Humidifiers - A Short Review

I always felt the climate in the winter as being dryer than in the summer. And the ventilated warm air coming through the heating system makes it even dryer. I use the humidifiers more often in the winter that I do in the summer. The National Institutes of Health recommends the use of humidifiers to help relieve congestion from the flu, common cold, and sinus infections. However, the humidifiers can also help alleviate the symptoms of dry and itchy skin, dry eyes, eczema, dry nasal passages, cracked lips and nosebleeds due to dry air, allergies or even asthma. I made a search thinking that maybe I need to change the humidifiers I have and although I decided that what I already have works very well for my family I will still make a short review of what I found.
Either you chose a portable or a whole-house humidifier, the main difference comes truly when choosing between a warm air and a cool air humidifier.

Warm Air Humidifiers	Cool Air Humidifiers
The water is boiled before it enters the air. Advantages: the boiling kills the bacteria and the mold from the water. Disadvantages: they present a burn risk and fire hazard issues.	Don’t boil the water (they just vaporize it), Advantages: they are more energy efficient; they don’t have the burn risk and fire hazard issues like the warm mist models so they can safely be used around children. Disadvantages: they make more noise; sometimes require changing the filter.
Types: Warm mist - creates steam that cools before leaving the machine. This may reduce the risk of burns. Vaporizer/Steam - the water is boiled and sent out as a steam.	Types: Ultrasonic humidifiers- use the ultrasonic sound waves to vibrate the water and produce the moisture. They are probably the most efficient ones. Impeller humidifiers - use high-speed rotating disk to produce the moisture. Evaporative humidifiers - use a fan to blow air through a wet wick. It is the most noisy because of the sound of the fan.

Based on the advantages and disadvantages of each combined with your needs, it is probably a good idea to get an humidifier. There are many descriptions coming with the humidifiers like "germ free operation", "Cleans as it Humidifies", etc, but I think they are not worth the money unless someone has respiratory problems and the doctor recommended it. The prices vary considerably based on such characteristics. The main thing is to clean it often to impede the forming of mold and the spreading of bacteria.

In my house we use cool air ultrasonic personal humidifier in each bedroom and it works perfect; however, at night I turn off the air heating system and I use electric oil heater which does not make the air so dry as the air heating system does.

The Pixel Organics Scam: Mattress Bait and Switch

So, we've been had: we did buy the mattress that Pixel Organics advertises, but we got something completely different that's not even close. This is bait and switch, not green-washing or other light stuff.

Take a look at the picture above, that shows on the left what's advertised and on the right what we got in the box: the mattress comes in without any certification or warranty, we read the compulsory labels to find that it's made by a company that's 35 years old and makes truck mattresses; not 90 years old and they don't claim to make any organic mattress. It is labeled as an Ecobaby or Pure Rest mattress. In summary: not certified, no manufacturer's warranty and not 90 year old tradition. A mattress manufacturer that matches that description is Vivetique, meets all the claims but Pixel Organics is not even listed as a dealer.

We contacted CSN Baby (where we bought it) and told them about the scam; they fixed their page to a certain extent (see picture to the right), and offered a full refund for return; we did return the mattress and we're looking for one with less "creative" salesmanship...

But it bugged me that such a blatant bait and switch scam is possible: you advertise a nice product, with fine craftsmanship and you swap it with something with much lower quality. I googled left and right and found no-one that complained about it. Then I wrote to the owner of Pixel Organics (which contacted us for the original post to tell that we got the manufacturer wrong...) Here's his response:

"The mattress you received was from a manufacturer Pure-Rest uses
(Flexus). I purchased the mattress from them because my supplier was
out of stock. It is a very very very similar mattress. We are trying
not to do this but supply is not meeting our demand from our preferred
vendor."

Does this sound like "We're trying not to deceive people, but we do"? I wonder if anyone ever got the real thing, because in my 2 experiences the mattresses were Pure Rest and not the advertised one (remember the store where we kept on saying Pixel and they kept on saying Pure Rest? that's the 2nd one.). So I did write to Chris about it, here's the whole, unedited thread:

ABunchOfGreens: "No matter the explanation, it's still bait and switch and deception;
Vivetique has indeed 90 years of experience and certifications, and...
and... (all the good things that make customers buy their mattress),
and they do buy, but they get instead a mattress made by a fine
establishment that makes truck mattresses. I can go around town in the
stores that distribute pixel mattresses and see how many are
knock-downs and how many the original.

