Tree Hugging Family » Shop Green

The number one tip for buying green products on a limited budget

Jennifer — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:27:01 +0000

This week we’re looking (in part) at the money side of green. Yesterday I gave my thoughts on whether or not green products are worth the extra cost. Today we’ll start looking at why the cost of green is a major misconception.

Green to me is worth the cost and I’ll just go ahead and put it out there that I also don’t think green products are unattainable – even on a slim budget. Almost anyone can afford green products over conventional with some planning and strategy.

Where I’m coming from: Just so you don’t think I’m spouting total bunk about anyone being able to afford green, here’s my $ situation… I’ve been a single mama for many years now. I’ve been working as a freelance writer for years and income in this sort of job, as you might guess has some major ups and downs. My son Cedar attends a private alternative school which costs a fair amount and before that he was homeschooled so I had less time to work. I live in a fairly expensive area in a fairly expensive urban city. My son’s dad helps out with Cedar’s school costs and occasionally hands over some money, but I don’t get monthly child support. While we conserve resources (obviously) energy and water bills are still pretty expensive where I live and between that and housing there’s hasn’t been too much left to spare over the years.

However, all that said I can still afford green products that we want most of the time. BUT there is a strategy to it and there are reasons why we can still afford green items on a limited budget and the number one reason why we can is because…

WE BUY LESS STUFF:

Green living by nature should mean living on less. I say should, because to me, to my household it does, but it doesn’t mean that to everyone. Some people think green living means only buying green products over conventional, but there’s more to it than that. For example, you may only purchase green products, but those products still require energy and resources to make – if you’ve got three energy efficient televisions, 50 pairs of ethically made shoes, and a stock supply of green toys you’re really not living much greener than someone with two less efficient TVs, a closet full of non-green clothes, and so on. Having less and living simply is green for many reasons…

You need less space to store junk. Bigger houses needed for people with tons of stuff is less green than living in a smaller home with less stuff. Smaller spaces require fewer resources and less energy. If you’ve got too much stuff, you will need a bigger space.
As noted above no matter what you’re buying (with some food exceptions) it took energy and resources to manufacture. The more you buy the bigger your footprint.
Buying less and sticking to basic necessities most of the time allows room in your budget for the more expensive but also more ethically made products you want.
Having less allows you to focus on more important stuff – like green living. The more you buy, the more money you need. The more money you need the more time you need. The more time you use up working is time taken away from your family, your ability to advocate for green issues, and the time you get to spend out in nature with your kids. Having too many gadgets, books, DVDs, and other material clutter people keep around to keep potential boredom at bay is a great way to cut yourself off from the stuff of life that should matter.

We have one TV, no cable, no magazine subscriptions, necessary but not excessive clothing, and we rarely buy junk like soda or chips. We make choices. AND I’m not talking about always making choices based on necessity. Once in a while we all need something that’s pure want – but if most of the time you buy what you need and what’s not excessive, you’ll have more money to spend on those green versions of products.

Next up more reasons why we can afford green items on a limited budget. Then later, advice on how to find affordable green products.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Earth-friendly Pens & Pencils

Peggy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:00:54 +0000

I can’t remember what grade I was in when first allowed to use an ink pen in school, but I remember being so happy about it. All grown up! I think it was the seventh grade, and I’m sure there weren’t any pens made of corn around then.

Whether you’re choosing a pen or pencil for the office or school, there are some green options out there you may not have considered, like recycled rubber tires and denim.

Biodegradable Corn Pen
Breaks down within 12 months of being thrown away. Looks like plastic, but it’s made from corn. $1.99 from grassroots environmental products

Wheely Pens
Made from 50% post-consumer rubber tires and 10% pre-consumer recycled plastic. Refillable. 50 cents from Green Earth Office Supply

Pilot BeGreen PV5 Extra Fine Point
Made from 89.2% recycled content. Refillable. $4.99 from OfficeMax

Zebra Eco Mechanical Pencil
Made from 72% post-consumer materials. Refillable. (shown above) $2.99 from OfficeMax

Paper Mate EarthWrite Recycled Pencils
100% recycled content. $3.99 for pack of 48 at Office Depot

Recycled Denim Pencils
20-30% recycled content. Made from old jeans, and feature earth-friendly messages. $24 for pack of 50 from Keep America Beautiful

Image via OfficeMax.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in August 2008

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Simple Organic Cotton Lunch Bags

Peggy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:00:04 +0000

Insulated lunch bags aren’t for everyone. Maybe you’d prefer to carry insulated containers in your bag if something needs to stay cold.

If you’re looking for an organic cotton version of the standard brown paper bag, these come close with a little added flair.

Wildly Organic from I’m Organic. Other designs available. 100% certified organic cotton, Fair Labor. $17

Organic Lunch Bag from Hero Bags. Made in USA. Personalize with name area on back. Certified organic. $24.95

100% Certified Organic Cotton Lunch Sack from EcoBags. $7

Do you prefer uninsulated lunch bags?

Images via I’m Organic, Hero Bags and EcoBags.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in August 2008

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Eight Green Computer Tips

Jennifer — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:42:21 +0000

My modem busted three days ago. Sadness. I’ve been offline, and had plenty of time to think, let me tell you. Seriously though, I missed being online, it felt odd to go three days sans email and blogs.

