Sunday, August 31, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 96 - Greening your School Back Pack

Had I not gone green earlier this year the question for my son starting kindergarten would have been: "which super hero back pack with matching lunch box would you like? Batman, Spider man or Superman?" But as it stands the question was "Hemp or not?"

My first choice was hemp and on a recent post I list the greatness of hemp, but one of the things it is not and that is waterproof - well at least the pack back I was looking at was not waterproof. Since we will be walking to school rain or shine - it would make sense to get a back pack that would still keep its contents dry in the pouring rain.

I have read too about back packs made out of old tires - now that would be great, funky and cool. But I could not find any online to buy and if my sleep deprived memory serves me well - if I did - then shipping to Canada was not an option. (on a side note: I would like to say that global warming is a worldwide thing and that if you are an online store selling 'green' products you should try ship worldwide!!! - it doesn't cost you but the person paying for the shipping, doesn't it??)

We finally settled on a "Book Bag" sold at Mountain Equipment Co-Op. While it not made made from a natural material or from a recycled material it is made from 'safe' material. PEVA - which as this website "Sorting Out the Vinyls" suggests: that the term vinyl in ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA), polyvinyl acetate (PVA), and polyvinyl butyral (PVB), however, does not refer to PVC and does not raise the same concerns associated with chlorinated molecules like PVC. Now I am not a chemistry major (but my understanding is that it (PEVA) is safe).
Also, the company representing this product is in support of wilderness and conservation. They develop award-winning green retail stores and they strive to make their products with a minimum impact on the environment. They also are a member of 1% for the Planet which means they donate 1% of all sales back to the planet. The reviews for this back pack noted that it lasts for many years - hence we will not have to buy a new one for a very long time (unlike the superhero models that last - if you are lucky - the school year). So we ultimately will be reducing waste by reusing this bag for years to come.
As this news article from November 2007 states: "High levels of lead in children's backpacks, rain ponchos, vinyl lunchboxes and toys are documented by nonprofit environmental health and consumer protection groups in two reports this week." I wanted to make sure that I at least stayed away from that in choosing a back pack.
Should you wish to look at some really cool hemp backpaks be sure to visit: Rawganique

Mother's going GREEN Day 95 - Natural Teething Poducts

Some of you may have noticed that I have not been posting everyday and have skipped a couple of days and am now playing catchup with my posts.... well, I do have an excuse explanation, make that several explanations.

One being my little girl is cutting teeth and has stopped sleeping through the night. Her new schedule is sleep at about 7pm or 8pm. Awake at about midnight then again at 4:00am and then she is up for the day. She will then nap briefly for about half and hour in the morning and if I am lucky and I mean really lucky I may get her to sleep in the afternoon for a good 3 hours. If I am unlucky it will be an hour in the afternoon.

Needless to say I have been a little sleep deprived and have been going to sleep in the evening at 9:00pm with no time to blog. Add to this, my husband has been working 12 hour days for the last 8 days - which has left me feeling much like a single parent of 3. And when you thought you were coping you get a bonus surprise of a little boy waking you up at 3am with some sort of a stomach bug. (Why do they always seem to get sick in the middle of the night?). Anyway I declared it a relax on the couch watch TV because you are sick day -which gives me a little more time to catch up with this Mother's going GREEN. The joys of motherhood.

But back to the topic of this post: Natural Teething Products. I have 2 great ones.

First there is Sophie the Giraffe and as her marketing blurb states: "She is made in the French Alps with natural rubber and non-toxic paint, Sophie has been safely cuddled and chewed for over 40 years! She is soft, light, and easy to grasp and fits perfectly into little hands. Sophie is loveable and amusing. She even makes a happy sound when squeezed. Babies especially love her bumpy head to soothe their teething gums."
Now as you have read in a previous post - that it is not always a good idea to fall for 'marketing' I was drawn to this product because it was natural and non toxic. And my little one loves it. It certainly, for me, lives up to the marketing blurb. If you want to purchase one just Google 'Sophie the Giraffe' and you will get many links - I have also seen it for sale on eBay.

Secondly, is an item I picked up recently and it is a "It's Only Natural" Organic Teething Ring - Made by a company called Little Star (their website is still under construction - but they offer a toll free number). And again my little one loves it. It is made from organic cotton (4 layers) and an unfinished Birch wood ring which will not splinter. It is made in Canada.

So armed with these teething toys I am hoping for a little more calm as my baby chews her pain away on these natural products.

Mother's going GREEN Day 94 - Children's Eco-Craft

Since I have been talking about hemp I figured we could make some hemp jewelry and such. I have chosen to make a bracelet and/or key chain.

Hemp Bracelet and/or Key chain
You will need:

--Stands of Hemp
-- Beads

-- Key ring (if you chose the key chain)

Directions (with an adults help if required):

We will be using the easiest knot in our creation the "Square Knot".

-- You will require 4 stands in total (so get 1 stand of 24" for 'filler' and fold it in half and for your working stands one strand 6' long and fold it in half).