Here's an analogy: you go and choose a BMW X5, you're charged $80,000
for it and you get this in return: http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2008/06/toyota-rav4-bmw-x5-chinese-clones-go-on.html;
the CEO of BMW assures you it's a very very very similar car and he
tries his best, but the Munich plant was busy for you.

Hope you see my point; when can I get my BMW mattress? (The clone is
still in the box, you can make still it right). The mattress I've
selected and I've already paid full price for it was not delivered.
Getting anything less is deception and maybe even fraud.

Regards, etc..."

Chris: "Of coarse I see your point. We should be able to replace your mattress
next week with as you call it" BMW Mattress"."

So I contemplated the idea of arguing about shipping, replacements, the possibility that I'll get yet another deceiving product (what's the probability that someone that lied twice will lie again? Huge, I'd say.) So I decided I don't even want to do business at all with Pixel Organics. We returned the mattress and we're looking for a "real" one in store, any other brand. I'm no Erin Brockovich to dig the fraud and save the world, I just hate being lied to.

Cotton Crib Mattresses - Update 1

Update: What you see is not what you get: read about the Pixel Organics bait-and-switch scam we experienced.

The founder or Pixel Organics Chris Svensrud got back to us in the comments of the previous post; he announces a new mattress from Pixel Organics for 2009 and sets the record on who's manufacturing what:

I should set the records straight about the manufacturing of our mattresses. Our mattress are not made by Pure Rest, since contrary to your investigation, Pure Rest does not actually make or manufacture their innerspring mattress... nor do we. We are a distributor of organic mattresses for mattress manufacturing company which has been manufacturing organic mattress for the last 13 years and had been in the mattress business 77 years prior to that. This is total of 90 years in the mattress business, not to mention that they are still family owned and run. This is the only source we use.

This is the same manufacture that Pure-Rest gets some of their mattress from. We occasionally will have Pure-Rest send a mattress for us if our stock is low or our manufacturer is back logged. It's worth mentioning that Pure-Rest uses a few manufacturers for their range crib mattress, but is by no means a manufacturer of those mattresses.

So, there's a 3rd party, yet to be named, that really makes these mattresses... Oh well, let's hope that the mystery hides, for good reasons, a good name.

Cotton Crib Mattresses: Green Is the Only Way

Update: What you see is not what you get: read about the Pixel Organics bait-and-switch scam we experienced.

We started searching for a cotton crib mattress (one that has no vinyl or plastic cover) because the youngest of the family is finicky and can't sleep on plastic (same as the father, by the way). These are not unheard from in Europe: this summer we've got a cotton cover mattress in 3 out of 3 places we've been: the Hilton we stayed in Edinburgh, the apartment we rented in Barcelona and the one borrowed from a friend back home. We thought this search was going to be easy, but... Apparently all kids smoke in bed and besides flame-retardant pajamas they also need a flame-retardant bed. When they do not smoke, they soil the bed so hard that waterproof cotton can't handle it and the mattress has to be hosed down (hopefully the baby is hand washed separately...).

So if you try to search for "cotton cover crib mattress" you see that the offering is small and, between the fully plastic and fully organic there is no product in between. There are 2 choices:

- Naturepedic offers a cotton cover mattress as their top of the line product; they also offer many versions of waterproof ones, probably for those that have never heard of waterproof cotton or with babies that smoke in bed...
- Pure Rest offers many mattresses, including the baby one (and you'll see that they have a large number of resellers that do not acknowledge where the mattress comes from, but you'll see the picture I've included, a picture that comes from the Pure Rest website. Most notably, the Pixel Organic mattress is made by Pure Rest; we know because we visited a store that thought was selling a Pure Rest and we though we were seeing a Pixel Organic. The Pixel Organic website does not say it directly, they slip and they mention Pure Rest on the guts of the web page:

"Natural rubber core:
Known for its hypoallergenic qualities being resistance to molds, mildews and dust mites our natural rubber is the only commercially available rubber that is 100% chemical free. No other latex meets our high expectations of freedom from chemicals. Only natural vegetable based soaps are used for washing. To support this claim Pure-Rest used an independent testing lab available to confirm all used rubber was 100% chemical free."

Aha: Pure Rest...

