Many of us are welcoming spring today, so I thought it would be nice to go over some nature loving, tree hugging, eco-friendly ideas that will carry the entire family through the better part of spring and into summer.

1. Quit looking at nature through your frosty windows. It’s warming up, so get out there and enjoy nature in real time, in real life, in full blown color.

2. Throw open your windows wide and let in the fresh air. Natural ventilation is actually a really effective green home goal to aim for. Proper cross ventilation naturally helps to remove any indoor pollution caused by molds, mites, varnishes, paints, cleaners, and more.

3. Have a spring reusable bag sewing party.

4. Use the spring lilacs to create something sweet.

5. Celebrate spring like other cultures do:

• In Egypt, you throw open your windows and breathe deep on the first day of spring. Later have a picnic.
• In Poland a large straw doll is dressed up in old clothes, and then thrown in the river – ok, maybe don’t do that one (not great for fish).
• The festival of colors, or Holi, is a Hindu spring festival, observed in North India and Nepal where children squirt colored water on each other to celebrate.
• What other spring traditions do cultures celebrate? Tell me what you know.

6. See the zoo babies.

7. Try left-over heat cooking for your spring recipes. This means turn the stove top or oven off when food is almost done. Pasta, veggies, rolls, and even meats in the oven will be ok (and fully cooked) if you turn off the heat a few minutes early. Just leave the oven door shut, the pot top on, etc. Imagine how many minutes of energy you will have saved by next spring.

8. Enjoy new blossoms and leaves sprouting to life on the trees.

9. Build a rain barrel to collect spring showers.

10. Rent lawn equipment that you know you will only use occasionally.

11. Alternatively, start a neighborhood co-op of lawn equipment. Purchase together and share major item.

12. Visit a waterfall – this is the best time of year for waterfalls, snow is melting, and the water comes crashing down.

13. Spring clean – just don’t spring clean with chemicals and other icky stuff. Make this year’s spring cleaning actually clean and healthy.

14. Learn which fruits and veggies are in season and eat bunches of them. Buying in season and locally grown is better for the earth, your wallet, and your health.

15. Choose a recycled plastic picnic table.

16. Fold a “springing” froggy out of recycled paper.

17. If your coffee shop of choice serves single serve sugars and creamers, choose a new favorite coffee shop or ask them to get large, bulk containers of cream and sugar.

18. Visit a wetland area – there are still enough wetland areas so that it’s safe to assume that there’s one near you, but there may not be for long. Without conservation we could lose some major wetland areas. I’d visit soon because it’s not clear yet that enough people care to save them. Ask your local visitors center where you can find a wetland area near you.

19. Get some cool spring worthy eco-toys. These new toys from Green Toys are created from curbside recycled milk containers. The actual shop should be open in the spring sometime, but until then you can contact the company directly with purchase inquiries. They have a great Sand Play Set or Organic Gardening Set.

20. Is it still too cold for flowers where you live? Make some colorful recycled tissue paper garlands to add spring to your house. (Use that used holiday tissue that I know you saved). Better yet, make a garland and give it to a neighbor, friend, elderly home, or children’s ward at a hospital.

21. Rejoice in spring flowers.

22. Help your kids to join Journey North.

23. Buy a reclaimed wood garden bench so you can sit outside and read.

24. This season, and each season have your car engine tuned up and serviced. Following a decent tune up schedule will reduce the amount of pollution your car emits by 20%. Better yet you’ll save on fuel – good for the earth and wallet.

25. Hunt for birds nests – don’t touch though, just look.

26. Build your own compost bin for recycling spring garden and kitchen scraps.

27. Visit a rural farm. Notice how a farm in spring differs from where you live. Unless of course you do live on a farm – then visit a city park and observe the same differences.

28. Go ahead, green your entire Easter celebration.

29. Or at least make your own recycled magazine Easter baskets.

30. If you go on a green picnic this spring make sure six packs with plastic rings aren’t on the menu. One, the plastic rings when not cut can kill birds, fish, and other wildlife. Two, plastic won’t degrade until well after your great grandchildren are celebrating their springs. And three, there’s no need to have them. Many canned drink products now come in boxes instead of with rings. If you’re buying canned drinks, get those instead.

31. Get some eco-friendly rain gear for the whole family so you can go splash in spring puddles.

32. Get your spring garden seeds organized using recycled milk cartons.

33. Rent a greener car on your spring break vacation.

34. Don’t defrost the Easter Ham in the microwave. Microwave defrosting wastes more energy than planning ahead and defrosting in the fridge.

