Hello and Welcome to the February 2007
eNewsletter from
Moon Pads and Brinsmead Babies
In this issue:
Come to the
Sustainable Living Festival, Federation Square, Melbourne,
Friday 16 - Sunday 18 February 2007
To help generate a real buzz around this year's festival the Sustainable Living Foundation have produced a pocket guide titled "Sustainability - How do you do it?? "This 22-page illustrated mini-magazine promotes the festival, whilst illustrating the simple ways people can make a difference and be part of a sustainable future. Pick up your copy at Federation Square next weekend.
And come to visit the Moon Pads and Green Families stall and ask for your free calico shopping bag - available to any of our eNewsletter recipients who come and introduce themselves to us! The bag celebrates Coles Bay Tasmania, which was the first plastic-shopping-bag-free town in Australia!
If you can't come to the Festival
you might still like to take a look at The
Green Directory
a green community directory to help you find eco friendly
products and services throughout Australia
<http://www.greenfamilies.com.au>
We are in the process of revamping our website and moving part to a new address... soon most of your mail orders will be through the new site. I know there are a few misplaced links at the moment - *please* help Pip by alerting us to any problems you encounter :) If you are interested in the Zappy Nappies I know the new site is still short of photos... so for the next few weeks use the old pages instead.
Our message is still the same:
Families who choose a sustainable lifestyle use washable, reusable menstrual
and baby products. For women we have Moon
Pads cloth menstrual pads, the Keeper
menstrual cup and the Natural Fertility
Management Kits for Conception and/or Contraception. Families with babies
love our fitted cloth Zappy Nappies, Woollies
pure wool nappy overpants and Bubba Lugga
baby slings and our own home-sewn cotton breast feeding pads. Our products
are mostly made from natural fibres - cotton, wool and rubber - reducing
environmental and health concerns. Simply wash and reuse - it is easy to
shrink your footprint on Earth's resources, stop throw-away waste and reduce
family costs!
Is there anyone out there with the expertise to build me a shopping cart??? I'd love to hear from you:))
Lactating mothers, pheromones, taste and smell
A fascinating article in the Science Watch column of The Age back in October described recent research on rabbits that seems to apply to humans too. One of the behaviours common to most mammals, including humans, is that of concerted head and mouth movements of an otherwise uncoordinated body,to find the nipple.
Studies show a pheromone in the milk triggers the brain to make the muscles move. The scientists first presented two-day old pups with different smelling odours to see if they would respond to them. Nothing happened. When they presented the same odours mixed in with some of the milk pheromone,the pups responded strongly and tried to move towards the smells. Subsequently, when the researchers presented the odours without the milk pheromone,the pups still moved eagerly towards them.
This suggests that nature uses milk pheromones to help young animals to learn about good foods from the smells in their mother's milk. It seems likely that lactating mothers are teaching their children what to eat later in life - yet another responsibility for parents. Choose carefully Mum!
Fun things to do at home and around your
community
with Family and/or Friends
(being part of a list of 65 Fun Things to do with Family and Friends, from Sport and Recreation Tasmania)
Make homemade kites to fly during summer.
Play frisbee in the backyard.
Teach your dog how to sit, lie-down, stay and come to you. Then take him/her for a walk in one of the dog exercise areas... and see if s/he can obey you away from home!
Make a homemade billy cart then find a safe place to do some time trials or races (use correct safety gear including helmets).
Locate a great picnic site, make the food and pack it into a hamper ready for your picnic.
Look through your old toy box and re-discover totem tennis, table tennis and other games you may have stored away.
Borrow 2 racquets and teach your children how to play tennis at the local court.
Learn how to play 1 on 1 basketball at the local court.
Take a walk at dusk with your children to see how many after-dark animals you can spot in your neighbourhood.
Run a mock Olympics for the neighbourhood children.
Make stilts from cans and string.
Plan a scavenger hunt.
Phone your local Sport and Recreation Centre and find out what activities they offer and how you and your children can try them.
Study the habitat of the local ant colony.
Learn how to read a map... then make a map which shows a safe bike route to school or a friend's place.
Fair Trade goods
Look for them at the New Internationalist website. Why buy from NI? New Internationalist are an Australian based not-for-profit organisation. All proceeds from items you purchase from NI are channelled straight back into expanding the reach of New Internationalist magazine: "The people, the ideas,the action in the fight for global justice". You're helping fund a fairer future. And you'll also find heaps of info on social and environmental issues around the planet.
To subscribe to this occasional eNewsletter please send an email, with "Subscribe" in the subject line, to <info at greenfamilies dot com dot au> [I'm sorry to write it this way - but am hoping to be less prone to spam than the Moon Pads email address has become!]. We promise we will never share your email address with third parties.
If you no longer wish to receive our eNewsletters, send an email with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Moon Pads and Brinsmead Babies, PO Box 118, Sandy Bay, Tas 7006.