Cloth napkins are one of my favorite green tips for green newbies. They’re easy to start using, cut consumption, and save trees. Plus for a family they’re very cost affective. Then today I saw that posted the following:Treehugger
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 …read more

In the previous money related post I talked about why being green is so expensive – and sort of how it’s not, on a grander scale.
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 …read more

Scott from Metal Martyr has taken a break from his musings on music to talk about the earth. When you think about it though, maybe heavy metal and the environment aren’t so different. They both rock. Ok, done with the bad jokes.
We really appreciate Scott’s post. It’s very wise and deep and cool. Rock on. Read the post right now or else — Hello? Earth to Humans!

The Lifestyles Channel is having a Valentine theme day tomorrow, but I’m giving you my Valentine early because I’m just nice like that.
(Earth at Night photo from NASA.)
My Valentine is

To the Earth
When I was little
and had no Valentine,
you were still mine.
 
Even later when
I became an annoying
teenager,
you hung around.
 
And now, as I grow older,
I have the dream
you’ll always be well and green.
 
Happy Valentine’s Day Earth.
 
 

There are many ways to enjoy all that the natural earth has to offer with your family. I like to walk through the nature trails at a local park with Michael. It’s fun to dodge limbs and walk over pine needles. Don’t knock it till you try it.
What you may not be able to enjoy without some help is seeing what a hot spring with an orange algae fringe in New Zealand looks like from above the earth. Can you imagine the brightness of a hill covered with moss in Iceland?
Bernard Edmaier’s Patterns of Earth is a collection of …read more

I get a ton of e-mail from some pretty neat companies about issues or items that might fit on this blog. While I’d like to post good company info right away the holidays got me a bit behind on e-mails. Thus, I think this week I’ll play catch-up and post some various posts about some different green-minded companies.
First I want to post this sale because it’s time-dependent. Pangaya contacted me and noted that they’ll be closing up shop soon. Too bad, because they’re a really nice eco-clothing company. The good news is that until they run out, clothing will …read more

For Martin Luther King Day I thought we could look at some organizations that continually attempt to spread peace. Maybe you can get involved. As Martin Luther King showed us, peace and social change should never, and doesn’t have to be a spectator sport. We can all become involved in making a difference.
Peaceful activities and social change support considerably affect eco-issues. We don’t fight for change if we have no reason to. People are really at the core of why we need to live better, live greener. Sure, it’s planet related, but why? Because people want a clean, healthy, and …read more

Technically it’s not really winter yet but it sure feels like it. It’s been so cold lately that Cedar and I spend more time indoors which is fine; we do lots of fun stuff but really we all need to get outside. Cold or not. Nature doesn’t take a winter break and neither should we. Your kids will enjoy preserving the earth when they learn to enjoy it in all forms; cold, warm, wet and all.
Today, get up and find one reason to get outside and enjoy nature.

Need an idea? Here are 25 good ones.
1. It’s wet, it’s cold, find …read more

Thanks to everyone for the nice birthday comments. Sorry I’ve been missing my computer is having issues — not a great thing for a blogger. It should be completely fixed though (but it could need a few more tweaks; we’ll see).
In any case Tracy from EcoStreet emailed me last week to tell me about this great new site and I wanted to share. Tracy wrote an entire cool post about this new site, Freeconomy Community already but I will go over some of the basics.
Freeconomy Community is a site that people are joining up with from all over the …read more

Today is my birthday! How exciting. Actually, I’m not that excited but if I could pick my perfect cake it just might be this veggies from the earth loving cake…

There are lots of ways to plan an eco-friendly birthday but today it’s all about cake design. If I decide I should work on my birthday I may be back with tips; if not look for those tomorrow.
If you’re planning an eco-friendly birthday you might as well go all the way and even make it a theme party. Here are some amazing cake ideas that can help.

You have to visit …read more