Baby, Pregnancy, and Parenting at Babies Online » environment

Choosing the Best Birth Environment

admin — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:45:18 +0000

Your choice of birth environment is the first decision you make that determines your pain-relief options. If you know you want to use modern medical pain-relief methods, you will need to select a birth environment that can accommodate these preferences. If you are leaning more toward a natural childbirth, but would like to keep your options open, you may want to be in a birth environment that offers not only nonmedical forms of pain relief but also allows accessibility to medical pain relief, should you change your mind during labor. If you are committed to using no medical pain-relief options and do not want to be in an environment where they are frequently used, you will need to choose a birth environment that has both the physical amenities and supportive caregivers you will need to successfully give birth free of any medications, using complementary and alternative pain-management techniques.

The staff of caregivers available to you during labor and birth can also directly impact your pain-relief options. For instance, if you think you prefer to use an epidural but are in a hospital where the only anesthesiologist is on another unit at the time when you are in need of pain relief, this can significantly impact your birth experience. Conversely, if you prefer to delay or avoid the use of medications, a busy hospital with a high percentage of epidural usage may not be the ideal environment for you to achieve this goal.

Pharmacologic methods (medications) should never replace personal attention and tender loving care of the woman in labor.1

Your birth environment and the people caring for you during your labor and delivery can dramatically impact how you will perceive your childbirth experience. By choosing the type of birth environment best for you, you are more likely to feel relaxed and comfortable when you arrive and throughout the rest of your labor and birth. If you are giving birth in the setting you desire, surrounded by people who are able to meet your needs, including your pain-management needs, you are more likely to have a satisfying “birth day.”

In this chapter we:

List the most common birth environments.

Describe what each has to offer with regard to pain-relief options.

Provide a description of the various professionals who may (or may not) be with you during labor and birth.

Provide an at-a-glance comparison between hospitals and birth centers.HospitalsMost women in the United States (approximately 98 percent) give birth in a hospital. But all hospitals are not alike, and maternity units vary greatly from hospital to hospital. In addition, the size of the hospital and its maternity unit can impact the type of birth experience you have.

Reasons You May Want to Have Your Baby in a Hospital

You want to be in a place where all or most medical pain-relief options will be available to you.

You want to give birth in a setting that has equipment and staff ready to deal with an unlikely emergency.

You feel more confident in a birth environment surrounded by a variety of medical professionals.

You want a two-to four-day recovery period before returning home with your new baby.Larger hospitals typically offer more medical pain-management options than are found in smaller (community) hospitals. Larger hospitals are more likely to have an in-house, around-the-clock anesthesiology staff readily available if you are in need of an epidural. Often, these larger hospitals have anesthesiologists who are assigned specifically to the maternity unit. This reduces the likelihood of delays for women in need of pain relief that must be given by the anesthesiologist.Smaller hospitals may not have as many medical pain-relief options and may not offer epidurals twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If they have a limited anesthesia staff, some smaller hospitals may not offer epidurals at all. On the other hand, many of these small hospitals, as a result of not having as much “high-tech” pain relief to offer, often have staff and equipment that can successfully support the mom who prefers to use fewer or no medications throughout labor and birth. So, depending upon your own preferences, either of these settings may be right for you. But, clearly, if you desire the full-throttle pain relief of an epidural, you are more likely to find this type of pain management taking place in larger hospitals with busier maternity units.

Size of Hospital Maternity Unit and Their Epidural and Combined Spinal-Epidural Rates:

In hospitals that deliver fifteen hundred or more babies per year, 69% of women use an epidural or a combined spinal-epidural.

In hospitals that deliver five hundred to fifteen hundred babies per year, 50% of women use an epidural or a combined spinal-epidural.

In hospitals that deliver less than five hundred babies per year, 40% of women use an epidural or combined spinal-epidral.2Hospitals of all sizes are increasingly responding to women’s requests for more pain-management options, including baths, showers, the use of birth balls, and the promotion of movement and positioning during labor and birth. More hospitals are encouraging, or at the very least accepting, women’s choice to use doulas (described in this chapter) as their primary support people during their labor and birth.Many hospitals throughout the country have made their birthing rooms more appealing and homelike, with the goal of helping women feel relaxed and comfortable in the unfamiliar and sometimes intimidating surroundings of a clinical setting. Even with these changes, the hospital stay (which, for most women, is their very first hospital stay) can make you feel like, well, like you’re in a hospital! Many caregivers recommend you bring your own homelike objects of comfort that will promote a sense of familiarity and relaxation in an otherwise unfamiliar setting. You may want to bring your favorite pillow, fragrance, photos, and a radio or CD player to listen to your favorite music. If you feel more comfy in your own clothing, let the hospital staff know you would like to wear your own threads instead of their hospital gown.