There is a Canadian company (SleepTech) but we have not figured out whether they distribute their mattresses in the US and we did not bother calling. There are probably others. Please leave comments with your source and I'll update the post.

The cotton covered mattresse come in 2 main models: with coils (like your mattress, only smaller) and with latex core (like the ones we've seen in Europe); we've got the one with coils because it's cheaper and firmer. This is the store with the good deal and availability: CSN Baby and with the decency to tell exactly what they're selling. (I got annoyed by the fact that most resellers try to hide the producer name and that the descriptions are so contradictory; no serious seller on Amazon.com, all descriptions sound made up; the prices sound better in places, but who knows what you get?). These are expensive ($300) compared to the hose-down smoke-in-bed filled plastic bag you get everywhere. And, sadly, Ikea is not any better either.

We did not intend this to be necessarily green, plastic-free would have been enough. Apparently we've all been so brain-washed that there's no middle ground and none sells a decent cotton cover mattress; so, a green one it is.

What's your experience? Leave a comment, if there are good finds I'll do an update to this.

Going Green - Product Review Of The Week - Clorox Green Works

After using different green products, I decided to try several products marketed under the brand Green Works (a Clorox brand as you can see from the link). I was reticent in the beginning - given the history of Clorox and even the name that is now associated with green – I was not so sure that it can be that green. In fact, according to a study made by Organic Consumer Association, it is greener than many other famous green products that have been around for a while. The ingredients are natural at least 99% (plant-based ingredients derived from coconuts, as well as essential oils) and biodegradable; they do not smell strong; and I am amazed how well they work. The price range is between 2.99 - 3.59, and can be found almost in any store that sells house cleaning products.

The ones that I liked most and I continue to use arethe Green Works Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner (99.99 percent natural; ingredients: Filtered water, coconut-based cleaning agent (alkyl polyglucoside), citric acid, lactic acid, essential lemon oil, natural thickener (xanthan gum), colorant) and Green Works Natural Glass Cleaner (99.84 percent natural; ingredients: Filtered water, coconut-based cleaning agent (alkyl polyglucoside), soda ash, corn-based ethanol, glycerine, fragrance with essential lemon oil, colorant).

Why not try it next time? They are cheaper than other green products and they work so well - another little step on your green path.

Carpet and Wool Rug Cleaners: The Green Ones

We had to clean an area rug recently to have it ready for the winter months (we like the feel of the hardwood during the warmth months), so we started looking at Craig's List to see what local offers we can find. So after a few days of searching and asking, we learned that there are many carpet cleaners that are Green Seal Certified (see my previous post on the value of certifications) and we learned that, when it comes to carpets, there are other certifications, here's an excerpt from one of the site of the cleaner manufacturer we've chosen:

	“Green” Hotels Association: is committed to encourage, promote and support ecological consciousness in the Hospitality industry. For over ten years, “Green” Hotels Association is releasing a very comprehensive Guidelines and Ideas book revealing how to reduce bills as well as the hotel’s impact on the Environment. Evolut-Ion Carpet Cleaner is approved by “Green” Hotels Association. click here for more information...
	The U.S. Green Building is the nation’s foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. click here for more information...
	Orbeco Inc. has joined Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, supporting the National Movement for Environmentally Sustainable Health Care. H2E is a voluntary partnership program sponsered by the American Hospital Association, the US EPA, Health Care without Harm and the American Nurses Association. H2E organizations are committed to the virtual elimination of mercury, general waste reduction, and the minimization of toxic substances used in healthcare. H2E supports the design, construction and cooperation of healthcare facilities that significantly improve our collective impact on human and environmental health. click here for more information...

If you need to clean a wool rug (like we did), Woolsafe has alist of cleaning substances that are safe for wool (neutral PH, low foam, all the things that are keeping the carpet looking nice). A few (very very few, I can say) are "green", and I'm listing here ALL of them from that list: Orbeco makes Evolut-ion carpet cleaner, Chemspec makes ECOgent and DFC105 and EnvirOx LLC make a line of products called H₂Orange₂; From the last link you'll also see they have a line of household (as in: consumer) cleaning products besides the industrial ones.

We used a cleaner that is using Evolut-ion by Orbeco; the rug looks clean but not perfect (in all truth, I don't think any cleaner will take coffee stains out of wool :)). We have another rug and we're considering buying the cleaning solution and trying with the carpet cleaning machine we never used, at that time we'll be able to somewhat compare the efficiency. In any way, the rug did not have ANY chemical smell whatsoever.

