Global News Video - Lethal Beauty

This video is 45 mins. A bit long. But if you have the time, it's VERY interesting.

The cosmetic industry is a billion dollar industry. How sad it is that most personal care products are made of synthetic chemicals derived from petroleum that have never been tested for safety.

A stat from the video: In the 1960s, 1 woman out of 20 got breast cancer. Nowadays it's 1 in 8.

Thankfully, more and more consumers are demanding that manufacturers stop using toxic chemicals in lotions, shampoos, make-up, etc.

http://www.globalnews.ca/story.html?id=3112179#ixzz0zC3haMpn

$40 Gift Certificate Winner!

Well, we had 8 entries in our contest for a $40 GC including 6 on our  fb page -  Drumroll...

Yay Eva! Your name was pulled from our (baby son's) hat :) Congratulations! Please contact me - lili@mylittlegreenshop.com and I'll let you know how to redeem your $40 GC.

A big thank you to everyone who participated! On January 1st, a new contest shall commence. Stay tuned.

Win a $40 Gift Certificate!

This contest runs til Dec 13th and is open to all Canadian and American residents.

To enter just take a peek at our awesome selection of eco-goodies and tell  us here or on our facebook page how you'd spend the money if you won.

Good Luck All !

Savara, Sebastian and I Pushing Eco-Toys on CTV Vancouver :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DbExHEW0D4

$50 Gift Certificate Contest

Our latest giveaway contest is for a $50 gift certificate. Go here to enter it: http://www.miss604.com/2010/12/shop-local-giveaway.html#comments

Good luck!

Chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate

See Natural Mommie for our giveaway of a $50 gift cert: http://naturalmommie.com/2010/11/green-gift-guide-my-little-green-shop/

Win a Too Cute for Words Blabla Hat!

We have 8 adorable, hand knit, 100% cotton, fair trade Blabla hats to choose from!

Up to four entries are possible.  Enter by signing up for our newsletter (which we send every couple months), liking us on facebook, following us on twitter, and/or following this blog. Please comment below telling us how you entered this contest or if you already do one or more of those things, let us know below and we'll ensure you receive the right number of contest entries. If you do all four, your name will be entered in our draw 4 times.

* If it's easier for you to use our facebook page to enter this draw, by all means do so. We ensure that anyone who puts their comments on our fb page is also entered in our draws.

This contest is open to all Canadian and American residents. Contest closes Nov 30th and then a new one shall begin.

Thanks everyone for participating :)


Thank you very much everyone for your entry in our Blabla contest! All the entries here and on our fb page were entered in the hat and we pulled out one name

- Cara's! 

Thank you for entering our contest Cara and Congratulations! We just sent you can e-mail letting you know what to do next.

Stay tuned for our next giveaway soon :)

Win a Super Cute Fig Kids Hoodie!

The winner can choose one adorable hoodie from either the infant hoodies or the children's hoodies.

How do you enter this giveaway? Pretty simple. Just sign up for our newsletter (which we send every couple months). If you already subscribe to it, let us know here and we'll enter your name in the draw.

This contest is open to all Canadian and American residents. Contest closes Nov 16th and a new one shall begin.

Bon chance :)


Thank you everyone for entering this contest!

We put all your names in a hat and pulled out one lucky name - Tirza!!!! Congratulations Tirza! We've sent you an e-mail to let you know you won the hoodie and to tell you what to do next.

Hatley Coat Winner!

Thanks so much for everyone who entered our Hatley contest! We had 13 entrants, the 10 who posted comments on our blog, as well as Emma and Meaghan who wrote on our fb page and Tamara who wrote us an e-mail. All the names were put in a hat and one name was selected.

Congratulations to Hippie Mom of Vancouver! We have sent you an e-mail giving you instructions

A new contest will start tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Lili

Contest #2 - a Hatley Raincoat Giveaway!

To enter My Little Green Shop's contest for the Hatley raincoat of your choice from the stock we have available, sign up for our newsletter (which we send every couple months) and let us know that you did.

