Parents with babies are going to love this product.  It’s a tricky business getting a wet baby out of the bath and onto the towel without getting yourself soaking wet in the process.  I also found that it was that few seconds between the bath, your arms and the towel when my babies would start to protest at being taken out of the bath water into the cool air.

This clever, organic cotton cuddle dry apron will keep you dry while you’re bathing your little one, and then you just need to lift them out of the bath and cuddle them to you with the organic towelling apron.  Fewer protestations, dry parent, everyone’s happy.

Perfect for swimming too.  £24.95 from John Lewis.  100% organic bleached cotton.

Earth Day is just a few days away, and I’ve been thinking about what I can do to mark the day.

Here are some of the ideas I’ve come up with:

1. Take a hike with my children.

2. Buy a composter and water-butt for my new house.

3. Change all the lightbulbs in our new house to CFLs.

4. Plant a tree.

5.  Make a recycled cardboard laptop case.

Tell us what you’re doing for Earth Day.  And if you’re a Twitter-bug, be sure to add the #earthtweet hash tag to your Earth Day Tweets.

Photo credit: woodleywonderworks

The way we live isn’t very good for the environment. The consumer goods that we buy are made of many different kinds of raw materials, and the process of manufacturing produces a lot of waste that pollutes the environment. We can help reduce the amounts of raw materials manufactured by recycing and buying recycled.

Teach young children about recycling with this family board game from Wonderworld. It is a memory game that makes it fun to learn about recycling. Wonderworld make a series of toys and games that have an environmentally friendly concept to teach children about their daily activities that have a direct impact on our eco-system.

Here are two ideas for a greener and more ethical advent calendar for 2008.

Divine Fairtrade Advent Calendar

An advent calendar with 24 pieces of Fairtrade milk chocolate behind the bright nativity scene on the front. All the cocoa beans used to make the chocolate are grown by a Fairtrade certified co-operative of 40000 farmers in Ghana called Kuapa Kokoo. Unlike many cocoa farmers who have never even seen or tasted chocolate Kuapa Kokoo co-owns the company that supplies these chocolates which means they have a real input and a share of the profits.

Laura Ashley Christmas Tree Fabric Advent Calendar

While this product is neither organic, Fairtrade or recycled, I’m still mentioning it here because it is reusable.  Buying one of these advent calendars means that you’ll never have to buy another “disposable” advent calendar again, because every years you can fill it with whatever yummy (organic and Fairtrade hopefully) treats you like.  Which means you’ll save money year after year too.

Instead of splurging on lots of cheap Christmas decorations, be kind to your pocket (and the planet) this year, and make your own.  Here are some ideas:

1. Gingerbread decorations:  All you need for this are a gingerbread recipe, the ingredients and a set of Christmas cookie cutters (that you’ll be able to use year in and year out).

2. Popcorn and cranberries: String popcorn and cranberries onto strong cotton thread with a needle for festive strings to wrap around the tree.

3. Natural finds: Pine cones, oranges, holly and ivy, mistletoe, even sea shells, can be incorporated into your Christmas decorations.  Attach some glittery thread to the pine cones to hang them in the tree, or spray them gold and put them in your fireplace (if you’re not using it).  Oranges smell great drying in the oven (cut them about 1cm thick and dry them in the oven with the door open at a very low temperature) and look great hanging from the tree.  Holly and ivy can be fashioned into wreathes, or simply draped over picture frames and mantelpieces.  Sea shells can be sprayed gold and used in table centre-pieces.

Making Christmas decorations is a great craft project for children.

Photo credit: chellinsky

Staying on the subject of bringing light into our lives during the Autumn months, I’m just mad about these cute little low-energy night lights for children.  The Candeloo is a bedside sentinel, warding off the dark and perfectly portable, so very handy for when your child needs a friend on a dark walk.  They are rechargeable LED lit child-safe lanterns that comes in sets of two so that they can be shared by two children, or so that one can be left behind by the bed (keeping the home fires burning, as it were) while the other accompanies the brave child on creepy night-time trips to the toilet.

