10 Eco-Friendly Mother's Day ideas

It's May and mother's day is around the corner and if you have an Eco-conscious mom you're shopping for here are some ideas for gift giving.  My husband thinks I'm so difficult to shop for, but here's a list of things I know I'd love to have.

1. Fair Trade Chocolate.  My favorite is dark chocolate.  Two brands that are most commonly found in grocery stores are Divine pictured to the right, and Black & Green.  Spoil your mom (of wife) away with some yummy chocolate. These bars are large, and typically cost about $4 each.

2. Organic Flowers. Here's an online store to get some organic flowers for your mom.  If they are out of your price range, check the local farmer's market for flowers.  Remember organic is good, so is local and it's great to support local farmers.

3.  If your mom has a green thumb, get her a gift that will keep on giving.  Some fruits that grow well in pots include strawberries and blueberries.  One of my favorite gifts I received two years ago was a blueberry bush.  It's still alive, it's easy to care for and it still gives me blueberries once a year.

4. Get mom some pretty grocery shopping bags.  My favorite is the Envirosax.  They usually run about $8 a pop, and they come in a multitude of colors and sizes. If you follow Mama Bargains she sometimes has them for about half the price, which is where I got mine.

5. If mom is a practical gal, one idea would be glass food containers.  I recently got some Pyrex glass containers.  I got new ones from Target but if your mom is into vintage stuff, I think something along the lines of those on the right would make a snazzy gift.  Storing your food in glass instead of plastic helps reduce your exposure to nasty chemicals like BPA.

6.  Make her dinner!  Taking her out to dinner is ok, but we tend to skip that in my house because Mother's Day is one of the busiest restaurant days of the year. Make the dinner special by getting her favorite foods locally.  If mom's a meat eater, get some meat from a local farm.  There really is a huge difference.  Fresh vegetables are available in some parts of the country now, get a nice spring mix of veggies and make her something special.

7. If mom is really into the local food movement, while you're out getting meat and veggies for the dinner sign her up for a local CSA so she can have fresh fruits and veggies all season long.

8. Mom like the outdoors?  One lovely way to spend the day is going on a hike.  I could give you a few links of how to find the best local places to go hiking, but honestly the best way is word of mouth.  Ask your friends on Facebook, or your neighbors (or her neighbors!).  The best places are almost never online (because people want them to be kept secrets!).

9.  Get mom a gift certificate from an online (or local) boutique that sells natural and organic hair care items and cosmetics like Soap for Goodness Sake.

10. Lastly, don't forget to give her a card.  Be sure to check for recycled green options like these or you can get crafty and make her something yourself.

Rain Barrels -- Green Projects

Here is a simple weekend project. Instead of paying a couple hundred bucks I don't have, I think we'll make one of these after the coop is finished.



Mr. Sexy Voice...

How to make home made organic hand soap...cheap

Lately I've been doing research on what's in our hand soap, and it gets frightening when you start to dig a little deeper.  It encouraged me to find an easy way to make hand soap easily at home with out needing a ton of ingredients and that would be worth the price.

Well, I found it.  I started with a small bottle of castile soap I purchased from the travel section at Target a while back.  It was 89 cents.  Organic castile soap, is very inexpensive.  I'm happily surprised too at the ingredients listed in them.  Here they are:

Ingredients: Water, Saponified Organic Coconut*, Organic Palm* and Organic Olive* Oils (w/Retained Glycerin), Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Essential Oils**, Citric Acid, Vitamin E 

I grabbed an empty bottle of foaming soap and added in 1 part castile soap, 4 parts water.  Gave it a little swirl and was done.  Each push comes out just like the soap that was in it before.  It smells wonderful and does a fantastic job getting your hands clean.

Castile soap is so safe for your skin that you can use it with out diluting it as a shower soap.  I've even heard of some people brushing their teeth with it.  I don't know if I'd go that far.