35. Go searching for the end of a rainbow.

36. You still have time for a spring garden clean up.

37. This year combine your spring cleaning with some green audits: Try green auditing your trash, bathroom, or your pantry.

38. Get in the habit of nighttime watering now. Watering your lawn and garden is much more efficient at night than in the daytime. In the cool of evening plants lose almost 50% less water than in the heat. That adds up to a ton of water saved each year. Of course you can double your water saving efforts by using your saved rainwater.

39. On each of your spring outings pick up one piece of trash. If everyone did this that would be over 300 million fewer pieces of litter on our streets, in our parks, and so on, daily.

40. Relax… think about simplifying your life and time.

41. As summer gets closer consider organizing a summer toy lending program with other families – this cuts down on consumption, teaches kids about sharing, and uses fewer resources and energy. Get ideas for your lending program here.

42. Now that it’s warming up, turn your heating down by 5 more degrees. Each 5 degree decrease saves up to 11% energy consumption a year.

43. If you go camping, leave nothing behind in nature. Pack up all your belongings and carry them out of the forest with you.

44. Get up close and personal with some fresh grass – ponder a single blade. Think about all the good reasons why you shouldn’t add chemical poisonous fertilizer to your grass this year

45. Get that recycling under control.

46. Learn to love slow mail – the quicker you send your mail or ask for packages to be delivered to you, the worse it is for the planet. Transportation is hugely connected to pollution and global warming. The more transport we require the worse it is. Quit with the two day mail services. You don’t need stuff right away, and if you know you will, plan accordingly.

47. Try out one of 10 great organic gardening projects for kids this spring.

48. See how many toads you can count at the local river or lake. Can you find tadpoles too?

49. If you take out an off-road vehicle this spring, stick to where you should be. Running over habitats is not cool – you could destroy an animal’s home, kill rare plants, and harm tree roots. Stick to wide trails that are deemed ok for off-road travel.

50. Get away from it all. Imagine what life would be like away from all the hustle and bustle most of the time.

51. Blow bubbles! Make some homemade bubble mix out of a tablespoon of glycerin, a cup of natural liquid soap, and a gallon of water (give or take). Make your own bubble wands out of recycled items like…

• Butter or yogurt tub tops with holes punched in them.
• Green plastic strawberry containers.
• Bent wire hangers.
• That fly swatter you never use.
• Pipe cleaners bent into fun shapes.

52. Hang out with a family of ducks.

53. Dare your family to take at least 5 small steps for the environment by summer.

54. Go on a wildflower hike.

55. Clean out your closets – give good clothing away to the thrift store, make cleaning rags out of the worst, and save the cherished pieces for a memory quilt.

56. Make sure your family participates in eco-friendly boating (if you boat).

57. Slap a fresh coat of paint on the house – non-toxic, VOC-free paint of course.

58. When spring cleaning, don’t forget the car. However, use a bucket of water and an old rag to scrub away dirt, not the power spray on the hose. Every minute you run the hose you’re wasting 10 (or more) gallons of water. There are people in other countries who can’t even find one decent glass of water to drink, and animals and fish who have lost whole water habitats due to water waste. There’s no excuse for excessive water waste.

59. Go bicycling as a family – double your efforts by actually having an errand destination; the grocery store, library, the park for lunch. Every time you don’t take your car, you’re doing the earth some good.

60. Plant a tree – it’s almost always a good time to plant a tree, but spring is really nice because a new tree’s roots won’t be shocked by the cold anytime soon.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

What we’ll be looking at this week will include:

• How schools can protect resources such as paper, water, and electricity.
• What’s scary and not so green about the school cafeteria.
• Schools supplies and how they affect sustainability.
• The school grounds; including cleaning and maintenance.
• School-based traffic and transportation.

We’ll also take a look at some very green schools, and a few other random issues that affect school greenness. I’ll offer some easy checklist formats this week, so that the kids in your family can participate easily in learning about the impact their school has on the environment.

For youth – how to get started with your green school audit:

Not all schools have environmental guidelines. Many don’t have complete guidelines. Some kids have tomorrow off for President’s Day; however, when you return to school, ask your teacher if he or she is aware of the environmental guidelines for your school. Ask at the main office. Try to find out, who, if anyone knows what the exact eco-guidelines for your school and district are.

Don’t be surprised if you get some blank looks. Like I said, not all schools have eco-sense. Not yet anyway. The point of this green school audit will be for you and your school friends to start a process of change. Your audit can help to remind people that the earth’s resources are important. If people, if you, don’t question what your school is doing to save the environment, maybe no one will.

