The Green Parent

Remember yesterday’s post about Green Parent Kristy Glass, the NYC mom of two who is “gradually going green? Here, in her own words, is Kristy’s approach to recycling…
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. I remember when the town I lived in instituted Recycling. My parents begrudgingly bought the required green bin that [...]

Meet Kristy Glass. She’s a busy mom living in New York City who was so inspired by the movement behind Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth (even though she has admittedly never seen the film!) that she decided to start “gradually going green.” I think her approach is similar to that of most of us [...]

It’s official! The Home Depot is now offering free CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb) recycling at all of its 1,973 locations nationwide. Just bring your unbroken bulbs to the returns desk and they’ll make sure the bulb is disposed of properly.
No Home Depot in your area? Check out Earth 911 to [...]

In case you haven’t heard, starting next year (February 18, 2009) television programs will be broadcast in digital format only, and if you don’t have a digital TV, you may be looking at a blank screen. In anticipation of the new broadcasting, many Americans are ditching their old analog tubes for the new [...]

Teach your kids (or let them teach you) about the importance of trees and recycling paper by making your own paper. It’s creative, it’s hands-on, and it’s messy…so it’s sure to be a hit with kids of all ages. Here’s how it’s done:
Materials:

Scrap paper: Think junk mail, used construction paper, or newspaper…but stay [...]

Ever wonder what happens to that milk jug after you toss it in the recycling bin? (Or have your kids asked for details and left you fumbling for an answer?) Here’s a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes to turn your old plastic bottles into something new.
A Closer Look: Before plastics [...]

Currently, about 25% of the garbage in the U.S. is recycled, but experts estimate that 65% of our garbage could be recycled. Recycling options vary by city or county, but most areas collect office paper, cardboard, magazines, newspaper, aluminum, plastics, glass (colored or clear), steel, yard trimmings, tires, batteries, and building materials.

Use this chart [...]

Got a pile of catalogs clogging up your mailbox? According to the website Catalog Choice, more than 19 billion catalogs were mailed to American consumers in 2005 and most of these were unsolicited. If you read the fine print on the back of those catalogs, you will notice that the company “conveniently” includes [...]

Magazines seem to pile up quicker than dirty laundry in my house, even though we purposely limit the number of subscriptions we carry in order to reduce waste. Fortunately, there are a number of things we can do with our monthly magazine supply to keep them out of the trash bin and even give [...]

As a parent with young children, I have found that it is almost as hard to keep up with technology as it is to keep up with a two year old. Old model computers, televisions, and cell phones are replaced faster than you can say VCR. But where do all those gadgets go when [...]