Practical sustainability — not perfection
Frogwise is an independent knowledge platform. Every guide, product and business is assessed against a published framework — so you can see the reasoning, not just the recommendation.
Why this exists
Frogwise is written by people who want sustainability to be less confusing and less performative. We cover the questions that come up in real households — from feeding a baby to buying a coffee, from sleep habits to a reusable home — and we assess every recommendation against a published framework.
The goal is not to sell products or push a single lifestyle. It is to make good information easier to find, compare, and act on. Practical sustainability, not perfection.
Parenting — Birth
Lotus birth and hypnobirthing, explained calmly and without dogma — what they are, what the evidence says, and what they ask of you.
Parenting
What is Lotus Birth? Lotus birth—also called umbilical nonseverance —is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after childbirth, allowing the baby to remain attached to the placenta until the cord naturally…
7 min read · May 2025
Parenting
How I Found Out About Pain-Free Birth & 2 Short Birth Stories Everyone around me seemed convinced birth was going to feel like a marathon… in fire. I nodded politely, but in my head I was thinking: Surely there’s a…
5 min read · Apr 2025
Featured guides
Sustainable Living
Most mattresses sold today are petrochemical foam. Here is what the evidence says about emissions, heat, durability and end of life — and three makers working entirely in plant and animal fibre.
11 min read · Aug 2026
Frogwise
Seven criteria, applied the same way every time, published in full so you can disagree with us.
6 min read · Jul 2026
Parenting
Foam, latex, springs and certificates — a plain reading of the evidence on what your child sleeps on for ten hours a night.
8 min read · Jul 2026
The Frogwise Standard
Every product, business and guide is assessed against the same published criteria — materials, durability, waste and repair, energy, labour, transparency and honesty about trade-offs. No ads, no affiliate links, no paid listings.
Sustainable Living
Materials, waste & repair, energy and ethics — four questions asked in the same order, whether the subject is a cot, a bag of coffee or an entire building.
The Frogwise Fund
A reader-funded pool that backs one small, sustainably driven business at a time — and tells its story properly. Still up and coming: nominations are open.
Parenting
The Dutch maternity system is built on a simple idea: birth is healthy until proven otherwise. Independent midwives lead low-risk care, home birth is a normal choice, and after the baby arrives a kraamzorg maternity nurse comes to your home for days — cooking, teaching, watching, reassuring. It is not perfect, and the home birth rate has fallen, but as a model of humane, mother-centred care it remains one of the best examples in the world.
8 min read · Sept 2026
Sustainable Living
Most cleaning cupboards are full of promises and half-hidden chemistry. We searched for a fully natural line that still gets the job done — and found Sonett.
5 min read · Sept 2026
Sustainable Coffee
A practical checklist for anyone building a roastery: green coffee, grinder, cupping bowls, sustainable bags and the quiet tools that turn a first roast into a repeatable craft.
5 min read · Sept 2026
Parenting
Enemas before birth, caesareans without a medical reason, medication to stop milk, early formula and supply, and why night breastfeeding really is harder. What each practice is, why people choose it, and where the criticism deserves to be questioned.
14 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
One pair of oversized merino men's sweatpants from John Merino in Amsterdam, worn from early pregnancy through a year of motherhood, worn into holes, and then repaired with a patch made from barely-worn baby trousers. A small story about circular clothing, repair, and what motherhood actually does to a body and a mind.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
Haemorrhoids after pregnancy and birth are common, temporary and rarely discussed. What they are, why pushing invites them, and the remedies worth keeping in the drawer — eucalyptus cream and the Dutch classic, Curanol.
9 min read · Aug 2026
Amsterdam
Bring what's broken
Standard 9.1/10
Amsterdam
A former shipyard turned circular workplace
Standard 8.6/10
Amsterdam
Furniture built to be repaired
Standard 7.9/10
Amsterdam
Refill, weigh, repeat
Standard 8.2/10
Various
One polymer, one recycling stream
Various
Latex over pocket springs, wool cover
Cocoon Company
Hollow plant fibre instead of foam
Sustainable Coffee
There are only four real ways to take caffeine out of coffee, and only a few dozen plants in the world that do it. Here is the index of methods, an honest chemical-versus-not assessment, and a directory of the known facilities by region.
14 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Living
Sluishuis is one of Amsterdam's most photographed sustainable buildings. We put it through the four lenses — materials, waste and repair, energy, ethics — and then ask the harder question: how does it feel to live in?
9 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Coffee
What switching from gas to electric actually does to your energy use, your profiles and your costs.
5 min read · Jul 2026
Parenting
A personal review of breastfeeding clothing that does not rely on zippers, with a recommendation for Latte Mamiato in Antwerp.
5 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Living
What menstrual products are actually made of, what the evidence does and does not show, and the reusable cotton setup we would recommend to anyone starting from scratch.
8 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Alcohol-free brewing stopped being an apology about five years ago. A short guide to what actually improved, how to read a 0.0 label, and the Dutch shop we order from.
6 min read · Aug 2026
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