There are so many stresses on the environment that many scientists believe we are in the midst of one of the largest extinctions that has ever occurred on earth. Add to that the fact that many of our natural resources are finite, instilling a sense of awareness and care for the natural environment is incredibly important for today’s youth. A generation without concern for the world’s precious ecosystems and natural resources may be the final stressor that pushes the world into a dangerous imbalance that it won’t be able to recover from. How can parents help kids be eco friendly, be caring stewards of the beautiful environment they live in?
Tag Archive: 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.
Eco-friendly Strollers
As new age parents learn about supporting the environment when purchasing household items, it has sparked the trend of Eco friendly strollers.
There’s not as vast of a selection as there should be, but a few companies are emerging as leaders in producing non-toxic strollers for babies and toddlers. These two companies are recognizable for their quality product as well as their initiative in providing a toxic free environment for your baby.
Strollers are going green
Maclaren Strollers
This international company is dedicated to their corporate social policy (CSR), as one of their major concerns is responsible manufacturing. They use recyclable materials as much as possible as well as restricting chemical compounds that harm the environment such as phthalates, lead, PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), which have been eliminated from all their products.
I’m Finally Going Green (Again)
Let’s see. I have been going green now for about two years. Since that time, I have gone from being really rigid in everything I do to the point where my house started looking like a garbage dump – minus the rotting food – because I was saving everything (ex: cereal boxes, bottle tops, popsicle sticks, etc.) believing each item had a second or third life in it before meeting its maker in the trash. On the flip side, I recently declared my latest compost bin a wash after it became infested with worms, other than red wigglers, and have been unashamedly tossing kitchen remnants into the trash and becoming an apathetic contributor to our local landfill.
Wanted: More Awesome Green Behind The Scenes
5 Minutes for Going Green is growing, and growing, and growing.
We are currently looking for dedicated, passionate, eco-savvy writers to become part of our green writing team.
Excited about going green and how simple it can be? Embarking on a new green journey at home or at work? Raising a green family of your own and wanting to network and share some of your own trials and tribulations? Desiring to dig deeper into the world of conservation, environmental activism, and daily green living? Not a proverbial eco-nut yourself (yet), but just feel like writing outside of your comfort zone?
Although It’s Been Said Many Times, Many Ways
Merry Christmas, to you.
Photo by Chris Jernigan.
Warm holiday wishes to you and yours from the team here at 5 Minutes For Going Green.
May the upcoming days be filled with copious amounts of family, friends, and a toasty beverage of your choosing.
What You Can Do to Get Rid of Hormone Disrupting Phthalates in Your Household
If you have been paying attention to the news reports on buying safe toys this holiday season, you’ve probably heard about phthalates.
Pronounced tha-lates (or sometimes thay-lates), this group of chemicals has been shown to disrupt hormones in laboratory animals. Fetal exposure to phthalates has also been linked to reproductive diseases later in life in baby girls. Fetal exposure has also been associated with decreased ano-genital distance in baby boys, leading the lead researcher to charge phthalates with causing the “feminization” of baby boys (this research has been challenged by other scientists).
A recent study found occupational exposure to hairspray by pregnant hairdressers and others doubled their risk of having baby boys born with the genital defect hypospadias (where the opening for the urinary tract is not located at the tip of the penis).
Taking The Next Step
After my son’s first surgery in January, I stepped back and took a good long look at all facets of my life, which resulted in an epiphany of sorts. Days later I quit my job and started my own eco-friendly business to devote more time to my kids.
Once I walked away from the rat race my creativity soared and I started to invest more time researching how to be more environmentally conscious. I took the next step. And then another, and another, until I was making as many improvements in our daily lives as I was to our home.
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.
Starting at Square One
One of the biggest goals for me in my journey toward going green is eliminating paper products, especially tissues and paper towels. Looking back it was easy for me to say that I would just make handkerchiefs and napkins out of squares of old sheets and damaged clothes. Sure, they wouldn’t be perfect but they would be Anthropologie-like chic- of course! It sounds easy enough, right?Wrong. Since my mom is a well established seamstress, she gave me a Viking Husqvarna sewing machine to start my crafty adventure. Little did she know that I haven’t the foggiest idea of how to use the thing.
