Reduce: The first step in cleaning is to get rid of all of that stuff that’s just in your way every day.  Declutter your house by going from room to room and getting rid of stuff that you no longer need. (It’s just collecting dust anyhow!) Click here for info on from clothes to computers to eyeglasses.

Reuse: As you’re cleaning, don’t fill up your trash can with paper towels and single use wipes. Use cloth rags, old dishtowels, or cut up a ratty t-shirt to get your cleaning done with less waste.

Rethink:

I’m not sure when we became convinced as a society that we need to spend tons of money on toxic chemicals packaged in wasteful plastic bottles in order to clean our homes. Vinegar and baking soda make a cleaner so powerful it will cut through any grease and grime your kids can throw at it. And lemon juice is a natural disinfectant that will easy clean germs and other gunk from countertops, door handles, and toilet seats. Click here to learn more about making your own .

This month’s Green Moms Carnival is hosted by , be sure to head over there to check out what other green moms have to say about greening your spring cleaning.

Case in point, several months ago I received an unrequested catalog from a company and was irritated enough to make the call. Twenty minutes, 2 crying kids, and 3 transferred phone calls later I was finally off their mailing list…or so I thought. Even though the rep claimed I would be off their list “within six weeks” I have received catalogs from that company as recently as last week.

But thanks to Catalog Choice, I may get the last laugh after all. This new and totally awesome service lets you opt-put from catalog mailing lists with the simple click of a button. You just sign up, choose from their huge list of catalogs, and opt-out to your heart’s content.

If you are getting catalogs that you do want, check out my post on reusing and recycling magazines for some ideas to keep those catalogs out of the trash can. For all the rest, check out Catalog Choice and let those companies know that you want OUT!

Plan Ahead: Before you prepare your next shopping list, take a few minutes to think about your family’s schedule for the week ahead and which foods will work best for your menu. You don’t have to go so far as to assign a meal for each day of the week (although if you’re uber-organized, you probably do this already.) But there is no point in buying a lot of great organic ingredients if everyone will be too busy to eat them. Make a list of the ingredients you’ll need for that week (or day or month…depending upon how frequently you shop) and stick to it.

Pass It On: Got an extra jar of creamed corn or box of mashed potatoes that you’re not likely to use? Pass on any non-perishables (or even unspoiled perishables) to your local food bank so that they can feed someone in need. Check out America’s Second Harvest to find a food bank near you.

Tell It To The Birds: What is it about kids and bread crusts that makes the two so incompatible? Save those discarded bread crusts along with any stale crackers or moldy rolls and bring them along to feed the birds on your next outing in the park.

Turn It Into Dirt: Don’t toss those rotten tomatoes or banana peels in the trash. Turn them in to compost instead. Compost is the ultimate recycler…it turns useless yucky stuff into really valuable yucky stuff. It also reduces waste, saves money, and can help protect your plants from diseases and pests. And it’s not as hard as you might think to get started. Check out this post on starting a compost pile.

Cards: Around the world, approximately one billion Valentine cards are sent out each year. Save a tree and reduce waste by sending your Valentine a mushy e-card or online slide show. If you do need a paper card, make sure it’s eco-friendly like these awesome recycled paper valentine cards from Endangered Species Chocolate.

Chocolates: Show your sweet side with chocolates that are as conscientious as they are delicious. IgnaFire chocolates are grown fairly, produced expertly, and packaged responsibly. But be warned: once you’ve sucken your teeth into these tasty morsels, you may never be able to eat store-bought chocolate again!

Flowers: Flowers are always a hit…as long as they’re organic. Score double points with a Charitable Bouquet from Organic Bouquet. Your valentine will get a stunning arrangement of organic flowers and the profit from your gift will be used to support your choice of environmental or social justice organization.

Bubbly: Skip the imported bubbly that has to be shipped across the world to get to your sweetie and opt for a sparkling wine from

your closest local vineyard.

Candles: Heat up the romance with a clean-burning Natural Beeswax Heart Pillar Candle from Kate’s Caring Gifts. It’s a chemical, toxin, and paraffin free way to show you care.

Gifts That Give Back: Pledge your love with a gift that shows how big your heart really is. The ASPCA and The Humane Society are two wonderful organizations that will use your gift to spread the love. For more ideas, check out It’s Good To Share.

Change It: Change your car’s oil and oil filters regularly to improve fuel economy and keep things running smoothly. Most mechanics recommend that you do this every 3 months or 3,000 miles. If you do it yourself, be sure to recycle the oil properly and fill up your engine with clean recycled motor oil. Plug your zip code into the Earth 911 website to find a used motor oil drop-off location near you. If you take it in to a service station, make sure that they will do the same.

