Tree Hugging Family » green habits

Green Habits in Bloom

Peggy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:00:57 +0000

Mother Earth’s Garden is hosting a theme day for the Lifestyles channel — Bloom. And since “bloom” is open to interpretation, I’m going to talk about growing green habits, of course.

How to Help Green Habits Bloom

1. Spray down your procrastination with a nice organic herbicide (like the bag challenge).

2. Don’t let small weeds distract you. Conquer one green habit at a time.

3. Remember why you’re growing your garden — for the kids, animals and even trees.

4. Allow yourself to make mistakes, but keep reaching for your goals.

5. Proudly carry your bouquet shopping.

6. Recycle decaying blooms.

7. Reuse your blooms in art projects.

8. Don’t forget to have fun in the garden.

9. Keep your blooms away from toxins.

10. At the end of the day in the garden, make your own beauty fertilizer.

Image via flickr.

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

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Reusable Bags with a Message

Peggy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:00:08 +0000

I asked Michael recently why he thought cashiers who were bagging my purchases seemed to always asked me questions like, “Is it OK if I put these things together?” OR “How do you want these bagged?” OR “So, you want your stuff in these (with quizzical look)”? It’s even been so bad that some cashiers stop several times during the checkout to ask me if they’re doing OK with the bagging. Weird, though this happens less frequently at grocery stores than at stores like Target.

The cashier questions and hesitation really puzzled me. I never got asked those questions before I started taking my own bags. Why are the bags making some cashiers nervous?

Then Michael said something that totally made sense: “They think of them as your personal space. They probably think if you’re picky enough to bring your bags, then you’re picky about how things are bagged.”

Oh. I also remembered another cashier commenting once, “You must really hate plastic.”

Then it became clear: I’ve been taking for granted that people who bag my groceries actually understand why I’m bringing my own bags. I always just hand the bags to the cashier quickly before they start their plastic routine and say, “I brought my own bags.” I guess that may not be enough.

If you live in an eco-minded city, this won’t be a problem for you, but some people still don’t know about the bring your own bag movement. Crazy, huh?

To help inform folks who may not understand why you’re taking your own bags, try selecting reusable shopping bags that make your reason for using them loud and clear. If you don’t like the direct approach of the “Plastic Bags Blow” bag above from reusablebags.com, then I’m guessing a bag with a cute planet image would do the same. Try the bag to the right from Etsy. Or you can add your own message on plain canvas bags.

Have you found any nice bags with a green message?

BYOB image from reusablebags.com. Planet/Heart image from Etsy/melissavest.

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

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When We Talk About Green Products

Peggy — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:00:35 +0000

A recent post over at Melanie’s blog bean sprouts put into words several things that I’ve been thinking regarding buying green. The post is called Save the Planet – Stop Shopping.

Responding to a reader email, Melanie writes:

“It bugs me too that so much green advice seems to boil down to “spend a lot of money, buy all this ‘green’ stuff”. ‘Green’ is not a lifestyle choice. It’s not a sort of fashion that is only available to the rich. The greenest people on earth are the poorest. They don’t cause as much pollution, carbon emissions etc as we do because they can’t afford to. It’s we in the affluent countries who are causing the problems. And the solution isn’t to buy a lot of green junk, but to buy less junk.”

Read her full post.

I agree we all need to buy less stuff, “green” or not. So, that’s why I get concerned that some readers may get the wrong message by our recent increase in product reviews and product suggestions, or even contests that promote green products.

One reason Jennifer and I decided to post on green products more frequently is because that’s what many of you said you wanted in our recent poll. We don’t do it because we think you should buy more stuff. Read Jennifer’s recent post on this topic: If you’re so against having stuff…

The products we talk about are hopefully those that many of you might consider over other options that aren’t so eco-friendly. For example, if you’re buying toys anyway, look at the green options we’re showing you. Few green products are so great that you should start buying them if you aren’t already buying a similar non-green option. That would be like buying a hybrid car instead of walking to work.

I’d also like to say that we don’t pick products to promote for our own interests. We don’t get paid by companies for product reviews, suggestions or contests. The most we get is sometimes a free product to sample for a review. Free or not, it never affects our honest review of an item. We’re paid by b5media, and they are paid by the ads in the sidebar. It’s pretty simple.

What do you think of our recent mix of product reviews/suggestions/contests?

Images via stock.xchng.

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

Post from: Tree Hugging Family