You know how we’ve been chatting about saving money on green goods lately? Well, one big way to save on green good is to do it yourself, make it yourself, and use recycled goods to do it with. For example, another big topic here as of late has been reusable, waste-free lunches. Now, while I doubt you’re gonna go out and somehow make a reusable bottle, you can make other components of an eco-friendly lunch kit all on your own. Make the items below. Add silverware and a water bottle and your kid will be good to go for the …read more

Yesterday I posted some eco-lunch kit choices and said that my son Cedar was going to have to choose one. Then I said I’d be back with the results. I had an idea about which he’d choose, but instead, like a typical kid, he decided to TOTALLY surprise me.
I showed him all the choices, and he looked them up and down, and sideways, and made me read him the stats about them. He’s eight, and he’s saying, “So what does that bag measure?” For pete’s sake. Anyhow, his decision…
You won’t believe it:

He says, “I think I’ll just stick with the …read more

So, Cedar’s lunch sack died this summer. He’s currently using the Bamboo lunch sack for camp, but it’s not appropriate for a kid all year at school I don’t think. One recent con I’ve found is that because it’s cloth, ice packs act badly in there (see an updated review).
In any case, Cedar my son is super picky about stuff. Clothes, toys, books, and so on, so I knew choosing a lunch pack wouldn’t be easy, but it’s actually been harder then I thought. He’s snubbed some eco-lunch kits as not cool enough already and our options are wavering. Of …read more

With Thanksgiving coming up, it’s hard to stay green. It’s so busy. Still, we don’t have to sacrifice green during the holidays; there are plenty of easy things you can do to keep it green, without wasting too much extra time.
1. Serve organic and local foods and drinks at your feast. Organic can cost more, yeah, especially if you’re feeding a crowd, but you can get more organic bang for you buck if you start at the top and work your way down. For example, an organic turkey is a smart organic purchase because of pesticides found in poultry. Buying …read more

Paper towels can be very wasteful and expensive if used for every little thing like drying your hands or cleaning the counters. Cloth rags are a great alternative.
I’m inviting you to take the paper towel challenge in May. I’m going to do this with you and report my results as well. I’ve come a long way in lowering my paper towel usage, but there’s always room for improvement. My co-blogger Jennifer won’t be doing this challenge since she doesn’t use any paper towels. I’ll talk more later about how my cat is the source of some of my paper towel …read more

Earth Hour will take place this year on Saturday, March 29 at 8 pm (your local time).
What does World Wildlife Fund want you to do during Earth Hour? Well, turn off your lights! The rest is up to you. People in six continents will be in the dark with you.
Here are some suggestions on what to do during this hour in the dark:
-Think about how to implement some of the ideas from Earth Hour: More than Just an Hour.
-Give up a disposable product you currently use. (Ideas: Replace paper napkins with cloth. Use a gold filter instead of paper coffee …read more

Getting take-out from a restaurant is generally a very unfriendly thing for the planet. Unfortunately, there’s usually a lot of Styrofoam involved. And even if there’s no Styrofoam, there’s often lots of other packaging.
Restaurants in several cities like San Francisco are required to use recyclable, biodegradable or compostable containers instead of Styrofoam, but not my city.
Yet, take-out is sometimes a good thing, like when Michael and I were both sick with colds on Friday night. Neither of us wanted to cook. And nothing we had at home sounded good anyway.
So, take-out it was. And when I opened the bag, I …read more