Loosen It: If your fan belt is too tight, your engine is working too hard and wasting gas. The belt should give a little to finger pressure when the engine is not running (make sure everything has had a chance to cool down.) If the belt is too tight, you can easily adjust the tension with a wrench, or mention it during your next professional tune-up.

Check It: Old, worn-out spark plugs can cost you as much as 2 mpg in fuel efficiency. If you know how to change them, do it. If not, take your car in for service.

Pump It: Keep tires properly inflated to reduce wear and tear on the tread and save fuel over the long run. Check your owner’s manual for the recommended inflation level (this number is also usually printed inside the door frame of your car). Under-inflated tires can cost you as much as 1 mpg.

Replace It: A clogged air filter will keep your engine from running smoothly, costing you roughly 1 mpg in fuel efficiency. Check your air filter regularly and replace it every time you change your oil.

Record It:

Keep a record of your gas mileage (by recording your mileage and the amount of fuel needed at each gas stop,) and you will easily spot when your gas mileage is slipping and your car needs some service…. saving you a fortune in gas over the long run.

Need more gas-saving tips? Check out the links below:

It’s A Gas
Dive Into A Carpool

In the typical American household, 35 to 45% of all of the drinkable (or potable) water is used to flush the toilet. Older model toilets are the worst offenders, using 7-10 gallons of water with each flush. Newer models are slightly more conservative, using between 3-5 gallons. Flushing gallons of water down the toilet is not only a waste of the water itself, but also of the energy and resources used to filter that water and transport it to and from your house. It also costs you money twice: once on your water bill and again on your sewer bill.

So save yourself some money and help keep the environment from going down the toilet with these easy green parenting tips:

• Use The Can:Don’t use your toilet as a trash can. Toss tissues, dead bugs, and cigarette butts (make sure they’re out…better yet, don’t smoke!) in the garbage to avoid unnecessary flushes.
• Gotta Leak? Not sure if the toilet at your house is leaking? Drop a little food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color seeps into the toilet bowl without flushing, there is a leak.
• Dam It! You only need about 2 gallons of water to successfully flush your toilet. If your toilet uses more than that, make a toilet dam by filling a plastic water bottle with pebbles or water and place it in your toilet tank. This will reduce the overall volume of the tank and cut down on the amount of water flushed down the drain.
  love and other drugs full dvd movie

  If you have an active toilet (and if you have kids it’s likely that you do), this can save you roughly 300 gallons of water each month.

Oddly enough, one of the most common green parenting questions that I am asked is centered on those pesky toilet paper and paper towel tubes that accumulate so quickly in the family recycle bin. Sure, you could do a craft with them (there are several craft ideas list below) but that idea may lose its luster after you’ve made your 18th eyeglass case or pencil holder. So here are some great green parenting tips for reducing, reusing, and recycling your old toilet paper and paper towel tubes.

Reduce

Want A Deeper Shade of Green? If you want to be really hardcore, you can reduce your family’s overall use of toilet paper tubes by eliminating the roll altogether. Enter, the family cloth. If you’re not familiar with this concept, here’s a quick primer. You take a couple of clean old rags (old t-shirts and towels are popular choices), cut them into “wipe” size pieces and place them in a basket next to the toilet. On the other side of the toilet, place a clean bucket to hold the used cloths until you are ready to toss them in the wash. It may sound a bit extreme, but it is similar in concept to cloth diapers. And in addition to being very green for the planet, it will save you some green on paper products each month.

Reuse

Give your toilet paper and paper towel tubes a second life by reusing them before or instead of recycling them. Here’s how:

• Donate old toilet paper or paper towel tubes to your local school or library to use as craft projects.
  
• Use toilet paper tubes as packing material.
  
• Give them to your pet hamster or bird (or to a friend that has one) to play with.
  
• Store holiday lights by rolling them around paper towel tubes to prevent tangling.
  
• Attach 2 or 3 toilet paper and/or paper towel tubes together to make an art organizer that holds pens, paint brushes, markers, etc.
  
• Do a Craft: Here are some great craft ideas for reusing toilet paper and paper towel tubes:

Toilet Paper Tube Crafts

Gift Box
Puppets
Vase
Napkin Rings

Glasses Case

Menorah/Kinara/Advent Wreath

Recycle

Recycle toilet paper and paper towel tubes with your cardboard or paper products. Also, consider buying toilet tissue and paper towels made from recycled paper as these products are most likely to also contain tubes made from recycled paper. For example, Green Forest paper towel and bathroom tissue tubes are 100% recycled, with a 75% post-consumer recycled content.

