• Last updated 3/31/13 by mamazee

So here are some things I learned… I stayed in a net-positive, freshly built green house right outside of Burlington, one of the houses in the South Farm Homes development (Hinesburg, VT). It was designed by the architecture firm Truex Cullins. Net-positive means that not only is it made so that it generates all of its own power; it actually generates more than it needs and gives power back to the grid. The owner will actually get a check for about $200 every year for her contribution. How is this done? The house was built to maximize passive solar... read more

• Last updated 3/31/13 by mamazee

By Jeremy Adam Smith I was at the playground talking with some moms. "I could never ride the bus!" said one. "They're so dirty and crowded." "Taking the bus with a baby?" said another. "That's just child abuse!" I hate to think what they would have said about my family, had they known our terrible secret: On the second day of my son's life, we took him on a bus to see his doctor. We had no choice. You see, we don't own a car. In fact, neither my wife nor I have drivers' licenses. We deliberately gave them up in our twenties, and ever since we've walked,... read more

• Last updated 3/31/13 by mamazee

High Country Gardens' Jumbo Waterwise Garden. A girl can dream. Spring and I did not get off to a good start. The pollen (worst season in years) kicked me in the head every time I inhaled. I am not sure if these things helped: 3-4 packets of Emergen-C daily (Lally’s doctor recommends) 1-2 tbsp. of Barlean’s Lemon Omega Swirl (an anti-inflammatory) Seasonal Freedom herbal pills (lessens reactiveness to pollen) Neti Pot (rinses out pollen gunk) But I did get better within a matter of days. So now, I can enjoy the things I’ve... read more

• Last updated 3/30/13 by mamazee

Outdoor public water fountains . . . that WORK! (It’s not just a quaint throwback to a more civilized time. They do exist!) # Photo of a working public water fountain in Santa Fe’s John Griego Park. Tags: public, water, water fountain This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at 11:50 pm and is filed under living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.     read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

by Jake Aryeh Marcus Find Sustainable Mothering on Facebook and Jake on Twitter. Not long after I first started using Twitter, there was a great deal of Tweeting about BlogHer ‘09. It sounded like the place everybody who was a female blogger wanted to be. There was controversy – something about “swag,” excessive freebies that made people look and feel all cheap and whore-y. But I joined BlogHer, saw that I would never be able to get into the advertising network (it is full up for pretty much ever) and hoped I would get to the next BlogHer conference and... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

Peter was buying tomatoes on the vine at the Ashland Food Co-op. He stuffed them in a plastic bag and deftly twisted it shut. “You know, you don’t really need a bag for those,” I suggested with a smile. “Oh Yes I Do.” Peter was categorical. A friend of my husband’s and foodie from the north of England, Peter seemed like the kind of Gen Y guy who would be open to critiquing American culture, which is the only reason I was brave enough to say something. It drives me crazy how Americans, even the hippie progressive types who shop at the Co-op, shove... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

My single motherhood came to me as the biggest, most shocking, life-altering, amazing, unfathomable surprise I have ever been dealt. I am a single mother, but not in the way that some women are– I wasn’t married with a career, then divorced & now sharing custody, nor did I choose the way that some women do to be single mothers by using donors, nor have I suffered the pain of losing a truly committed partner that forces some women into single motherhood.  I am a single mother in the sense that I was working an $8-an-hour job at a library, spending time with a... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

Dixon Ticonderoga designed a truly epic green school supplies giveaway for one lucky A la Mama reader. The lucky winner will receive a cornucopia of school supplies in a fab organic cotton backpack. Here’s what’s included: 1. Lyra Groove Colored Pencils 2. RENEW Recycled Tire Pencils 3. Prang Art Markers 4. Dixon Soy Crayons 5. Dixon EnviroStiks Pencils 6. Prang Oval Pan Watercolor Set 7. Prang Metallic Markers 8. Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils and, last but not least, the Ecozoo Panda... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

Alas, a gardener I’m not, proving with my latest attempts this summer that I can’t even grow weeds. (In a well-meaning attempt to support me in nurturing my inner gardener, Mothering editor-in-chief Peggy O’Mara donated some sunflower and morning glory seeds to my cause earlier this year. I planted them in late May and just last week began to notice a little blooming action.) Successful or not, I still like to take photos of the products of my efforts—and sometimes can shoot them in such a way (see photo at right) that you can’t tell that when the... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

Good morning, mamas. Teatulia is offering two wonderful prize packs to you tea drinkers out there–and I happen to be one, so high five. (I also like to drink coffee–I love hot beverages, especially in the fall). One prize pack has teas with caffeine; the other is made up of herbal infusions. I’ve been drinking Teatulia for a year now; I love their tea’s clean, delicious flavors. I also love their packaging: wonderful, green, reusable eco canisters. 1. For the caffeinated mamas: a 3-canister pack of Teatulia’s “Classics”: Black tea, Bengal... read more