So many juicy pieces of green to sink your teeth into this week. Here’s a sampling:
–Our own Crunchy Domestic Goddess gave us the dish on throwing an eco-friendly party (and there’s a giveaway, too!)
–Eco Child’s Play told us a story about getting rid of lice naturally (I’m still itching since reading this one).
–I reviewed Kiwi Magazine and Preserve toothbrushes over at Mama Speaks (a rockin’ review blog). One of them keeps your green cravings happy, the other cleans up afterwards.
–Our lovely Crunchy Chicken found herself linked up on The Huffington Post (and coincidently I’m watching Arianna Huffington on “Supper Club with Tom Bergeron” on Planet Green right now, but I digress…), in an article about eco-friendly dining out.
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While I certainly know that we are all connected, sometimes I forget. Not today. I was shaken out of my complacency today. I usually think I’m doing my best to go green and save the world, making solid choices, trying to consume less, and teaching my children to do the same. But, sometimes some story or event comes along and smacks you in the face, jolting you so much that you have to go out and do something. And thus, an advocate is born. Or hatched. Or created.
A story this week on Yahoo! Games regarding The Playstation War shook me out of my complacent, I’m-mostly-doing-good-in-the-world, minivan mom bliss.
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You’ve probably heard of taking a staycation (staying home during vacation time rather than traveling) and you’ve probably heard of the 100 mile diet (eating foods only grown within 100 miles of your home). Well, how about the 100 Mile Vacation?
I’m sure that many of us aren’t willing to completely eliminate our vacations, regardless of fuel or increasing airfare costs. But instead of traveling long distances why not take a trip close to home thereby saving money on gas or airfare? You don’t need to take a big trip to Europe or Hawaii to enjoy time away from home with friends and family.
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When my family and I began this journey going green, we started with simple recycling. I am telling you- it is really addictive. We began to notice that trips to the alley for the garbage dwindled as the trips to the recycling center increased. Good, but I knew we could do better. The next step was creating ways to discard even less and begin reusing materials more.
Paper was the easiest material in the beginning so we incorporated the following changes in our daily routine:
- Created a recycled paper bin where we went to get paper for art projects, making cards, wrapping presents, packaging supplies for my ebay business, scrap paper, pretend post offices, etc.
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There are times when I wish I had the knowledge I have now, back when I was starting my family. It seems that parents are so much more informed environmentally than they were even 13 years ago when I had my first child. There was no internet when I had my son. What I learned was from books I read or people I talked to. There was no emphasis on cloth diapers or BPA issues. It’s wonderful to see parents of young children and babies making the conscious effort to teach their kids from the start how to live “green”. These children will grow up understanding that our earth is precious and worth saving from the beginning.
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No one wants to be greeted with bugs in their home. They create everything from fear to annoyance to health hazards. So let’s look green and natural ways to get rid of them!
There are two key things you want to avoid:
Keep your rooms free of clothes and materials on the floor that provide great places for bugs to move around unnoticed. Don’t leave food out and keep your counters clean.
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What started as a joke with our neighbor has grown into a tiny obsession in our home. Months ago on a warm spring day our neighbor chatted with my husband Andy and I about the surrounding homes running their AC full tilt so early in the season. Since our windows were open, we could hear the incessant humming of the machines. Who wouldn’t long for the cool, refreshing breeze wafting into their home after a long winter we wondered.
Once the conversation turned to greening our lives, I made a wager with my neighbor that he would turn on his AC before us.
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Over the last couple years, I’ve gradually been going green, and it’s not until recently that our efforts have been more aggressive. However, with that said, I’ve always taken time to stop and explain to my children every step we are taking, all the whys and all the hows. My children are 12, 10, and 7, so there is quite a bit they understand and can participate in. Plus, I’ve always been the kind of Mom that feels the more communication between my children and me, the better.
When I was in college last year–attempting to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up–not having to make cold lunches every morning for my kids was great.
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Our babies are born with a chemical body burden.
The Environmental Working Group (“EWG”) found that umbilical cord blood from ten randomly selected babies contained 287 chemicals of the 413 for which tests were performed. Of those 287 chemicals, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 218 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.
This potential chemical body burden in a newborn baby is scary for new parents. It was scary for me. You welcome your child to the world, and already you feel as if you have failed.
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Over the past two years, step by step, our family is replacing all cleaning and personal care products with eco-friendly equivalents that are healthy for the Earth, our home, and our bodies. Part of my family’s concern for the kinds of products we use has to do with the chemicals that go into our bodies and ultimately end up in the water supply. Chemicals that make my mommy alarm go off include the following: phthalates, bisphenol A, and triclosan, which are in cosmetics, antibacterial soap, perfumes, containers of all sorts (think food packaging, shampoo bottles, makeup containers), and plastic bottles. When these chemicals reach our water supplies, the natural wildlife are adversely affected and the overall environment is negatively impacted.
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