It’s much safer for your kids if you banish household bugs without the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides. Here’s how to deal with buggies without icky junk…

Keep crumbs off the floor; especially in well hidden areas like under the fridge, under stove burners and in-between the fridge and cupboards.
Never leave standing water anywhere in the house – bugs like to drink your standing water so eliminate it. Watch for leaks and puddles under the fridge and in the basement.
Block them – try caulking holes and gaps in the walls, especially around baseboards and doors. Most bugs move into your …read more

Actually, getting toxic chemicals out of your child’s life entirely is going to take some doing. You’ve got car emissions, non-organic foods, plastic toys and more to contend with. You shouldn’t also have to worry about your home cleaning and bath and body care products. However, a smart green parent should worry – A LOT.

Although most parents in the U.S. consider home cleaners pretty safe, most are anything but safe. In fact more the American Association of Poison Control Centers notes that 1.25 million kids younger than six years of age are unintentionally poisoned in the home each year by …read more

In a earlier post this week, Just say no – to plastic in the kitchen, we looked at why you should start ditching the plastics in your kitchen.Today I’ll offer some general tips that can help you make the change from a kitchen full of plastic to a plastic-free, or at least safer plastic-less kitchen.

When ditching plastics, make sure to get rid of any plastics #3, 6, or 7 first. The other plastics are far less toxic.
If you keep some plastics, don’t microwave in them. This makes it more likely that chemicals in said plastic will leech into your food …read more

Clearing out the plastic in your kitchen sounds tough, but once you start making these changes, it gets easier; you start thinking in terms of non-plastic all the time.This week we’ll look at why it’s smart to ditch plastics, and learn some tips for clearing out the plastics in your kitchen.
Why say no?:
More and more studies pop up all the time that note the dangers of plastics. Plastics can leach toxins into our food and drink and then into our bodies. The most dangerous plastic threats continue to be BPA loaded plastics, but other plastics can contain chemicals as well.
While …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

Here at Tree Hugging Family, I mainly advocate making your own homemade green cleaners. Not only is it easy to make simple green cleaners, but very cost effective. That said, there will always be folks who want to buy, not make cleaners, so I figured we should take a look at which store bought cleaners are actually green.
The number one rule for choosing a green store bought cleaner is – read your labels. A pretty waterfall or little green leaf means nothing. Ignore fancy ‘green’ packaging and read your labels.
Terms you want to see on a cleaning bottle include:

Ammonia …read more

You can invest in a big old air purifier to clean the air in your home; an often loud and expensive choice, not to mention the energy needed to manufacture and ship such machines. OR you could just grow some plants.
Hmmm. Tough decision. Plants can naturally clean your air of toxins and chemicals, reduce stress, and improve your overall well-being. Also, plants are just so much more aesthetically pleasing than a fatty white box. Here are some pretty options:
Gerbera Daisy

Bamboo

[Via Savvy Gardening - read: Bringing Up Bamboo]
Christmas Cactus – not just at Christmas time, these plants actually can last …read more

I’m not too into talking about bugs, unless they’re all cute like a lady bug or caterpillar, but I did think that I should point out some great kid-friendly sites related to bug bites and stings.
The following are written for kids and gives them the information they need if and when they get bit by a creepy crawling critter.
Bug Bites
Hey! A Brown Recluse Spider Bit Me! (egad)
Hey! A Scorpion Stung Me!
What to Do if You’re Bugged by Bugs
How do I Avoid Ticks?
Also some more fun based buggy sites:

World’s …read more

This week, we’re going to take an in-depth look at greener tampon and sanitary napkin options. We’ve looked at this before when Tree Hugging Family went extreme green – but more in passing. Luckily, for you, I’ve used many of the greener feminine products out there, so I’ll post some reviews. At the end of this week, I’ll compile a handy round-up post of everything we’re going to cover this week.

Today we’re going to kick things off with the eco negatives of conventional female products.
Landfill issues: Of course even just one woman creates enough tampon and maxi-pad waste over her …read more