I don’t know how I will feel when I first see my baby (my guess is a post mortem cocktail of thrill and terror), but one thing I definitely do know: my time – and sleep – will be limited. That’s what everyone has been telling me for the last 10 months (yes, it’s actually 10 months, not 9…but that’s another blog subject!).

Soon, my husband and I will have less time to make buying decisions – but more pressure than ever to make the greenest and healthiest choices for baby. The hours I formerly spent clicking around eco product sites, languorously reading ‘about us’ and ‘press’ sections to try to discern a given product’s ‘true green value’ will be but a hazy memory.

To prepare, I’ve saved these green washing sites – green washing is misleading marketing about the environmental benefits of a product – that I now share with other busy moms, dads, or just busy people in general…

Green America’s Responsible Shopper
I’m a Green America Business Network member, so this one is close to my heart (as a copywriter, I’m Green America-Approved and have the seal to prove it!).  This site ranks companies in 27 industry categories from best to worst based on research focusing on such key issues as human rights, social justice, environmental sustainability and more. Check out the user-friendly “Act” section in which you can join campaigns to battle corporate abuse, or sign up for instant emails to get actions delivered to your inbox.

Skin Deep Database from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
This searchable database matches the ingredients in more than 25,000 shampoos, makeup, deodorants, sunscreens and other personal care products with 50 toxicity and regulatory databases. It provides the most safety information anywhere about the products you put on your body – and on the body of baby too!

The Greenwashing Index
Enviromedia Social Marketing’s website asks consumers to send examples of both good and bad green marketing campaigns, which visitors then rank using a five point index that includes 1 for Authentic, 3 for Suspect and 5 for Bogus. Also includes “ripped from the headlines” exposes on worst offenders, i.e. the recent charge from the FTC that Kmart Corp., Tender Corp., and Dyna-E International are making false and unsubstantiated claims that their paper products were “biodegradable.”

Terrachoice
Check out the free report entitled the Six Sins of Green Washing and get tips on the top suspect terminology – i.e. the use of ‘chlorofluorocarbon-free’ even though these chemicals have been banned, by law, for years.

Laura Klein’s Green Club
Shameless plug here (I am the chief copywriter for Laura Klein’s green lifestyle membership site), but there’s no doubt that in addition to lots of good, green info and action-oriented tips, membership in Laura Klein’s Green Club gives you one-on-one consultation from Laura herself on any question relating to going green. It’s like having a personal eco consultant at your finger tips, so it makes for a truly great value.

Babies away!

Chief Consumer Correspondent Lea Thompson (left) revealed 26 people in three states became ill after eating bagged lettuce. Amber Brister, 11, was hospitalized with kidney failure, requiring dialysis and blood transfusions to clear toxins from her body and fight life-threatening infection.

The problem wasn’t limited to Amber, Thompson reported. A 54-year-old man in nearby Minneapolis was sick for several days before being rushed to his local hospital with excruciating pain and hemorrhaging from his colon. Within three days, 10 more cases were reported.

At this point, physicians suspected their patients’ problems were linked to contaminated food. Per protocol, they called in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for assistance. Experts suspected E. coli 0157:H7—a bacterium usually associated with eating undercooked ground beef.

The real culprit, however, was bagged salad—the No. 2 cause of E. coli-related foodborne illness. Infection presents with stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome—the condition that leads to kidney failure. According to MDH, patients typically become ill two to five days after eating contaminated food.

The CDC then issued a warning about bagged salad risks and a voluntary recall for specific brands. In the meantime, 26 people in three states had suffered lettuce-induced illness.

Now for the big question: Would eating organic lettuce have prevented this problem? Not necessarily. Tune in tomorrow for the reasons why you need to be careful with any bagged salad—organic or nonorganic.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Check with the manager of your local market for information on organic food demonstrations and free product samples. If your local market does not appear on this list, ask the manager to log onto the Go Organic! for Earth Day campaign website for additional information—and urge him to get with the program!

Participating National Grocery Retailers

• Ahold – Giant Foods/Top’s Markets
• Baker’s
• Bashas’
• Brookshire’s
• Coborn’s/Cashwise
• Cosentino’s
• Cub Foods
• D’Agostino’s
• Dillons
• Food Lion/Bloom’s
• Fry’s
• Gerbe’s
• Giant Eagle
• Greenlife Grocery
• Haggens
• Ingles Markets
• King Soopers/City Market
• King’s Super Markets
• Kroger
• Lueken’s
• Lunds/Byerly’s
• Marsh
• Meijer
• Mustard Seed
• Roundy’s
• Smith’s
• Town & Country
• Ukrops
• United Supermarkets
• Whole Foods
• Wild Oats/Henry’s
• Woods Supermarkets

Is it wrong for a full-grown woman to fall in love with a cracker?

When I was shopping for organic food at my local Whole Foods Market, I came across Dr. Kracker Pumpkin Seed Cheese Krackers. These crunchy morsels are made from organic wheat flour and are studded with organic pumpkin and sunflower seeds. The cheese taste is subtle, and the cracker is low on salt—one of my prerequisites when I shop. Topped with an aged cheddar cheese, these crackers make the perfect snackers.

Dr. Kracker specializes in organic flatbreads, with flavors including Klassic 3 Seed, Seeded Spelt, Muesli, Graham and Seedlander (pumpkin seeds, millet grains and poppy seeds).

If you can’t find Dr. Kracker at your neighborhood natural foods store, click here to order online. The website also features a cool Kracker Community Recipe Exchange.

Go Krackers today!