Here is the state of potty-training in our house: Lilly is aware that she poops and pees. She confidently announces, “I’m pooping!” after either one of those events has taken place. She asks to sit on her potty at least daily although it has yet to see any action. And, after some deep reflection, she has decided that when she poops in the potty, she would like some Abby Cadabby underwear. Elmo and Grover underwear will also be accepted.

After only a few days of self-educating, I am aware of so many potty-training techniques that I haven’t a clue where to start. I have, however, learned that there are a few things that no one explains in their easy-as-pie tutorials.

First, it is a very stupid idea to buy a potty seat adorned with your child’s favorite Sesame Street characters because when you are trying to get her to sit for more than a nanosecond on said seat she is primarily concerned with finding Elmo, who happens to be conveniently printed under her right butt-cheek (and upside down from her perspective). Thus the result is a child who is closer to doing a downward-facing dog yoga pose on the potty than getting a drop of pee in it.

Second, the whole get your child used to having her poop go in the potty by transferring it from the diaper to the potty thing…well, let’s just say no one warned me about the splashback factor. I guess I should have known what was coming, but I didn’t. Suffice it to say, it was not pleasant.

Consider yourself warned.

My goal with this post is to save some others the hassle of comparison shopping for the few safe, yet hard-to-find, sunscreens for kids. Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has done the tedious cross-referencing of harmful chemicals, potential health effects and ingredient lists. The result is EWG’s list of  ”Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens” for 2010. Also check out EWG’s Hall of Shame, which calls out particularly harmful products. (You’ll be surprised.)

If money is no object, buy any one of the products EWG rates a 1. But for the rest of us, I created the list below which orders the safest mineral-based sunscreens, according to EWG, from least expensive to most expensive and links you to an online retailer, selling it for that price at the time of publishing. My methodology follows the list, if you’re interested.

1. Purple Prairie Botanicals SunStuff SPF 30 ($1.68/oz.) (buy 9.5 oz.) [EWG score: 1]
2. Caribbean Solutions SPF 30 Biodegradable SolGuard SPF 25 ($1.75/oz.) [EWG score: 2]
3. All Terrain Aquasport SPF 30 ($2.07/oz.) [EWG score: 2]
4. California Baby SPF 30+ Citronella, Everyday or No Fragrance ($4.03/oz.) [EWG score: 2]
5. Badger Suncreen Sunblock SPF 15 For Face & Body ($4.61/oz.)[EWG score: 2]
6. Soleo Organics All Natural Sunscreen SPF 30 ($4.63/oz.)[EWG score: 1]
7. Badger SPF 30 Sunscreen For Face & Body ($4.69/oz.)[EWG score: 1]
8. Loving Naturals SPF 30+ ($4.74/oz.) [EWG score: 1]
9. UV Natural Baby SPF 30+ ($5.38/oz.) (use code: Spring15) [EWG score: 1]
10. thinkbaby Sunscreen SPF 30+ ($5.66/oz.) [EWG score: 1]

Methodology: First, I narrowed the EWG list to beach & sport sunscreens that contain neither oxybenzone nor vitamin A, and received an overall score of 1 from EWG for safety. [Time permitting, I'll add products that scored a 2.] Then I searched Google Shopping and a handful of my favorite sites for each product to find the lowest per unit price. I excluded listings from retailers that I deemed untrustworthy. For brands with more than 1 product, I attempted to find the cheapest option from that brand. I did not include sunblock sticks or cosmetic facial moisturizers because they can’t be used on the entire body. Shipping is not included, but I took free shipping options and standard shipping rates into consideration. I promise I did my best to find the best deals, but I do not guarantee it.

1. I no longer find it odd to see a grown man dressed as a pirate dressed as a chicken singing and dancing. (That’s not to typo, I mean a pirate in a chicken costume.)
2. Our traditional bedtime lullabies have been replaced with the hornpipe (“A sailor went to sea, sea, sea, to see what he could see, see, see…”) complete with gestures and Australian accent.
3. I routinely replace unknown song lyrics with “meow” and don’t mind doing this for an entire song.
4. Elliott and I have serious conversations about who the hottest Wiggle is and I have an opinion. It’s Sam. Period.  (That’s the yellow Wiggle, for those of you who are not on a first name basis.)
5. I think it’s hysterical when Lilly cups her mouth in the supermarket and yells, “WAGS!”

So, these things are my bad. I am not proud of them, but I’m not ready to give them up either.

1. I use disposable diapers. I know that diapers make up an obscene percentage of our landfills, but I still use them.
2. I drive an SUV, and it’s not a hybrid.
3. I eat tropical fruits (mangoes and bananas) that have to be flown long distances to get to me.
4. I sometimes set my heat above 70 degrees in the winter. (On the flip side though, I hate A/C in the summer. So maybe that one balances out?)
5. I had my lawn sprayed with herbicide this year after my organic attempts at weed control last year failed miserably. I’ll probably do it again next year. (Damn you, Creeping Charlie!!)

But here’s what I will do:

1. Supplement my CSA food with produce from local farmers’ markets rather than supermarket produce.
2. Attempt a veggie garden for the first time. (More on this soon.)
3. Write to President Obama, Mitch McConnell (R- KY) and my other representatives about ending farm subsidies that benefit large factory farms and hurt small farmers.
4. Sign Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” petition to encourage the use of fresh foods, rather than processed foods, in school lunch programs.
5. Take Lilly camping and hiking this summer so that she also learns to love and respect nature.

Now, I am most certainly overestimating my influence in the world by suggesting that this has in any way impacted the environmental movement. But still it was the absolute least I could do and I didn’t do it. So, I’m making an example of myself. Rather than say, “oh well, I missed it. I’ll make sure to do something next Earth Day,” I’m going resolve (again) to observe an Earth Life, rather than an Earth Day.

I’m a list-maker; so I’m going to write 2 lists. The first one (below) is a short list of simple things everyone can do to help ease the human burden on this planet. Since I already try (with varying degrees of success) to include the list below in my daily life, I will challenge myself with a second list – to be posted shortly – of things I intend to do to be a little greener.

5 Easy Ways to Help the Earth (and its Future Generations):

1. Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and get fresh, seasonal food from local producers. Why? It saves the fuel associated with processing, preserving, and transporting out-of-season produce from all over the world and it’s tasty. Find a CSA here.
2. Contact your local representatives and let them know you care about environmental issues. Why? Because big business is telling them just the opposite every day. And if you don’t, who will?
3. Plant something. Why? Trees curb the CO2 in the atmosphere. Homegrown veggies reduce fuel consumption. Flowers, trees and shrubs improve quality of life and the environment.
4. Eat a vegetarian dinner at least once a week. Why? Factory farming is a major source of greenhouse gases, contaminated food and inhumane treatment of animals and workers. (For much more on this, watch Food, Inc.)
5. Include a child in any or all of the above activities. Why? Because children learn by example and there are a lot of bad ones out there.

If you don’t like my suggestions (and that’s all they are), I encourage you to come up with a few green ideas that you do like. And feel free to share them in comments!