Green Baby: Homemade Baby Food

Now that Bodhi has made the move to his first solids, we're taking advantage of all the fresh fruits and veggies growing in and around our garden and the Sakonnet area.

So far, Sara has cooked up peaches, apples, carrots, and squash. This stuff is so good, I'd honestly sneak a few of the containers in my bag for lunch -- but alas, I won't steal from the mouth of this babe.

For us, making our own baby food makes sense on so many fronts:

• Nutritional -- You make it so you know what's in it. Real simple. And since we're freezing everything in either these cool little Baby Cubes or ice cube trays, there's no need for preservatives.
  
  
• Financial -- Store-bought organic baby food jars are in the $0.60 - $0.70 range according to PeaPod. Since we're getting most of this stuff for free (courtesy of the Gerlach Garden or Sara's mom), our "raw materials" cost is near zero. With Bodhi eating about two container's worth of solids a day, we're saving over a dollar a day. It doesn't sound like much, but add it up by month and you can see the impact.
  
  
• Environmental -- Way fewer food miles traveled here. Less CO2, organic growing, seasonal eating (for now) -- it's a win-win.
  
  
• Developmental -- In terms of developing Bodhi's palette, he's getting real, fresh food. You know THAT difference between fresh and not-so-fresh. He's getting it from the get-go. We think that will give him a step up when it comes to developing good eating habits.

So for now, we're happy with how things are progressing. The challenge will come as summer gives way to fall, and fall to winter. We'll try to freeze as much as we can over the coming weeks to see how long we can keep the fresh, local options going.

Looking ahead to when we can expand his palette beyond just the basics, Sara has taken a few baby food recipe books out of the library to read through. I can't wait to see what she cooks up.

(Photo Credit: Carrot Cube, Sara Gerlach)

Bye-Bye gDiapers

Chalk this one under the "Why so much green to be green?" column.

Going with gDiapers was a tactical line item in our Green Baby strategy for Bodhi. But after almost four months we're throwing in the towel and transitioning out of the gDiaper system. Why? Dollars and "sense".

For almost half of what we pay for gDiapers we can get nearly double the amount of conventional diapers. It pains me not to be able to compost our pee-only diapers and lessen our waste stream, but when push comes to shove, the Wallet Factor always seems to win the battle in this theater of economic war.

So that got us thinking (and to some extent, condemning): Why does trying to be an eco-conscious consumer have to break the bank so much?

Now I clearly understand the dynamics of supply-and-demand-meets-eco-label-premium, but if we're going to change broad-stroke consumer behavior, green products cannot be just accessible by certain socioeconomic strata. It creates a kind of Green Haves vs. Green Have Nots.

That being said, changing mere consumer behavior is not the silver bullet solution to our environmental woes. We all know that. But at the end of the day, I believe limiting overall consumption (a.k.a., buying boatloads of stuff) is a better strategy across the board. Doing more with less and changing the tide of consumer excess has more longer term traction.

Much easier said than done, I know. It's something that will take hard work and deliberate thought. And in today's world those are two things many try to avoid at all costs. Yet another conundrum.

Green Baby Update: Summer 2009

As you may remember, we are taking steps to try and limit Bodhi's environmental footprint from the get-go. It's hard to believe that he's 10 weeks old already, but even in that time, our eco-motivations are paying off:

• Recycled Clothes -- Bodhi is growing at a tremendous rate. Since coming out at a whopping 10 lbs. 6 oz. and 21.5 inches, he's put on over three pounds and two inches. Needless to say, we've had to dig into Brother Will's old stuff sooner than we thought. Thank goodness we kept so much of his clothing. That's really helped save some money and eliminate the need to buy more stuff.
  
  
• Eliminating Waste -- We're using the gDiaper system. This enables us to compost Bodhi's pee-only diapers (flushing is also an option but we're giving our septic tank a break on this one). On average, we're tossing about 5 lbs. of pee-pee diapers (that's about 6-8 individual diapers) into the compost pile each 1.5 days. That works out to 100 lbs. of used diapers being kept out of the landfill per month. (30 days/1.5 * 5 lbs.). Not too shabby.