-- With the loops of the folded stands together tie them together with a knot creating a loop. (in ours we used a bead for a fastener so we measured to make sure the bead would fit through the loop snugly when we tied the loop. (if you choose to make a key chain attach the loop to the key ring at this point).

-- The 2 shorter strands are your filler stands and they are to remain in the centre of your work with the 2 working strands on each side.

-- Follow the instructions on this site to tie the "Square Knot". Please note that they are using four strands for their filler instead of the 2 strands that we are using.

-- To add the beads - insert both filler strands through the hole of the bead and tie the knot around them. We chose to make our bracelet with a message - also by doing this we had way less knots to tie.

-- keep tying the knots until the length of knotted hemp is the desired length for your bracelet and then tie them off. In our case we inserted a bead on all 4 strands and tied it off. (this is where it ends for the key chain)

-- the end bead is then inserted into the the loop to create a 'clasp' to close the bracelet.

This craft is probably for the older children although my children had fun selecting the beads and it was great for letter recognition as my son searched for the letters as I asked for them.

If you are struggling to follow my directions there are many directions available on the Internet.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 93 - Hemp

Since greening our families lifestyle I have never come across hemp or references to hemp so much as now. It seems if you are going green there is no way to avoid hemp and the many products produced by hemp.

Here are some interesting hemp facts:

-- From its fibres we can get textiles, paper, lighting oil, rope, incense, charcoal, glue and some building supplies such as plywood and drywall.

-- US Presidents Washington and Jefferson grew hemp.

-- The US Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper.

-- The first American flag was made out of hemp.

-- The finest bible paper remains hemp-based even today.

-- The first Levi Jeans were made from hemp.

-- The rigging sails of every ship that sailed the high seas during the 18th and 19th centuries was made of hemp.

-- Hemp was money and was used to pay taxes for over 200 years.

Hemp may be the 'be all and end all' of our 'green' society it has so many benefits:

-- It can grow in just about any soil or climate and grows quickly and easily, it can reach heights of 10 to 20 feet in as little as 3 to 6 months.

-- It does not require herbicides or pesticides as it is naturally resistant to pests.

-- Hemp fiber is longer lasting than wood pulp; it’s stronger, acid free and chlorine free.

-- Paper made from hemp can be recycled 7 times over the 4 times for paper made from wood pulp.

-- Hemp can replace plastics made from petroleum and are therefore biodegradable.

-- Best of all hemp could be the answer as a fuel source. At a comparable cost in converting petroleum to methane, methanol or gasoline we can instead convert hemp and it burns cleaner without contributing to global warming.

For more information and facts visit this Hemp Site, among the many others found on the Internet.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 92 - Packages

From time to time we will all receive or send packages. And if you are like me and do a lot of online shopping you will get more packages than most. Since I have gone green and most of my purchases online have been from green stores I have noticed the packaging is also 'green'.

Lets look at how we can 'green' packaging:
-- First off lets reuse and reuse the boxes that we pack the items in. I am saving my boxes for Christmas when I ship all of our families gifts off. I have noticed too that the companies I am ordering from are also re-using the boxes.

-- For the delicate items and for stuffing lets get ways from the Styrofoam peanuts and plastic bubble wrap and those plastic 'air pouch' things.

-- Instead use newspaper, old magazines and for the 'air pouch things try making your own by reusing the plastic bag your bread comes in and fill with a little air and tie closed.
-- I read about a great idea to use instead of Styrofoam peanuts and that is popcorn. Make it organic popcorn and that is even better. Use it a Christmas and the receiver then can reuse it to make a Christmas popcorn string for their tree.

Which reminds me, I have packages to pack up and ship off...
Also, if you are receiving packages through FedEx or UPS it is best to have them delivered to your business (place of work) as it is most probable that they will be stopping by your office building rather than making a trip out to your home.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 91 - Getting your Bills On Line

This is a simple step you can do on your journey to becoming green. While I was receiving some bills on-line there were a couple I was still receiving a paper copy in the mail. Cell phone and land phone. My land phone amounted to about 10 pages. I make lots of long distance phone calls.

So today, day 91, I decided to get these bills on-line. While for my other bills it was relatively easy - just go to the companies website fill in a form and there you go done, not more than 5 minutes. I quickly realized why I had not converted these 2 bills to on-line sooner as I spent the better part of the morning trying to do this. While getting quite frustrated and calling the companies were I was put on hold in total for 30 minutes, I kept reminding myself that this was for the greater good. And now it is done.... All bills from today onwards will be received online.

The benefits of on-line billing are as follows:

-- save paper

-- saves more paper

-- saves even more paper

-- saves trees that are required to make paper

-- saves water that is required to make paper

-- saves energy that is required to make paper

-- and it is convenient

Some interesting facts in regards to paper and for more paper facts click here

-- Approx. 324 L. of water is used to produce 1 KG of paper

-- Paper and paper products accounts for more than 1/3 of all Canada’s waste

-- Canada uses 6 million tonnes of paper and paperboard annually.

