Going Green with Mom's Cafe..and a giveaway!

Last night Mom's Cafe went green and YES, we stayed on topic! Rocker and I discussed various ways you can go green and be eco-friendly and NOT break the bank! We chatted about what being green means to us, for myself I will be as green as my pocketbook allows and I respect the earth we've been given; for Rocker, she explained she just cannot stand to see things throw away, she sees potential in everything!

We shared some fantastic links, tutorials and shops you can purchase green items from if you are sewing machine phobic.

Here are some to get you started:

Links to repurposing clothing:
Men's Shirt into girls Dress:
http://therockerchiconetsy.blogspot.com/2008/07/girls-pillowcase-style-dress-from-mens.html

Neck Ties into Jumper:
http://therockerchiconetsy.blogspot.com/2008/07/neck-tie-dress-tutorial.html

Tut for Sleeves into baby pants:
http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2008/06/happy-bum-pants-from-sleeves.html

Make a kids toys from your old clothing:
http://miaoucrafts.com/jill/?p=82

Tees into Reusable Grocery Bags:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/good-thing-t-shirt-bag
somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year

Where to buy reusable grocery bags:
Upcycled Creations
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=22851

Did you know the Average American throws away 68 lbs of clothing each year? That is insane!! Think of all the good that could come from that! Even if you are not a crafty person, think of the other places you can share your unwanted items! Freeuse, Freecycle, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Women's Shelters, Homeless Shelters, Schools, etc. There are places you may never realize would take donations..perhaps your local Head Start, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts could use some items? Police stations may take clothing and toys to use when dealing with rape or abuse victims. Donate your blankets to homeless shelters or hospitals for babies...who knows if your blanket could help keep one baby warm? Why throw it out?? Do good!

Parenthood also leads one to many Earth Friendly possibilities, reusing toys, sharing toys, handmade toys and clothing, cloth diapering, mama cloth and many reusable items for mom and baby abound!

Here are some awesome shops to find such items:

Reusable Feminine Pads, and Reusable Lunch Bags:
http://www.dominopads.com/
U.S. women landfill or incinerate 11.3 billion "disposable" menstrual products per year.
It takes approximately 500 years for one "disposable" menstrual pad to partially biodegrade.

Cloth Diapers
http://theelimonster.etsy.com
Takes 4-500 years to biodegrade 1.5 billion disposable diapers into landfill yearly!

You can reduce landfill waste from your kid’s toys by making their toys from old clothing, from the tutorial we’ve given you before…. Or you can purchase, SAFE LEAD FREE toys from that are handmade by moms who understand your safety concerns with today’s toy corporations!

Crayons and play dough, also ouchie pouchies
Turtle Mommy
http://turtlemommy.etsy.com

Play Goop, Surprise Rocks,
Leaky Mouth
http://leakymouth.etsy.com
(shop currently closed-Reopening soon! Bookmark it!)

Also check out green toys on Artfire:
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=categories&main_cat_id=33

Crafty? Follow these tutorials!

For those old broken up crayons:
http://michaelgrace.blogspot.com/2009/03/tuesday-tutorial-cookie-crayons.html
Make your own shaped crayons, or buy them on handmade venues.

Soap with enclosed Toy:
http://whipup.net/2008/01/25/tutorial-soaps-for-kids-to-make-pt1/

All kinds of tutorials for handmade toys:
http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/homemade-toys.html

Essentially, no matter what you do, where you are, you can take steps to lessen your carbon footprint and leave the world a nicer, cleaner, healthier place to live!

Want to calculate your carbon footprint? Check it out here: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/

Happy Green Living..

~~Mama and Rocker

Don't forget Rocker's Super Cool Giveaway!

CLICK HERE for details!

Keeping it Clean with Matersum

The concept of Reusable Feminine Products, also known as Mama Cloth, can be quite intimidating and perhaps not what you'd consider something to blog about. Yet there is great talent involved in quality mama cloth and I have found it in Matersum's Mama Cloths! "Why toss when you can wash" is the mantra behind Matersum and creator Jenn.

