A Fig in Sweden

europe's greenest city

It just so happens that we live 45 minutes away from Europe's greenest city, according to MSNBC. The town is Växjö, Sophie's birthplace. In case you state-side folks missed the report on NBC Nightly News, here's the video. The district heating system here in Älmhult is similar – a plant in the middle of town uses eco-friendly (or at least friendlier) methods of heating water and then that hot water gets pumped to radiators in homes throughout town.

The other thing that I really love about the eco-life here is the way recycling is done. So much of our waste can be recycled that the garbage men only collect our one bin every two weeks. And our garbage container isn't even as big as the ones in the U.S., and usually it's only half full when they take it. We compost our food scraps, and then pretty much every food container is recyclable.

We pay a garbage fee based on the size of our can and pickup schedule. If we put more trash out than our bin can hold, we get charged an extra fee. So that's a pretty good incentive to not generating waste. I know some towns in the States do it this way, and I wish more would. Sometimes the only way to get people to think about these things is to grab them by their wallets. Just look at gas.

hot wheels

Just a glimpse of pram culture here... the pram parking "lot" at the baby health clinic.

I love being able to walk everywhere with her in the stroller. Earlier this week we walked to the big grocery store, which is on the outskirts of town. That's the one place we usually drive to because it's a bit further out and we tend to really load up. But I think I'll just put a backpack on and head over there on foot with Sophie a few times a week instead. And yesterday we walked to the IKEA store. It was Sophie's first time inside. She slept through the whole thing, so unfortunately I could not show her all the cool products that she will come to love. :)

Yup, I am starting to get out more. With Sophie past the two-month mark, I am less concerned about germs. Plus we're heading into spring, so there are fewer nasty colds going around. On my walk the other day, I bumped into a photographer I work with at IKEA. He is on "pappa leave" and was waiting for a train with his little girl. They were on their way to the Louisiana Museum north of Copenhagen. I told him he was so lucky to be able to get out and do things like that (because his girl is a toddler rather than an infant). He said, "You can, too." I guess he's right. Although breastfeeding does make it a bit more difficult. But I think I'm going to make a list of some good destinations and make a point to go. Museums are perfect because they have easy access to bathrooms, food and private places to breastfeed. Funny how having a child makes you see places in a whole new light.

Oh, but back to the health clinic visit... It was Sophie's two-month checkup, which included a visit from the doctor. That's how the free system can work here. Up until now, we've only seen a woman who's like a midwife for babies, not a real doctor. If there was a problem with Sophie, we would have seen the doctor earlier. But as long as a child is developing normally, babies only see a doctor at 2 months and again at 6 months, 12 months and 18 months. Sophie got the thumbs up from the doc, and now I start a baby massage class with 8 other Swedish moms on Monday. This will be interesting, especially since the class is in Swedish!

happy waffle day!

Grabbed the mail this morning and realized today is not only Sophie's two-month birthday, it's also waffle day. Maybe I need to have a second breakfast. (And I wonder why I am still 10+ lbs overweight...)

In other food news, the big grocery store in town is launching an eco line. It's like a taste of Whole Foods right here in little Älmhult!

fig duds!

Sophie is now the hippest girl on Knutsgatan. She's wearing FIG, the cool eco-label I mentioned a few weeks ago. Thanks mom and dad for this adorable super-soft sleeper!!

I like the copy on the label: Let's face it, kids would rather be naked. Nude is fun, but it leaves no room for style.

battling the brown with a little green

When we learned that we'd be adding another person to this planet we decided to try and lighten their footprint as much as possible. We're not perfect by any means! But we try. Like using hand-me-downs and buying used clothing and supplies.  (Which also appeals to our budget, of course.)

But the #1 (and #2) way to be more eco-friendly, of course, is how you take care of the #1 and #2. We use unbleached prefold cloth diapers during the day and disposables at night. (See... not perfect.) The cloth diapers just get soaked so quickly. It's more comfortable for her to sleep longer with the disposables on. So that's what we do. Luckily Sweden has an eco-labeling system, which makes it easier to make the green choice. (I wish the U.S. had this.) It's called the swan label, and it's only placed on two brands of diapers in Sweden.

So far I've only been able to locate one of them, and only at one store in Älmhult: Coop. They're the Coop brand diapers. And they're actually the cheapest.

We'll see how they stand up to Sophie's poo-fests. A co-worker told me she tried Pampers and Libero and liked these the best. You gotta love when the green choice is also the best choice.

fig kids

Sophie isn't the only fig kid out there. Turns out there's a whole bunch of fig kids thanks to a Canadian Fig... Fig organic kids fashion. Now that's a label Sophie can wear with pride!

My friend Mary Jo tipped me off to this cool eco-company based in Whistler, British Columbia. I emailed them a few months ago to spread some fig cheer, and it turns out they had a little fig kid of their own about a week ago. A little fig girl, too! Too bad she and Sophie are on opposite sides of the world. I can just see them heading to the slopes on a powder day in their little snowsuits. (Speaking of which, how early can we teach Sophie to snowboard?) :)

Anyway, co-owner Michael Ziff and I have been emailing back and forth about our little figkids. He's a great guy trying to help "Spaceship Earth" one certified organic cotton thread at a time. I, for one, can't wait to support the cause... and Sophie's eco-wardrobe.

Julia Roberts' daughter Hazel already does...

it's not easy flying green

You know those calculators that measure your carbon output based on how much you drive, how much energy your home uses, etc.? Well, you can be the most efficient person in all areas, but one transcontinental flight a year will make you a bigger carbon hog than a huge suburban family with an SUV.

This is quite depressing for me and Lewis, since we rarely drive, have CFLs all around the house and unplug gadgets when they are not in use. (Yes, even when your TV is off it still sucks about half the energy as when you are watching it! We have ours plugged into a power strip, that we turn off.)

Anyway, I wrote an article on the state of the airline industry and what airlines are doing to make air travel greener. You can read it here. It's a bit depressing but there are some useful tips at the end of the article.

rocking away the winter blues

As an IKEA freak who now works for IKEA, you can imagine just how much flat-pack furniture we have in our house now. And you would think that living with the blue-and-yellow store in view out our back window would mean that shopping there would be, well, a bit mundane now. But, actually, I still love it. Especially when we come home with two of these cool-looking (and surprisingly comfortable) rockers made from banana leaves.

Just the remedy for the chilly Sunday blues... buy one for yourself at IKEA. Oh yeah, almost forgot to say that I saw the designer who created this funky chair speak at a small dinner event this past week. I was almost as psyched as when I saw Duran Duran in the 8th grade. So, yes, I am still a freak.

Tilly is a freak, too... a heat/sun freak, just like her mother. (I don't think she has any opinion of IKEA yet, though. Not until they start selling pig ears.)