In huge green kid news the Lorax is all set to hit the big screen in March 2012 – so technically not THAT soon. Still though; awesome news. The Lorax, written back in the early 70s (even before I arrived on the planet) is, as we all know a story of a tree hungry entrepreneur. Despite warnings from a little creature, the Lorax, Mr. Entrepreneur (or the Once-ler, who by the way is also the narrator of this tale) cuts down all the trees to fuel his own needs.

And what happens – the trees are dead, the animals leave, and …read more

Cloth napkins are one of my favorite green tips for green newbies. They’re easy to start using, cut consumption, and save trees. Plus for a family they’re very cost affective. Then today I saw that posted the following:Treehugger
Are Paper Napkins More Environmentally Friendly?

This piece notes that the footprint may be smaller if a big business (think restaurant) uses paper. They’ve got calculations to back it up. While they do err on the side of cloth still being better for home use, they got their calculations by factoring in typical cotton napkins not organics or other fabrics (although they do …read more

I just got word of this great new digital magazine service from Zinio. Right now they’re offering free subscriptions (no strings attached that I can see) to an online magazine of your choice. Thus, I’m spreading this around today at various blogs today. (Heads up in case you see this at another of my blogs and think, huh?)
Perks for tree huggers:

Read online, which saves some trees!
Get back copies of various magazines for just 99 cents.
Get special deals on magazines – i.e. save money on your fave reads.
And of course, right now, get a free magazine!

I tried out the service to …read more

Raise your hand if you live in New York City!
Now, go get a free tree. Or if you can’t plant a tree, volunteer at the MillionTreesNYC events.
Here’s the schedule:
Sunday, October 19 – 9am-2pm
92nd Street CENYC Greenmarket – Upper Manhattan
1st Ave. and East 92nd Street
Saturday, October 25 – 9am-2pm (It’s My Park! Day)
Atlas Park Greenmarket – Queens
Cooper Ave at 80th Street
Saturday, October 25 – 10am-3pm (It’s My Park! Day)
Crotona Park Fall Harvest Festival – Bronx
Fulton Avenue and Crotona Park North
What’s more beautiful than a tree? Don’t miss out if you live in NYC.
MillionTreesNYC wants to plant and care for one million …read more

Our month-long June theme was the hefty topic of reusable shopping bags. We blogged and blogged bags, and yet there’s so much more we could have blogged. Bags are a big deal. We’ll likely revisit this feature at some point. If you missed any bag goodness, here’s a round-up of all things reusable bags…
The BYOB challenge:

The challenge kicks off
First BYOB challenge update
BYOB Challenge Update!!!
CHANGE: A Summer Surprise Contest
Reusable Bag Challenge Update – How Did Your Entire Month Go?

Reusable bag basics and overcoming issues:

How Many Reusable Bags Do You Need?
Overcoming Reusable Bag Shyness
Pros and Cons of String Market Bags
Reusable …read more

In the previous money related post I talked about why being green is so expensive – and sort of how it’s not, on a grander scale.
Like I said in my previous post, I’m willing to make changes in my life so that I can buy green products, even when they’re more expensive. You can omit quite a few products from your life than totally gets rid of the need for green or conventional products – like you don’t need separate cleanser for the tub and toilet. However, there are some products you can’t do without, or at least I haven’t …read more

I’ve been thinking about this since Arbor Day in Washington is coming up next week. I used to think there was a set Arbor Day across the U.S. but really we all celebrate on different days.

The Arbor Day Foundation has an easy chart that shows when your state celebrates Arbor Day. Some communities celebrate with week-long events, others for just a day. However, many celebrate in April, so if this is something that you and your family is interested in, I’d check the list today.
For those not in the U.S. you can check their handy list of Arbor Day events …read more

Many of us are welcoming spring today, so I thought it would be nice to go over some nature loving, tree hugging, eco-friendly ideas that will carry the entire family through the better part of spring and into summer.
1. Quit looking at nature through your frosty windows. It’s warming up, so get out there and enjoy nature in real time, in real life, in full blown color.
2. Throw open your windows wide and let in the fresh air. Natural ventilation is actually a really effective green home goal to aim for. Proper cross ventilation naturally helps to remove any indoor …read more

Acid rain is no good. Acid rain technically refers to both wet and dry material from the atmosphere that contains large amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. To break it down, acid rain means polluted rain, snow, fog, hail, sleet, or even dust or smoke. If it falls to the ground and it’s polluted, then we call that acid rain. Even though, as you can see now, that term is somewhat misleading.
The pollution in acid rain is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, like gasoline and oil. Coal burning and some natural sources, like volcanoes and decaying vegetation …read more

How hard would it be for you to just pack up and travel if the opportunity arose? Barring situating your family – how hard would it be based only on the stuff you own? Would you need one small storage space or many large ones?
My ideal answer to the question above would be, “Easy, I could just go.”
My main goal for New Years was to get rid of more stuff. Right now, I have more stuff still than I’d like. I’m not a pack rat or anything, I just do have stuff. Over 30 odd years it builds up. …read more