I probably won't be buying a smaller bottle of castile soap anymore, but I'm hanging onto the little bottle to use for travel, and to make more hand soap when I run out.  The big bottle next to it goes for about 5 dollars.  That's pretty cheap for organic hand soap if you think about how many times you can refill the bottle.

Awesome Frito-Lay

The Huffington Post reported the other day that they are working on yet another bio-degradable bag. If you remember, Sunchips for a while had been advertised that they were in a compostable bag, but that bag was embarrassingly loud.

The new bag should be getting in the stores right about now, but only in the original flavor.  Go poke a bag and tell me what you think.  Apparently they're supposed to be just as noisy now as regular bags.  I have to admit, it's a good thing they are trying again.  Change is hard, and their persistence gives me a lot of respect for their company.  Good job Frito-Lay!  Now let's get all your bags like this. :)

Story of Electronics

Green Ideas Working...

Now let's bring this to the US! :)

Fresh Aire Paint -- Home Depot

I'm sad to hear that Home Depot is discontinuing it's line of greener paint, Fresh Aire. I thought my readers would be curious to know though that for the next 3 days, it's on sale for half price. I bought myself about 4 cans this morning since I have much painting to do in my new house.

So get out there quick, and get yourself some paint if you have any painting to do in the next few months.  The cans usually sell for about 30 bucks, and they're half price right now.

Anyone have any favorites for a new brand of paint?

Small changes for your Christmas

Having had to get rid of most of my Christmas stuff when I moved across the country earlier this year, I'm looking to make greener choices in my decorating and gift giving this year. I've already decided to get a real tree, and now I need lights and other stuff. So here's a few tips I've found online that I thought I'd share with my readers about greening up Christmas this year.

So, this year here are just a few things that are on my shopping list to help me deck the halls.

1. LED Christmas lights. Of course I'm going to use any that I might have, but since I'm buying a real tree this year and only had my artificial pre-lit tree before I need new lights.

2. Present wrapping will likely be done with news paper, or paper grocery bags. I will use whatever wrapping paper I have leftover, but I can hardly think a cute little brown gift with a red bow on it won't be any less enjoyed as one with fancy paper.

3. Gifts. Last year all of my gifts were hand made. I did that for a few reasons. One, I was completely broke. Hubs had no job last year, so our budget was incredibly tight. Secondly, I think a handmade gift is better cherished then some random thing bought at the store. This year will be a blend of special things purchased and things made.

4. Don't buy what you don't need.  I'm going to do a full inventory before I begin purchase stuff to deck my halls.  Don't fall into the consumer trap and buy a whole bunch of stuff you already have.  If you have lights and don't need more, don't run out and buy LED lights.  Use what you have.

Is your tree real or fake?

For years and years our tree has been fake.  My thinking? I buy a tree once, and I keep it and reuse it for years. So here are some pro's and con's for both to give you something to think about this year as you get your own tree up (if you do that sort of thing).







Fake Tree Pro's


1. One tree lasts for years, potentially up to 10 years or more.
2. Saves on carbon foot print from having to shop around for a tree each year.
3. If you kept said tree for 10 years, it could save you up to $300 dollars over the life of that tree.  Savings come from buying a new tree each year and the gas it costs to buy it.
4. These trees are maintenance free, no watering required.  (is that obvious?) ;)
5. Convenient.  Most artificial trees now a days come pre-lit, so no dancing around the tree stringing up lights.

Fake Tree Con's


1.  Most trees are made of petroleum based plastics, and may contain PVC, lead or other dangerous metals.
2.  Most artificial trees sold in America were made in China.
3. These factories use more energy and create more pollution to produce artificial trees then their natural counterparts.
4. Plastic artificial trees are not biodegradable and may end up sitting in landfills for hundreds of years.