Great for playtimes too.  They will light tents made of dining room chairs and a big blanket, and accompany children on trips out into the garden on dark evenings.  It can even be taken “trick or treating” at Halloween to keeps the ghosts and ghouls at bay.

Each Candeloo lamp has a long-life LED bulb and battery with an 8 hour charge, and remains cool to the touch at all times with no exposed electrical contacts.  To recharge, simply pop the Candeloo back on its base, and it will be charged and ready to go when it’s needed. £49.95 from John Lewis.

It’s never too early to teach children the benefits of organic farming, which is what prompted the Soil Association to team up with children’s film producers, Tractorland to produce Tractor Ted Visits An Organic Farm.  The DVD shows youngsters what real life organic farming is all about by using Tractorland’s hugely popular Tractor Ted character combined with real life footage of farm machinery and farm animals.

Tractor Ted Visits An Organic Farm is aimed at one to six year olds, and will plant the seeds of understanding the health, welfare and environmental principles behind organic farming in the youngest members of society.

If your Dad is the sort who likes to have a kick around on a Sunday afternoon, or even if he’s the devoted coach of the local children’s team, here’s a football themed present that will give a chance to children who are at risk of being forced into becoming child soldiers and will also support Fairtrade.  For every ball bought, £2 will go to the Campaign against Child Soldiers.  Make a real difference this Father’s Day.

The BlogGreen guide to a greener month ahead.

Buy it…

It’s the UK’s annual Bike Week from the 14th to the 22nd of June 2008, the perfect time to get your children excited about cycling. Kit them out with a bike of their own, like this gorgeous Groovy Chick bike for girls, and join one of the family events happening across the country. And if they’re too small to cycle their own bikes, consider a bike trailer or a trailgator so that they can join in the fun. To find an event in your area, check out the Bike Week website (www.bikeweek.org.uk).

Visit it…

During the weekends of 28-29 June and 5-6 July 2008, eco-houses in Brighton & Hove will be throwing open their doors to the public in the Eco Open Houses project. The event is aimed at empowering and inspiring members of the public to make changes to their own homes to improve their energy efficiency and eco-friendliness by seeing what practical steps other people have taken in their homes. To find out which houses are included in the event keep an eye on the project website (www.ecoopenhouses.org).

Enjoy it…

Spend a lovely afternoon beside the river and get involved with the environment and the community. Listen to some great music, visit one of the riverside pubs, enjoy some local food or bring a picnic. The West London GREENFEST takes place on the 15th of June 2008 from 1 - 5pm in Furnivall Gardens by the river in Hammersmith. More info at www.greenfest.org.uk.

Pregnant celebrities abound. Lily Allen, Nicole Ritchie, Christina Aguilera, Halle Berry and Jennifer Lopez, to name a few, are all sporting bumps. You can bet on it that cool baby togs will be the talk of the town before long. If you’re also expecting, here’s my pick of organic baby fashion and goodies to keep your baby looking good and protected from pesticide and chemical laden products.

Stella James knitwear

Stella James is a collection of beautiful knitwear for babies and toddlers, including booties, jumpers and cardigans, dresses and dungarees, and blankets. The styles are inspired by vintage design and created using traditional methods for wonderfully textured pieces. All the items in the collection are fashioned from organic yarns that offer certified environmental benefits and will stand the test of time. The organic yarns are produced without chemicals, pesticides or dyes. The colours of the garments are ‘grown in’ and natural. The fabrics are soft and perfect for wearing next to delicate baby skin, while at the same time being durable enough to suffer plenty of washes.

Green People’s Organic Babies

The award winning Organic Babies range from Green People is made using the finest, purest ingredients. The products are extremely gentle and contain none of the lanolin, petrochemicals, parabens, SLS, SLES or artificial fragrances that are so often found in commercial baby products. These products are 100% natural and certified organic.