See two cute examples here:

This giveaway is open to all Canadian and American residents. The contest closes on Halloween - Oct 31st.

Bon chance!

Feist 1,2,3,4 Sesame Street

Our 2 babes (under the age of 2) both LOVE Leslie Feist's song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9WiuJPnNA

Hemorrhoids - never thought they were funny til this...

Such honesty! Loved this article - http://selfishmom.com/2010/10/11/why-am-i-awake-because-my-ass-hurts/

Attachment Parenting

Some thoughts on the subject by Dr Sears - http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T130200.asp

Enter Contest #1 here for a $25 MLGS Gift Certificate

Our first contest is for a $25 Gift Certificate at My Little Green Shop. To enter the contest take a peek around our site and tell us how you'd spend the $25. On Saturday, Oct 16th a random winner will be chosen and a new contest will start. Good luck!

Green Points - Reap them with every purchase

It pays to collect Green Points. Every time you make a purchase with My Little Green Shop, you'll receive Green Points. For every dollar spent (before taxes), you receive one Green Point. Green Points are redeemable for Green Dollars at My Little Green Shop once you have a minimum of 250 points. For every 250 Green Points you collect, you have $25 Green Dollars to shop with. It's a great way to save on your next purchase whether it's for you or someone special. And it's our way of thanking our loyal customers!

Here's how it works:

1. Once you've placed your order and it has shipped, your Green Points will be added to your account.
2. To view your Green Points, simply go to MyRewards.
3. Enter the total amount (in points) you'd like to redeem below.
4. When you're done, a confirmation will be sent to your email address.
5. You're now ready to save on your next purchase. Upon placing your order, your available Green Dollars will automatically be deducted from the total purchase amount.

New Chic Positively Organic Styles!

http://www.mylittlegreenshop.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=20

Ways to reduce your oil footprint

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-grayson/eco-etiquette-how-can-i-r_b_563772.html#s88285

Study on the Safety of Home Births

This page has a link to an interesting article done on the  safety of home births: http://www.mylittlegreenshop.com/Articles.asp?ID=143

Both of my babes were born at home with extremely wonderful midwives to guide my beautiful and unafraid husband, Jim and I through the birthing process. While there were moments of indescribable pain and fear, in hindsight, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Bloom Community Midwives in Vancouver's West End is a clinic that rocks.

Environmental Estrogen and Breast Cancer

This short video is so informative and gives other very useful websites! Viewing it is well worth your time...
 

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/research/endocrine/videos/makeup.cfm

Cloth diapers- more work but there are benefits to be had

Some good arguments for the usage of cloth diapers by Jennifer Grayson

Found this great article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-grayson/eco-etiquette-how-can-i-c_b_572807.html
 

Jennifer Grayson, Founding Editor of The Red, White, and Green

 

Eco Etiquette: How Can I Convince My Husband to Use Cloth Diapers?

 

Send all your eco-inquiries to Jennifer Grayson at eco.etiquette@gmail.com. Questions may be edited for length and clarity.

