And what happens – the trees are dead, the animals leave, and life as the entrepreneur knew it ends up a mess with just one kid who may be his salvation.

Ah Dr. Seuss – so ahead of his time.

Variety notes that the flick, a 3-D CG event is being created in a joint effort by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment and it’s co-directed by Chris Renaud and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio, with Paul & Daurio writing the script.

If your kids are Lorax hungry now check out the Lorax Save the Trees Game – some plug-ins required but fun.

I can’t wait! We don’t get to see many eco-kid movies. How excited are you?!

[image via Amazon]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 mention other fabric choices).

I like the piece but in my opinion they did not comment enough about the huge long life span of cloth napkins in the home. Treehugger factored in a year of washing for cloth napkins in the home, but something to consider is that cloth napkins last a lot longer than one year. So when factoring in the energy and materials used to make cloth napkins you also need to note that they’ll last for many years around the house.

You should also factor in alternative fabrics. You can buy organic cotton, flax, hemp, and other napkins vs. conventional cotton. As for the use factor, all of the cloth napkins I’ve ever owned last for about 4-5 years – although by year 4 they are getting a little blah. Once a napkin is too icky to use as a napkin, I switch it over to a cleaning cloth, where I’ll use it until it dies. This means you get super life out of a napkin and get to use cloth not paper towels to clean with which saves even more resources.

Overall they are saying that cloth is best in the home though, and obviously I agree. Read more about cloth napkins here:

• How cloth napkins save you money
• Benefits of cloth napkins
• Make Easy, No-Sew Cloth Napkins in Five Minutes

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 make sure it works, and it’s way cool. There’s nothing to download and you DO NOT have to give your name, credit card info, or any other private info. All you need is an email address. I love that; no more magazines hounding you when your subscription runs out.

How to get your free magazine – I’ll walk you through this easy process.

1. Head to the main read green initiative page.

2. Click on the box that looks like this:

3. Browse the Read Green newsstand collection and click on your favorite magazine title.

4. Enter your valid email address, click on the GO button, and you’re done. The area you’re in now will look like this:

5. After entering your email and clicking go, you’re done. It’s simple. You then will end up on what is called “Your Library” page where you can either download your magazine and read it anywhere, or read it using the online browser.

NOTES:

• I was not asked to download any sort of special reader, or software. Your magazine just pops up on a new browser page. It’s a very cool service.
• So far I can’t find a glitch. This free magazine does in fact seem free, plus you get access to other low-cost magazine choices to download.

There are plenty of free magazines that green heads might be interested in. Such as….

GreenSource

Vegetarian Times

Backpacker

Natural Solutions

And many more…

Try Zinio out for yourself and score your free magazine.

If you do try Zinio out, let me know in the comments what you think.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 new trees across NYC’s five boroughs by 2017!

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.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 Bags & The Self Checkout
• Reusable Bags for Bulk Food Items
• Reusable Bags & Reusable Storage Options for Bulk Food Items
• Polite Ways to Suggest Reusable Bag Use

Get your own bag:

• Reusable Bags with a Message
• My Dream Bag – Haiku Ultimate Messenger/Diaper Bag
• ReJAVAnate Reusable Bags
• Organic Cotton FEED 100 Bags
• The Absolute Last Word in Cute Reusable Totes
• Creative Ways to Score Your Bags
• Flip & Tumble Bag: A Bright Idea
• Make Your Own Long Shopping Bag
• Green Product Review: My New Bags
• My Reusable Bags Review: Organic Cotton Eco-Bags
• What’s Your Favorite Reusable Bag?
• Have You Tried a ChicoBag?
• Review: ChicoBags, a Fun Solution
• Fun Angry Girl Reusable Bags
• Make Your Own Oilcloth Bags
• CarryEco Bags Now Available in the US
• Dream Bag Line Up
• Inexpensive Reusable Grocery Bags
• Olive Smart Reusable Grocery Bags

The why of reusable bags vs. disposable:

• Plastic Bags – Facts & Figures
• Paper Bags Aren’t the Solution
• 17 Ways to Purge Those Plastic Bags
• Where do Unwanted, Unrecycled Plastic Bags Go?
• More Ideas On Recycling Plastic Bags

Bags for kids!:

• Craft Project: Altered Reusable Bag for Kids
• Kids, Design a Trick-or-Treat Bag for ChicoBag!

