Nature based fun:  

• Nature Experiment – Make Your Own Rain Bowl
• Journey North: One of the best earth-based youth activities available
• Make Your Own Solar Light!
• Ditch your watch and use the sun to tell time

Messy & colorful fun:  

• Make Your Own Natural, Colorful Dyes
• Homemade Organic Paint Soap for Kids
• Fun Beach or Sandbox Craft

Plant based fun:  

• Build A Plant Maze!
• 10 Fun Organic Gardening Projects for Kids
• Just How Strong Are Plants?

Recycled fun:

• Perfect Summer Recycled Dollhouse Project
• How to Make Paper
• Homemade Recycled Stickers
• Make Some Wind Clackers
• Egg Carton Buggy Mobile
• Indoors Recycled Tumbling Fun
• Creative Reuse Art Projects

Yummy fun:

• Candied Flowers
• Build A Solar Cooker
• 32 Unique Homemade Popsicle Recipes & Ideas
• Tofu Recipes for Kids

Now you can’t say the kids are bored – there are enough projects here to get you going on the path to summer fun.

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

[image via stock.xchng]

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Instead of a green audit, this week we looked at green yard renovations. We checked out: Composting for Soil Health, Greening Your Lawn, and Choosing the Right Plants.

Make Your Own Dowel Vase Cover

Recycled kitchenware in amazing colors.

How to test your dishes for lead

Bake a greener birthday cake plus some great cake recipes.

Where to get used coffee grounds for your garden – and why in the heck you would want to.

14 Ways You Can Love the Earth

Great green architecture links

Free Green Home Poster

We hugged (and learned about) the Cheetah and met his non-toxic stuffed version.

Homemade Organic Facial Toner

Two stellar green youth programs: Journey North and IslandWood at Bainbridge Island.

We saw two green videos – one a wee sarcastic and the other good for little ones.

A great book for kids.

Reusable Bags as Wrap

Lastly, we started our Green School Audit.

As always we appreciate all of you tree hugging families (and singles, couples, etc.) who visit and leave great comments. See you next week!

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Look here to see full project instructions.

As I hope you gathered from the picture this autumn nature wreath craft is from Craft Ideas. They have many neat fall projects right now but I like this one because you get to go for a walk outside plus use recyclables and nature for art.

You can use a glue gun the project states but I’d bet any sort of plain old craft glue will work. Also, I’d plan on using whatever your own kids happen to find and like outside. The one above is pretty. But the one your child makes will be unique; besides, pine cones, leaves and acorns, consider fall flower petals, tiny branches (tiny), seeds, and more.

Lastly you can sprinkle the finished project lightly with a dash of cedar, cinnamon, and or orange essential oils to give it a real autumn smell.

Have Fun! Don’t forget to send cool pictures of your completed projects to share. My camera is a tad busted but I might use my phone to take a picture of Cedar’s. (We have to finish first!)

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The gist of it is the same reason plastic lids have non-recyclable qualities — even though the plastics may show the same number as your recyclable plastics they go through a very different manufacturing process. Marti at Eco-Cycle has a longer answer that talks about the process part of the problem.

That said there are some things you can do.

First you need to learn your own community’s recycling guidelines. Where I live you don’t check for numbers you just look at the plastic; if the container has a cylindrical quality such as many prescription bottles you can’t recycle it. If it has a neck and shoulder you’re good to go. This is not across the board; some states or cities have different regulations and will simply take any and all plastics, as long as they show the correct number (usually 1-7 or a variation). Check with your local city or county website for links to your recycling program.

Other things you can do:

• I’ve read about some people having luck reusing their bottle at the pharmacy. Such as taking the same bottle in and having the pharmacist refill it; but I also have read a lot where people have loads of trouble getting their pharmacy to do this. Some may consider it a household hazardous waste container
• You can always start at the source. If you don’t like how companies are packaging their product write and tell them so. Your pharmacy has contact information for your prescription manufacturer and contact info is also likely on-line. Tell your pharmacy what you don’t love about non-recyclable bottles. Ask manufacturers for bubble pack pill holders (still waste but less) or ask them to switch to a neck based bottle.
• Where I live there is a separate recycling plant nearby that will take items that curbside won’t. There may be one near you. Mine is conveniently listed on my county recycling information page. But if you can’t find one easily call your local recycling program and say, “Where do I take stuff that you won’t” they’ll let you know. Mine takes prescription bottles, shoes, hardback books, butter tubs, plastic wrap, plastic packaging materials, bubble wrap, and tons of other items that curbside won’t.

And a few more ideas…

• Plastic lumber manufacturers like this one, tend to take most types of plastics as well so if there’s a plant near you you can try that.
• Certain medical missions accept used prescription bottles.
• Use them for storage of paper clips, buttons, kids glitter, and other small objects.
• Dip the ends in ink or paint for perfect circles in kids art projects.

What else can you think of?

One last tip. Although prescription bottles are the perfect size for small candies; don’t do this. It’s way too easy for kids to translate candy in a pill bottle to all things in bottles are candy. It’s a dangerous practice that I’ve seen some folks do; but really you shouldn’t.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family