My husband has been fine with the green changes I've made in our household. He doesn't complain about composting, taking canvas bags to the grocery store, or even the vegetarian dinners I make. But we're expecting our first child, and he's drawn the line at cloth diapers. He says it's too inconvenient. How can I change his mind?
-Layla
Well, for starters, the cloth diaper argument couldn't be more timely: Last week, I wrote about how the BP oil disaster is compelling Americans to consider new ways to reduce their oil footprint; more specifically, by reducing the amount of petroleum-based products they buy.
Plastic disposable diapers, of course, fall into this category. I regret I didn't think to include them in last week's column, because the statistic is a whopper: Nearly 3.5 billion gallons of oil are used to produce the 18 billion throwaway diapers that Americans toss each year. To put that in perspective, that's more than the amount of crude we import annually from Kuwait.
Need a visual? Picture one of those diaper commercials where someone pours a container of liquid into a nappy to demonstrate absorbency. Now replace the pretend pee in that cup with petroleum -- that's about how much oil (2/3 cup) it takes to make just one disposable diaper.
Of course, relaying these facts to your husband (along with any of the other convincing environmental arguments in favor of cloth diapers, like less landfill waste, water pollution, and destruction of virgin forests) may do little to change his mind if convenience is his priority. We all do stuff that's bad for the environment because it's more comfortable, right? If that weren't true, then 300 million of us would be biking 20 miles each way to work and making home-cooked meals out of the organic produce we planted in our backyard gardens.
So to sway your husband, I enlisted the help of the aptly named Sarah Greenshields, COO of GroVia, which makes one of the most convenient cloth diapering solutions on the market: the hybrid diaper. (Hybrid diapers are essentially Cloth Diapering for Dummies. Gone are the pins and folding of yesteryears: Instead, an outer washable shell fastens much like a disposable diaper; inside, you can attach either a washable cotton pad or an eco-friendly disposable liner to do the dirty work.)
I played the part of the questioning first-time parent (not much of a stretch, as those of you who regularly read my column know); Sarah countered with her case for cloth.
Jennifer Grayson: My mom says she tried using cloth diapers with me, and she gave up after a month, it was such a mess.
Sarah Greenshields: Diapers used to be these big, huge squares that you'd fold into shape, and then you'd use pins, and then you'd get scared that you were going to poke your baby with a pin, and then you'd have to put plastic pants over the cloth diapers. And the plastic pants, they were equivalent to today's shopping bag -- just big and bulky...so what we've done is stripped out all that extra nonsense and made it so, so simple.
JG: But we don't have a washer/dryer in our apartment. Isn't it gross to use laundromat machines for washing dirty diapers?
SG: Not at all. Most laundry cycles are going to finish on at least one, if not two, rinse cycles, so you're cleaning the washing machine out well. Nowadays, laundry detergents are so sophisticated that you don't need to worry.
JG: Don't you have to rinse off the um, more solid matter in the toilet first? I don't think I have the stomach for that.
SG: Even if with disposables, you're always supposed to take the poo and wash it down the toilet, no matter what.
JG: But people who use disposables don't actually do that.
SG: They should. You take the diaper off, you wrap it in a plastic bag, you put the plastic bag in the garbage...I mean, you're making a poop bomb.
JG: But three years of having to rinse off poop in the toilet...
SG: Well actually, your children toilet train much, much earlier [with cloth diapers]. From my personal experience, my daughter started using the toilet all by herself at 15 months.
JG: Why is that?
SG: They do feel the moisture up against their skin. I also think that when you're cloth diapering, it may take an extra minute or two...but that extra time and communication with your child can really encourage the child to become aware.
JG: But isn't feeling that wetness unhealthy?
SG: [With the GroVia hybrid] you have an organic cotton [soaker pad] up against their skin, or you have a corn-based [disposable liner] against their skin. No dyes, no fragrances, no chlorine. Babies who have chronic rashes do much better with cloth diapers. There's a whole thing going on with Pampers right now: Their Dry Max diapers are causing severe diaper rash.
JG: OK, it seems like you win the health argument. What about cost?
SG: On average, a family will spend $70 to $150 per month on disposable diapers. For cloth, it's a lot of money up front, but it's cheaper over the entire time you're diapering. It's about $375 to get your full cloth diaper setup, but you've paid yourself back in the fourth month.
JG: Thanks for giving me the bottom line on cloth diapers, Sarah. Sounds like it's my number one choice (and my number two).

 

Follow Jennifer Grayson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jennigrayson

Crying when pregnant is good!

Got this from www.pregnancy360.com

Hormones can make the average woman feel like laughing, screaming, and crying—all at the same time. Combine this with the fears and frustrations of pregnancy and it’s no wonder some moms-to-be are prone to bawling.