Anyhow, I’ve got a nice new modem, and to celebrate my return to the lovely online world of blogs and more, I figured we’d look at some green computer tips.

Like anything else, only buy what you need. You can be excessive about computers, just like a house or car. I’m online all the time for work, so I do have a little bit bigger monitor, special tech add-ons, and a better than average processer. All of which create energy drains that someone who uses a computer infrequently shouldn’t have. Go for smaller systems if you can.
Turn that sucker off. Leaving your computer on all night is no good, and a waste of energy.
Recycle your computer items. Tossing them in the trash is terribly sinful – trust me, this stuff does not break down in your local landfill.
Buy used or recycled computer equipment like discs, paper, printers, and anything else you can find that’s not virgin new. You can even find refurbished or slightly used computers – bonus – you save $.
Research! Buy a computer with a good track record. You want your computer to last and last.
Don’t forget to recycle all that packaging from the computer and all related equipment.
In case you forget to turn off your computer, make sure you have all the power saving options set correctly. Such as, you want your computer to automatically turn off, or go to dark, when not used in a few minutes. These settings are usually under your control panel and then power options.
If it would work out for you, get a laptop computer, rather than a desktop. Laptops generally use less energy; up to 50% less in some cases.

You also might like: Avoid Recklessly Using the Printer

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Reusable Bag Feature Round Up

Jennifer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:39:26 +0000

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:

Reusable bag basics and overcoming issues:

Get your own bag:

The why of reusable bags vs. disposable:

Bags for kids!:

Other reusable bag ideas:

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.

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A Manor Hall Soap Company Review by my best little pal

Jennifer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:46:53 +0000

As you may know, we’re running our Summer Scrub Down Contest, so I’ve been currently doing some product reviews. When I got the package of soap from Manor Hall Soap Company, everything looked great; except for this:

Lavender & Rose Facial Toner

Actually, it looked good (cute packaging) but neither my son or I liked how it smelled. AT ALL. However, roses are not my deal. I like to look at them, love their smell in real life, but add rose scent to a body care item, and it usually flips me out. I’ve never liked rose scented body anything. So how fair would it be for me to review this? Not much.

That said, I enlisted my best friend Sara to help me out. Because she was being so helpful, I also handed over some other products for review. She’s a good reviewer choice; she’s even pickier than me about soap because she has dry skin, and she hates most soaps because they make her dry skin worse. (believe me, I’ve spent years listening to her complain about soaps).

Today Sara gave me a review on the above toner and a Natural Complexion Bar in Honey & Rose.

She’s not a chatterbox like me, so her reviews are nice and short. She’s been using the soap, followed by the toner for a week or so now.

Natural Complexion Bar in Honey & Rose - Sara liked both the color, scent, and feel of the soap. She notes that the soap is a little gritty, and a downside is that she wishes it were more gritty, because she likes scrubbers on her face. She thinks the soap lathered very well, and went on super smooth.

Lavender & Rose Facial Toner- She thinks I’m nutty, because she really likes how the toner smells. She notes that it smells like dandelion, not rose to her, which she enjoys, but that it might be too flowery for some people. (I still think it smelled like roses though).

Overall as a set, she thinks that this routine has left her skin feeling way less dry. Sara thinks the honey rose soap alone left her skin feeling more moisturized but with the toner it was even better. She says she still feels like she needs to moisturize her face still, but that overall the dry skin is not as big an issue.

I told her about tree points (yeah, she doesn’t read my blogs)

She said she’d give each product five out of five happy trees based on how nicely the products worked, and because her skin felt less dry. She said she highly recommends these products to others, but is concerned that others may not like the smell of the toner – that’s likely based on me not liking it. So scent is a toss up. I will say that scents are really personal, and it’s always a risk to try new body care items.

Thanks to Sara for the helpful review; even though she won’t see this

Catch up:

Visit Manor Hall Soap Company to learn more. You can also enter our Summer Scrub Down Contest to win Manor Hall products. You might also like to see my previous Manor Hall reviews; Almost Sunset Soap and Facial Cleansing Grains.

Stay tuned for more reviews and some company info.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

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Olive Smart Reusable Grocery Bags

Jennifer — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:06:25 +0000

Bag month has been a little hectic. Too bad, because there’s just oh so many bags to see. In any case, I’m going to try and fit in a few more bags before we kick off out cool July theme.

I saw these bags originally at Eco Friendly Driver, and fell in love, because Hil had posted the light olive green darling carry bag – I’m a sucker for light olive green bags. I wanted to post it here, forgot, and then one of the store owners emailed me with some info.

Stephanie, co-business owner of Olive Smart notes the following about her partner and her: “We are both former professionals turned full-time Moms turned entrepreneurs. Our Sacks are unique because all six bags fit into the little Sack which in turn fits into the cup-holder of your car, your handbag etc. making it easy to remember. We are really trying to bring green to the mainstream by making it fun and stylish. With 5 kids between us, Kerri and I see way too many plastic bags leaving the grocery store, Target, etc. It needs to stop!”