]]> http://www.thegreenparent.com/2008/01/07/reduce-reuse-and-recycle-toilet-paper-and-paper-towel-tubes/feed/ 38 http://www.thegreenparent.com/2008/01/02/where-to-donate-your-old-stuff/ http://www.thegreenparent.com/2008/01/02/where-to-donate-your-old-stuff/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:51:00 +0000 Jenn Savedge http://www.thegreenparent.com/?p=90 Cleaning house? Consider donating things you no longer want or need to someone who does. Donating old stuff is not only great for folks in need, it is also great for the environment, as it reduces waste and the consumption of new resources. Get your kids involved by filling them in on where the old items are going and how they will help. Here’s where you and your kids can donate anything from appliances to eyeglasses.

Appliances: Most thrift stores, including Goodwill and the Salvation Army accept small appliances for donation. Contact them first if you have something large to drop off or consider listing the item on Freecycle to see if someone in your local area might be interested. Also check with your local women’s shelter or group home.

Books: Contact your local library to find out their policy on donations. Most will accept virtually any book or magazine (within reason, of course.) Other options include children’s museums, women’s shelters, hospitals, or your local thrift store.

Cars: Got an old jalopy clogging up your driveway? Contact area high-schools, colleges, or vo-tech programs to find out if they could use your old car. Advertise the heap in Freecycle to see if anyone in your local area is interested in it for parts. Or look into donating it to a charity programs such as The National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Cars or Habitat for Humanity’s Cars for Homes.

Cell Phones: Donate old cell phones directly to your local women’s shelter, or check out The Wireless Foundation’s Call to Protect Campaign or Verizon Wireless’s HopeLine, where money raised through phone sales are donated to domestic-violence shelters.

Clothes: Click here for a recent post on donating (and fixing, selling, or swapping) old clothes.

Computers: Check with your local schools, libraries, or charity organizations to see if they could use your old computer. If not, contact The National Cristina Foundation, Computer Recycling Center, or The World Computer Exchange to make sure your computer gets in the hands of someone who can use it.

Eyeglasses: Don’t toss your old frames, donate them instead. Check out The Lions Club’s eyeglass recycling program or New Eyes For The Needy, an organization that distributes glasses, sunglasses, and hearing to those who need them.

Furniture: Freecycle your old furniture or contact your local thrift store to see if they will accept it and/or pick it up.

Toys: Clean out those overflowing toy bins and pass along those old toys to your local thrift store, hospital, children’s museum, women’s shelter, or library.

1. Park It: Make every effort to walk, bike, or take public transit instead of driving you car. For inspiration, check out Alan Durning’s Year of Living Car-Lessly to read about his family of five’s car-free adventures.

1. Eat Local Foods: According to a recent report by the Natural Resource Defense Council, the average American meal contains ingredients from at least five countries outside the U.S. These ingredients are shipped by boat, train, and plane to our dinner plates, leaving a path of pollution and resource depletion in their wake. Make an effort this year to eat foods that are grown closer to home. Check out Sustainable Table for a state-by-state list of the seasonal foods that are found near you.

1. Trim Your Trash: Why put yourself on a diet when you can make a resolution to put your trash on one instead? The average American produces roughly 4.5 pounds of trash each day (that’s 17 pounds of trash thrown away each day for a family of four!) Trim that waste-line by practicing the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Check out these posts for great ways to reduce waste:

1. Turn Off A Light: There’s nothing worse than heading out the door with your arms full of kids, diaper bags, sippy cups, and snacks, only to realize that every light in the house is still burning. Make it your New Year’s resolution to turn off lights as you leave a room…better yet, put your kids in charge of “light patrol.” You’ll save a bundle in energy bills and light bulbs!

1. Vote Green: 2008 promises to be a big year at the ballot box, both at the national and local level.

   So before you cast your vote, check out the League of Conservation Voters to see where you favorite (and not so favorite) candidates stand on the environment.

]]> http://www.thegreenparent.com/2007/12/28/top-5-green-parent-new-year%e2%80%99s-resolutions/feed/ 10 http://www.thegreenparent.com/2007/11/24/the-green-parent-holiday-gift-list/ http://www.thegreenparent.com/2007/11/24/the-green-parent-holiday-gift-list/#comments Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:46:00 +0000 Jenn Savedge http://www.thegreenparent.com/?p=75

Are you worried about your holiday gift list this year? With all of the news about global warming and environmental degradation, let alone sweatshop labor and toxic toys, what’s a Green Parent to do? Never fear, there are tons of gifts that you can give to show your spirit without selling your soul. Here, without further ado, is The 2007 Green Parent Holiday Gift List…a list of gifts you can feel good about:

Give The Gift That Gives Back

Charities: Check out The Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) to find a charitable organization to match the interests of anyone on your list. The independent site lists charities by category and gives detailed information about the mission, efficiency, and capacity of thousands of organizations.

