Fair Trade Cloth Diapers?

This morning I was reminded of this Benjamin Harrison quote, that I first saw on my friend Christy's facebook wall a few years ago. It really struck me as being timeless . . .a bit of wisdom from a 19th century American president still very relevant to our 21st century society.

I don't have a lot of money, so I really have to make the money I do have count. I understand the desire to be frugal, I really, really do.  However, for me, the peace of mind of buying fair trade and knowing where what I buy comes from is well-worth it. As I've said in previous posts, I believe that every dollar I spend casts a vote for the way I want things to be.

Quote: Scott Umstattd     Image Source: Fair Trade Wire

Here's how I want things to be: I want all people to have the opportunity to make a fair living.

Here's what I don't want: I don't want to purchase items that were made by child labor, slave labor, workers working in deplorable conditions and/or making pennies a day.  I don’t want anything that allows the few to get extraordinarily rich on the backs of the very poor.  If I can’t afford something fair trade, I’d prefer to go without than to buy something cheaper that I know was produced by an exploited labor force.

Cheap Knock-off Cloth Diapers from China

The discussion that spurred my memory of Benjamin Harrison’s wise words was about knock-off cloth diapers from China. It seems some cloth-diapering mamas are frustrated that they can no longer get inexpensive, Alva diapers from China, because they violate a Pending U.S. Patent held by Julie Ekstrom of Kanga Care the designer of Rumparooz, Lil Joey, and Eco-Posh cloth diapers. While I applaud them for choosing cloth diapers over disposible, my questions to these moms are these:

• Is the little bit of money you saved by buying knock-offs from China, really worth it  knowing that 
  . . . the design was stolen from a working mother from Colorado? 
  . . . the labor practices and conditions where these knock-off are produced are questionable at best?
  . . . the quality and fit is not as nice as the real thing?  
  . . . they are made in china? 
• Do you really want to trust something made in china to lay against your baby’s skin night and day?
• Why not spend a few more dollars, have a few less diapers in your stash, make your own or buy your diapers second-hand?  

Want to know more? Here's a more detailed explanation from One Lucky Mama about  why not getting knockoff diapers from China is not a bad thing: Why I Won’t Sell Chinese Cheapie Cloth Diapers

Human Rights are for ALL Humans

. . . and a few other thoughts about circumcision. I know last night I said I was done posting for GENITAL INTEGRITY AWARENESS WEEK.  The week may technically be over, but it turns out I still have more to share. As you can probably tell, this is an issue about which I am quite passionate. I think many people really haven't taken the time to research or even consider the pain and violation circumcision inflicts on babies and the life-long damage circumcision causes. Human Rights are for ALL Humans, male and female, young and old.  Our bodies are our own and no one else's.
 

Image Source: Anita Cleaver via The Whole Network

Image created by Kimberley Smith. Also available in a handy printable format: http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o311/MissSpiderSmith/obviousprintable_zps585c2f27.jpg

Strapping down a NEWBORN to RIP APART fused tissues so they can be CRUSHED & SLICED away from his HIS GENITALS WITHOUT medical cause while he is AWAKE & can FEEL IT is WRONG!!! Even if that poor, sweet baby was sedated or numbed so he couldn't feel it while it was being done (which is not how it's done), it is still wrong, wrong, wrong!!!  

Image Source: The Whole Network

Another Circumcision Somee-like-card . . . "I loved comparing penises with you as a child, father. Thank goodness we match. Said no man ever." 

I'm going to go back and add this one to my post from the other day. Since I already knew long before we met, no child of mine would ever be mutilated, violated and tortured via routine infant circumcision, my ex-husband and I discussed circumcision before we were even married and many years before we had children. This very thing was one of his first objections to leaving our future sons intact. He wanted his sons to look like him. Fortunately, with a little discussion, science and logic, I brought him around to my way of thinking pretty quickly.    

A quick, but staggering visual to help convince the future father of your children or anyone else who thinks circumcision is a quick snip, just cosmetic, minor, painless, removes just a little extra skin, etc. You don't even have to have the card.  Just about anyone can picture the size of an index card in their mind. 

image source: www.norm.org/lost.html

An index card is 15 square inches.  Would you like to be missing that much tissue (not to mention up to  20,000 sensory nerve endings) from your genitals? That's how much the average adult man is missing thanks to circumcision.  Bring your son home whole.  Find out what else is lost: www.norm.org/lost.html.