Going Green: Product Review of the Week - Glass Food Storage Containers

Although some of the plastic is considered safe (#2(HDPE), #4(LDPE), and #5(PP), I am gradually replacing most plastic containers in the kitchen with ones made out of glass. I still keep some large containers made from plastic #5 (polypropylene) to use them when we go out barbecuing

I bought Pyrex containers (I found them on Amazon at a good price but they can be found in Target stores as well, if you need them "today"). The containers are made from glass but the lids are made from plastic. The containers will not react to foods as plastic ones are believed to do. They are also safe to use in the oven, microwave, freezer and dishwasher. The plastic lids are dishwasher-safe on the top rack.

I recently had a little incident, though. One of the bowls cracked on the lip and a little piece of glass felled into the container. Luckily (ahem!) it was my bowl with food for that day and I noticed the piece of glass in the food and not the kids food. Now I search all the time to see if there is any missing piece, but I am also searching for other glass containers to try it out. I assume that because it is glass is breakable, but I would like something more resistant. I wonder if it's a problem with these Pyrex bowls or it's general to these bowls. I have glass bowls 15 years old (brought over from Europe) and they never broke and these were only few months old….I'll keep searching for alternatives.

Going Green: Product Review of the Week: Drain Treatments

After getting rid of all the nasty chemicals in my house, it was time for the drain remover too. I do not use it often, only if needed, and probably this happens about once or twice at every two years. However, the time to use it just came recently so I was looking for a greener alternative. I found various on the internet, but since I barely need it I decided to buy one that is not expensive, but not the cheapest either. I ended up getting the Citra Drain Natural Enzymatic, as I am a big fan of products made with enzymes. I used it and it worked very well! It uses powerful natural enzymes to rid drains and pipes of grease, clogs, and build-up. It is perfect for most organic blockages, including grease, oil, soap residue and more.

Ingredients: Natural enzymes, natural bacteria cultures, biodegradable cleaning agents, natural citrus extracts and trace preservative (.0005%).

It is available in 22 fl.oz, Valencia Orange fragrance.

I got it from MotherNature (where I found the best price) but you can find it in many places. For stores in your area you can look here.

Going Green: Product Review of the Week - Clothes Washers

Clothes washers have come a long way here in the US to catch up with European counterparts, front-loading washers seem to be the norm nowadays. What has helped in the process was a bit of smart policy: utilities distribute rebates on new appliances, the more energy- and water-saving the appliance, the bigger the rebate.

What to look for in a clothes washer? First off it has to wash properly, without tearing apart the clothes or ruining them -- but you knew that already. Read reviews around, get a brand with good reputation, ask a friend that owns one you'd like; it really does make a difference, some of the cheap models will force you to update your wardrobe often. On the green front, look for the energy consumption and water usage.

#1 Energy: Energy star rates washers on both, and you can find a Energy Star Clothes Washer ratings and you can compare all models in gory details. Look for the "percent better" column and choose the one with the highest percentages for the biggest energy consumption (for example, some of the Bosch models rate more than 100% better). Then check the prices and choose one you can afford, as you can see, you can get a well reputed LG for half the price of a purist's dream Miele. Search for Energy Star partners that offer rebates here or check the list and offerings at your local Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy or other major appliance store. Call ahead the utility and ask whether they still have money for the rebates. Compute your final cost and shop around. (You're probably aware of this, all appliances carry a yellow label like the one you see in the picture: the arrow has to be more to the left for a better machine. The table I link in the beginning of the paragraph is a better tool (and for the really compulsive, the website has excel and CSV versions).

I'm not really focusing on the electrical versus gas choice because it's not a choice for many of us; you need to get what you have in your home. If you can choose, gas is generally a cheaper option -- unless your state or utility regulates the price or energy.

#2 Water: there's less difference here on the modern front loader designs, you see in the table that 3 cubic feet front loading washers consume about 5000 gallons of water per year. If you've chosen 10 models at #1, narrow it down to the ones with the best volume/yearly water use ratio. Here's where the quality of the wash comes into play, read reviews and compare as well, don't go for minimum water consumption if the reviews are bad.