Your one voice can change everything. Think about it. Tomorrow, we’ll get going on our green school checklists.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Here are some likely items:

• Soap
• Shampoo – conditioner
• Loofah or sponge
• Face cleaner
• Bath toys
• Bubble bath
• Razor
• Shaving cream (often in those pesky aerosol cans)
• Shower caddy

Each of the items above represents an item I could write a lot about. Since this is a blog, not a book, we’ll look at some quick facts and solutions. Later on, at some point on this blog, I’m sure Peggy or I will cover the topics more in depth. If there’s one item you’d like to know about sooner, then feel free to leave a comment or e-mail Peggy or I.

Soaps and other bubbly, body cleaning items:

The problem with most commercial soaps, face cleaners, shampoos, and bubble baths is that many contain chemicals you don’t need (or want) on your skin. Another issue is that the chemicals in commercial products leaches out into our water supply – which can also harm aquatic life and other water bound animals.

A bigger problem, so far as the health of the planet, is packaging. So much plastic is used to make all those bottles. Options?

• If you do buy new bottles, only purchase natural organic products, and purchase from companies that used recycled plastics or other containers. You can often buy natural soap with zero packaging at farmers market and co-ops.
• What I do is re-fill my bottles. A LONG time ago I bought some bottles, which I simply take to the co-op and refill with shampoo and conditioner from the bulk area. You can also buy bubble bath and body and hand soap this way. If you don’t live by a co-op that offers this option, buy the biggest container you can. You can even look into wholesale – save money and plastic.
• Make your own soaps, scrubs, and shampoos, etc. Not so hard as it sounds – I make some of my own items. Still, too long for this post. Later today I’ll come back with at least one cool recipe.

Razors:

Guess how many disposable razors get thrown away each year? Some research says about two billion razors and blades a year. Wow. Of course a plastic razor is going to refuse to biodegradable. Darn razors. Burning them up creates a toxic cloud of pollution, and they have a terribly short life span. What can you do?

• Shave less often.
• Use an electric razor. The environmental destruction caused by plastics is worse than the small amount of energy you’ll use with an electric.
• Use an old school razor – one with a longer lasting metal and replaceable blade.
• Buy recycled. Remember the post I did on Recycline toothbrushes and razors? No? Oh, well, go read it. They make nice recyclable razors that are mush better for the planet than traditional disposables.

Shaving cream:

There are lots of good natural and non aerosol shaving creams. You still have to deal with packaging, unless you make your own, but the natural and non aerosol aspects are better than nothing. I’m not sure why, but so many organic companies make natural shaving cream in really small containers. Wasteful. Still, here are some options I’ve liked.

• Organic Men’s Stock North Woods Shave Cream – I stole some of this from my ex one day. It smells a little strong, but works well.
• Kiss My Face makes many shaving creams; I like the Lavender/Shea Moisture Shave best.
• Body Shop men’s shave cream.

Your local natural foods store will have lots more.

Sponges:

You can simply use a washcloth – it lasts longer than most loofahs and sponges. Or you can use nothing or go natural. There are all sorts of better sponges and hemp scrubbers you can buy.

Shower caddy:

I love this sustainable shower caddy from Gaiam. Love it. Another option, of course is to use no shower caddy – although it does get a little nuts without one sometimes. If you do have one make sure you clean it weekly. This will expand it’s life, and keep it in no-mildew shape so you’ll be less likely to toss it. If you do get rid of yours, make sure you check around to see if recycling is an option.

What other ideas do you have for creating a more sustainable tub and shower experience?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Now when we do a green bathtub / shower audit, we’ll need to look at some different items. Following are the things we’ll be concentrating on.

• The actual tub or shower.
• The products you have sitting on your tub – shampoo, soap, sponges, etc.
• Water use.
• Cleaning the tub.

These are the types of issues you need to consider if you want to complete a true and total green tub audit. If you ignore water use but buy organic shampoo that’s really only doing some of what you could be doing. That’s ok; small steps are cool. But the goal is to eventually green each situation in your home to it’s fullest potential.

Start thinking about your bathtub and shower situation. Tomorrow morning we’ll get started by focusing in on one part of the audit.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Weekly Green Audit Challenge: Trash!

Daily Green Audit Tip: Trash Control

Daily Green Audit Tip: Trash Control & What Can’t be Recycled

Update: Aerosol Product Recycling

Now, let’s add the audit all up and see where we stand. The key point is that this audit should have made you aware of what you’re throwing out vs. what you’re actually recycling.

If you noticed that there was an excess of paper, cardboard, cans, and plastics in your trash the fix is easy – recycle those suckers. Why? Well, first of all the earth will thank you. You’ll save energy and resources by making sure your recycling-ready trash is being recycled rather than lounging in a landfill.