Changing the way you've always thought about things can be so difficult.  If you or someone you know has hit an obstacle along The Road to Crunchville, I want to leave you with one last thought for tonight:

Image Source: http://www.Facebook.com/TraceyRoseLIVE

"Just because something is ingrained in you doesn't make it true. 

Remember, we once believed the world was flat."  ~Louise L. Hay

Babies Speak out about Circumcision

This is my last post for GENITAL INTEGRITY AWARENESS WEEK.

From the Mouths of Babes . . .

Who would honestly think circumcision is a good idea?

They want to cut off  my WHAT!?!?

I find circumcision to be . . .ILLOGICAL

Did you know over 100 Babies Die Every Year From Circumcision in the US? 
68% of Baby Boys in the US are now left Intact.

Image Source: ? Not sure who turned this photo of Branded Babies by Dietrich Wegner into a Circumcision Meme 

Do we look like daddy now?

10 Out of 10 Babies Vote NO to Circumcision

His body. His Choice. Stop Infant Circumcision.

You Wanna Cut off What?
Circumcision is unnecessary

Circumcision is an assault on the bodily integrity, genital mutilation and child abuse.
(This one breaks my heart.)

I pity the fool who tries to cut off my foreskin!
Okay, so that's Mr.T not a real baby, but after that last one a I needed a lift :-)

Just Remember:

Image Sources: 

Facebook.com/ZenParenting

www.justasnip.wordpress.com

nocutting.tumbler.com

savingsons.org

Facebook.com/IntactOmaha

 www.thewholenetwork.org

 facebook.com/intactiowa

www.circumstitions.com

Circumcision & Foreskin: Did You Know?

 

Circumcision: Did you know?

• No medical organization in the world, not even the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), recommends infant male circumcision.
• At least 117 baby boys die from circumcision each year in the United States. (Death can occur from only 2.3 ounces of blood loss.)
• You can watch a video of circumcision being performed on YouTube.  This will allow you to see the actual procedure first.
• It's easier to care for a baby's intact penis than a circumcised one.  Don't retract the foreskin, just wipe the outside only -- like cleaning a finger.
• Infant Circumcision removes a male's right to decide for himself whether no he wants to be circumcised.
• Circumcision is medically unnecessary, risky, and extremely painful (even with anesthetic).

 

The Foreskin: Did You Know?

• The majority of men in the world have a foreskin, and the rate of circumcision in the United States continues to fall each year  :-)
• The male foreskin has more concentrated, specialized nerve endings than anywhere else in the human body. 
• The foreskin needs no special care or cleaning.  Up until puberty (or later) the foreskin is fused to the penis and doesn't not need to be retracted to be cleaned.
• The foreskin has important roles in sexual function and is the most sensitive part of the penis.
• The card (graphic) above is equivalent in size to the amount of tissue missing from an adult's penis after circumcision. It represents 1/3 to 1/2 of the skin covering the normal penis (about 15 square inches or about the size of an index card).  That's a whole lot of sensitive skin to be senselessly cutting off.

Source: WholeNetwork.org

March 26th -April 1st, 2013 is Genital Integrity Awareness Week.

Please consider sharing the information above with those who may not know.

Circumcision is Not a Parenting Choice

Source: DrMomma.org

"We Are Moms. We've made choices and maybe a few mistake. 
But we love and respect our children, every part of them. 
Our children have the right to bodily integrity.  
Circumcision is NOT a parenting choice."

Your child's body belongs solely to him or her. You do not own your child. Children are their own individual beings who deserve the same rights that should be afforded to all human beings. No rights of yours, parenting, religious or otherwise, should  ever supersede your child's rights to keep his or her body completely intact.  If your child, chooses to be circumcised as an adult that is his or her right, but as a parent you should never make that choice for your offspring.

March 26th -April 1st, 2013 is Genital Integrity Awareness Week.

Please consider sharing the information above with those who may not know.