Pillow

During my consumer buying rampage on Black Friday I got sucked into buying myself a pillow that appeared to be made purely of petroleum. I did return the pillow because I didn't want the chemicals in the house, or on my face every night. In addition, I got a fantastic deal on a pillow from Natura on Cyber Monday. I've been sleeping on my natural wool pillow for a couple months now, and I am loving it!

In addition, N has been coveting my pillow for a while, and his was more beat up than mine, so he also has a "new" pillow because he's now sleeping on my old one. Reuse is the 2nd "R"! 

E-Reader Vs. Library Card

 

We never owned a ton of books, but I was a voracious reader as a child, because my mom and I would go to the library weekly. I'd come home with armloads of books, and organize them from shortest to longest to decide which one to read first because I just couldn't decide where to start and that seemed the most democratic. (Looking back, I guess it's a more socialist notion).

Within the last year, my mom purchased a Nook because her local library started providing books electronically. I also downloaded the Overdrive app on my iPhone, which allows me to borrow electronic library books. However, the selection is limited and I find myself still reserving the hard copies through the library.

My husband keeps saying I should buy an e-reader because we'll save money, and I keep telling him we will spend more money because I'll have to buy the books I want to read rather than borrowing them from the library. But it made me wonder about the economic impact of reading library books versus buying them on an e-reader. So I did some research. I found the following:

Taken from Good.is

Okay, so once you've purchased 20 brand new books, you'd be better off with an eReader. How does this translate to the library? For me, I need the library to have the books I want electronically in order for it to be worth it to make the switch (both for my interest and for my wallet). So, I'll continue to browse my e-library, but I think it will be a while before I make the full electronic switch. However, if you are a book buyer, I'd recommend an e-reader for you! 
 

My Post Black Friday Walk of Shame

I am probably at my worst social responsibility-wise on Black Friday. Growing up, my parents and I stayed in and decorated for Christmas on Black Friday, or what I used to call simply the Day after Thanksgiving. Then, I started dating Nate. In order to prove my mettle to his bargain hunting family, I had to get up at 3 am to line up at Best Buy 7 years ago. I held my own, holding the line to check out while the rest of the family scrounged up the best bargains. 7 years later, I find myself in the line at Shopko, taking the lead on pulling coveted items off the shelves and politely telling 13-year-old girls to go to the back of the line (and yes, I really was polite).

This Black Friday was a milestone for me because it's the first (of many, I'm sure) hunting for the best deals for my son's Christmas presents. 

However, my shopping spree gives me nothing to blog about. In fact, I'm so consumerist that I'm ashamed to blog about the experience at all. I didn't even bother to bring our reusable bags!! 

The dark side of my shopping hit me when I opened my new, much needed memory foam contour pillow to find a warning that I should air out the pillow for 48 hours because it's a petroleum-based product with natural chemical odors. What was I thinking? I can't sleep on this for the next 5 years! (Which is how long I've been sleeping on my old pillow, thus the permanent crick in my neck.) But oh, I laid my head on my new pillow and it is sooo comfortable! 

I'll be doing some further research to decide if I need to give up my own bargain in lieu of something more eco friendly (and that I feel good about breathing in every night) or if I can keep it because it's not as bad as the warning suggests.

Between that and the pound of tissue paper and cardboard Nate pulled out of his 7 new work shirts, I'm feeling the post-Black Friday shame. 

22 Week Belly

Per the request of all my friends in Baltimore, here's the big boy at 22 weeks. I think the belly looks bigger than it feels, until I'm trying to sleep.

He kicks all the time now. Nate got to feel him move last week too, very exciting.

Trying to keep the pregnancy green, my most recent challenge has been cosmetic products. I just got on a kick where I'm freaked out about everything I put on my skin and did a ton of research about alternative face washes, moisturizers, make ups, and body lotions. I used the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database from the Environmental Working Group for a lot of the research. Great information, especially if you want to go extreme in avoiding potentially hazardous personal care products. It can push you to crazy pretty fast though (especially if you are worrying about a developing fetus you can't see), so research with caution, and perhaps consult other experts as well.

Baby Update - 18 weeks

I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant (+4 months) and we've scheduled our ultra sound for September 16. We are planning to find out the gender, so if you want to place your bets, you'll have to do it before then!

Our 16 week appointment was two weeks ago, and everyone is healthy. The baby's heartbeat is 144 beats per minute-so neat to hear! And my belly is measuring right where it's supposed to--and the doctor says it's not big enough to be holding twins, so the Danielson genes haven't affected this pregnancy!

I also gained enough weight since my last appointment. I'd have been shocked if this didn't happen because I've been eating all the time! But this was good news because at my last check up I had lost two pounds, even though I hadn't been getting sick. So when the doctor told me to eat whatever I wanted, I did, and it paid off!

Last week, the urge to shop hit me, mostly because I went back to work this week and none of my work pants fit, so I went to "Bellies and Babies" and "Nine" both maternity consignment shops (consignment shops are a great way to be eco-friendly and thrifty!), and picked up some stretchy-waisted pants. I have to say, I have no desire to go back to pants that don't give; these are the most comfortable pants I've ever worn!

Perhaps the most exciting update is that I've started feeling the baby move. I wasn't sure that's what I was feeling for a while; it would happen so fast and stopped quickly. Then, this week at work I had a bit of caffeine (the cause? perhaps...) and the fluttering in my belly was crazy! It feels like a critter tapping the inside of my stomach. Very cool.

Nate's getting ready for the baby by fixing as many iphones and ipods as he can for his small business, Nate is a Geek; the extra money will come in handy, I'm sure! We also bought a new car since mine was working its way toward the next expensive breakdown. Our new family car is a Toyota Prius. Nate's enjoying getting nearly 60 miles per gallon, and continuing to improve the mileage every fill up. I'm sure the car willhave it's own blog post soon.

We also celebrated our two year anniversary by spending a night in Minneapolis at The W Hotel--it might be the last anniversary we get a mini-getaway like that for a while!

Since this is supposed to be a blog about social responsibility, now is a good time to mention a few of those details as well...

We bought a used organic crib mattress. In addition, we have been trying to obtain used items--thus limiting the waste produced in manufacturing new products for our little one. We also plan to use cloth diapers, but we'll wait until we know the gender to buy those.

What We've Done So Far

We spent about a year "greenifying" our house before deciding to formally share what we're doing (though many of our friends have gotten several earfuls about our green adventures).

So here's a bit of our socially responsible conversions in the past year:

• Installed rain barrels
• Composting
• Line dry all our laundry (yes, you can line dry in the winter!)
• Insulate our windows with plastic
• Hypermile
• Always take the more fuel efficient vehicle
• Clean with Seventh Generation products
• Consult the Better World Shopper for purchases 
• Easing into buying grass fed beef and free-range organic chicken
• Install fluorescent or LED lights throughout the house. Our back porch light is a solar powered LED. 
• Run the fan in reverse to circulate heat

Not so hard, huh?! We do have a long way to go, but social responsibility is an ever evolving journey which we have enjoyed so far.