Real Tree Pro's


1. Christmas Trees come from Christmas Tree farms, not forests so there is no need to worry about deforestation.
2. Tree farms provide a natural habitat for animals.
3. One acre of Christmas trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people.  With over 1 million acres in production just in the United States that provides enough oxygen for over 18 million people every day.  There's some green.
4. Christmas tree farms stabilize soil, protect water supplies and provide refuge for wildlife while creating scenic green belts. Often, Christmas trees are grown on soils that could not support other crops.
5. Christmas Trees can be recycled into mulch for your yard. Find out more about Treecycling.
6. Every state in the entire United States has Christmas Tree farms.  That makes it very likely that yours didn't travel far, unlike it's artificial counterparts that likely came from Asia.
7. Buying real Christmas Trees supports the local economy.

Real Tree Con's


1. Having to buy a new one every year.
2. They require upkeep, and must be watered daily to make sure they don't dry out and become flammable.
3. Any pesticides or herbicides used to grow the trees creates pollution.


So what kind of Christmas Tree will you put up this year?

Sources:
1. Artificial Christmas Tree
2. Mom going Green
3. Real Christmas Trees

Dropping Sugar?

While in Florida over the weekend, I had a brief conversation with my sister in law about sugar and purging it from your body for health reasons.  She said one thing that stuck with me, sugar has a horrible impact on the environment.  Why didn't I know this??

According to the World Wildlife Fund, over 145 million tons of sugar is produced in over 120 countries each year.  It does take it's toll on the environment, especially the delicate ecosystems near the equator. The clearing of land for plantations has lead to a lack of biodiversity, and the use of pesticides has contributed to the destruction of coral reefs.

It didn't surprise me after reading some of this that my sister in law learned of this, due to the huge environmental impact of sugar in the Florida Everglades.  Pesticide runoff has caused a diverse subtropical forest to become a lifeless marshland.  I encourage you to read the WWF's report here.

So, what changes can we make as consumers to encourage more responsible sugar farming?  The first is to simply use less sugar.  It is in everything, so limiting processed foods, and cooking everything ourselves is a great start.  My biggest weakness is coffee, and my new goal will be to have it BLACK.  I currently add my organic half and half, and organic sugar to my coffee.  I'm thinking taking both of those out alone may add to weight loss, and other health benefits.  I will slowly add less and less sugar to my coffee until there is none.

You can also switch to organic sugar.  Organic sugar will have been grown without the use of pesticides, limiting water pollution.  It also is less processed, meaning there will be trace amounts of vitamins and minerals in your sugar.  There are even other sources of less processed sugar, such as Sucanat and Rapadura.  On a side note, I have yet to find an artificial sweetener that I am comfortable with.  The options in my house are organic sugar, or honey.

What do you know about the environmental impact of sugar?  What changes have you made for your health, and for the health of the environment?

Bento Lunch Boxes

The other day at wholefoods, I broke down and bought a Bento Laptop Lunch Box.  So far, I'm super glad I did.  My son wanted a Star Wars lunch box to take to school this year since he's actually going and not staying home.  I went back and forth on this, and settled on the Bento Box.  I urged  him use his imagination a little bit, I got the black box with the red inner boxes so he can still have "dark side" colors.  I even dug  up some star wars stickers and let him decorate it himself.  He was happy.

One thing I like about this box is  it's made of plastic that is BPA free, so I don't have to worry about the chemicals that could be leaching into my son's food.  Secondly, because of all the cool little boxes that come inside the box, I don't have to add to the landfill with my ziplock baggies.  Getting rid of any disposable things is one of the most simple green things you can do.  It's easier said then done, I know.

These cool little boxes that come with it make sectioning off a healthy lunch easy.  There's even this tiny box for ketchup or candy or whatever you want to put in there.  It also came with silverware.  My son now has his very own set of silverware to take to school with him every day.

This particular set I got at wholefoods also came with a book with lunch ideas. When my son went to kindergarten, I found it so difficult to make him unique lunches every day.  Sifting through this book, I know it will help me come up with some pretty good ideas to give him unique lunches every day.

I paid about $25 for this set, and I know it's a bit pricey for a lunch box.  In my mind though, I won't be spending money on sandwich bags and plastic ware over and over again.  Its a one time cost that I think in the end will end up being cheaper.  You can purchase replacement inner containers online too.  If you don't have time to clean them every day, or if one gets tossed out accidentally you can just get what you need.