Other reusable bag ideas:

• A Different Sort of Bag — for Leaves!
• Baskets Instead of Bags?
• Eco Patches for Your Bags
• And the big fat anti tree hugging award of the week goes to…
• Plastic Bags Around Delivered Newspapers

Holy smokes – now that’s a lot of bags. Can you imagine if I went through and found all the bag posts we’ve ever done since this blog started? Wow. I’ll most likely be adding this round-up to the sidebar pages, so later you can find these posts again if you like.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 been able to figure out how. Items like toilet paper, soap, dish washing detergent, organic produce, recycled computer paper, and so on are items you may need, and should buy green, but, it’ll cost you.

To balance the costs I’m going to start sharing some green things that will save you money so that you can buy the products that are necessary. I’ll try to include calculations when possible to make it more realistic.

Today let’s start with an obvious one…

Use cloth napkins instead of buying paper – I’ve never bought paper napkins in my entire life, so I honestly did not know what they cost. My mom used cloth, I’ve always used cloth, so I looked it up. You can get 400 conventional paper napkins for $35.99 at Amazon. In a family of four that’s three (at least) meal times a day. In a year the four of you would eat around 1095 meals together. Using four napkins per meal equals 4380 napkins or almost 11 packs of napkins per year. Which amounts to about $400.00 a year in paper napkins. That’s if you only use one each per meal.

Now, if you buy everyone in your family of four enough organic cotton napkins for three days worth of meals you’d need a set of 36 cloth napkins. I’m assuming you don’t want to wash them every day, so I figured in enough for about three days. I found some nice ones for $22.99 which means you’ll spend a total of $206.00 for the napkins. I’ve seen organic napkins for less though, and also you could skip the organic and pick up 36 nice thrift store napkins for about $1-2 each, making your total cost about $72.00 at the most plus gas to drive to the the thrift store.

In one year you can save anywhere from $194 to $364 by using cloth napkins.

However, you also have to factor in usage and water and energy costs.

Personally I think it’s dumb to use the old argument, “But I have to wash them – that costs water and energy!” If you’ve ever washed cloth napkins you’ll know that they use up almost no space in your washer. 36 napkins won’t even amount to a small load. I always throw them in with my other laundry, which frankly, I have to wash anyhow, so water, soap, and energy costs are a moot point.

If you want to argue this though we can. I checked around and there are different estimates on how much it costs to wash one load of laundry on cold using your dryer set on medium to dry. The costs ranged from about 12 cents to 34 cents depending on where I looked. We’ll use the top range; 34 cents.

According to the book The Tightwad Gazette, it takes about 200 napkins in your typical sized washer to make a full load. That’s worth washing your own set of 36 napkins about 5 times, or about 24 full loads of napkins per year, which works out to around $8.00 a year – even if you add in soap costs, it’s clear that washing cloth napkins can’t outweigh the costs of buying paper. You’re still saving a ton of money.

Then you have to factor in the savings from long-term use. I’ve had cloth napkins my whole life, and the typical life span is four to five years of hard core use as napkins, and then I use them for another two years as cleaning rags, which saves the cost of paper towels.

