This May we looked at tips for a happy green wedding. It was a WAY shorter look than last year, mainly because I don’t have my trusty co-blogger around anymore. Still, we did get a chance to see some new green wedding products and tips.

• Reader Question: Toss or Keep Non-Green Wedding Rings?
• Diamonds still not ok for green wedding rings
• INK + WIT Green Wedding Invites
• greenKarat Green Wedding Rings
• Green Wedding Tree Favors
• Casual Green Wedding Dresses & Wedding Party Dresses
• 7 Tips for an Inexpensive Green Wedding
• Dreamy Green Wedding Inspiration
• Unique Sustainable Wooden Wedding Invitation
• Where to find traditional green wedding dresses

Also, I’ll be adding the posts above to the official Tree Hugging Family Green Wedding Guide so if you need the info later, it’ll all be collect in one nice spot.

[image via stock.xchng]

Today we’re going to take a peek at Earth Mama Angel Baby. This is a cool green company that caters to earth lovin’ mamas and tots. Pretty soon we’re also going to take a look at some of their specific products and if you’re lucky there may even be a killer EMAB giveaway in the works! But first, let’s see some company info and eco-perks…

EARTH MAMA ANGEL BABY BASICS:

Earth Mama Angel Baby is an eco-friendly, natural and organic company that offers an entire line of products that support mamas through the entire process of birth, from pregnancy through labor, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, baby care and even the loss of a baby. They also offer yummy products that allow you to pamper your baby and keep him happy and healthy.

ECO-PERKS OF EARTH MAMA ANGEL BABY: Read more

If your little ones are going to be online, they should at least spend some of that time learning about green issues. Following are some fun websites for kids that talk about eco-topics in ways that kids will love…

I Buy Different: One of the best eco-minded sites for tweens and teens in my opinion. This site focuses on how what we buy and how much we buy have a huge impact on the environment, buying choices, and how kids who buy smart can find products and services that use less water, trees, and fossil fuels while decreasing air and water pollution and protecting wildlife habitat. This site is packed with seriously cool tips and kid-based issues, for example:

• A story about a girl who in fifth grade invented a safer bike helmet, and at age 15, designed a new type of asphalt made from recycled plastic bottles.
• Rock bands who plant forests.
• Youth eco-insights.
• And so much more.

I recently reviewed 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth here at THF, which was a fun read, but beyond the book they have a fabulous interactive website for youth. Kids can see the answers to cool questions like, “Does your hamburger make the Earth hotter?” and “How do we save water and stop pollution?” There’s also a huge page of eco-activities and more.

The Green Squad: An NRDC created website that allows kids to search out and solve environmental problems – for example room-by-room in a classroom. Good amount of fact sheets and eco-resources included.

Skworm (Scientific Knowledge Worm) answers your kids questions about soil. Questions such as “Is soil made through magic?” and “What is soil conservation?” are answered by a wiggly worm.

Kids Planet: A really LOUD site so be prepared – but kids will love it. Tons of games, facts, and even a teacher/parent resource page.

The Big Blue Bus: This site has fun features like the Water Wizards Club, plus a very nice Small Fry Club especially for kids 7 and under. There are contests, games, facts, and more all related to water.

[image via stock.xchng]

There aren’t many eco-friendly child care centers around… yet. Here in my state (Oregon) we have The Eco-Healthy Child Care (EHCC) program which follows up with centers and makes sure that certified (or endorsed) centers are as environmentally healthy as possible.

Child care facilities in Oregon can qualify as “Eco-Healthy” by completing a checklist that highlights 25 simple green steps such as…

• Eliminating pesticides from lawn play areas.
• Keeping air quality clean and non-toxic.
• No smoking.
• No aerosols of any kind.
• Non-toxic art supplies used.
• Low-VOC paints used for walls and furniture.
• PVC free toys only.
• Recycling programs in place.
• And more.

Eco-Healthy providers who are endorsed must be committed to reducing children’s exposure to toxins and other environmental health hazards. Endorsed programs are listed on the  website. Oregon currently has over 1000 endorsed eco-healthy child care programs, but what about if you don’t live in Oregon?

• You can do a basic search; type in “YOUR AREA HERE eco-friendly child care” and some options may come up.
• You can use the low impact living eco child care search function.
• You can grab the Oregon checklist and make it available to child care providers in your area.

Hopefully soon, as parents demand healthy changes, more states will realize the importance of eco-friendly child care options.

