Mayim Bialik practices a healthy lifestyle in every area of her life, but part of her holistic approach includes environmental awareness and the long-term effects of an unhealthy environment on children. Here are her top tips for pregnant and new moms to parent in a simple, environmentally friendly manner. She also notes that small changes count in all of these areas, and that any change is good.

• Clean your cupboards. Throw out household cleaners and bug killers. Simple combinations of inexpensive, nontoxic products such as white vinegar, baking soda, nontoxic dish soap and tea tree oil are sufficient to clean anything. Ants also hate cinnamon.

• Safely clean and protect baby. Find a baby/children's sunscreen that is chemical and paraben-free. Make your own baby shampoo. Mayim says she makes her own from Dr. Bronner's soap, lavender oil and jojoba or almond oil, but recipes abound online. She also says babies barely need soap most of the first year and their bodies know how to moisturize and stay clean with water and a massage with almond or jojoba oil.

• Eat natural foods. Try to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible. If an ingredient list is too long, chances are there's stuff in there you don't need or want in your body, your breast milk or your baby.

• Simplify. Babies need very little the first year. Save money and stress by talking to people who live simply. Bialik says many of her friends do without expensive space-consuming things like changing stations, bouncers, play stations, pack 'n' plays, huge strollers, car seats that remove from the car, walkers, etc. A sturdy, comfortable sling can be your ticket to getting back to cooking, walking the dog, laundry, etc., at least for the first year or so.

• Develop toy smarts. Babies live and thrive without dozens of plastic toys, especially since PVC plastic is not recommended for baby toys. Spend more money on fewer, higher-quality wooden and cloth toys. Focus on toys that show realistic objects and animals in the colors nature makes them.

Go to main article.