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By
Valerie Howes Now, with her first child on the way, Allen has decided to create an earth-friendly nursery for her little one. “I believe in caring for the environment,” she says. “I’d like to instill these principles in my child, and there’s no better place to start than in the nursery.” Allen
has picked out green paint for the nursery walls — literally. To replace
the room’s existing white-and-red colour scheme, she’s chosen an apple-coloured
hue from Benjamin Moore’s Aura line, which is low in Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs). Regular paint emits noxious fumes for years which
have been linked to everything from headaches to cancer. But she may use milk paint on the wooden furniture in the nursery, which is as natural as it gets. Composed of milk protein, lime, clay and earth pigments, it’s manufactured by companies such as Milk Paint and Homestead House Paint Company Inc. “You can even make it yourself — there are recipes online,” she says (Check out marthastewart.com/goodthings/milk-paint-recipe. While Allen would rather buy second hand as opposed to new furniture (which depletes natural resources like wood), she has been cautious about purchasing used items for the baby’s room. Safety standards can change or items may have been recalled, so parents should exercise caution. For example, Health Canada recommends several precautions when it comes to cribs. They urge steering clear of pre-September-1986 models which don’t meet current safety recommendations. (By law, cribs must have a label indicating the manufacture date). Also, these items need to be assembled according to the manufacturer’s instructions and never modified in any way. (The full crib safety fact sheet can be downloaded from the Health Canada website at www.hc-sc.gc.ca.) To find out if an item has been recalled, do a Google search with the model number or call the manufacturer. Keeping
in mind the safety guidelines, Allen recently found a hardwood crib
from a couple on the Plateau. While delighted with the bed, she’s
ditching the foam, vinyl covered mattress that came with it. A recent
study in England found a correlation between Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
(SIDS) and the use of second hand polyurethane foam mattresses, which
may contain large amounts of bacteria. Instead, Allen is considering
a special mattress made in St. Lambert by Monika Collini and sold
at La Loba, a store in the St. Hubert Plaza selling eco-friendly baby
products. Because the mattress is made locally, its carbon footprint
is lighter. As well as being non-toxic, the sheep’s wool stuffing
in the mattress is naturally fire-retardant and mold-resistant. It
also repels water, so the mattress won’t absorb urine. Allen
cuddles a floppy knitted lamb and then tries out a natural wood rattle.
It’s gentle clunking sound is much more pleasant than the ear-splitting
noise made by the plastic toys my son (now a teenager) played with
as a baby. These wooden toys pose no threat to a teething baby’s health,
however intensively they are chewed; plastic versions may leach chemicals
such as Bisphenol A (BPA) — a hormone disruptor our government officially
deems “toxic.” One piece of furniture Allen will purchase new is her baby’s changing table. She has chosen a convertible model made from formaldehyde-free wood by IKEA — a company that practices sustainable forest management. Her investment will serve for years. “Once we’re finished with diapers, we can use the changing table as a dresser,” she explains. Not too surprisingly, Allen is stocking up the dresser with cloth diapers to avoid the waste that disposables create. She’s amazed by the variety available both online and in local stores such as Bummis and AzureWraps Boutique. Talking
and shopping with Allen reveals how her latest project makes sense
on so many levels. She’s saving money, giving her child a healthy
start, keeping her home uncluttered and respecting the planet. As
if that’s not enough, she’s passing on the message that treating the
environment well starts from birth. La
Loba La
Grande Ourse AzureWraps
Boutique Bummis Le
Baby Shop Many
online sites, including Montreal Families’ classified ads, Craigslist
and Kijiji offer a chance for Montrealers to sell gently used items
(of all kinds) and sometimes even give them away. www.montrealfamilies.ca,
montreal.craigslist.ca
and montreal.kijiji.ca Zia
and Tia For
more eco-friendly products: |
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