Two more factors may also determine where you ultimately give birth: your insurance coverage, which may or may not cover your care at your preferred hospital, and your obstetrician’s hospital affiliation. The hospital in which your obste- trician or midwife works will be the hospital where you will have your baby. If you like your obstetrician or midwife, but do not like the hospital with which he or she is affiliated, you may find you will need to switch to a doctor or midwife who works in the hospital where you want to have your baby.

Are Women Who Have Their Babies in Hospitals Satisfied with Their Experience?

According to a survey of sixteen hundred women across the country:

Ninety-six percent said they were satisfied with the health care they received.

Ninety-four percent felt they were treated with kindness and understanding.

Eighty-seven percent said they were free to make their own decisions.

The Birth Center

Birth centers grew popular in the 1970s as an alternative to the hospital birth experience. Birth centers may also be called alternative birth centers (ABCs) or childbearing centers. According to the National Association of Childbearing Centers, “birth centers are guided by principles of prevention, sensitivity, safety, appropriate medical intervention, and cost effectiveness.”4 Birth centers, unlike hospitals, do not exist in many communities across the country and, depending on where you live, may not be an option available to you.

Reasons You May Want to Have Your Baby in a Birth Center

You are committed to giving birth without pain-relief medications.

You do not feel relaxed in a medical setting and prefer a nonmedical type of atmosphere.

You feel more confident in a birth setting surrounded by your family and being cared for by staff (and equipment) that is geared toward supporting a labor experience using coping strategies instead of medical pain-relief strategies.

You may want to return home as soon as possible after giving birth.Birth centers are often operated by midwives, or midwives and physicians together. The prospect of giving birth in a birth center is usually most appealing to women who want a birth environment where there will be as few medical interventions (including pain-relief interventions) as possible during labor and birth. The birth center is a good option for women who do not want to have their baby in a hospital but also do not want to give birth at home.There are some in-hospital birth centers that provide a homey family-centered birth environment; they are attached to the hospital or are located on their campus. The in-hospital birth center is a distinct facility, separate from the hospital’s labor and delivery unit. Typically, epidurals are not offered in these centers. Depending on your preferences, this type of environment may also be a perfectly suitable option for you. A birth center within a hospital, however, may not operate in the same way an out-of-hospital birth center does, and its care practices and staffing may be more like hospital care than birth center care.

If you choose to have your baby in a birth center, a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) will most likely be your primary caregiver. Although in birth centers midwives and obstetricians work together, it is the midwife who will likely attend to the birth of your baby, unless the obstetrician is needed due to a complication. Your health care provider must determine that you are healthy a woman with a low-risk pregnancy in order for you to give birth to your baby in a birth center. Birth centers provide care to women throughout their pregnancy, labor and birth, and postpartum.

The birth center itself is characterized by a homelike atmosphere that is less high tech in appearance than a typical hospital maternity unit. If you are laboring in a birth center and at some point need emergency medical intervention, you will be transferred to a hospital.

Around 15 percent of women who begin their labor in a birth center need to transfer to a hospital. Of these women, only 2 percent transfer due to an emergency. The remainder are transported to the hospital primarily due to slow progress or because the mom requests anesthesia.

Birth centers promote a relaxed, privte, nonclinical environment in which a variety of nonmedical pain-mainagement approached can be accommodated. Birth centers do not offer epidurals, and they ususally (although not always) do not offer narcotic injections. Birth centers are ot equipped to perform cesarean section deliveries. In fact, the cesarian section rate for women who began their labor in birth centers is around 4 percent.

About the Article
Excerpted from Easy Labor by William Camann, M.D., and Kathryn J. Alexander, M.A.. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

How Children Learn

admin — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:30:11 +0000

by Shelley Ruiz

Nurture and Teach
The single most important thing caregivers can do for a child is provide a nurturing environment. By doing this, we influence children’s brain development and their ability to learn. Introducing nurtured children to learning opportunities every day will help them become happy, well-adjusted adults. In all stages of child development, each experience builds on the one before it. The most basic foundations can serve as the basis for the comprehension of more complex ideas in future years.

