Hi Alicia, I feel the same as you do! So much so I started a FB Buy Sell and Swap group in my local community for Kids Clothing, Toys and Maternity.. I have 700 local ladies that are so commited to not seeing items go to land fill! We even have a little ruling that if something hasn't sold in a couple of weeks we try to send it to needy families! We have one lady that collects all old baby blankets and sews them in to 'Angle Baby Clothing' (thats the term we use when really tiny babys that dont get to make it to our world and are born pre term 'asleep') she donates the clothing to hospitals so parents at that time of need dont have to worry, their beautiful loved one will have beautiful clothing for their final journey. It is great that so many mums are commited to the pre loved items..

Alicia, Thank you for all that you share on your great site. You set an example for others and I think it is so needed in this wasteful world that we all live in and must share. Your simply refreshing from the Hollywood "look at what I do and have" scene. It is rare to see someone be real, giving and educating people by example. That is what your site and book is doing for this planet and the animals.

I got into second hand shopping years ago when I volunteered at a local new thrift store to raise funds for our local hospice patients. My mom had been a patient at hospice and I wanted to find a way to give back to the organization. What a great place to give back to!! But what I learned over the years is that EVERYTHING comes in to thrift stores or consignment stores and for so much less. So I started making a deal with myself and buy only nice used furnishings, clothing, whatever I needed unless I could not live without it. I find I rarely need something brand new and outrageous prices, and the bonus is I always am saving money, and so the savings really add up and can always use a little put away money. Plus I make a point to donate to my church and animal causes and those causes are worth saving for.

We can all learn to live with a little less stuff, expecially children who outgrow their stuff in a few months, including toys. What a wasteful world we live in, so it is great to hear that you do so much of this too and teach your friends and family by example that we don't need to perpetuate more stuff in this world. It really costs so much in the long run with environment, animals, people, landfills.

Thank you Alicia

hey Alicia, all faithfull animal lovers and faithfull fans to the kind life...i hope this doesn't get removed, i want to spread awareness about a dog named Lennox, some of you may have seen his page on FB or twitter. he is on trial for doing NOTHING, and if this goes into the wrong hands he will be sentenced to death. please sign the petitions all of you and help save this loving family dog who just wants to go home....please take the time to care Alicia and help this little man :(

http://www.savelennoxpetition.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/TheLennoxCampaign

http://www.change.org/petitions/save-lennox-from-execution?utm_campaign=friend_inviter_action_box&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

Little Bear is so adorable! We buy our baby all used clothes as well. It just doesn't make sense to buy new clothes, money or environment wise. My community has a lot of consignment sales in the spring and fall where you can buy seasonal clothes from each other, along with a lot of other baby needs. The prices are low, and we are all buying from each other, so it ends up being more like a swap!

And thanks for posting about your family trips. We love to take our 11-mth-old with us everywhere, and often get a lot of negative feedback from family about how we shouldn't be taking him out so much, etc etc. I love to let him see the world, and feel vindicated when I see other families out as well- the babies are so happy! This weekend, we are taking him to the vegan festival in NYC, and I can't wait to try food from all the places you wrote about in your book!

I'm not going to lie, I tend to buy a lot of clothes for my kids. Probably 20% of it is new, where the 80% of it is used. I do buy my used clothes online through ebay or on these other baby selling websites (like a big mom2mom sale website)

There are some things I fall inlove with when i see them at the store, and I just have to have them..

I think that is exciting you guys brought Bear with you. I loved Coachella when I was there in 2006!! I wish i was living back in California so I could have my kids experience coachella as well

Has anyone seen Pregnant in Heels? I watched it for the first time this past Tuesday and I was HORRIFIED! Talk about wastful spending on baby clothes (among other things) and not giving a rat's fuzzy about their impact on the environment. :-(

I agree wholeheartedly with getting your kids secondhand clothing. There are so many reasons: Good for the environment, Stress reducing for parents because if the 25 cent shorts get hopelessly stained, it's no big deal, Good for the kids to grow up knowing there are alternatives to "new" and "retail". The list goes on, but you get it. Bear is precious, by the way!