Of course, we could be doing other things. Cloth diapers always comes up as a topic, but for us, it wasn't a good fit. I think this is a good example of finding the balance between saving the planet and saving our sanity. With two other kids to take care of, cloth diapers could not fit into our daily routines.

So what's next for Bodhi? Hopefully, our garden escapes the stranglehold the weather has on it, finds it groove and can start producing some veggies that we can use to supplement our solid food expenditures come the fall. Beyond that, it's a boatload of recycled toys that will start to make their way from the basement into our living room and a bunch of new handmade outfits that Sara plans to make for him in the coming months.

Anybody have any other green baby tips worth sharing?

Introducing Bodhi

BODHI MAXWELL GERLACH. Born May 4 and weighing a whopping 10 lbs 6 oz. This is our third and I think final foray into the baby scene. Sara is doing great; Will and Amelia have not left Bodhi's side since he's come home. We are all adjusting and figuring out the new 5-person routine. For now, it's that kind of good Fifth Wheel feeling.

I've dubbed Bohdi (pronounced Bow-dee) the "Green Baby" as we are trying to minimize his environmental footprint from the get-go. So far, it has been all about recycling as much as possible from his brother and sister (clothes, furniture, etc.) and the dirty "D" word -- diapers. We've been using gDiapers this time around. Check out their website for full background, but we were drawn to these for two reasons: the ability to compost those soiled with pee only and frankly, they are kind of cute. A recent Boston Globe blog post mulled over the diaper options for eco-conscious parents.



While we have yet to add any to the compost pile (that's just the way it is with newborns), we do feel that what we are disposing of is, by volume, less than what we would have been doing with conventional diapers. Time will tell. We have yet to try the dissolve-in-your-toilet method for disposal.

The only drawback so far (though minimal) is their availability. We have been picking them up at Green Grocer in Portsmouth. The fact that they stock these is icing on the cake for such a great, local depot for all things organic.

Up next for Green Baby is food. By the time we hit our stride with produce from the garden, Bodhi should be making the transition into more solid food. We are aiming to produce some of our own -- peas, carrots, and the like. Stay tuned.

Curious about the name Bodhi? Here is some background. I continue to be inspired by my readings on Zen Buddhism and we just thought the name was beautiful and special. When you put the two things together, you get our little guy.

Sound Bites

Almost there. Only five more weeks of school, then I join the ranks of so many post-graduation MBA’s before me looking to conquer some little piece of the business world. More importantly, we’re gearing up for our third child (a.k.a. Green Baby), who arrives in tee-minus six weeks. Whew!

There are lots of things to ruminate on and get out to the masses. No time for in-depth stories, just sound bites for now:

Wind Power Taking Center Stage (Again)
Over the next few weeks, I’m sure the local papers will start covering Tiverton’s new moves in the pursuit of renewable energy for the town. More information to come but in brief, Tiverton has joined with several other East Bay communities (Little Compton, Portsmouth, Bristol, Warren, Barrington) in a joint venture known as the Easy Bay Energy Consortium. I’ve was asked to be of part of the group (thank you!). We’re just getting started, but the immediate priority is to sign on to the group’s grant proposal to fund a broad-based feasibility study to locate viable wind power locations within our immediate geography. Stay tuned!


Kick-starting the Garden
Well, the seeds are started and already lots of little green shoots are sprouting. We can’t wait to get out there and get the garden going again. This year, we plan to double our growing area and trying all kinds of new things (part of the Green Baby plan). Be sure to follow all the details as the season progresses at my other blog (co-written with Sara): The Gerlach Garden Journal. And with all the recent press on local food, our little patch of food independence feels so good.

Green Baby
I mentioned in an earlier post that we’re trying to minimize our baby-rearing footprint with Number Three – hence, the nickname "Green Baby". It’s been interesting to think about and while a dedicated post will do more justice on the topic, here is what we’re thinking so far: Recycle clothes, furniture, toys and other items where possible; compost as many diapers as we can (we’re going with G Diapers) to limit waste; and grow as much of our baby food as possible (the shift to solids will coincide nicely with the late summer harvest). Lots to think about and we welcome any experience you might have with keeping your baby green and happy.


Until next time, be well.