Ways to green your pregnancy

Today, as you're probably aware, is Earth Day, so I thought we should look at some easy ways to green your pregnancy.

Eat naturally: Many of the foods we eat contain chemicals, pesticides, and other icky junk that you and your growing baby don't need. You don't need to go crazy with natural foods, but making smart choices will keep you healthy and it's green. Some ideas....

• Choose organic foods when it matter most. Some foods contain more pesticides than others. Check out the Dirty Dozen list to learn which organic foods you should buy.
• Drink water over other beverages and make sure you carry a non-toxic, reusable water bottle over plastic bottles, which can leech chemicals into your body.
• Drink organic coffee. You can have some caffeine while pregnant, but only a little, so you should make your coffee as healthy as possible. There are even decaffeinated fair trade and organic coffees available. The benefit here is less pesticides in your body and a healthier planet.

Primp naturally: Primping during pregnancy can make you feel like a million bucks, but toxic beauty care products are bad for the earth and your health. Stay green with the following tips:

• Learn where to find less expensive organic beauty products and even get tips on how to make your own.
• Clean all the chemical laden products out of your bathroom.
• Look for natural hair coloring products and nail polishes. Both of these items can have lots of chemicals in them, so going natural here is vital. Try Rainbow Research for great natural hair coloring products and Nail Paint by PeaceKeeper.

A few quick tips:

• Look for organic maternity clothing.
• Limit your use of toxic household cleaning products - not only can these toxic products hurt your home and the planet, but research says they may even hurt your unborn baby.
• Take off your shoes. Expectant mamas should kick off their shoes anyway, but a side benefit is that shoes carry pesticides into your home. Loose the shoes, loose the junk in your house.

Are you trying to have a green pregnancy? What are you doing to accomplish this goal?