Last but not least, choose based on the producer's experience. European manufacturers are doing this for at least 40 years (yes, that's how old front loading machines are :)). Miele and Bosch are 'royalty' in Europe, Japanese and Korean makers have good experience as well -- don't know much here. Color is not that important, the machine is hidden in the laundry room anyway.

Going Green:Product Review of the Week - Hardwood Floor Cleaners

I am using Bona (by BonaKemi) for almost 2 years and I am still very happy about the results. It keeps my floor looking like new; it does not leave any residue and it cleans the dirt from the floor very well. It works well on the ceramic floor also. The product is non-toxic and most importantly is Greenguard certified since 2006 (it was the first-ever hardwood floor finishing company to earn The Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certification for their products).

You can find a list with the dealers on their website but the best deal I found is on Amazon.

“From effective dust containment to low-VOC, high performance waterborne finishes without harmful fumes, to non-toxic floor care products and systems, the Bona system offers the cleanest and healthiest hardwood floor finishing system available.”

I strongly recommend this product; it is a good one to add to your green collection.

Going Green: Product Review of the Week - CFL Bulbs

Our local stores have CFL bulbs with discounted prices and when we found the GE bulbs for less than $1 each we decided to go for it and change the bulbs in the whole house. We got a combination of 15W and 23W (same light intensity as the 60W and 100W incandescent bulbs respectively). At the $1 price the bulbs pay for themselves quite soon (considering the kids that leave the light on everywhere they go), so we decided that spending $40 on bulbs was worth it.

So we had 40 bulbs and 4 were 'dead on arrival' or immediately thereafter; so the other bulbs will probably last the 10,000 hours claimed. Let's say it's new technology and still unstable and few bulbs will fail because of that -- but still, GE can test the bulbs better and avoid the DOA ones. We sent the bar codes and a copy of the receipt to GE and in a few weeks they sent a coupon for each bar code sent and a letter that made no excuses of the poor quality but assured us that our 10% failure is an oddity.

The fluorescent light has come a long way: the light is warm and soft; the CFL base is not as large as to make the light impractical (but your mileage might vary). Surely they consume less -- I can't tell by how much because we installed them in late fall when our electric bill goes up anyway and we don't have enough data. One annoying thing is that there's a short lag between flicking the switch and the light coming on. We don't notice that as much after few months anymore, though.

We did try some no-name or new brands and the production and testing quality on those was even worse. Naming the brands won't help much, every week the local stores come up with a new brand. We did send claims on warranty to two different manufacturers. It's more than 3 months and (sob) the did not call back. Oh well.

Most CFLs won't work with dimmers, check the label. In my experience, the ones that are dimmable (like this for example) still make a buzzing sounds when not at maximum power -- quite annoying. And, to add insult to injury, they cost an arm and a leg. I stay away from them for now.

So if you want to try CFL bulbs, here's a few things that will make it cheaper and better:

• dimmable light require expensive CFLs, wait until the technology gets better and cheaper on those.
• check your utility website, they'll likely sponsor cost or have coupons for bulbs.
• check the manufacturers web site or your Sunday newspaper for coupons.
• buy recognized brands with repute and good warranty and keep receipts & bar codes for the bulbs that fail. Some will surely fail and only keeping producers honest will increase the quality, so claim the warranty on the busted ones. (I wonder if I'll find those bar codes 3 years from now if one bulb fails before the 5 years warranty :))
• take your existing bulbs to recycle (and keep a few as spares if you wish)
• take dead CFL bulbs to recycle as well, the chemicals in them are nastier than in the incandescent bulbs.

Going Green - Product review of the Week - Baby Cribs

Well, there are tens of models or even more, so choosing a crib for my baby was more a matter of price than a matter of model or design. I wanted something that was considered safe and within a good price range. For the first baby I got a crib made by Delta and it was around $150, at Target. Now I am not very proud of my choice, but at that time was the best I could afford. For the second baby I looked into a more greener alternative and I felt fleeced by "green" offering -- and I had a nagging feeling that it's just marketing. Besides, they do look cute and modern and all that, but it's an 'investment' that you make for only 2 years, so is it really worth it?
So, I was thinking what could be wrong with the ones from Ikea ? They are made from real wood, look nice and Ikea is already well known for its safe and eco-friendly products. So I ended up with one of their cribs and I like it a lot; It is made from real wood (pine), unfinished (it does not have applied any lacquer), it is adjustable (it has two positions), and yes, it is cute just because it is so simple.