I think we're ready for school to start now.  Colorado starts so early.  He'll be in school next Tuesday. :(

Green Backpacks

Weather you send your kid to school, or keep them home, this time of year is when many of us are looking for school supplies to get our kids back into the school routine.  It can be difficult to make greener decisions, especially when there's a huge markup on green items.  The other day I was at Walmart, and they had their regular note books on sale for 15 cents, while the greener equivalent was $2.50.  That makes life hard.

I've tried to put together some green finds I've found just searching over the internet to hopefully help you make greener choices.

My first find was this Terracycle Recycled Drinkbox Bookbag.   For only $14.99 that's a comparable price for a bookbag.

Bazura makes a great lunch bag with a similar design, also made out of drink boxes.  They are made from a co-op of women in the phillipines, and are fair trade.  At $15.95 they are also something worth considering.

Have an older kid heading off to highschool, or looking for a cute bag for yourself?  Try this Hemp Backpack from the Hemp sisters.  Retailing for only $47.95, it's a little more of a stretch, but in my mind not out of reach.  Definitely something to consider.

For those of you not familiar with hemp, it is a plant closely related to cannibus, but lacking in the chemical to get you high.  So don't worry about your teen trying to smoke the backpack, it won't work.  Sadly hemp is illegal in the U.S. and most of the hemp here comes from Canada.  

Hope this helps you getting started on your back to school adventures with the kiddos.  Green can be affordable if you look hard enough.

Green America's Green Grants Contest

Click here to vote for your favorite project to win a green grant.

Spread the word on your blogs!

Simple ways to reduce in the kitchen

Any of my regular readers know, I'm not a fancy gourmet cook.  I use ingredients that are available to me, and that I believe are typical in the American cabinet.  In the last year though, I've made the decision to do most of the food processing in my own home.  Earlier this week, I posted about making jam in the kitchen.  It is a long process, and it took me most of the morning that day.  In the end though, doing the processing myself I've taken a step to reduce.

For conventional jams and jellies, fruit is picked at the farm (wherever that farm may be), and it is shipped to a plant for processing.  Smucker's for example is a very popular jelly, and I can only assume they get most of their fruit from California (they aren't very transparent as to where things come from, eeek!).  Then it is likely shipped to their plant in either Ohio, or Kentucky, and then it is shipped to you.  How much gas and resources is wasted just to have your jelly go all over the country?!

On top of that, the average jelly has high fructose corn syrup, and other preservatives that are unnatural and difficult to pronounce.  I know what's in mine, and I know there are no bugs, chinese abscorbic acid or any other nasties in it either.

Another thing I've recently cut out is ziplock bags.  I marinated some chicken the other day (local I might add!) and I mixed the marinade in a measuring cup, laid the chicken in the bowl, and poured the marinade over it.  I covered it with recycled foil, and stuck it in the fridge.  I don't need a petroleum laced plastic bag, and it's one less thing that will end up in a land fill.  Also, my chicken still has the bone in it.  I rarely buy boneless anymore, it reduces the cost, it reduces the processing, and it reduces the waste.  Freeze the bones to make chicken broth at a later time and you've just saved more money.  Who needs MSG/sodium laced bouillon cubes when you've got flavorful homemade broth?

It is simple to do your part to help the environment in the kitchen.  When done right, you'll save yourself money too.  Have a great Saturday. :)

Local Warming

I just wanted to do a little advertising about an event being held in my old stomping grounds next week. Local Warming will be doing be premiering at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. The showing is part of a local Solutions Fair and wine festival intended to inspire action on lowering the carbon footprint in the community.  Several of the key filmmakers will be at the screening, including the director, Tom Reilly, musician Rob Lynch, who wrote five original songs for the movie, and Director of Photography Jon Van Gorder.

If any of my readers attend the event, please let me know.  I would love to hear about it, or post pictures.