It’s green wedding month here at THF, and earlier we looked at some vintage and casual green wedding dresses. However, if you’re looking for something a little more traditional, you still do have green options.

Your first best bet for a traditional gown that’s also earth-friendly is to go used. Wear your mama’s gown, look at consignment shops, or visit estate sales. For some new green gown choices keep reading…

Conscious Clothing creates unique green wedding gowns using environmentally friendly,SBP (sustainable and biodegradable product) hemp fabrics. The Basic Strapless Gown is shown above and the details on the organic cotton lace around the neckline is amazing!

Threadhead Creations: Actually, they carry some really unique wedding dress choices, but also some more traditional eco-friendly wedding gown choices too. Such as the Grace dress (seen above) which features a scoop bodice with an open back. The gown is hand-crafted with an eco-friendly blend of hemp/silk.

Other places to look…

• Annatarian: amazing custom work on wedding gowns.
• Olivia Luca: Custom create your own eco-gown.
• Adele Wechsler: AMAZING GOWNS. In fact I’ll say it twice – AMAZING. The gowns here will make you swoon then faint.
• Rawganique: Organic hemp wedding attire for bride and groom plus the wedding party.
• Deborah Lindquist: Carries a unique but still traditional green wedding line.
• Morgan Boszilkov’s Natural Bridal Collection: Not entirely traditional, but sort of tradition with flare.

Folks have a lot of questions about green cleaners. Most recently on the post, 25 Safe, Non-toxic, Homemade Cleaning Supplies, Tosha asked, “Does anyone know how long you can keep these products once you mix them?” Then Caroline followed up with, “I too am interested in knowing if you can mix a batch up and save it? Or do you have to mix and use immediately? No one has answered Tosha on this…and I would like to know too!”

The issue here is that there are 25 cleaners posted in that post – so as you might guess, each can have a varied shelf life. Since no one asked about specific cleaners, here’s a quick life-span primer on some of the cleaners (I’m guessing which ones people are interested in)…

Cleaner # 14 – Disinfectant all purpose cleaner: You can keep this mix of essential oil, water, and soap, until it’s all used up. To be honest, I actually just keep adding new stuff to the same bottle I’ve had around forever. No items in this mix will go bad. If you didn’t EVER use your mix, I’m guessing the essential oil component would eventually degrade or smell different, but I use mine daily, so I’ve never seen it happen.

Cleaner # 16 – Basic furniture polish: Mix fresh each time you use it. If you’ve got a little left over, and for sure will use it within a month, go ahead and keep it, but the olive oil won’t keep for longer.

Cleaner # 17 – Herbal disinfectant: The longest I’ve ever had this mix around is for a few months. By then I’ve used it mostly up and mix up a fresh batch. I don’t think anything bad will happen if you have it around longer, but the herbs may loose their herbal qualities.

Cleaner # 20 – Window / glass cleaner: This mix of vinegar and water will keep forever. At least in my experience. If a vinegar expert stops by, who knows, we may hear differently, but until then, I’m going with keep it until you use it up.

I hope this answers Tosha, Caroline, and anyone else wondering about these homemade mixes.

Green doesn’t have to be costly. In fact, green done right is usually less expensive both up front (i.e. buying less junk) and in the long run (i.e energy saving appliances). However, green often gets a bad rap budget wise. People assume that green changes can cost a bundle. With that in mind, here are 10 easy green changes you can make for $15 or less.