Going Green: Product Review of The Week: Stain & Odor Eliminator

Biokleen Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator is excellent. It works better than Shout that I used before. It removes stains that I was never able to do it with Shout. I am using it mainly for laundry to get rid of those nasty stains that kids collect on their clothes and it works excellent. The clothes come out completely clean.

“This unique combination of natural live aerobic and anaerobic enzyme cultures with botanical extracts eliminates a full range of stains and odors from: pets, mildew, oil, grease, food, beverages (even coffee & tea), body oil, soap scum, urine, smoke, drain sludge and more. Great for: carpet, upholstery, laundry, diapers (safe for cottons), bathroom, drains, pet shelters, compost, waste & septic tanks, auto, RV and much more. No animal testing or ingredients. No nonyl phenol or other known carcinogens, synthetic enzymes, glycol ether, alcohol, petroleum surfactants, artificial fragrances or coloring. Contains: natural enzyme cultures, food grade citrus extracts and stabilizers, vegetable-based surfactants and filtered spring water.”

The price is a little higher than that of Shout, but is really worth it! You can find it, among other places, at Amazon, Drugstore.com, Whole Foods, on the Biokleen website. I strongly recommend this product.

The Chemicals in the Shower Curtain

I visited some of my friend’s house this weekend and their kid was so happy to have a new shower curtain with fishes all over - she wanted to show it to me. When I entered the bathroom I immediately felt the strong smell of the new shower curtain. It was a vinyl curtain and I recalled that I saw news on TV about the chemicals in the vinyl shower curtain.

A study found that more than 100 chemicals are released by vinyl shower curtains, and some are at levels that violate indoor air safety standards. While the industry claims that the reports are not based on facts and the vinyl shower curtains are safe, the toxicologists are arguing that there is a “range of volatile aromatic hydrocarbons that are coming off” that are dangerous for our health (especially in the confined, small, and humid bathroom when taking the shower). Truly or not, I think it is safer to get rid of those vinyl shower curtains; they are ugly anyway. And there are so many alternatives to it: polyester, cotton, or combination of them. You can find them at Ikea, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target, Macy's, actually in almost every store that carries out home articles.

Going Green - Product Review of The Week - Baby Bottles

Since recent voluntary recalls of baby bottles containing Bisphenol A, I looked through the stores to see how many manufacturers are actually trying to change their bottles made from polycarbonate. Surprisingly or not, there are not so many companies that do it. Companies like Advent don't even bother while other companies are trying to add new bottles free of BPA without necessarily removing the ones made from polycarbonate. I am using for my baby the Evenflo Classic Glass Nursers glass bottles with silicone nipples (bought separately); they are excellent and durable; they seem a little heavy at first and I was wondering if my baby will be able to learn to drink from these heavy bottles by himself and he does it; we all got used to it. They come in 4 oz and 8 oz bottles and are cheaper than other glass bottles. I would like to see why Dr. Brown's or BornFree Vented Glass Bottles are so expensive; it is glass in the end. I have tried Sassy MAM, but the plastic smelled so bad even after repeated washes and sterilizers; I had to return them to the store. Although there are alternatives like the new plastic polyethersulphone (PES) and the polypropylene (PP) - considered safe, when it comes to my baby I take no risk anymore. Glass should be safer than any plastic.

I will try to come up with a list of companies that have BPA free baby bottles.

Glass bottles	PP bottles (#5)	PES bottles
Evenflo Classic Glass Nursers (4oz and 8oz) $5.99/3bottles	Medela Breastmilk Storage and Feeding Set $23.99/1set	BornFree Bottles (5oz and 9oz) $17.99-19.99/2bottles
Dr. Brown's Glass Baby Bottles (3.5oz and 7oz) $35/2bottles	Sassy MAM Assure UltiVent (5oz and 9oz) $11.99/3bottles	Green To Grow Bottles (5oz and 10oz) $7-10/1bottle
BornFree Vented Glass Bottles (9oz) $10.99/1bottle	Gerber Nurser Clear View (9oz) $5/3bottles	ThinkBaby Bottles (5oz and 9oz) $10.99-14.99/2bottles
	Gerber Fashion Tints (5oz and 9oz) $8.88-7.88/3bottles
	Dr. Brown's Polypropylene Baby Bottles (8oz) $16.95/3bottles
	Adiri Natural Nurser Ultimate Bottle $12.32/1bottle

Going Green-Product Review of the Week - Paints

According to the EPA, the air inside our homes is about two-to-five times more polluted than the air outside. Paint is a large contributing factor to poor indoor air quality and emits dangerous chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), even years after application. Choosing the right paint for your house can be a long and complicated task, as it was for me. There are paints that do not have VOCs at all, paints with claimed low levels of VOCs. What I found out is that color tints add about 150g of VOCs back into the paint; so if you add color you get the VOCs. Therefore, one needs to be really careful, because you can get paint with no VOCs and when you add the color you desire, you just made you paint unvalued.