Learning Begins at Birth
We are born with billions of brain cells – in fact, all we will ever have. What is missing is a large amount of connections – synapses – between those brain cells. Synapses start developing based on a child’s experiences. Children’s brains develop faster from birth to age three than any other time; and more learning takes place during this time than any other. The more learning opportunities parents provide for their children from birth until school age, the more synapses are made. The connections will serve as a pool of knowledge for a child to access in later years.

Because children’s earliest experiences affect how they will think, learn and behave, helping children learn from birth to school age is a crucial activity. Parents and other caregivers can create a strong foundation for learning by providing a nurturing and rich learning environment from the very beginning.

Children Seek Learning Experiences
Not only do children need to be physically active, it is their nature to look for opportunities to learn. They participate in learning by using their senses and asking countless questions in order to more fully understand the task at hand.

Creating a Learning Environment
Children enjoy learning when they can master an activity. Begin with a simple task and expand or complicate it after your child has enjoyed some successes.

Create a safe and secure learning environment. This will help children do their best learning rather than distract them. Key to creating this environment is treating your child with respect and caring.

Where Do Children Learn?
Children learn everywhere from school to the doctor’s office to the grocery store. As do adults, children learn from interacting with others and watching their parents’ behavior. Kids are highly influenced by the people in their lives, especially adults who they are close to.

Not All Children Learn in the Same Way
In the book Frame of Mind, Howard Gardner described his theory of multiple intelligences. We all have a certain way we prefer to learn. The seven multiple intelligences Gardner points to are interpersonal, intrapersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, musical, logical-mathematical and linguistic. We have the most success teaching our children when we can recognize their style of learning (as well as our style of teaching) and incorporate activities accordingly.

Playing and Learning
The main way children collect and process information is through play. Play is the repetition that reinforces old skills and encourages new ones. Because play is enjoyable, children’s minds are open. Children are capable of much learning through play because they are very receptive and relaxed. Take advantage of this benefit and select activities that are fun and educational. Your children will learn, and you will both enjoy the experience.

About The Author
Shelley Ruiz is a homeschooling parent and the owner of Magic Lark Learning which provides parents and teachers with resources for making learning fun, including a free quarterly online journal of poems and stories for kids. anything@magiclarklearning.com.

Develop Your Child’s Critical Thinking Skills

admin — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:42:50 +0000

by Marie Magdala Roker

Encourage Questions
Don’t answer every question, instead ask what do they think. Asking questions stimulates conversation between you and your child.
Don’t Criticize
Criticism invites low self-esteem. Children feel that they have failed or disappointed their parents when they are criticized. Find alternate ways of correcting the problem. A child will likely shut down communication if they feel that their parents are not supportive.
Respect Your Child’s Opinions
Your child is not an extension of you. Although it is difficult to accept at times, it is normal and healthy for your child to have their own opinion. Children who are confident in expressing their opinions are less likely to join gangs or succumb to peer pressure.
Teach Your Child To Embrace Diversity
Encourage your child to learn about different cultures and ethnicities. A well informed child can will understand and respect other people’s values.
Teach Your Child To Set Personal Boundaries
Children need to have their personal space respected in order for them to respect other people’s personal space. Help your child to establish their boundaries and insist that he/she enforce them with their peers.
Establish A Nurturing Environment
Children thrive in environments in which they know they are loved and respected. Remind them every day that you love them and support them.

Understand Your Child’s Thinking Process
In order for you to be an advocate for your child in school, you must know and understand how your child learns. Is he/she creative, logical, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic? Know your child’s capabilities and accept their creativity.
Let Them Think For Themsleves
Encourage independent thinking. Let your child decide (within reason) what is appropriate for them. Give them enough room to make decisions, but also be there in case their plans don’t work out.
Teach Them Stress Management Skills
Help your child to effectively deal with stress. Try not to contribute to their stress with demands and unrealistic expectations. Make learning fun!
Teach Your Child To Trust His/Her Instincts
In order for children to be successful in life, they must learn how to trust their decisions. Your child needs to be confident in trusting his/her instincts and feelings. Children who trust themselves are less likely to participate in unhealthy behaviors.

About The Author
Marie Magdala Roker is a Family Coach and Certified Breakthrough Parenting Instructor. She is completing her Masters in Health Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College. She helps parents to reclaim their lives and students to unlock their academic potential. She is committed to helping build healthy families, one family member at a time.

