Tag Archive: 5 minutes for going green

10 Steps to a Green Wedding

Going green is definitely the new trend, be it redecorating your house, making a fashion statement or even planning a wedding. Eco-weddings have gained huge popularity over the last couple of years and with more and more couples opting for an environment friendly wedding, the practice is only gaining more leverage and improving awareness. Having your dream wedding with an eco friendly theme in mind is easy. Listed below are 10 steps to go green on your wedding day.

1. Venue

One way to go green is to select the venue wisely. Go for an outdoor location which would match the theme perfectly well.

Continue Reading »

7 Eco-Friendly Tips to Redecorate Your Living Room

Does your living room need some help? Guest contributor Joanna shares some eco-friendly tips on redecorating your living room.

Change of slipcovers and pillow covers

Easy touches like changing your sofa and pillow covers makes a big difference in your living room. The best thing is you can have multiple options throughout the year to change the look and wash the old covers in the mean time. Slip covers are one of the few accessories that doesn’t cost a fortune to give your room a complete face lift. The best options are always organic cotton covers as they are softer and contains no chemicals in the making of the material – perfect to be around small children in the home.

Continue Reading »

Help A Friend And Give Locally

Wellcome Images

For the past few weeks, my family has been preparing for a big move. We are not moving down the street or to the next town, but instead across the country.

During our lives here in our current home, we fortunately did not accumulate a lot of “stuff,” but much of what we have will not be traveling with us. We have decided that the memories created with some of our personal belongings are not worth the expense and time of packing them up and hauling them across country. Don’t get me wrong, we are a sentimental family, but my days of holding onto my lost baby teeth (I kept them way into my college years), have been replaced with a more common sense mentality of only keeping what I am going to use eventually, preferably sometime this year.

Continue Reading »

All The Brown Material You’ll Ever Need For Your Compost Bin

At my house there is never a shortage of green material (also known as wet or nitrogen-rich matter) – orange peels, corn husks, dinner food scraps, yard waste, etc. – for my compost bin, but when it comes to finding brown (also known as dry or carbon-rich) material, in the past I’ve often ended up coming up short. The trick, of course, to getting compost to work and breakdown into that coveted nutrient-rich soil is to have the right combination of both green and brown matter.

About a year ago, however, I posted my first Green Tip of the Week suggesting that my readers keep a bag or two (or three) of their dry fall leaves to use throughout the coming year as brown material to add to their compost pile or bin.

Continue Reading »

Let’s Eat Cake

I’ve got a sweet tooth that, when satisfied, can wire me for a peaceful calm, but also causes me to spend a ridiculous amount of money and occasionally compromise my health for a pleasure that comes and goes so fleetingly. If you allow yourself to be controlled suffer from a sugar addiction as I do, then you too may know (and understand) the cravings I experience. I have actually climbed into my car at 10pm at night because there was nothing in my house that would satisfy a craving I was having. On the whole, I eat very healthy and feed my family the same, but when it comes to desserts, I have to hold my head in shame.

Continue Reading »

It’s Getting Cool: 5 Easy Ways To Warm Up

With the temperatures dropping and fuel prices soaring, you may be wondering how to stay warm this winter without going broke. According to one statistic, the average American household will spend $1900 each year on energy bills and release double the amount of greenhouse gases than does the average car. Luckily, there are several ways to live green, stay warm, and save money all at the same time. Below are 5 easy ways to warm up:

1. Tame Your Thermostat. The Energy Information Administration, which provides official energy statistics from the U.S. Government, in a 1997 report states that households that lowered their home temperature by 1 degree Fahrenheit during the winter saved between $15 and $40 on average; mind you, this report was done over 10 years ago.

Continue Reading »

Go Green and Get Happy!

What is the key to happiness? Does happiness correlate with wealth, demographics, reputation, attitude, etc.? One quote, attributed to the Buddha, regarding how to improve one’s own happiness says that “Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.” Based on this idea, that when our words and deeds are aligned with good and helpful intentions we feel happier, it makes sense that people who volunteer report feeling greater trust and connectedness to their communities.

So, just how can you lend a hand and go green at the same time? When it comes to pitching in and volunteering on behalf of the environment, opportunities are abundant.

Continue Reading »

Pick a winner – of the fruit and veggie variety, that is!

For the past few years, my family and I have gone to a local farm each fall to pick some of our own vegetables. For $10 per person (for anyone older than 3; babies and toddlers are free of charge), you go on a hayride to various vegetable fields (carrots, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, pie pumpkins, etc.) where you can pick to your heart’s content. We usually only pick enough to last us a couple of weeks, but not this year. Oh no. This is the year I’m getting serious about local food preservation.

Pick Your Own fruits and vegetablesThat won’t be the only farm I will visit this year.

Continue Reading »

Walking the Talk

When I realized I was ready to take the next step in my journey going green, I signed up for the Chicago Conservation Corps (C3) Leadership Program. Their mission is to recruit, train and support a network of volunteers who improve their surrounding communities and schools through environmental service projects protecting our water, cleaning the air, restoring the land and saving energy. After the initial orientation in late August, I was hooked.

Not since my college days wearing Birkenstocks and dreaming of the Peace Corps have I felt such a rush of pure optimism. Learning so much. Hands on helping where it counts.

Continue Reading »

When Your Green Kid Is Trapped Indoors

My children have spent literally every summer day this season outdoors. It has been my quick solution to quiet time in the house, a way to get the house cleaned and enjoy it for a few minutes, and also keep my children active enough to tire them out by the end of the day.

For the past few months, California has been on fire with many areas burning uncontrollably. People have been made to evacuate and relocate, eventually able to return to their homes, while others have lost everything. My family recently spent the day in a town on Saturday and by Sunday afternoon, it was on fire.

Continue Reading »