You might be asking yourself WHAT in the world IS mama cloth? Well long story short, mama cloth is reusable sanitary pads. Yes, you read that right. Now, I admit, that when I first heard of this a year ago, when I began my personal journey into cloth diapering, I was not keen on the idea. But it has slowly grown on me! After all, I'm using cloth on the babies bum...why not use cloth for me? There is so much waste in this world, why not do a little something to eliminate it?

There are many excellent shops to purchase mama cloth from, but we are focusing on matersum.artfire.com today! Her prints are GORGEOUS and her method of constructing the pads is slightly different than most. As a seamstress and firm believer in cloth diapers/cloth whenever possible, I appreciate the craftsmanship in her pads.

Her work is best described by Jenn on her Artfire shop, "Matersum is exclusively selling fold-up pads. These are AIO (all-in-one) fold-up cloth menstrual pads designed by yours truly. They bring the best of both worlds: the convenience of an all-in-one pad (no messing with inserts that can be lost!) with the quick-drying capabilities of a traditional folding pad. It's quick-drying, eco-friendly, and comfortable to boot! It's based on a pretty standard concept of fold-up pad but I've modified the outer shape to curve to your panties, and offer plenty of coverage without being bulky. I've attached the folded core to the main pad on the side of the fold, rather than on an end, I find this helps to keep the shape of the fold better.

I use a turned and top-stitched sewing method (instead of serging) for the top pad. This is for comfort, durability, and aesthetics. It is composed of a wonderfully cotton print and backed in CANADIAN-made 16oz bamboo fleece (70% bamboo, 30% organic cotton). The absorbent core is a 2 layer folded pad (making 4 layers) made from the same incredibly soft organic bamboo fleece, zigzag stitched and reinforced in a coordinating thread. (Please note the pretty freehand sewn "m" I decorate each core with! Just lovely!!)

You can wear the pad either side up as there is no waterproofing, but it was designed to have the print on top. The pad is surprisingly trim and incredibly absorbent. Remember that bamboo is 3 times as absorbent as cotton! I would consider this to be a heavy-flow pad, but everyone is different, so be sure to check your pad regularly."

That may have gone a little "stein" on you non-sewing fanatics, but believe me when I say they are very well made! What is most fantastic about Jenn is she is a self-taught seamstress who makes her mama cloth with love. She does not mass produce any of her wares, each pad is lovingly made one at a time from start-to-finish. There's no production-line. Anyone who loves handmade knows this is an important aspect of a well run handmade business!

How did Jenn get started with Matersum? She says, "I began making cloth pads (and cloth diapers, originally) as an extension of my green pledge which was motivated not by wanting to save the planet but by wanting to keep my home environment safe for my (then newborn) child. But since becoming entrenched in the cloth pad world, it's now the pads, themselves, that are are making me greener. Cloth pads and diapers opened my eyes to better ways of doing things and that is what I am most proud of."

While Jenn runs a lovely set of shops and a great blog , she is not without obstacles. one of the biggest obstacles she faces is "people's preconceived ideas about women and the menstrual cycle. Men are generally taught to be disgusted by it and women are taught to be ashamed of it. It's normal; it's natural; it's real; and it has to be acknowledged so we can just move on,"says Jenn.

And what better way to fully accept it than to use these beautiful pads? No, a woman's cycle is by no means entertaining, fun or luxurious, but perhaps one can feel a little more like the princesses that we are by using these lovely pads? Soft, eco-friendly and beautiful, what else do you need? (Besides a beach, daiquiri and a two hour nap....oh wait, that's just me.)

Another thing I appreciate about Jenn and her shop is her REALNESS! (I've decided that's a word, if it isn't.) She admits to perhaps not being the most fantastically organized business woman, because her love of sewing and eco-friendly handmade trumps her desire to do boring secretarial type things--something we can all likely sympathize with! Who wants spreadsheets when there is art to be made?

Jenn is real, her work is amazing and her belief in what she does and WHY she does it is something we should all look up to!

She clearly draws her inspiration from nature as evidenced by her fabric choices, and I think she may have a big of a fabric obsession like yours truly! But any seamstress will tell you high quality products start with high quality fabrics, and Jenn does a great job providing those.

Jenn doesn't currently belong to any teams, but does Twitter at http://twitter.com/matersum/
So be sure to check her out, send her a twitter and ask her about mama cloth! She'll gladly help you navigate your way if you need some guidance!!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do some window shopping......

~~Amy