Disadvantages of Organic Food

admin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:01:51 +0000

While organic food can be great for your health and skin, there are some disadvantages.

Cost
Regulations on organic farming and the fact that produce is usually grown in smaller quantities than non-organics, are two of the reasons for the elevated cost of organic produce. Regulations have not been set on organic food pricing and percentage increase differs between organic foods such as; fish, meat, dairy and produce. Individual producers of organic food are able to assign the prices of their product. Many families find this cost differential a deterrent to purchasing organics. As organic farming grows in popularity, it should allow for a rise in supply, and one would hope, decrease in cost for the average American consumer.

Environmental Safety
While producers of organic products state that their produce is more sustainable and environmentally sound, it is questioned among specialists and scientists alike. Factored in is also the argument that the shipping of products is not as efficient as quantities are smaller and shipped further than non-organic products which are grown locally. Some argue that pesticides are not area specific controlled, making it impossible for products to be grown completely pesticide free. While others strongly feel unsafe foods can not be sold, stating pesticides found in non-organic food are not harmful to consumers.

Just a Fad
Many believe that organic food has “sold out” becoming a marketing gimmick. Companies are marketing more organic products, changing ingredients and labels in an effort to jump on the “organic band wagon” so to speak, while benefitting from the higher prices. Many consumers believe that organics may not be all they are made out to be, that products will quietly disappear from shelves. Only to be forgotten, like many fads in the past.

Wonderful Green Recipes For Homemade Baby Lotion!

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:45:56 +0000

If you walk into any supermarket and take a wander up to the baby aisle then you will undoubtedly see a whole host of baby lotions and potions that all boast to be the softest and smoothest solutions to diaper rash and skin irritation. However, what the tubes and bottles do not say is that they can also be harmful to your baby’s skin as well. They are full of toxins and chemicals that may have a negative affect on their health and well-being. If you are becoming a parent for the first time shortly or have just had a child then you may be interested to know that you can make environmentally friendly baby lotion yourself!

Homemade green baby lotion is kind to the skin and cheap to make as well because it only requires a few household ingredients. It is free of toxins and chemicals as it is 100% completely natural and extremely kind to baby’s soft skin! There are several recipes floating around out there to choose from, but here are just two of the best and most effective ones to try.

The Honey Milk Baby Lotion – Now we all know that honey is good for the skin and can leave it smooth and soothe irritated areas, which is why it is perfect for a baby. For a lotion that you can refrigerate and use for up to a week, you will need ½ cup of honey and ½ cup of cream or milk (with the former being a better option). Poor the honey into the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the two are completely blended. Allow the mixture to stand for five minutes before placing in a glass jar with a lid and refrigerating. When completely cool, it will be ready to use!
The Lavender Baby Lotion – Again, this one will soothe irritated skin, but it will also protect the skin against further wetness and hold moisture in the skin. Mix 225g of petroleum jelly with nine teaspoons of olive oil, thirty drops of lavender oil and the same amount of chamomile. You do not have to heat this at all, but simply mix it in a bowl. You may want to use a fork to mix because it does take some blending but always needs mixing by hand to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly blended. Again, refrigerate for a few hours and then use on your child. It will keep for up to two weeks so be sure to store it properly in the fridge.

Both of these homemade baby lotion recipes will help to keep diaper rash at bay and bring it under control. Both recipes are cheap convenient and extremely green so you have nothing to lose by trying them!

Why Should I Use Eco Friendly Diapers?

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:43:51 +0000

Every mother to be or new mom will be well aware of the need for nappies for their little one. Nappies, or diapers as they are more commonly known in the United States, are one of the biggest necessities for families with young children, but they can also be one of nature’s greatest enemies! That conflict is a big reason why more and more parents are turning to the old style cloth nappies in an attempt to reconcile their family with their beliefs.

Nappies have been around in cloth form since the Elizabethan era in England. Although they were only squares of linen back then, they have been used ever since. If you are over the age of forty then the likelihood is that you wore cloth nappies when you were a child, but from the 1970s onwards more and more children wore disposable nappies. They were actually introduced in the 1940s but were not affordable for the average family until thirty years later. Now, they are more common than ever and brand after brand adorns the supermarket shelves, but why should we regress and use cloth nappies in the 21st Century?

There are a number of reasons why you should use eco friendly cloth nappies over disposables on your children. Whilst many of them relate to the environment, some also relate to the well-being of your child:

Disposable nappies take, on average, 500 years to decompose. This is hotly debated because many experts have predicted that they will take much longer than that, but when you consider that disposable nappies actually account for one full black bin bag’s worth of trash every week per child then you get an idea of just how big a problems this is. 90% of nappies will end up in landfill sites so we are degrading the earth.
Washing a disposable nappy 400 times is comparable to the manufacturing of one nappy in terms of the amount of energy that is used in both processes. This makes the cloth nappy far more energy efficient and in keeping with a greener lifestyle.
The average baby will use over a thousand disposable nappies in one year, but would only need between twenty and thirty cloth nappies for the same period of time. Of course, some families would purchase more to accommodate physical growth, but the number is still nowhere near as large. In terms of the financial and environmental burden that the former brings, cloth nappies seem infinitely preferable.
You can purchase environmentally friendly cloth nappies that are made of hemp, wool and organic cotton now so even the material that they are made with will not damage the environment! Not to mention the fact that they would be extremely kind on your little one’s skin.
Finally, baby faeces that are left as rubbish for two weeks contains around 100 viruses on average. If you think about the fact that the faeces is not going through a proper sewerage treatment plant but is instead filtering through the groundwater system. It could actually make its way into your own water supply at a later date. You may want to seriously consider using cloth nappies. They are better all around for you, your family, and the environment in general so they are by far the better choice!

Why Baby-Friendly Ecotourism Can Be Fun!

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:41:47 +0000

The first thing many individuals think of when they hear the word ecotourism is either the Kenyan safari or the spa-type vacation that is provided by a specific centre and filled with nature and environmentally friendly values. Regardless of which one of those images springs to your mind, it is unlikely that you picture yourself with your newborn baby or toddler. That is actually quite common because ecotourism is viewed as more of an adult vacation rather than a family friendly trip. Today, that does not have to be the case though.

Having a baby does not put an end to your ecotourism adventure! Some ecotourism holidays are now actively marketed as family or child friendly, and the ecotourist vacation can provide quite an experience for both parents and children. This is because everyone can learn something from the vacation, including the baby.

First and foremost, babies pick up on a change in mood far more quickly than adults do and, as such, he or she will recognize a relaxing environment. Ecotourism resorts are famed for their ability to set people at ease, to help them become one with nature and to relax them. This will pull the family together in one harmonious unit. As such, your baby will benefit from the tranquillity and will indeed be happier for the duration of the holiday. This makes it fun in itself, but there is more!

Various family friendly ecotourism destinations have a range of facilities for small children, all of which make it easier for you to include the children in fun activities and educate them at the same time. Local businesses and individuals benefit from the tourist trade so they are willing to give something back and can communicate with your child in a unique way. By the age of three, it is possible for your child to have a loose grasp on helping out in a wide variety of fun filled activities that involve interaction with the local environment and wildlife. This in itself marks the ecotourism vacation a unique and innovative experience.

Of course, the child friendly ecotourism vacation is not as intensive as an adults only one because children tire easily, but there are areas of the world that welcome children, including babies. Costa Rica is one example. Your baby or toddler can enjoy the colourful side of nature in the eight national parks. They can bird watch and look out for the colourful toucans or watch the monkeys playing in the rainforest. They will be delighted by the activity and learn things, even from an early age.

If you want to make your ecotourism vacation especially fun for your baby or small child then why not go to Lapland? A good number of the tours there are labelled as ecotourism and the children can meet huskies, reindeer and even Santa whilst learning to respect the environment. It is certainly something different yet extremely fun. And the beauty of it is you are giving back to the community as well as providing your family with a firm foundation for education!

Protect Your Children With Green Cleaning

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:40:18 +0000

There are horror stories in the newspapers and on TV every single day about different chemicals and substances that have been found to be harmful or bad for the environment. Now everybody knows the old adage of not believing everything you hear or read, but have you ever wondered what all of those long and complex words mean on the label of your cleaning product bottles?

The majority of them are harmful to the environment and can be harmful to your children, especially newborn babies. This is not just some scary story to try to encourage you to buy another product. A truth is that your current cleaning products are no more effective than homemade products that can be made in just a few moments with natural ingredients. In fact, those natural ingredients are often to be found in your home anyway. Lemon juice is a prime example.

You can protect your children and the environment by using the following recipes and tips to create your own cleaning solutions and save money at the same time!

For an all-purpose cleaner, mix 125mls of pure soap with four litres of boiling water and stir well. Add 60mls of lemon juice to the solution and stir. Use the solution while it is still warm for an intensive clean. You can then bottle what is left over and use it as a spray.

Baking soda is effective for cleaning carpets and scouring surfaces. To clean carpets, simply sprinkle baking soda over the area that you want to clean and leave it for an hour or so before vacuuming it up. This will bring any dirt and stain right out. For scouring, mix baking soda with an equal amount of pure soap and use a scrubbing brush. Baking soda is extremely effective for all sorts of household cleaning chores. It works as an oven cleaner and a bathroom cleaner when used with a damp sponge. It’s the one item that you must have at home for a cleaning solution!

If you want to freshen the air in your home and introduce nice smells then adorn your home with plants. All air fresheners have a chemical component that coats you nasal passages instead of removing the existing smells. Plants do exactly the opposite and enhance your home as a result!

Use vinegar to clean your windows. You literally only need a little vinegar to polish up the glass and remove lingering dirt. Vinegar also works to cut through greasy pots and pans and remove lingering stains on carpets. Lemon juice also works for these purposes but vinegar is slightly more efficient.

So there you have it! You can clean your home from top to bottom with household natural products and protect your children from the harmful effects of various chemicals at the same time, not to mention that you will save an awful lot of money this way!

Love Your Family Pet, Love The Environment

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:38:07 +0000

We have all been there and done that when it comes to pets. At one stage or another of our lives we have all had a dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig or some other creature to love and call our own. But then again, some of us have decided that the hassle is not worth it as well! The former usually overrides the latter so we stand by our pets and pass on our love of animals to our children. It is highly likely that you have never considered your pet as a tool to help you become more environmentally friendly!

That’s right – a household pet can help you to become more environmentally friendly. Many households do not think of a pet as an aid in the quest for a greener way of life, but they are. This applies to any pet, but there are some that are greener than others. The more environmentally animals are the rabbits and guinea pigs that generally tend to eat plant matter, but if you already have a dog or cat then you can tap into the benefits they can offer as well, some of which are:

Use leftover food for their meals. For example, potato peel and vegetable leaves can be given to guinea pigs and rabbits to eat. Dogs will generally eat any leftovers, although some may not be beneficial to their health, pastry leftovers for example.
Although you may recycle magazines and newspapers, it is not advisable to recycle shredded bills and so on with personal information on it. You could use that paper for bedding for rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs and mice, and it also makes an environmentally friendly cat litter as well.
You can make an excellent dog cushion out of old materials that you no longer use. Simply use an old quilt cover for the outer casing and fill it with towels, sheets and clothing that are not good enough to donate to charity or recycle.

Of course, there are many more things you can do via your pet to make your household more environmentally friendly, but your pet has a far more valuable function.

If you have young children then you can use the pet to educate them of the values of being environmentally friendly as well. Using your pet as an example will make the importance of looking out for the environment more potent. Children tend to think about things they can relate to and they very often cherish a pet more than everyone else in the house put together! As such, a pet can help you get the green balance just right!

Educate Your Children The Eco Way!

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:36:44 +0000

Books are undoubtedly a major part of childhood for the majority of children, though they do tend to lose their appeal as soon as the little ones are old enough to play computer games. They do play an extremely important role in educating children right up until they leave school though so it is important to introduce the written word to them as early as possible. However, new parents have enough to worry about without buying a shelf full of books potentially costing hundreds of dollars. Obviously this is not good for the environment either because books are not always green. There are ways to educate your children the eco way.

There are ways and means to get your hands on recycled books today, which provide a great foundation for educating your children in an eco friendly manner from very early on. For example, books are readily available from charity for no other reason than other individuals have no further use for them and have the same attitude towards recycling that you do! Certain websites also have a used book section now as well so you can buy recycled books online. This will save you significant amounts of money and give your children an eco friendly education for years to come!

There are also books available that have messages within the story as well. These provide another great way to educate your children the eco way because the hidden messages alert them to the plight of the environment and give them a sense of social responsibility to do the best that they can in helping out by recycling and saving energy. The Barefoot Books series is excellent. These books are informative and fun, so they are just what you are looking for!

If you do wish to buy a new book then you should always look for those that are printed on recycled paper. The printing may not always be like new but at least you will have done your part! Similarly, when you have finished with the books you can take them back to the charity shop, sell them online, join a community group that promotes the exchange of resources or give them to a local school. Whichever option you choose, you know they will be going to good use, more specifically to educate another child and thus give the environment a better chance of survival in the future!