Diane Rixon of Tallahassee, FL, had a meltdown at her ob/gyn near the end of her pregnancy. “I just started sobbing during my visit with him. I continued to cry after he left the room. I cried as I got dressed. I cried at the checkout desk. Then I drove to the nearest park and sat in the car and bawled my eyes out for about 20 minutes,” Rixon admits.
Why We Cry
Expecting a baby doesn’t guarantee you’ll turn into a weeping mess, but it can push your moods to the extreme. According to Renée M. Bibeault, M.D., who specializes in women’s mental health and reproductive psychiatry in Seattle, crying is an understandable reaction to the stress. “There are, after all, labor and delivery, sleep deprivation, and the challenges of parenthood to anticipate. Heightened emotions are also likely related to the fluctuation of our hormones,” Bibeault says.
Although research doesn’t confirm that women cry more often during pregnancy, we do cry more than men—four times more, according to William Frey II, Ph.D., a biochemist and professor at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Frey, also the author of Crying: The Mystery of Tears, says that the hormone prolactin may be involved in tear production and secretion. Women have 60 percent higher levels of prolactin in their blood than men, and its presence is even more pronounced during pregnancy, because prolactin is responsible for stimulating milk production.
Although the exact chemical composition of tears is unknown, emotional tears are definitely different from the tears that lubricate our eyes and those caused by irritations such as dust or onions, because they contain a 24 percent higher concentration of proteins. “There must be a reason for this difference,” Frey says.
Also detected in tears is the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). A predictor of stress, ACTH has been linked to high blood pressure, heart problems, peptic ulcers, and other such conditions.
Are Tears Healthy?
Unfortunately, we tend to deprive ourselves of emotional tears. “There is a troubling idea in our culture that crying is a silly, ‘hysterical’ behavior—something people do in a moment of weakness,” Bibeault says.
Mary Beth Myers, a mother of three in Pittsburgh, PA, especially hated to tear up during disagreements with her husband while pregnant. “All I could do was cry. I felt it made me appear manipulative or weak,” Myers says. She also tried to avoid crying in front of her children, so as not to upset or scare them.
Restraining our tears, however, could be detrimental to our health. “Crying is an excretory process. We’re removing either waste products or harmful materials,” Frey says. “We may be removing, in our tears, chemicals that build up during stress. Literally, we might be ‘crying it out.’ ”
Psychologists have long believed crying is an important part of the grieving process and contributes to emotional healing. According to a study conducted by Frey, 85 percent of women say they feel less sad and angry after crying.
“Most women do find it an enormous stress reliever and feel more emotionally balanced after a good cry. Other women use meditation, exercise, sex, or venting to a trusted friend to achieve the same emotional release,” Bibeault says. “These activities, like crying, have been found to produce hormones, endorphins, and other neurochemicals that relieve anxiety and elevate mood.”
“If I was alone, I’d sometimes wallow in crying,” Myers says. She particularly enjoyed the emotions brought on by The Learning Channel show A Baby Story. “It felt good to allow myself to experience those tears, because they were tears of joy.”
Although excessive crying or persistent feelings of sadness should be discussed with a doctor, if you’re just in need of a good emotional release, grab a box of tissues and go ahead and cry, baby!
Susan Graham’s pregnancy mood swings were relatively moderate, but she admits losing it over silly things, like commercials that tugged at her maternal heartstrings. She is the mother of three children, ages 2, 5, and 8.

Yay to breast milk!

Breast Milk!

"Gee Whiz" Lactation Facts

 

1.Human milk has over 300 ingredients, including interferon, white blood cells, antibacterial

 and antiviral agents, while formula has only 40 ingredients.

 

2.Human milk has been shown to kill cancer cells in a laboratory dish and has been used in oncology.

 

3. The human breast "custom-makes" antibodies to fight whatever pathogen the infant is exposed to

 in the environment.

 

4. Breast milk has been used to treat eye infections, ear infections, pimples, cold sores, and nail fungus

and prevent infection in scrapes and scratches.