Yay for mama businesses! And yay for adorable bags. These bags are good looking, machine washable, hold 20 lbs, and a set of six fit into a cup holder in your car, all of which make these bags ultra easy to carry and use. Following is my favorite set, although, there’s a smaller set and a more bold color set available as well. This set goes for $39.00 and includes 6 bags and the carrying sack – a great deal.

Love the colors – so pretty. The website is very user friendly – which you all know I’m a fan of. They offer bag Q&A, plastic bag facts, and even have a handy demo slide show. This is the first slide below, which is cool, because it shows just how tiny the set is, and how nicely it fits into your car. Can you find the bags?

In any case, I’m very happy that Stephanie emailed me, because this is a great bag set to see. It’s also one of those bag sets that would make a perfect gift, being so colorful and well-priced. Visit Olive Smart to learn more.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

[Images via Olive Smart]

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Inexpensive Reusable Grocery Bags

Jennifer — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:25:18 +0000

Inexpensive is relative; one person’s inexpensive is another person’s not so much. However, for the sake of this post, I’m naming right around $10 and under as a decent inexpensive bag. Yeah you can get store brand non-washable bags for 99 cents, but I’m more on the fence of folks buying a decent washable set. One, you can wash them. Two, they hold up better (in my experience). Three; and I’ve noted this before, but research shows that not everyone recycles those store brand bags.

So some inexpensive choices:

[Biome Lifestyle's reusable bag - £6.00 - only downside is that this one may not be washable.]

Dharma Trading Co. has some of the most inexpensive bags around. These plain cotton totes look great, plus have both a gusset and two side pockets. You could dye a bunch or add patches. Cost – just $3.95 per bag, but the price goes down if you order more. Find a pal or two and order tons.

Also see these Plain Reusable Cotton Tote Bags – 6 pk £8.99

Of course Reusable Bags has many good deals. I’d suggest checking their specials link first. Following are some choices.

[Reisenthel - Mini Maxi Shopper, Long Handle - $6.96 to $8.95 - many color options.]

Additionally, Peggy and I have both shopped Reusable Bags. Peggy got some Organic Cotton Eco-Bags for around $8 each, and I got some recycled cotton bags for under $6 each.

Now, if you’re really going to recycle the bag when it wears out, these look pretty good (for non cloth):

[Green World Bags - $7.50 each - different styles available.]

You also might want to check out the post I wrote; I Need New Reusable Bags & Hate Shopping (sos… help!) – there are some decent deals in there. Remember,when you look at a set of bags cost, it might seem like a lot, but really, for example, if you pay $40 for a set of six bags that will last years, that’s a stellar deal at less than $7 per bag. So pay attention to bulk rates.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

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Dream Bag Line Up

Jennifer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:00:26 +0000

Today we’re going to look at three types of bags – Dream bags, mid-level cost bags, and less expensive (or best deal) bags. I’m not showing expensive bags unless they’re dreamy, because non-dreamy expensive bags aren’t fun, just lame.

BUT it is fun to see some crazy cool bags once in a while; so let’s start there. Next up look for mid-cost bag options.

Dream bag uses: Dream bags are not typical all-purpose grocery bags. In my opinion, you should have a normal collection of basic well-priced reusable grocery bags, and then one or two nice dreamy bags for everything else. The reason I like bags over purses, is because one, if you have kids they’re way handy for fitting all that kid stuff, and two, if you’re ever caught sans grocery bags you’re not totally out of luck, because a decent amount of items fit in a bag, which is impossible with a purse. I like the looks of bags more too, although of course that’s a personal decision.

Some super dream bags:

I love this Canvas Pocket Tote from Urban Outfitters. My best friend has a bag like this and I always want to steal it. Of course stealing is wrong and this bag is actually a good deal cost wise, so far as dream bags go, thus I could get my own:

If you’ve never heard of Little Odd Forest, you’ll fall into some sort of blissful love state when you visit. Items there are costly, but beautiful and handmade. If you’re a sewer, this is a spectacular place to visit for ideas of bags or clothing you might make yourself. This shop is cool also because there’s way more than bags (and it’s all amazing) plus there’s usually a nice clearance section happening and sale items. Following are some of my dream bag choices from Little Odd Forest:

A Walk In The Forest (Mungo Shrooms) and Forest Seedlings Tote (Dotty Blooms):

I also like the Leaf Couplet Bag (Lavish Beige), even though there is some red on there and the super cute Cheeky Monster bag. I wouldn’t carry the monster bag around daily, but know people who would. In any case, I still think it’s adorable.

There are many more styles of bags, including some killer wooden handle bags – visit Little Odd Forest to see them all.

I’ve got some more dream bags saved, but before that we’ll be looking at some mid-level and less expensive bags.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

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Make Your Own Oilcloth Bags

Jennifer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:41:53 +0000

Check out these adorable reusable lunch sacks – just one more option for cutting your bag use. I’m thinking you could even make these bigger and work out some sort of handle. A crafty sewer (read not me) could do that. The only downside is that you can’t machine wash these, but wiping down is perfectly ok.

Snag the directions right here.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008[images via Martha Stewart]

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