ecosystem is a newer line of earth friendly planners and journals (or books as they call them) that are easily personalized. Ecosystem was further designed to empower environmentally aware product owners. Each book has a unique book ID number, which you can use to track a book’s origins, learn how they are environmentally-friendly, and to find out exactly how to recycle each book.

How it works:

You head to ecosystem and choose a book type – ecosystem Advisor, ecosystem Architect, ecosystem Artist, or ecosystem Author.
You choose a cover style.
You choose a size.
You choose the color. Current colors available include the ones shown …read more

During all of this SIGG has BPA in the liner drama going down, maybe one of the most peeved individuals I’ve run into about it has been our own Peggy – aka, ex-Tree Hugging Family co-blogger extraordinaire. At Blisstree Green I posted about the SIGG issue as well and Peggy left an interesting comment about looking for glass water bottles. She posted a link to one type of glass water bottle, but didn’t love the reviews. It got me wondering if there was a better glass reusable water bottle out there, one Peggy might like, and after a little search …read more

If you ive in San Francisco the answer would be yes, we should and we will fine someone $500 for not recycling. According to the Times’ Green Inc., “A new mandatory recycling and composting law is poised for approval.” The ordinance, soon to be reviewed by the city’s Board of Supervisors, is going to require that residential and commercial building owners sign up for recycling and composting services or pay up to a $500 fine. Additionally, the ordinance covers punishment for anyone who puts recyclable or compostable material in landfill-bound bins.

San Francisco already covets the highest recycling rate in the …read more

You can recycle magazines – even glossy mags, just toss them in your bins after checking with your local recycling center. However, since it takes energy and trees to make magazines and because it also uses energy to recycle them, you may as well get some good mileage out of them first. Following are some goods ways to reuse the magazines you’ve got…

Donate – many schools, community centers, homeless shelters, and other organizations would be happy to take your magazines. Don’t forget about your pals and family members too.
Make a nice full color cookbook on the cheap.
Help your kiddos to …read more

In a previous post here (long ago) we talked about how most plastic bottle caps aren’t recyclable by your local recycling company. That sucks because all bottles come with caps right? Now you may have a choice for some of your caps!

Aveda has a brand new Caps Recycling Program. Aveda is working with their network of salons and stores, in partnership with community schools, to build a program that recycles those pesky caps we keep tossing out.
How it works: Plastic bottle caps will be collected at stores and schools and then sent by Aveda to a recycling company so that …read more

My son Cedar continues to be utterly obsessed with toilet paper tube reuse. I’m wondering if this phase will ever end actually. Is he going to grow up and market toilet paper tubes, or maybe work at a recycling plant? Who knows, but in the latest TP roll news; here you go…

I show up at school to pick Cedar up yesterday and he immediately grabs a toilet paper tube that he’s made into a “Weapon” – great. He sliced the edges all ragged and says, “You sure could get rid of a dangerous person with this.” Perfect. Not sure who …read more

Today’s green question appeared on the post, 25 Safe, Non-toxic, Homemade Cleaning Supplies; a reader asked, “I have some old floor cleaners, wax, ect.. what’s the best way to get rid of it with out hurting the environment?”
First of all you’ll need to know which household cleaners are worth keeping, and which should be tossed. You can read the following post; How many cleaning supplies are under your sink that your child could safely drink? to sort out your chemicals.
Secondly, you don’t want to toss them in the sink. Cleaners can be just as toxic to the environment as paint …read more

Welcome to April Tree Hugging Families! It’s officially Earth Day month and to celebrate I’ve got a great Disneynature’s Earth giveaway package for one lucky reader.

ABOUT THE NEW MOVIE:
I recently posted about Disneynature’s Earth – but in case you missed it, here’s a quick recap. Disneynature’s Earth is a brand new Disney flick premiering on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. As noted previously, this flick is narrated by James Earl Jones and follows three families of animals through their daily lives – whales, polar bears, and elephants. This movie is just one of the great ways you and your family …read more

In the last post we looked at which containers are available for milk storage. There aren’t too many great choices out there right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative. Especially if your family purchases milk in plastic jugs.

The best thing to do with plastic jugs?….
Leave them on the shelf – don’t buy them unless you’re dedicated to recycling them. They will never biodegrade. They’ll just sit in that old landfill forever.
That said, there are other options for plastic jug reuse.
Cutting the top off at an angle you can make a toilet brush holder.
Cutting the bottom off …read more

How much thought are you giving to your milk purchases? You should be thinking about your milk, both for the sake of your health and the environment.

First of all, containers aside, milk is one of the foods that should be on your ONLY buy organic list. Organic milk (and all dairy products made with organic milk) won’t contain antibiotics, pesticides, or synthetic hormones, among other junk you don’t need in your body. Of course some folks think that organic milk doesn’t win out over conventional; that’s a choice you need to make on your own. However, no matter the milk …read more