the GREENGUARD Online Product Guide.

Joint sealants blown without HCFCs or CFCs:

Convenience Products (800) 325.6180 http://www.convenienceproducts.com/

Touch’n Seal line –for contractors; formaldehyde free

Touch’n Foam line – for consumers; formaldehyde and solvent free

Hilti, Inc. (800) 879.8000 http://www.us.hilti.com/CF-128 (single component polyurethane)

Illbruck Sealant Systems, Inc. (800) 438.0684 http://www.illbruck.com/1. 1- Component Foam (single component polyurethane)

Instafoam, Flexible Products Co. (800) 800.3626

http://greatstuff.dow.com/index.htm Great Stuff- for consumers; low expanding

InstaSeal EcoBlend- for contractors; low and full expanding

Foam Plus- for consumers; full expanding

Todol Products (508) 651.3818 http://www.todol.com/

Pur Fill IG

Pur Fill IG600 (smaller size)

Green Babies (for Megan)

(Disclaimer: Just my opinion based on my limited personal experience)

Diapers

Chinese cotton prefolds. You can get organic, bleached, unbleached… (must wash about 7+ times before use).
There are hemp prefolds available. Hemp is more absorbent than cotton and growing of hemp is gentler on the environment than cotton. Hemp diapers are more expensive than cotton. Check the fine print, hemp fabric is typically a hemp/cotton blend so you want to make sure you are getting the hemp you are paying for.

Covers

Most moisture retaining, least leaking covers – Proraps (but they are polypropylene)
Imse Vimse Bumpy covers are very nice and more natural, but they do get damp so you need to own more and to change baby more often.

The place to buy diapers and diapering supplies is ebay. Not only will you find cheaper new and gently used brand-name items, but there are also tons of work-at-home-moms selling homemade products there. There are also some diaper swap websites that will offer deals and save some items from the landfill.

Storage and Cleaning

There are dry and wet diaper techniques for storing dirty diapers for wash. We did wet.
Either way you want diaper sacks
For wet -buy a regular kitchen garbage can with swinging lid, this keeps smell at bay just fine. Line it with one of the sacks. Toss the diapers, sack and all into the washing machine
For dry- simply hang a diaper sack on a doorknob and put damp diapers, covers, and wipes in.
Great personal innovation – salad tongs! Store by the potty for rinsing solids out of diapers. Keeps hands clean and dry (but then you are not wringing the water out the diapers, which is why we weren’t able to have a dry diaper bag system)

Washing

Wash in cold water, followed by a 2nd wash or rinse in hot. Always air-dry covers.
Use Biokleen or other natural detergent for diapers (and all your baby clothes). It’s no more expensive than Dreft and has alot fewer chemicals for baby and earth. These natural detergents also rinse clean without a residue, which is important for diaper absorbancy and gentleness on skin.
My favorite “ natural” disposable – 7th generation, best price – Amazon.com

Wipes

We use flannel wipes. We kept them in a wipes warmer, soaked in a home-made solution (recipe below). If you purchase a store brand, Huggies Natural has fewer yucky chemicals than some of the others. Better even is tushies and I think 7th generation makes one too. It is also easy to make your own with paper towels, there are lots directions for this online.

Personal Care Products

We’ve used California baby for 3 ½ years, but have stopped as it does have parabens. I’m going to switch my kids over to an adult natural shampoo next. Right now I’m using Jason’s for Kids shampoo and use naturally made soaps, such as oatmeal soap, for bodies.
Diaper crèmes – Burts bees or Weleda

Cups and Bottles

Bottles – Glass is probably the best bet. The Greenguide lists Rubbermaid chuggables, Rubbermaid Sippin sport bottles, Evenflo, Evenflo colored, Gerber, and Medela all as being made from #5 plastic (currently believed to be the safest plastic) and Lamby and Evenflo make glass bottles. Do not use Avent as I did. They are made of #7 plastic (category 7 is a catchall for plastics that don’t fit into one of the other categories, but #7s are often polycarbonates and leach bisphenol-A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor).
Breast Pump – I had an Avent hand held pump and liked it, but it’s probably made of #7 too.
Sippy cups:
Born Free –BPA-free plastic (suspiciously, they don’t specify what #. I may call them and ask). They also make plastic or glass bottles.
Kleen Kanteen -stainless steel. They come with sippy cup top and a water bottle top.
Of the more common brands Gerber has some that are all #5 plastic and silicone, like their hour glass shaped ones. However, don’t get Gerber’s 2 handled cups with clear plastic bodies. The clear plastic is #7. Several of the other major brands have at least one of their bottles that is made of the safer plastic categories, #1,#2, or #5. With any of these cups, it is ideal to hand wash and not put in the dishwasher. Heat and detergent can make the plastic breakdown faster.

Foods

Baby foods – First of all, you can breastfeed exclusively till 12 months. Typically, enlightened folks start babies on solids somewhere between 6 -12 months when baby can sit up, has teeth, shows interest in your table eating.

Don’t buy the organic in plastic tubs. They are packaged when the food is hot, which increases leaching of the plastic into the food. The tubs are soft, the softer a plastic is the more plasticizers it potentially contains.
Earth’s Best and the more mainstream brand packed in jars is better.

Better yet, buy organic veggies and make your own! Put it in baby food jars and freeze. Don’t freeze it in plastic ice cube trays (again, the hot food can cause leaching of chemicals from the plastic).

Toothpastes – Weleda, Earths Best/Jason Naturals

Toys

Whenever possible choose wooden toys. Avoid soft plastic, particularly for babies putting objects in their mouths.

Other Suggestions

Absolutely must get Dr. Sears’ The baby book. It shaped our parenting in ways I am incredibly grateful for.
Take fish oil supplements. Getting the omega 3s through your breastmilk helps baby’s brain development
Get a sling!! Wear your baby. Sleep with your baby (safely)
If you are getting a crib consider an organic mattress.
Best books I’ve read on parenting (not babies) so far –
Raising our children, raising ourselves. Naomi Aldort
How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk