Last chance for Wonderment

Wonderment is going out of business. Boo hoo! Mentioned numerous times in this blog, Wonderment is a fabulous store for non-toxic, safe, sustainably produced, well-made, responsible toys for kids of all ages.

I'm heart-broken that both locations are closing. But, until the doors close for good, everything is at least 25% off. Last chance to stock up on your favorites...and save. They anticipate closing the Grand Avenue location by Valentine's Day and the Linden Hills store by the end of Feb.

Sort through Seafood with Seafood Watch - (iPhone app too!)

Are you as confused as I am about what seafood you're 'supposed' buy? What are the healthy options? What should I avoid for toxicity reasons? What should I avoid for environmental reasons? Sometimes farmed is best. Sometimes farmed is worst! Talk about confusing!!!

Seafood Watch, a program of the Montery Bay Aquarium, has long been the go-to resource for sorting out the seafood craziness. They publish annual 'Seafood Watch' pocket guides that easily fit in your wallet, with Best Choices, Good Alternatives, and Avoid categories. They publish a guide for each region of the US. Get the Central US Seafood pocket guide! And now it's even easier, if you have an internet-capable mobile device.

Their iPhone app lets you access the most up-to-date information about seafood choices on your iPhone, and includes their 'Project FishMap' which gives you information about local markets and restaurants making sustainable seafood choices! No iPhone?? Check out their mobile site at mobile.seafoodwatch.org, with info designed specifically to be viewed on a mobile device.

They have also developed their 'Super Green' list of seafood choices, which must meet all of the following criteria:

• Low levels of contaminants (below 216 parts per billion [ppb] mercury and 11 ppb PCBs)
• The daily minimum of omega-3s (at least 250 milligrams per day [mg/d])*
• Classified as a Seafood Watch "Best Choice" (green)

These are by far the best choices, especially for children & pregnant/breastfeeding women. So, what made the Super Green list in 2010??

Best of the Best:

• Albacore Tuna (troll- or pole-caught, from the U.S. or British Columbia)
• Freshwater Coho Salmon (farmed in tank systems, from the U.S.)
• Oysters (farmed)
• Pacific Sardines (wild-caught)
• Rainbow Trout (farmed)
• Salmon (wild-caught, from Alaska)

Other Healthy Choices ( low in contaminants and provide a smaller amount of omega-3s ):

• Arctic Char (farmed)
• Barramundi (farmed, from the U.S.)
• Dungeness Crab (wild-caught, from California, Oregon or Washington)
• Longfin Squid (wild-caught, from the U.S. Atlantic)
• Mussels (farmed)

More of a sushi person?? They have recommendations for sushi as well, including a pocket guide!

7 Food even Farmers Won't Eat! (from planetgreen.com)

Take a second to check out this planetgreen.com article I saw posted by my kids' pediatrician on Facebook. It's pretty startling.

Cliff notes version...avoid the following foods.

1. Canned Tomatoes - the acid in tomatoes breaks down the BPA in the liner, leaching into the tomatoes in significant amounts.
2. Corn-Fed Beef - much reduced nutritional benefits versus grass-fed beef
3. Microwave Popcorn - the chemicals in the bag liners contain perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that may be connected with infertility.
4. Conventionally Grown Potatoes - non-organic potatoes are treated with fungicides, herbicides, and other chemicals to prevent sprouting after harvesting.
5. Farmed Salmon - contaminants lowers vitamin D levels and includes some very nasty chemicals.
6. Milk produced with artificial hormones - growth hormones (which are prohibited in most other industrialized countries) increase the likelihood of udder infections, as well as may contribute to certain cancers.
7. Conventional Apples - non-organic apples receive heavy loads of pesticides

For the full article by Laurel House on planetgreen.com, which include alternative choices and additional information, click here.

Wonderment...wonderFUL! Save 15% this Friday!

Wonderment is a fabulous local source for non-toxic and responsibly-sourced toys & gifts for kids. Located right in the heart of Linden Hills (4306 Upton Ave S), this mother-owned store offers natural toys & games that will spark imaginations of all ages.

THIS FRIDAY (Dec 10) is their Friends Party, where you are invited to bring a friend to shop (adults only!) with wine & nibbles...and save 15% on all your purchases! Friends, wine, food AND savings?!? Oh, expert toy advice and free gift wrap too.

Wonderment Friend Party
Fri, Dec 10
7-9 pm
both locations, 4306 Upton Ave S, Mpls; 949 Grand Ave, St. Paul)

You might just finish your kid-related holiday shopping, and feel good about supporting a locally-owned business, while buying quality responsible toys from the Twin Cities Best Toy Store (according to CityPages)! Oh...and did I mention the wine?? ;-)

'green' movie watching at home??

So, my gadget-minded husband just signed us up for Netflix through our Wii. Yes...the Wii! We tried Netflix a few years ago, but the mailing of DVDs back & forth - with no late fees (meaning no incentive to watch it) - just didn't work for us. Now, we pay one monthly fee, and have access to a large number of movies, TV shows, and documentaries downloaded through our Wii directly to our TV.

After watching a movie of my choosing one evening, without leaving the house and on the spur of the moment, it occurred to me that these services have a green component. Seriously! (For the time being, let's forget about the energy consumption issues.)

Direct viewing eliminates the fuel-associated impacts & costs of delivery of DVDs, not to mention the environmental impacts associated with their production & disposal! So, don't feel like a couch potato. Grab a glass a wine, stream a movie or TV show, and feel good about it!

There are lots of pay-per-view or video-on-demand services through cable, satellite or other devices. Even watching shows on the internet or other downloadable device like an iPad has those benefits!

Tuna Consumption Revisited

A recent investigation by Consumer Reports found that canned tuna occasionally contains much higher levels of mercury than previously thought. Their findings confirmed that white (albacore) tuna typically contains much higher levels of mercury than light tuna.

The form of mercury accumulated in tuna, methylmercury, is especially toxic. Even low-level mercury exposure in children & expectant women has been linked to delays & impairments in hearing, hand-eye coordination & learning abilities, as well as neurologic, cardiovascular & immune system effects.

Based on their findings, Consumer Reports recommends consumption guidelines that are stricter than the FDA or EPA's recommendation of 12 oz per week wk of light tuna or 6 oz per week of white tuna, for women of childbearing age and young children. Instead, Consumer Reports recommends that:

• Children less than 45 lbs limit consumption to 4 oz of light tuna or 1.5 oz of white tuna
• Pregnant women avoid canned tuna altogether.
• Women of childbearing age limit consumption to 12.5 oz of light tuna or 4 oz of white tuna

Low-mercury, sustainably harvested fish include Alaska salmon, farmed clams, pink shrimp from Oregon, sardines from the US Pacific, and tilapia farmed in the US. These are good alternatives that provide the benefits of fish (protein, vitamin D & omega-3 fatty acids) without toxicity or environmental concerns.

For the full article by Consumer Reports, click here.

regreet - FUN way to reuse greeting cards

You know all those greeting cards you receive? Birthdays, Thank Yous, Thinking of Yous, and all those holiday cards? Yes, many of them are recyclable (although not the photo paper cards). And yes, there are lots of ways to resuse cards, but none as FUN as regreet!

How does regreet work?

1. Start by purchasing a "regreet greeting kit," which contains materials to repurpose 4 greeting cards.
2. Apply a signature label (included in the kit) over the original senders message.
3. Apply a journey label (also included) on the back of the card, which will allow you to follow your card on it's journey! The journey label includes a unique code so you can track your card's path online. (That's the super-fun part, especially for kids, I think!!)
4. Include a 'hop along kit' (also included) so that the recipient can do the same and keep the original card on its journey (and out of the waste or recycle can).
5. Send it to a recipient who will think you are the absolute coolest!

Confused? Check out this video to see more about how regreet works.

I met the founder, Christy Eichers, at the Green Gifts Fair this weekend. Christy is a dynamic and passionate LOCAL WOMAN who took a leave from her corporate job to start regreet. Not only is she creative, but she continues to give back...even with a start-up! They donate a portion of their profits to selected nonprofits, including 4-H, Susan Komen for the Cure, and Nature Conservancy. You can even help her decide the portion that goes to each organization through their 'direct the donation' feature!

The greeting card kit retails for $12 and includes materials for repurposing 4 greeting cards, including the hopalong kit, so it actually saves EIGHT cards! Granted, it may not be the best fit for typical holiday photo cards (I mean, it's hard to re-send a photo with someone else's lovely kiddos...), but it's a great idea for most other greeting cards!

I plan to use my kit to send re-used greeting cards to my far-away friends & family, so my kids & I can see how many miles our cards travel!