It seems that Freshaire Choice (sold exclusively by Home Depot nowadays) claims that their tints are also zero VOC. It is also at a good price compare to other paints I found on the market. I am curious to see how it works. I included a table below with paints claiming to have zero or low VOCs and some natural paints. This is not an exhausted list, of course, but it can provide a start in case someone is searching for paints. Even though these paints are natural and free of VOCs, they are not free of toxins.

Zero VOC (less than 5g/l)	Low VOC (less than 50g/l)	Natural Paints
Ecoshield	MAB Paints	EcoDesign's BioShield
Green Planet Paints	Cloverdale EcoLogic	SoyGuard
Homestead Paints	Vista Paint	The Real Milk Paint Company
American Pride	Benjamin Moore Aura	Anna Sova
Best Paint Company	Miller Paint	Green Planet Paints
AFM Safecoat		Weather-Bos
Kelly-Moore Enviro-Cote		Livos
Sherwin Williams		Silacote
Devoe Wonder Pure
Benjamin Moore Pristine EcoSpec
Yolo Colorhouse
Freshaire Choice

Some reasons for which I have chosen to look for zero-low VOCs paint:

- it is good for our health; the fumes from the paint produce rash, watery eyes, neurological problems, headaches, lung irritation; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some organics can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.;

- it is good for the environment; the VOCs increase the greenhouse gases.

Check to see if the paint has the Green Seal on it!

Going Green: Product Review of the Week - Baby Diapers

In reviewing the prices for the baby diapers I chose Diapers.com; but this is not necessarily a cheap source to buy baby diapers. Of course, there are more manufacturers than I am reviewing here; I will try to review the most popular and available diapers. When we left the hospital they gave us Pampers Swaddlers for the baby which were very nice and soft but it did not fit well for my babies shapes so they got their pants wet almost all times. I switched to Huggies Supreme and they worked always very well. At the day care they are using Huggies Snug and Dry which works well; I cannot complain about Huggies – it is good quality; too bad they do use chlorine which makes their diapers un-biodegradable. I am using now Seventh Generation for the little one which are great and, of course, I do not have to feel guilty by adding more toxins on the environment. For the older child I am still using Huggies Pull-Ups; I have tried the largest size from Seventh Generation but they were too tight so he decided not to go potty anymore. And in my eagerness of making him go to potty all times I returned to Pull-Ups, so he is on the potty again. That said, Seventh generations training pants were great -- just 2 sizes too small.
Amazon has reasonable prices for Seventh Generation diapers; (You can find them also at Whole Foods and other traditional retail stores, but they are more expensive).

Here's the table for price comparison.

Natural/Green diapers	$/unit	Conventional diapers	$/unit
7th Generation (sizes 1-6)	0.24 - 0.49	Pampers baby dry(sizes 1-6)	0.17 - 0.34
7th Generation training pants (sizes 2T-3T - 4T-5T)	0.41 - 0.57	Pampers Swaddlers (sizes 1-3)	0.25 - 0.33
gDiapers (small-med/large)	0.36 - 0.45	Huggies snug and dry (sizes 1/2-6)	0.17 - 0.35
Tushies tender care (small-XL)	0.25 - 0.48	Huggies Supreme natural fit (sizes 1-6)	0.22 - 0.46
Tushies gel free (small-XL)	0.27 - 0.55	Huggies Pull-Ups (sizes 2T-3T - 4T-5T)	0.41 - 0.55
Nature babycare (1-6)	0.26 - 0.51	Luvs (sizes 1-6)	0.16 - 0.30

Going Green: Product Review of the Week - Baby Wipes

Until I discovered the 7th Gen wipes I have used both Pampers and Huggies. With Pampers, my child got a very bad rush any time when I used them. I used to like Huggies a lot; I never had a problem with them - they were efficient and non-irritating. Now I use 7th Generation and I like them a lot too and not only because they are free of fragrance (Huggies has some wipes free of fragrance too), but they are a little thiner which makes them easier to use. They are free of chlorine, which means that they can biodegrade easier. Some friends are complaining that they get dry easily, but it never happened to me; I probably finish the pack before that.

