If you and your family are going green, it’s important to note that there may not be just one solution for all the green issues your family faces.

There are shades of green, and the point is to not only find the shade that suits your family but the shade you’ll stick with. For example, I don’t think anyone should use disposable grocery bags. There’s plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t that make sense to most people. However, where it gets sticky is when it comes to choosing the bags you’ll be shopping with. Should you choose recycled organic cotton bags …read more

Some green steps are large, some medium, some small, and some so tiny and simple, it feels like nothing to do them. The super baby green steps below are so easy that anyone can do them and yet they all add up to a healthier, happier planet…

Use your shower towel twice to save water, energy, and money; not to mention time doing laundry. Bonus points if you use it all week. You’re clean anyhow after a shower.
Ditch your ATM receipt. One little slip of paper is nothing, but if you lined all those ATM receipts up (from everyone in the …read more

Moving is hard to green up. There’s a ton of gas, packaging, and disposables involved. You can green your move, but it takes some doing.

That said, one VERY simple green moving choice you can make is to change your address online.
According to the United States Postal Service, over 46 million Americans move each year. If everyone filled out a paper change of address form, that’s over 46 million forms a year (many households use more than one) and more than 20,000 trees are needed to create all these forms. Not to mention the gas everyone uses to get to the …read more

If you’re new to Tree Hugging Family or new to green living in general, you should know that no one (or at least me) expects you to rush out and buy a hybrid, attach solar panels, or cut showers down to three minutes flat. Yeah, that’s all fine, but if you’re new to green, even small steps are good. EVEN super tiny baby green steps, such as…

Forget the drinking straw at any and all restaurants.
Step down one heat setting while washing clothes. Technically, you can wash everything on cold; but if you’re freaking about losing the heat, just use the …read more

Lazy meal parts? It’s easy to throw out a disposable, dirty dish, but don’t.
I’m not saying microwave meals are green, but if you choose one for handiness, don’t forget to recycle.
• Toss the outer packaging into paperboard recycling.
• Rinse the dish and put it in plastic recycling. Those dishes are often #1 plastic! Check to see.
If you consume microwave meals, do you recycle the packaging?
Image via flickr.
Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes and everything else going on at Tree Hugging Family in October 2008.

I’m serious about coffee – almost to an obsession. I always brew in the morning, and then usually at least once in the afternoon. (Yeah, not the healthiest habit, but this isn’t about that.) Anyhow, Friday night I was up late writing, and on Saturday when I got up I REALLY needed coffee. Much to my anti-delight, I woke up to a completely dead coffee maker. Mine is old, but to be broken first thing in the morning; that’s a crisis.
I tried to fix it. I tried to will the thing with my mind to work. Nothing. It was dead. …read more

I’m not sure it’s wise to suggest this for younger teens, but I think by college and adulthood we can all manage a cafeteria lunch without the use of a tray.
If you’ve been keeping up with news stories on the trayless movement on campuses across the country, you might know that leaving the trays behind has several great benefits.
It saves LOTS of water. And dish detergent. Don’t forget about the energy saved as well. Plus, there’s less food waste.
According to a recent article, the University of Maine at Farmington has reported a 65,000-pound reduction in food waste since implementing a …read more

Many schools are going online and paper-free with their newsletters. Has yours?
Sure, this idea may encounter some resistance. No every household has a computer, and schools must be sensitive to that. However, parents may be given the option to have an online newsletter printed out and sent to them.

Advantages of online school newsletters:
• Saves paper and money
• Faster than printing
• Effortless distribution once email addresses are collected
• Makes sharing of information easier. (Parents may simply forward a relevant newsletter to family and friends.)
• Teaches children a lesson in reducing waste
One resource worth exploring for online school newsletters is School-newsletter.com.
How does …read more

This really is a small step, since cotton swabs are so tiny.

If you choose cotton swabs with a paperboard handle instead of plastic, you’ll save petroleum. There’s too much plastic waste in the world, even little swabs will add up.
Image via stock.xchng.
Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

If your recycling center is like mine, they allow you to leave the labels on steel and aluminum cans for recycling.
But… those labels are recyclable paper. And they’re usually easy to remove unless wet or soiled.
Try adding to your paper recycling by removing clean food labels from cans when possible.
Image via stock.xchng
Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008