Let’s add it all up:

Four year’s worth of organic cloth napkins for a family of four =

• $206.00 initial cost
• About $50 for four years worth of washing (and I rounded up big time for soap use and energy fluctuation)
• Total cost of nice organic cloth napkins for four years = $256.00

Four year’s worth of disposable paper napkins for a family of four =

• $1,600 ongoing purchase costs
• $143 the extra costs of one extra pack a year, because anyone with little kids is lying if they say they really only use one napkin each per every single meal.
• Total cost of basic paper napkins for four years = $1,743

Savings with cloth napkins over four years = $1,487

In other words, enough right there to buy all the organic apples and bleach free detergent you need.

Don’t forget, I use the cloth napkins for about 1-2 years to clean, which is an additional savings of hundreds of dollars in paper towels. I also calculated using the nicer organic napkins but you can get nice ones for a fraction of that at thrift stores. Also, we haven’t even discussed how many trees I saved using cloth. The actual savings are much more far reaching than simply monetary costs. If you use recycled paper napkins you pay about $600 a year so this is one case where using recycled won’t help you out. Recycled napkins actually make cloth look even better because over four years you save $2,194 by using cloth over recycled.

Whew, I hope someone finds this useful, because seriously all this math has shot my brain. Have I convinced you to switch to cloth napkins or do you have a good argument for paper?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 around the world.

Does your family celebrate Arbor Day? How?

[photo via stock.xchng]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 pollution caused by molds, mites, varnishes, paints, cleaners, and more.

3. Have a spring reusable bag sewing party.

4. Use the spring lilacs to create something sweet.

5. Celebrate spring like other cultures do:

• In Egypt, you throw open your windows and breathe deep on the first day of spring. Later have a picnic.
• In Poland a large straw doll is dressed up in old clothes, and then thrown in the river – ok, maybe don’t do that one (not great for fish).
• The festival of colors, or Holi, is a Hindu spring festival, observed in North India and Nepal where children squirt colored water on each other to celebrate.
• What other spring traditions do cultures celebrate? Tell me what you know.

6. See the zoo babies.

7. Try left-over heat cooking for your spring recipes. This means turn the stove top or oven off when food is almost done. Pasta, veggies, rolls, and even meats in the oven will be ok (and fully cooked) if you turn off the heat a few minutes early. Just leave the oven door shut, the pot top on, etc. Imagine how many minutes of energy you will have saved by next spring.

8. Enjoy new blossoms and leaves sprouting to life on the trees.

9. Build a rain barrel to collect spring showers.

10. Rent lawn equipment that you know you will only use occasionally.

11. Alternatively, start a neighborhood co-op of lawn equipment. Purchase together and share major item.

12. Visit a waterfall – this is the best time of year for waterfalls, snow is melting, and the water comes crashing down.

13. Spring clean – just don’t spring clean with chemicals and other icky stuff. Make this year’s spring cleaning actually clean and healthy.

14. Learn which fruits and veggies are in season and eat bunches of them. Buying in season and locally grown is better for the earth, your wallet, and your health.

15. Choose a recycled plastic picnic table.

16. Fold a “springing” froggy out of recycled paper.

17. If your coffee shop of choice serves single serve sugars and creamers, choose a new favorite coffee shop or ask them to get large, bulk containers of cream and sugar.

18. Visit a wetland area – there are still enough wetland areas so that it’s safe to assume that there’s one near you, but there may not be for long. Without conservation we could lose some major wetland areas. I’d visit soon because it’s not clear yet that enough people care to save them. Ask your local visitors center where you can find a wetland area near you.

19. Get some cool spring worthy eco-toys. These new toys from Green Toys are created from curbside recycled milk containers. The actual shop should be open in the spring sometime, but until then you can contact the company directly with purchase inquiries. They have a great Sand Play Set or Organic Gardening Set.

20. Is it still too cold for flowers where you live? Make some colorful recycled tissue paper garlands to add spring to your house. (Use that used holiday tissue that I know you saved). Better yet, make a garland and give it to a neighbor, friend, elderly home, or children’s ward at a hospital.