Another benefit is you’ll save money; if you pay for garbage. Some of you don’t I’m sure, in that case please refer back to why you should recycle for the planet. But if you do pay for garbage you could lower your bill by having one less trash can. I do know families with two or more – so I know this is an issues. If you have that much trash something fishy is going on (besides the smell).

There is no way you’re recycling all you can if you have more than one trash can. Period. Families simply don’t buy, on average, that many non-recyclables. And if by some off chance you are; think about why. Do you really need those non-recyclable items? Really?

If you are buying some items that you know are recyclable, yet, your local recycling center won’t take the items, you can stop buying those products and look for new packaging options OR convince your local recycling center to take said items.

Did you look at your trash this week? If so, what did you learn? Is your family tossing recyclables? What about compost items?

Following are some Tree Hugging Family resources that can help you make the most of a trash audit:

Two Weeks Worth of Reuse

Are You Recycling?

One Small Step: Refillable Liquid Hand Soap

Seven Trees A Year

Get Your Recycling Under Control

How To Recycle Prescription Bottles

One Small Step: Remove Plastic Beverage Lids

Following are some outside resources that can help you make the most of a trash audit:

The Recycling Center: Enter your zip code and locate local recycling centers. I tried and got more than 10 centers.

Recycling facts from the EPA.

One of your best recycling resources is going to be your local trash or recycling company (often the two are associated, if not the same company). Call or visit yours to find out what’s accepted in your community.

Don’t forget – tomorrow is kid day here at Tree Hugging Family.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

If you’re going to start doing a green audit of your living space it’s a good idea to grab a notebook and jot ideas and issues down as you go. The kitchen food pantry, or your food cupboards are small areas (unless you’ve got one of those cool walk-ins) but the amount of problems a pantry can have are fairly substantial.

Here we’ll only focus on food. You may keep paper goods and cleaning supplies in your pantry but for now focus on food items.

Things to consider:

Packaging overload: Take a look at what sort of items you buy. Is it over packaged. Here’s an example. One box of cereal can have the outer box, inner bag, a toy surprise packaged in another bag with paper instructions, and sometimes there are coupons that are also packaged in plastic. Or what about items like those taco making kits (packaging galore).

Many food boxes are made with recycled material but not all. Check the box which should indicate if recycled materials were used. You can recycle some packaging but something else to consider is the energy used to produce the packaging in the first place.

What you can do:

• Buy in bulk. If bulk buying makes you squeamish stay tuned for an upcoming post on that issue. You can buy tons of items in bulk and re-use the same bags or containers over and over.
• Buy the largest size of product you can. This tactic and bulk buying will not only save your family money but reduce the overall amount of packaging you purchase.
• Really look at the items you buy; is it necessary to have a food item in a plastic tray that has a plastic cover and box? Make a list of each item in your pantry that could have less packaging. Check off the items that would be just as great with less packaging and the next time you go the the grocery store find that item with less packaging.
• Buy fewer individually wrapped items. Fruit snacks, granola bars, seasoning packets, and so much more are huge package hogs.
• Don’t forget the drinks in your pantry. Big jugs of juice are better than juice boxes or small bottles. Look for bottles with safety caps that pop rather than shrink wrapped caps.
• When buying condiments buy in glass whenever possible. Squeezable bottles are not as easy to recycle because of how the plastic is layered. Also buy the biggest bottle possible.
• Often (not always) organic foods are processed less than conventional so it can help with energy conservation to buy organic.
• Buy local. Besides fruits and veggies you can get items like organic honey, wine, and baked goods from farmer’s markets and most co-ops also have a local section. Buying local seriously improves your chances of using less packaging and less energy.
• Another option for buying local is to choose small hometown grocery shops over biggie markets.
• It goes without saying that overall buy only items that come in recyclable containers.
• One good general rule is that the more simple the food item the less packaging it’s bound to have. Brown rice or plain noodles versus Pop Tarts or Noodle Roni for instance. Part of using less packaging is taking the time to plan meals that can be created using items with less packaging.
• Don’t go food shopping hungry — this tip is often used in conjunction with saving money but it also allows you to be clear headed and think green.

The first few trips to the grocery store after a pantry audit can be tough but once you start thinking about the impact of packaging you’ll do it automatically.

What are some problem areas of the pantry above? What are some of the good choices?

Although it’s a big huge step; greening your pantry is a great way to walk towards a healthier family and planet both on a food and energy level.

Tell me about your food pantry green audit and the changes you’re making.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family