Plant a tree with Odwalla

Plant a tree with Odwalla.  It takes just a few minutes and it's kinda fun to do.  Their website is beautiful, and easy to get around.  They paired up with Facebook, so if you don't have an account with them, they may pester you to do so.  I think Texas is leading the race with the most trees planted, but I have to say, I'm pretty proud of Virginia for being ranked third.  Where does your state rank? 

Go plant a tree, and have fun!!  Thanks Odwalla!

Cleaning Silver with Baking Soda and Foil

Still purging here, and cleaning up stuff that we haven't used in a long time.  This beautiful silver serving dish was one given to us 8 years ago when we got married.  It's been in storage for probably the five years we've been at this house.  Polishing a large plate like this can seem a scary task, but it actually wasn't so bad with the Baking Soda and Foil technique.  You can see here, the plate started off in a pretty dingy state.

I brought needed supplies to our bathroom, since the bathtub is the only large enough container I had to soak it in. I recommend lining your bathtub with a towel or something so you don't scratch it. I used hot water and let the plate soak for about 10 minutes, flipping it over now and then. I wasn't satisfied with the results initially, so I got a dark towel, and started rubbing the plate. I added more baking soda while rubbing to help get the tarnish off, and it did rub onto the towel, so either use a rag, or a dark towel you won't see it on.

In the end, I have a shiny silver platter that was cleaned with only baking soda, not some crazy harmful chemical. What a difference. Now I need to decide if I should sell it, or keep it.

Moving Cleanly -- Purging

So, in case you're not in the scoop, hubs got a job. This summer will be spent moving from Virginia to Colorado. Of course I will be documenting this process here on the blog, and how I intend to do this in the most green way possible.

We already messed up this morning when we went to the Uhaul place to buy boxes. I've put the word out. I need boxes! I don't want to buy brand new boxes. Anyway...

Our first step is to purge. The less we move, the less it costs and the better for the environment. We'll either be doing a yard sale this weekend, or we'll get a flea market booth. Flea markets are huge here, and this time of year they are booming. The other thing I've found is Freecycle. On their website, you can browse the area for people giving stuff away, or post what you need. Green can be cheap!

For greener, yet pricier solutions you can try Green Box. Sadly for me, they are located in Southern California. Not much help to me in the suburbs of D.C.

While we use the boxes we have, the rest of our boxes will be a miss match of stuff we ask for from the stores we shop at, or from friends or from Freecycling. Wish us luck, or moving journey begins!

Having a Carbon Neutral Blog

This, my friends, is so simple. Three easy steps and your blog is carbon neutral. How cool is it to have a tree planted for your blog? We plant a tree every year in our yard, and I've been a member of the Arbor Day Foundation for years. Anyway, here is a cut and pasted snippet about how to become carbon neutral.

Happy Friday!







Just write a short blog post about our programme “My blog is carbon neutral” and include one of the buttons below on your site (ideally in the sidebar). Send the link to your blog to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de and we plant a tree for you, neutralising the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog. The trees will be planted in the spring of 2010 by the Arbor Day Foundation. For more information about how and where the trees are planted, see the NEWS section.

Just a few easy steps to make it green:

1. Write a blog post about the initiative + insert your favourite button
2. E-mail the link to your post to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de
3. We plant a tree for your blog in Plumas’!
Note: We plant a tree for each domain. Please copy the html-code and paste it in your blog. Make sure the carbon-neutral button works, the html-code must not be changed. Use the carbon-neutral-white button for a white background or the carbon-neutral-transparent button for different colored backgrounds. If you need help, please contact CO2-neutral@kaufda.de. We are looking forward to planting your tree!

Recycling Crafts -- Free eBook

I stumbled across this free eBook this morning and had to share. This book contains 42 ideas to reuse stuff into crafts, and the ideas are very cute. Please don't print it out, just save it and get busy with the kiddos.

For more information read here, and to just download it you can do that here.

Happy Crafting!