Win a reusable bag!

Go here and enter for your chance to win an Earthbound Farm reusable shopping bag. I've won these bags in years past and they're great. Bigger than most reusable bags and very durable. Good luck!

Happy Earth Day!

Other than Christmas, this is my favorite time of the year! Everyone is talking about ways to save the planet, the weather is getting warmer, what's not to love? If you haven't started doing more green things, now is the perfect time to start! It's a lot easier than you think.

These only take a few minutes (or less) and cost nothing (most will save you $$)!
~Turn lights off when you leave a room.
~In the winter turn down the heat by two degrees.
~In the summer turn the AC up by two degrees.
~Drive the speed limit.
~Wash clothes in cold water.
~Use reusable bags

These take a little more time and cost a little more:
~Use your library! My library allows me not only to check out books, but magazines, movies, even video games.
~Buy local. Meat, veggies, clothes, ect.
~Buy second hand. Especially baby items, babies outgrow items so quickly that many times you can find items at a fraction of retail cost that have only been used a few times. Check out consignment mommies for seasonal consignment sales near you.
~Compost. Check out this post for a cheap idea on how to get started.

If you've got the time and money:
~Buy a fuel efficient car.
~When replacing appliances, buy the most energy efficient.
~Take public transportation or car pool.
~Buy organic. Clothes can be organic too!

There are SOOO much more, but I found these are a good starting point. Enjoy Earth Day!

25 Nature Activities for Kids

Visit babble to discover 25 fun activities that will get you and your children outdoors and enjoying this great planet!

Today is Earth Day!

Go to Earth Day Network and take a pledge to save the planet! Its the only one we've got and we must take care of it. Look at it this way: most of the little changes you can make the will help the planet will also save you money, its a win win :) 

Re-purposed Glass Jars, Great for Xmas Gifts!

Every year my moms group hosts a cookie swap right around Christmas time, and its always a lot of fun! Part of the fun is packaging your cookies in a festive and creative way. Of course I also try to think of frugal, green ways to go about doing this.

This year I used old glass jars. Mainly jars that use to hold salsa, peanut butter, and dip. Re-purposing glass jars is a great way to "package" any homemade gift. This is how simple it is: rinse out the jar and peel the label off as must as possible. Then use acetone to remove the rest of the label and any glue. Next boil the jar and lid for a few minutes to sanitize. After that I ran the jar threw my dishwasher, just for the extra clean.

Decide how you would like to decorate your jars. All I used was scrapbook paper I already had, mod podge, and jute.

I put Holiday M&Ms in the bottom of the jars to give it a little more of a festive look. Then added my cookies. The jars (and Pecan Cups) were a huge hit.

Save Green, Go Green Wrapping Paper

We have two Christmas trees in my home (both fake!) The main tree is in the living room, decorated with all our keepsake ornaments. The second tree is upstairs and is decorated by the kids, with brightly colored plastic balls, snowflakes, and other little things. The second tree is the Kid tree, which they get to "play" with.They're always rearranging the ornaments, and that's OK. As long as they don't touch the tree in the living room!

Since Santa leaves all the presents under the living room tree, the Kid tree always looks a little sad. Last year we started to new tradition were Santa's elves leave 25 books, all about Christmas, under the Kid tree. (Every book was purchased at a book sale, not one costing more than .50 cents) Each night, leading up to Christmas, we open a book to read. My kids love it!

The only problems was it was getting costly to wrap 25 books. So I came up with an alternative to wrapping paper: paper grocery bags!

Even turned it into a craft project with the kids by painting and coloring the bags. Not only does wrapping the books in re-purposed grocery bags save me money, its also better for the planet.

Green My Lunchbox

I'm all about trying to live green, and with both my kids starting school in the fall (kindergarten & preschool) I'll be packing lots of lunches and snacks. Not only do I think plastic bags are bad for the environment, I think they're also bad for your wallet. Reusable is the way to go! The Green My Lunchbox Campaign is all for cutting back on lunch waste be using reusable packaging. Here's a little fact:

If 15,000 families commit
to packing waste-free lunches, one million
pounds of waste can be eliminated from our
landfills.

YIKES! Sunscreen Exposed

The Environmental Working Group has come out with their 2010 sunscreen guide, with many surprises. The EWG only recommends 8% of the 500 sunscreens that were tested. I'm shocked! Sunscreen is VERY important to my fair skinned, blond hair, blue eyed family, that also has a family history of melanoma. The EWG even has a "Hall of Shame" with some of the worst sunscreens listed. Here is a few of them:

~Banana Boat Baby Max Protect, SPF 100
Why? Because "this product protects babies from UVB radiation and the sunburns it causes but leaves them exposed to UVA radiation that penetrates deep into the skin. UVA is known to accelerate skin aging and cause skin cancer" (quoted from the EWG website)

~Panama Jack Naturals Baby Sunblock, SPF 50
Why? Because of a potential hormone disruptor (oxybenzone) in the baby sunblock.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This makes me so angry that this stuff is even allowed to be sold!

So what are some of the best sunscreen out there?

~California Baby Sunblock Stick No Fragrance, SPF 30+
~Loving Naturals Sunscreen, SPF 30+
~Soleo Organics All Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+

For more info about this new study, visit the EWG website

Make your own: Compost Bin

My project this week is to make my own compost. I live in an apartment building and have to share my yard with 4 other families. I'm sure they wouldn't be to happy seeing (and smelling) all my compost items, so I looked into getting a compost bin- and there expensive!

