Healthy Child, Healthy World, Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home

A quote from Healthy Child, Healthy World encapsulating the book’s message to all families:

“Our design assignment at this moment in our history could, perhaps, be summed up thus: Make a world where we love all the children of all species for all time. If that were the plan, then we’d have no choice but to create a world that is delightfully diverse, economically equitable, ecologically sound, elegant and enjoyable.” ~William McDonough

Healthy Child has been a voice for children’s wellbeing for over 20 years. Their journey to educate parents on establishing a nontoxic environment for their babies and children began with this excellent volume on solution orientation, Healthy Child Healthy World, Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home. This is somewhat of a miniature encyclopedia condensed into one lightweight, easy-to-read, comprehensive reference guide for parents. Author, new father, and passionate advocate, Christopher Gavigan, wrote Healthy Child Healthy World for families who are open to growing in awareness so they can optimize their baby’s health and future in the simplest ways possible. This past year has brought Healthy Child to a wider audience, expanding their important message to new audiences via social media (like Facebook and Twitter). Healthy Child Healthy World, Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home is a compilation of the most effective helpful expert research, from doctors to leading public health authorities. Celebrity parents bring their experience and insights to the mix amidst the easy-to-follow guidance. The subjects range from starting your family, focusing on the bump and birth, moving in detail and depth through every part of your home, yard, life, and lifestyle bringing clarity, comfort and, and confidence. Happily, author Christopher Gavigan moves through an epic volume of valuable suggestions gracefully, gently, and with great care not to overwhelm. The sections are as brief as possible, while still satisfying the need for thorough details. The most oft-mentioned suggestion throughout the book is to take it slow, one baby step at a time. As the book is called “The guidebook for the next generation of parenting,” Healthy Child continues to advocate for legislative change in the human and environmental health arenas.  They also take their mission to the wider world, continuously working on new campaigns to educate about Healthy product options -- such as mobile campaigns (for mobile phone devices), Healthy Home Party Kits, new campaigns aimed at the medical community, and new partnerships with companies such as ERGObaby and Stonyfield Farm (yogurt). Here are some of the diverse and unified voices quoted in Healthy Child Healthy World, Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home: Sandra Steingraber, PhD: The choice is clear: Our own breast milk is, hands down, the best food for your baby--far better than infant formula. This is the conclusion I reached after more than two years of studying dat on the chemical contamination of breast milk. Dr. Harvey Karp: But unlike you and me, chemicals should never be considered innocent until proven guilty; in fact, we must consider them guilty until proven innocent! We must demand that industry prove a substance safe before it is allowed to be sold to millions. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson: Our kids grew up recycling. For them, it's ingrained, as normal as putting milk back in the refrigerator. Dr. Alan Greene: The food we eat, the products we put on our skin and use to clean our homes, the toys children play with and put in their mouths-- all of these and more can impact the short-term and long-term health of a child. A green pediatrician thinks about these issues. Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Meyer: I drink a lot of bottled water, like, ten a day, and just recently we were like, okay, we've got to figure this out and get refillable glass or aluminum bottles. Kate Hudson: I can do something — quite a lot, actually — about the products in my home. That requires my being as conscious about things as possible - what you put in and on your body. Follow the 5 Easy Steps to a Healthier, and Safer Home Take these 5 Action steps: http://healthychild.org/5steps/

1. Avoid Pesticides Link to National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides~Because Freedom From Pesticides is Everyone’s Right. http://www.beyondpesticides.org/alternatives/factsheets/index.htm
2. Use Non-Toxic Products See Chemicalfreekids: maximize their physical, mental & emotional health. http://www.chemicalfreekids.com/
3. Clean Up Indoor Air Plants improve indoor air quality: http://factoidz.com/25-houseplants-that-clean-indoor-air/
4. Eat Healthy
   • Shop at farmer’s markets.
   • Buy a share in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm.
   • Join a co-op.
   • Join a buying club.
   • Buy in bulk.
   • Buy big in-season.
   • Grow your own.
   • Top ways to buy Organic Food for less money:
   Organic Consumer’s Association & Resources: http://www.organicconsumers.org/
5. Be Wise with Plastics Reuse glass jars instead of storing foods in plastic. Print your own Healthy Child Action Guide: http://healthychild.org/uploads/File/FiveStepsFlyerUpdate2010_web.pdf