21. Rejoice in spring flowers.

22. Help your kids to join Journey North.

23. Buy a reclaimed wood garden bench so you can sit outside and read.

24. This season, and each season have your car engine tuned up and serviced. Following a decent tune up schedule will reduce the amount of pollution your car emits by 20%. Better yet you’ll save on fuel – good for the earth and wallet.

25. Hunt for birds nests – don’t touch though, just look.

26. Build your own compost bin for recycling spring garden and kitchen scraps.

27. Visit a rural farm. Notice how a farm in spring differs from where you live. Unless of course you do live on a farm – then visit a city park and observe the same differences.

28. Go ahead, green your entire Easter celebration.

29. Or at least make your own recycled magazine Easter baskets.

30. If you go on a green picnic this spring make sure six packs with plastic rings aren’t on the menu. One, the plastic rings when not cut can kill birds, fish, and other wildlife. Two, plastic won’t degrade until well after your great grandchildren are celebrating their springs. And three, there’s no need to have them. Many canned drink products now come in boxes instead of with rings. If you’re buying canned drinks, get those instead.

31. Get some eco-friendly rain gear for the whole family so you can go splash in spring puddles.

32. Get your spring garden seeds organized using recycled milk cartons.

33. Rent a greener car on your spring break vacation.

34. Don’t defrost the Easter Ham in the microwave. Microwave defrosting wastes more energy than planning ahead and defrosting in the fridge.

35. Go searching for the end of a rainbow.

36. You still have time for a spring garden clean up.

37. This year combine your spring cleaning with some green audits: Try green auditing your trash, bathroom, or your pantry.

38. Get in the habit of nighttime watering now. Watering your lawn and garden is much more efficient at night than in the daytime. In the cool of evening plants lose almost 50% less water than in the heat. That adds up to a ton of water saved each year. Of course you can double your water saving efforts by using your saved rainwater.

39. On each of your spring outings pick up one piece of trash. If everyone did this that would be over 300 million fewer pieces of litter on our streets, in our parks, and so on, daily.

40. Relax… think about simplifying your life and time.

41. As summer gets closer consider organizing a summer toy lending program with other families – this cuts down on consumption, teaches kids about sharing, and uses fewer resources and energy. Get ideas for your lending program here.

42. Now that it’s warming up, turn your heating down by 5 more degrees. Each 5 degree decrease saves up to 11% energy consumption a year.

43. If you go camping, leave nothing behind in nature. Pack up all your belongings and carry them out of the forest with you.

44. Get up close and personal with some fresh grass – ponder a single blade. Think about all the good reasons why you shouldn’t add chemical poisonous fertilizer to your grass this year

45. Get that recycling under control.

46. Learn to love slow mail – the quicker you send your mail or ask for packages to be delivered to you, the worse it is for the planet. Transportation is hugely connected to pollution and global warming. The more transport we require the worse it is. Quit with the two day mail services. You don’t need stuff right away, and if you know you will, plan accordingly.

47. Try out one of 10 great organic gardening projects for kids this spring.

48. See how many toads you can count at the local river or lake. Can you find tadpoles too?

49. If you take out an off-road vehicle this spring, stick to where you should be. Running over habitats is not cool – you could destroy an animal’s home, kill rare plants, and harm tree roots. Stick to wide trails that are deemed ok for off-road travel.

50. Get away from it all. Imagine what life would be like away from all the hustle and bustle most of the time.

51. Blow bubbles! Make some homemade bubble mix out of a tablespoon of glycerin, a cup of natural liquid soap, and a gallon of water (give or take). Make your own bubble wands out of recycled items like…

• Butter or yogurt tub tops with holes punched in them.
• Green plastic strawberry containers.
• Bent wire hangers.
• That fly swatter you never use.
• Pipe cleaners bent into fun shapes.

52. Hang out with a family of ducks.

53. Dare your family to take at least 5 small steps for the environment by summer.

54. Go on a wildflower hike.

55. Clean out your closets – give good clothing away to the thrift store, make cleaning rags out of the worst, and save the cherished pieces for a memory quilt.

