Co-sleeping. No T.V. Unschooling. Mainers are raising baby 'green,' but it means different things to different people.
Six months into her pregnancy, Kristen Cady, 34, of West Gardiner, has settled on a blue-and-white beach theme for arriving-daughter Emry's room. She and her husband, Aaron, have started selecting clothing and bottles and mattresses and such for the baby, due Nov. 22.
They're busy doing all the things expectant parents tend to do - with some slight modifications.
There was the search for non-VOC paint, which has relatively fewer chemicals and is "greener" than traditional paint. There was the bamboo flooring to put down, "because it's a renewable resource, and the one we got is made with non-toxic glue," Cady said. There were cloth or compostable diapers to choose from, glass bottles to pick out, organic clothing to consider.
Cady isn't just having a baby - she's going green, simultaneously. "I try to be environmentally conscious on everything," she said. She's been recycling, reducing her plastic use, wearing low-chemical makeup and buying local for several years now.
As much as possible, Emry's stuff - from cleaning supplies to paint to clothing to diapers and bottles - will be "green."
"Particularly with a newborn, you want the best start possible - you don't want to fill them full of chemicals and pesticides," Cady said.
The large number of modern industrial chemicals being found regularly now in people's blood - including those of a group of Mainers tested last year - have been making news all over the country recently. Even the names are scary: flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), bisphenol A, perfluorooctanoic acids - all found in everyday products, all shown to harm the systems of lab rats.
Full Story: http://www.sunjournal.com/story/278932-3/bsection/Green_parenting/