5. In some parts of the world, donated organs are bathed in breast milk for the protective factors.

 

6. There were 22 "significant" recalls of formula for potentially life-threatening situations.

 

7. Human milk lactoferrin is patented for use in killing E. Coli in the meat packing industry.

 

8. Donor milk is being used to treat malabsorption and short-gut syndromes, renal failure, inborn

errors of metabolism, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, immunodeficiency diseases,

burn cases, cardiac problems, and infectious diseases such as intractable diarrhea, gastroenteritis,

infantile botulism, sepsis, pneumonia, and hemorrhagic conjuctivitis in both children and adults.

 

9. Adoptive moms, grandmothers, and yes, even men(!) have been able to lactate for an infant.

 

 www.breastfeedingonline.com

the dirty dozen

See the list of 12 fruit that have the highest pesticide levels at http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_20951.cfm

tips on ways to afford organic food

 http://www.biggreenpurse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=139

I support eating organic food

why it never hurts to buy organic food -http://www.theworldwomenwant.com/yourworld/food/organic.php?page=or

Cute, cute, cute dishes for babies and kids

Super cute ORE safe and fun dino and owl dishes, bibs and play packs for kiddies:  https://www.mylittlegreenshop.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=33

Free shipping within the City of Vancouver (BC)

We ship your order to you for free if you live in the City of Vancouver! Just choose that option at the checkout. And sometimes we bring it to you ourselves because we love to meet and thank customers personally :)

Want a discount?

Discount Code: twit2010 scores you 15% off an order til the end of 2010!

benefits of having a natural birth

B.C's rate of cesareans is 30.5%.

An article on natural birth http://www.thegreenmama.com/blog/birth-part-1-does-natural-birth-matter

Info on ovarian cancer

learn about ovarian cancer- http://www.seventhgeneration.com/learn/blog/help-eradicate-ovarian-cancer-and-support-those-diagnosed

meals your kids should not consume

5 worst kids' meals - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-susan-albers/5-kids-meals-to-avoid-at-_b_696790.html

Contest winner!

Congratulations to Allison for winning one of our MiYim dolls on the www.seattlemomsdealfinder.com

Sweet and stylish bandanas for kids

the cutest bandanas in the whole wide world for little girls - http://www.mylittlegreenshop.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC_tsitah_bandanas

Rainwear that meets European Oko-Tex Standards

Our certified Oko-Tex muddy buddys are flying out the door! http://www.mylittlegreenshop.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=385

Help your kids fight the cold season

boosting a child's immune system - http://www.urbanmommies.com/featured-1/immune-system-support-for-children/

Fun places to take your kids around Vancouver in the fall

great list of farms/pumpkin patches for kids around Vancouver, BC - http://www.findfamilyfun.com/harvesttime.htm

Fleurville Bags!

We've got awesome deals on Fleurville diaper bags - http://www.mylittlegreenshop.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=32

Pregnant women need Vitamin A!

This article has a good explanation as to why -  http://www.babyvibe.ca/Archives2010/Sep28,2010.cfm

Announcement - Winners of MLGS's Teachers Rock Contest!

Last month - back-to-school time - we decided to run a contest, named Teachers Rock, in order to honour teachers who really stand out for one reason or another. Anyone with a special teacher in mind was welcome to nominate him/her in our contest giving them the chance to win a $50 gift certificate at My Little Green Shop - www.mylittlegreenshop.com
Since there were only 3 contest entries/nominations, we decided to honour all 3 of the teachers that were nominated in our contest by making them all winners.

Congratulations to  Collette Brunscheen, Sandee Waite and Marjorie Griffin Cohen, three obviously fabulous teachers!

We'll soon contact you and the kind people who nominated to let you know of our decision and to let you know how to redeem your gift certificate.

Many thanks to all of you who nominated a special teacher in our Teachers Rock Contest! It was good of you to take the time to do so!

Lili

Yay! A new blog for My Little Green Shop!

Now I just have to get started blogging..