1. Switch to a reusable water bottle. right now Gaiam is offering FREE standard shipping on new and pretty water bottles. COST: $10.38 (plus all that money you’ll save on bottled water).
2. Compost on the cheap: if you snag some free reclaimed wood and wire (or even buy the wire) a homemade compost bin can come in at well under $15. COST: Varies, but with smart planning, under $15.
3. Clean your refrigerator coils: the coils on your fridge can easily get covered with dust and grime which means they have to work harder to cool. Clean them with a long brush. You can find them under or behind your fridge (check your fridge manual). COST: $ Negative – If you already have the cleaning brush, this will actually save you money on your electric bill.
4. Hang a clothesline: this is a super cheap and earth-friendly way to hang clothing. COST: about $10 – A decent clothesline and about 50 clothespins will cost you under $15 in almost all cases (in most cases under $5). Note that you’ll also save money on electricity.
5. Build a rain barrel: a rain barrel will save you cash on your water bills and help you conserve an important resource. COST: about $15 if you’ve got the right plans.
6. Install low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators: these babies can reduce both your water use and water costs by 50% and anyone can install one on their own. COST: You can get fancy shower heads, but there are some for $15 or under. Faucet aerators can always be had for under $5.
7. Clean green: for about $15 you can gather up reusable spray bottles, lemons, baking soda, and some other gear needed to make your own homemade green cleaners. COST: Depends, but if you go bare basics under $15. Learn to make your own homemade green cleaners.
8. Get a PVC-free shower curtain: this is an easy way to avoid dangers of PVC and of course takes almost no effort on your part. COST: about $12.
9. Grow some plants: growing plants indoors can cut your indoor air pollution considerably and it’s way cheaper than a air purifier. COST: Depends on the plant, but if you look for nursery sales or try mail order, you should be able to find air cleaning plants for under $15.
10. Quit buying new planters: especially quit buying plastic planters, but overall you can make all your own planters out of found objects. My favorite EASY homemade recycled planter idea is shown below – a beautiful painted planters. COST: nothing for found planters; about $15 if you need to buy some pretty zero VOC paint. If you’ve got old paint around this project is free.

[image via Sprig]

Share your ideas for inexpensive green changes you can make in the comments…

I know I talk about Night Owl Paper Goods all the time here, but being that I love them, and being that it’s green wedding month here at THF, I can’t NOT post their amazing eco-birch wedding invites, reply cards, and party invites.

zinnia • lavender wedding or party invitation

The eco-wedding line at Night Owl Paper Goods is beautiful, unique, and will kick your green wedding off right. The wedding line of products are made of eco-friendly sustainably harvested yellow birch wood. The wood grain varies, which means your invites will be super unique & lovely. Wedding cards includes custom text, or a fill-in section (yes, you can write on this wood), and outer envelope.

squirrel vows • golden pecan save the date postcard

Shown above:

1. flowering dogwood • sunny wedding or party invitation
2. zinnia • peacock blue reply card
3. Save the Date * Kelly Rosette
4. everlasting wheat circle wedding or party invitation

Pricing is the only downside of these cards. Being so unique they go for $3 to $6 each, so I’m guessing these are MUCH better for a small eco-wedding. If you’ve got the budget though, these are simply the coolest material cards for a green wedding you can get. If going with touchable cards is not your deal check out:

• Engagement Party & Wedding Invitations Go Digital
• Perfect Digital Wedding Cards

Visit Night Owl Paper Goods to learn more.

I recently got a bunch of Earth Friendly Products and have been reviewing them around my various blogs. See:

• Organic Lavender Window Cleaner
• Orange Plus Surface Cleaner

I wanted to review the Parsley Plus Surface Cleaner here though, because I know I’ve got a bunch of readers into gardening and herbs so I thought readers here might specifically adore this cleaner.

Product: Parsley Plus All-Purpose Surface Cleaner from Earth Friendly Products

Uses: Use to clean kitchen, bath, and other countertops, plus other hard surface areas.

Ingredients: Purified water, parsley essence, 100% natural anionic coconut kernel oil based surfactant.

Cost: $4.75 for 17oz. Also available in other sizes including bulk.

Eco facts: Read more

If you’re a tree hugging family with kids you’ve probably got loads of laundry going on all the time, so the laundry room is a good place to go green. Try the following tips.

Make sure your washer and dryer are Energy Star rated for maximum energy and water efficiency.

Grab a cord, some clothes pins, and hang that laundry to dry. I actually hang my clothing year round. If it’s too cold outside, you can hang your clothing directly on hangers, and hang them on the shower rod to dry. This also saves time – right from the washer to closet.

In the summer, do your laundry in the early morning or later in the evening. This will cut energy costs because your air conditioner won’t have to work as hard to keep things cool.

Wash full loads only to conserve water and energy.

Wash everything on cold. It’ll work, even if you’re washing diapers. Yup, it will.

Use eco-friendly laundry detergent and skip dryer sheets (mainly these are a waste). If you like fresh laundry out of the dryer, sprinkle a few drops of organic essential oil onto a washcloth, and place it in the dryer.

Skip the fabric softener and add one-half cup of baking soda to your rinse cycle OR choose an eco-friendly fabric softener.

ALWAYS skip traditional bleach.

If you send items out make sure you look for a more earth-friendly dry cleaner.

What else can you think of?

[image via stock.xchng]