56. Make sure your family participates in eco-friendly boating (if you boat).

57. Slap a fresh coat of paint on the house – non-toxic, VOC-free paint of course.

58. When spring cleaning, don’t forget the car. However, use a bucket of water and an old rag to scrub away dirt, not the power spray on the hose. Every minute you run the hose you’re wasting 10 (or more) gallons of water. There are people in other countries who can’t even find one decent glass of water to drink, and animals and fish who have lost whole water habitats due to water waste. There’s no excuse for excessive water waste.

59. Go bicycling as a family – double your efforts by actually having an errand destination; the grocery store, library, the park for lunch. Every time you don’t take your car, you’re doing the earth some good.

60. Plant a tree – it’s almost always a good time to plant a tree, but spring is really nice because a new tree’s roots won’t be shocked by the cold anytime soon.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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 can also release the necessary sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide needed to create acid rain, or harmful pollution.

This pollution can kill animals, trees, and many researchers think it may end up causing human health issues. In fact, acid rain can even mess with old building and monuments – it’s that powerful a pollutant.

To stop acid rain we all have to use a smaller amount of fossil fuels – in almost all cases this is going to relate to your energy use. Can you think of some ways to use less energy?

An acid rain experiment: This is a well know trick to see how bad acid rain is for our environment. Take two small (same sized) houseplants and make sure that they’re receiving the same amount of sunlight. Placing them on a sunny windowsill will work well. Use a small sticker or an old popcicle stick to mark one plant as the “acid rain plant.”

Now, when you see they need water, water them. However, before you water the acid rain plan, add three tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar to its water. Only use clear, clean water for the other plant. Vinegar and lemon juice are both highly acidic. That represents our “acid” rain.

Experiment questions:

1. Before your experiment consider which plant will grow better. Which do you think?
2. During the experiment which plant is growing better?
3. Do you think that the acid rain plant will eventually die?
4. After you see what the acid water does to one small plant, what do you think a whole bunch of acid rain will do to trees, forests, flowers, animals, and people?

To learn more about acid rain and play fun games visit the acid rain kids site.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

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. In my case a lot of my stuff consists of books, paper items like notes, saved articles and such, and art supplies. If Cedar and I were to pack it up and travel, we’d need a medium sized storage space (for both furniture and boxes). To me that’s too much. Lately I just want to simplify as much as possible.

I have been working on my goals though. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

Went through my files and recycled about half of my paperwork. I saved obvious stuff like tax and medical files and got rid of most of the rest.

Over the last few days I’ve been going through books. I have about 300 or so. Now I’ve set maybe 100 aside to sell at Powells Book’s. This has been really hard. I love my books, or did, I’m starting to feel confined by them though. It’s time to let go. I’m also going to give some away – the ones that are more used looking. In all I should end up about 200 books lighter.

I think I’m going to try and get my art supplies organized too – but I’m still working on a good solution. Because we homeschool, we do use them all, but I think I want less.

Lastly, soon, Cedar and I are going to go through his toys. While I’m not a pack rat, this kid sure is. He has tons of stuff.

If I bought an RV and Cedar and I took off, or wanted to backpack for a while, it would be easier with less stuff. Since that is in our future plans, it makes my goal easier to work on.

Here are some more resources about having too much stuff:

The hidden costs of too much stuff - MSN Money

Stuff Owns You

The awesome Story of Stuff video.

Two of the most influential books to me about stuff have been Your Money or Your Life and Into the Wild. I highly suggest both – although, I don’t necessarily suggest you take off for the wilds of Alaska quite like the kid in Into the Wild did, it’s still a good example of being less confined. They recently made a movie of Into the Wild – no where near as good as the book, but beautiful, here’s some musical inspiration from that flick.

So, how are your green New Year’s goals going?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family