That got me thinking, why can't I just use a Rubbermaid bin? I've been doing some research and found that it is very possible to do, and this is how:

What you'll need

• Rubbermaid Bin (stander size)
• "Browns" or Carbons (Dead leaves, brown grass clippings, wood, sticks, shredded newspaper, dead plants, rice, pine needles)
• "Greens" or Nitrogen (Fresh grass and other plant clippings, fruit and vegetable parts, coffee grounds (with or without filter), tea bags, wool, human hair)
• Extra newspaper
• A good knife

1. Clean the Rubbermaid bin. Make sure to remove all stickers and labels. Take your knife and cut holes along the edges of the bin's lid, about 1 centimeter wide. Next, cut a few holes in the middle of the lid. These holes will allow air and moisture to circulate.

2. Turn your bin over and cut some drainage holes. Also put two slits in each corner, about a half-centimeter wide and 3 centimeters long. They should be big enough for drainage, but not enough to allow your compost to spill out.

3. Rip up your extra newspaper and put it in the bottom of the bin. The shreds should be no more than 1 inch thick, and should fill up the container about 5 to 6 inches.

4. Gather all your "browns". Place them on top of the newspaper. Your bin should be about one-third to one-half full.

5. Gather your "greens". Place these on top of your browns. Your compost bin should be almost full. Make sure to leave a little room at the top though.

6. Place your bin outside (if it isn't already there). If you must place it directly on a deck, a second extra lid can be placed underneath as a drip tray.

7. Water. Make sure it's damp, but not so wet that everything is floating around. If you live in a rainy climate, you can let nature take its course and wet your compost for you.

8. Wait.

9. In about 3-4 weeks, go out and give your compost a good turn. This will allow the microbes that are decomposing everything to spread around. Repeat every 3-4 weeks.

10. Within 6-8 months, you should have a brown, earthy-smelling mixture. That's your compost!

(compost info mostly taken from You Grow Girl)

Earth Day sites

Earth Day is coming up soon. Check out some of my other "go green" posts HERE and HERE

Also check out some great websites that talk about Earth Day. Like The Earth Day Network and take this quiz to find out what your ecological footprint is.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Have you heard about TerraCycle?

In celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd, I'll be posting as many "green" posts as possible. Today I wanted to mention a business called TerraCycle. TerraCycle collects your trash by having you join one of their "brigades"

TerraCycle has 26 different brigades that one can participate in. One of which is the Drink Pouch Brigade. It works by signing up for the brigade, an activation e-mail is sent so the account can be activated. Next decide whether you would like to download prepaid shipping labels (the eco-friendly option) or have TerraCycle mail you 4 prepaid labels and shipping envelopes. Then start collecting empty juice pouches.

TerraCycle will donate $.02 to $.03 cents for each item that is sent in, which will go to the school or charity of your choice. Each brigade works alittle different, so just make sure you read everything carefully.

So what does TerraCycle do with all that trash? They turn it into cool stuff like reusable totes, pencil cases, binders, even backpacks! What a great, and green, idea!

Free Earthbound Farm Tote

In celebration of Earth Day (April 22) Earthbound Farm will be giving away a free reusable tote throughout the month of April. Your next chance to win a free tote will be this Thursday at 7am PDT. Make sure to stop by Earthbound Farm in the mean time and learn tips on how to green your life.

Earth Day

Caring for the planet and helping to save the environment is something I care about greatly. That's why Earth Day is an important day to me. I try to teach my children as much as I can about ways they can "be green". One of the best parts about Earth Day, most of the activities you can do with your children are free! Here are some ideas

• Take a walk around your neighborhood, or your local park, to pick up any trash. This teaches children about respecting our planet.
• Have your child color on scrap paper, or, if using a fresh piece of paper, have them color on both sides. This will teach your child how to reduce waste.
• Playroom being over loaded with toys? Go threw them with your child and have them decide which toys they no longer want. Then take the toys to a local shelter, or donation box. This will teach them how to reuse.
• Set up a few bin to use for recycling. Teach your child how to recycle by sorting all the different materials: paper, cans, plastic, ect.
• Have your child make a gift by using materials from your recycle bins.
• Start a small flower garden with your child. Use an old egg carton as a seed starter instead of buying pots.
• Go to your favorite park and feed the birds.
• Have your child color a picture of the Earth. Visit this website for a free coloring page.

Have fun learning about our planet. Earth Day is April 22, 2009!

Go Green! Time to Clean.

It’s that time of year for spring cleaning season. I always love to give my home a good cleaning every year. I also like to do it with as little chemicals as possible. (I have a bleach free home) Below I’ve listed some homemade cleaning supplies that will help cut back on the chemicals you use to clean with, and also help cut cleaning supply costs.
Air Freshener: use a 16 oz spray bottle and put 1/2 water and 1/2 liquid fabric softener in and start spraying. It is safe to spray on fabric, I spray my curtains, the couches, bedspreads, pillow, etc
Disinfecting Wipes: Cut paper towels in half width ways, add to a container with 3 cups of Lysol. Seal tight.
Floor Cleaner: 1 cup white vinegar & 1 gallon hot water mix in the bucket you use to wash your floor.
Window Washer: Combine a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water into a spray bottle. Use newspaper to wipe windows instead of paper towels
Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Remember science class? Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to your toilet bowl, them sprinkle with baking soda. The chemical reaction will clean you bowl no problem.