Natural/Green	$/wipe	Conventional wipes	$/wipe
7th Generation Unscented	0.04	Huggies Cucumber & Green Tea	0.04
		Huggies Unscented	0.04
		Pampers Sensitive	0.04
		Luvs	0.03

Going Green: Product Review of the Week - Tub and Tiles Cleaners and Toilet Cleaners

Tub and Tiles Cleaners

I used heavily Kaboom and I have to admit it: it works great; it cleaned very easily the tub and very well. I have used all the conventional cleaners in the table until I have tried Seventh Generation. I think I almost tried all of their products. It works pretty well, of course not as effective as Kaboom; it cleans well the tiles but for the tub I have to scrub it hard, really hard sometimes. I plan to try EcoDiscoveries next; I hope it will work better. It seems that the conventional cleaners are more expensive, so why not try to switch to the green ones?

Natural/Green	$/ounce	Conventional tub and tiles cleaners	$/ounce
7th Generation	0.17	Lysol	0.24
EcoDiscoveries	0.19	Colgate Palmolive Ajax	0.28
Watkins	0.22	Kaboom	0.24
		Lime-A-Way	0.19

Toilet Cleaners

For toilet I always wanted something that, of course, will clean the toilet but also to disinfect it. I have used Clorox and Lysol a lot, until I decided to switch to a more earth friendly alternative, so I got (duh!) Earth Friendly toilet cleaner. It was not that bad, but I did not feel it right, I discovered that I have to clean the toilet more often than I used to. Then, I found on sale Clorox Greenworks. Although I am wary about Clorox becoming green all of a sudden, (they have to convince me the the two names next to each other (Clorox and Green...the green Clorox) are not an oxymoron), I decided to buy it and use it. It is green color and it looks like the product is actually quite good; I am using it now and I like it; it cleans well, does not smell too strong (it has a citric smell); overall, effective.

Natural/Green	$/ounce	Conventional toilet cleaners	$/ounce
Earth Friendly	0.11	Clorox	0.10
Bi-O-Kleen	0.17	Lysol	0.18
Ecover	0.17	Lime-A-Way	0.12
7th Generation	0.12
Clorox Greenworks	0.16

Going Green: Product Review of the Week - Glass Cleaners and All-purpose Cleaners

Glass Cleaners

For a long time I used Cinch until I got allergic to the strong smell. Seventh Generation seems to have good prices in general so I tried their glass cleaner (the one that is free of smell) and it works great. It cleans well, it leaves the glass shiny although you have to be a little harder if planning to use for outdoor windows for example. It seems that the green/natural glass cleaners are cheaper than the conventional ones so it does not hurt to try them out. However, the best glass cleaner I ever used was one that my mother thought me to make it from some water and vinegar. For cleaning the windows I do this and I use newspaper instead of paper towels and they look so shiny.

Natural/Green	$/ounce	Conventional glass cleaners	$/ounce
Clorox Greenworks	0.11	Cinch	0.32
Bi-O-Kleen	0.14	Windex	0.17
7th Generation	0.12	Colgate Palmolive Ajax	0.20
Earth Friendly	0.14
Organic	0.19

All-purpose Cleaners

I used Swiffer, but again the strong smell it made me sick; when I switched to Seventh Generation Free & Clear I knew that I will never go back on using the conventional ones. The price difference from green all-purpose cleaners and conventional ones is a little in favor to the conventional products; but thinking at all the benefits to our health and our environment by using green products it is worth and in the end the low prices of some products will compensate for the others that have higher prices. The Seventh Generation works well on everything and is easy to use.

Natural/Green	$/ounce	Conventional all-purpose cleaners	$/ounce
7th Generation Free & Clear	0.12	Formula 409	0.09
Bi-O-Kleen	0.14	Swiffer Wetjet	0.11
Earth Friendly	0.14	Mr. Clean	0.10
Organic	0.19	Lysol	0.09
Clorox Greenworks	0.14	Fantastik	0.10