With general coffee consumption in my household down since we found out about the pregnancy, my guilt over using a Keurig brewer (and their not very eco-friendly K-Cups) kinda got swept under the rug. Now that I have decaf K-Cups, I still use the Keurig on weekends, and my husband still uses it daily. I love the fact that he’s able to use it without much mess or fuss (unlike my old Senseo).

However, those K-Cups … disposable, non-recyclable. Of course, I can just keep using the My K-Cup with ground coffee, but the point of switching to a single serve machine is ease of use. Dropping a regular K-Cup in the machine is waaaay simpler than popping out the regular K-Cup holder on the machine, filling a small filter basket with ground coffee, dropping that into the holder, screwing on the lid, then dropping the whole thing into the brewer. I have been seriously considering going back to coffee pods since they’re a bit more eco-friendly, and with the recent release of the Cuisinart SS1 Cup-O-Matic single serve brewer, I’ve had to fight the urge to whip out my credit card. Thankfully, I’ve managed to stay away. I did, however, make one small purchase as consolation: the Perfect Pod Holster. This device will let me use any coffee pod with my Keurig brewer, so there’s no need to buy an entirely new machine! I managed to find two decaf pods in my pantry to give it a whirl. The first cup … had some coffee grounds in it. Bleh. The second time around, after making sure the pod is tightly packed in, resulted in a cleaner cup of coffee.

I can’t see my husband fiddling about and stuffing a pod in the Holster at 6am, so I may have to pre-pack it for him the night before so all he has to do is push a button. Otherwise, I’m back to buying coffee pods once our stash of K-Cups are gone.

Categories: coffee
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It’s madness, I tell you!

I was at Babies “R” Us the other day picking through a co-worker’s gift registry. Obviously, while I was there, I took the time to check out some gear for our own son-to-be. While I was happy to see such a big chain carrying some greener items, I was still disappointed that the majority of the selection belonged in the clothing and bedding aisles. Sure, there are some organic cotton onesies and burp cloths in our own registries (which I’ve considered taking off since we’re lucky enough to have FOUR nephews from whom we’ll get hand-me-downs galore), but I’m still at a loss for what to do about things like toys, teething rings, and other things that will likely go into our child’s mouth.

After some quick Google searches for “non-toxic teething rings” and “eco friendly baby toys” I kept coming across the name HABA. Turns out they’re a German company who makes toys and other developmentally stimulating items for kids, and who proudly proclaim that they are “naturally environmentally conscious.”

Looking through their collection of baby toys, I’m intrigued by the variety of wooden clutching toys. Could these be the alternative to the plastic and rubbery things found at your local baby mega-mart? How bad is the environmental impact of a wooden toy versus a plastic one? And what exactly happens to the paint on the wood when the baby puts it his mouth?? (As the baby on the left bravely shows us.)

Questions, questions, but I have no answers yet. I’ve more reading to do about HABA and their wooden toys, as well as continuing my search for other green alternatives.

Categories: baby
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First off, yes, I’ve been kinda of MIA from here for a while. With good reason! You see, a few months ago, my husband and I found out that we’re pregnant. Ever since, I’ve been busy either freaking out or enjoying doing absolutely nothing.

Now that we’re close to the halfway mark, I suppose it’s time to actually start planning for our new arrival. I recently got a list of “must-haves” for newborns from my family, a lot of which falls into the “freaking out” part of my brain. One of my biggest dilemmas is DIAPERS. My first inclination is to go with cloth diapers and either wash them at home (which will probably never happen, considering how much I dislike doing laundry in the first place), or hire a diapering service. Unfortunately, that idea has met some resistance, namely because of inconvenience and possibly higher costs.

So right now I’m researching gDiapers.

gDiapers consist of a washable, cotton outer pant and a plastic free flushable refill. They are made of breathable material just like sports clothing. So, babies stay dry and happy and are far less likely to get diaper rash.

Can’t flush? It’s ok to toss flushable refills because they’re plastic-free. Or garden compost the wet ones. They’ll break down in 50-150 days.

Sounds good, right? User comments can be found here and here. More research needs to be done about gDiapers and cloth diapers. All I know right now about cloth diapers is how they were used when I was an infant — back then, they were just large pieces of cloth that got saftey-pinned and hand-washed by our nannies or the laundry ladies. These days I hear they can come with velcro, are form-fitting, and generally waaaaay more options than when I was wearing the stuff.

Categories: baby
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