For The Little Idealist: Even the youngest recipient will be delighted with a charitable gift that piques her interest. Does the kid on your list love books? Donate her favorite title to the local library. Does he love the outdoors? Give him a gift membership to the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org) or the Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org). Or adopt-an-animal from the World Wildlife Fund and your recipient will receive info about the animal as well as a plush version to cuddle. For more ideas check out Idealist.org (www.idealist.org) for a listing of charitable groups that were founded by kids.

Offsets: Help friends and family offset their carbon footprint with a gift of renewable energy credits (RECs) or greentags. The money you spend on carbon offsets will be used to support projects that reduce or sequester carbon emissions. Check out Carbon Neutral (www.carbonneutral.com) or Green Tags USA (www.greentagsusa.org) to calculate carbon emissions and purchase greentags.

No-Waste Gifts

Flowers: Send your loved ones a bouquet you can feel good about from Organic Bouquet (www.organicbouquet.com.) For something unique, try the Fresh Myrtle Wreath Frame; a beautifully lush wreath made from domestically grown myrtle. It can be used as a frame, a wreath, or a centerpiece. $64.95

Chocolates: The holidays just wouldn’t be the same without chocolate. Dagoba Organic Chocolate (www.dagobachocolate.com), Green & Black’s (www.greenandblacks.com), and Newman’s Own Organic Chocolate (www.newmansownorganics.com) all make deliciously decadent organic chocolate selections. For something extra fancy, try Art Bite Chocolates made from organic Costa Rican chocolates. These hand decorated treats come in four delectable flavors: Whole Pistachios, Dried Ranier Cherries, a local specialty, Organic Cocoa Nibs and Chipotle Pepper, $29.95 (for 1 dozen).

Eco-Friendly Sweets: If your child has a sweet tooth (and what child doesn’t!) he will love making his own treats with a Glee Kit. Choose between the Chewing Gum Kit, the Gummy Candy Kit, and the Chocolate Kit. Each one comes with all of the ingredients necessary to make the treat as well as fun stories and info about the origins of the candy.

Toys You Can Trust

Roy Toy Building Sets: Roy Toy Classic building Sets, such as the Log Cabin and the Fort are Made in the U.S.A. from solid wood and non-toxic finishes. Each set contains over 140 all-wood pieces and a complete set of building instructions so kids can use to get down to building. $29.95

The Power House Kit: from Gaiam gives kids the supplies they need to build a model house complete with PV solar panels, wind turbine, greenhouse, and desalination system. The kit comes with an illustrated manual that includes 70 experiments and 20 building activities. $175.00

Organic Cotton Stuffed Animals: Look for a stuff animal, like this puppy or bear from Gaiam, that contains nothing but pure 100% organic cotton and low eco-impact dyes. $12.99

Puppets: Sequoia Wildlife Finger Puppet Playset: This beautiful playset contains six wildlife puppets (owl, bear, blue jay, squirrel, hare and fox) and a 17-inch plush sequoia tree. Older kids can put on puppet shows for little ones (and vice versa) to learn about animals, nature, and communication. Net proceeds of the sale of this toy benefit the Sierra Club. $39.95.

Cool Eco-Friendly Stuff

Gifts To Pamper: Does someone you know need a little pampering? Try the Feel Amazemint gift set from Aveda with all-natural products that cool, refresh, and protect the skin from environmental damage. $29.99. Or try the Angelica Gift Set from Aubrey Organics, a light citrus parfum and bath powder (made from rice and tapioca…not talc) set made from organic ingredients that are certified cruelty-free and vegan. $21.95

Eco Gadgets: Boys can’t resist their toys, so gadgets such as a hand-crank flashlight for the car or a solar-powered radio for the boat are sure to be a hit. Check out Sundance Solar (http://store.sundancesolar.com) for a number of eco-gadget selections.

Recycled Gadgets: Motherboard Business Card Case: This sleek case has a circuit board cover which fits snugly over a brass-colored metal base. Holds up to a dozen cards. No two patterns are exactly alike. $25.00 or Record Label Holiday Ornaments Laser cut from vintage 45 rpm records, these zero waste ornaments come packaged in sets of three different records in a clear, recyclable box. $18 for a set of three.

Books For All Ages

Hoot by Carl Haissen

Nature’s Art Box by Laura C. Martin and David Cain

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Magic Schoolbus: At The WaterWorks by Joanna Cole,

The Gaia Girl Series by Lee Welles

WoodsWalk by Henry W. Art and Michael W. Robbins

Worms Eat My Garbage: How To Set Up & Maintain A Worm Composting System by Mary Appelholf