-- Only 1/4 of Canada’s waste paper and paperboard is recycled

-- Paper manufacturing is the 3rd largest user of fossil fuels worldwide

Monday, August 25, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 90 - Green Shopping Sites

In the last couple of days I have been 'googling' perhaps a little too much, but have found some great on-line 'GREEN' shopping sites and I thought I would share.

The Rainforest Site I came across some time ago. It offers great gifts from different countries around the world. When you purchase from the site you help various different organizations and you can also buy gifts for others. I once purchased school shoes for a school girl in Africa. A great way to give a gift to others. It also offers a daily click program where when you click a sponsor will pay for habitat protection at no cost to you. (you can also fist their literacy, breast cancer, animal rescue and child health sites; also clicking to so sponsors can donate to various programs) Check it out a click away each day.

Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store offers hundreds of fair trade and environmentally friendly green gifts. They have some great gift baskets and gift certificates. I have already picked out some items that will make great Christmas gifts. Yes, I am thinking of Christmas already.

Grounds for Change is the on-line store for any coffee lover. They sell certified organic coffee specializing in Fair Trade Coffee. They have a coffee of the month program which would be a great gift for someone or even yourself. They also offer some other coffee related products and they are also a member of 1% For The Planet and they donate 1% of sales to environmental groups.

Gifts with Humanity this site is just full of art and crafts from around the world. All Fair Trade and some really cool ideas for gifts some creative uses on recycling soda cans, flip flops and telephone wire. I grew up in South Africa and the telephone wire bracelets they sell bring back the memories of my own creations from telephone wire although much simpler than these creations.

GreenBoatStuff.com is just that a store full of boating stuff but all 'green' as there website states: "a speciality store offering environmentally friendly alternatives to the petroleum-based, chemical-laced, plastic-ridden products available at most boating supply stores." they also claim to offer "truly biodegradable sunscreen and chemical-free insect repellents." I have listed this site as both my brother and father are avid sailors so I know I will be returning to this site often.

Another site I will be visiting on a regular basis is planet happy kids toys, toys and more toys need I say more...

This site Eco Choices Natural Living Store you name it it they pretty much have it. Toys, a bedroom section, kitchen section, patio section, clothes. You need to check it out in order to see the large selection offered. Too bad no school supplies.

And the last store I will post for today is a link to getting 'chocolate on-line'- I just loooove chocolate and hence I have to add a chocolate link.

I hope in the near future to create a list (to the left of this post) to all these stores for easier access and also so I can find them again with ease. There are so many more wonderful green on-line stores out there and I am sure I will continually be adding to the list. So check back often.

Also, maybe you know of a store that you would like to share - email me or write a comment.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 89 - Greening your Clothes


Clothes - most of us want to look good and therefore we buy nice looking clothes to wear and I am no exception to that.

I will admit that I do not regularly visit the thrift stores in search of clothes. Not to say I have never been - I have and my last pregnancy wardrobe was made up of 95% thrift store finds and this was before I went green. I guess by my third pregnancy I did not want to pay those high prices attributed to maternity clothes when you only wear them for about 9 months. This last pregnancy I was also a little smarter as I know it takes some time for me to loose the pregnancy weight I also just purchased extra large normal clothes ( like track pants, yoga pants, sweaters - things with a little stretch to it) that way I was not stuck wearing maternity clothes after the baby was born. Some of the clothing because of the stretch factor can still be used well after I have lost the 'baby fat'.

I think this greening of clothes is going to be a little more challenging for me - I mostly now shop for my children and they tend to grow out of their clothes so quickly. I am going to make a resolution of sorts to go a little more greener with their clothes:

-- I will attempt to purchase organic fabrics or natural fabrics like cotton and hemp
-- For their romp around everyday clothes I will visit the thrift store more often (we have a great local kids only thrift store in town with a huge selection)
-- Instead of purchasing gloves and mitts every new winter season - I will invest a few extra dollars and get them a good eco-friendly fair traded set which then can last several years.
-- I will also be reusing some of their summer clothes for winter. T-Shirt can be worn over long sleeve cotton shirts. For girls shorts and skirts can be paired with leggings or tights for a funky look.
-- I will also be handing down more of their clothes. No need to get rid of the 'boy' jean shorts when really a pair of jean shorts is just that jean shorts that can be worn by a little girl. Same goes for regular jeans. With my two girls this will be easy as I can keep the clothes for the little one. In fact our church minister asked when I wanted to get my baby baptised and I replied - well not quite yet as I want to reuse the dress my other one wore and she needs to grow a little so she can fit into it.
-- Once the clothes are done in our family I will as I have always done donate them to charity.

For myself - I tend not to buy that many clothes for me anymore. I have always bought clothes that last through the fashion trends and I have some items in my closet going back over 10 years, with proper care and handling they can last another 10 years. As I type this I think of my favourite wrap skirt - it used to be my mom's then it was given to me and that was a good 20 years ago and I still love it. Because it is a wrap skirt it has always fitted me as I have gained and lost weight through all my pregnancies. Then there is the button up cardigan I purchased a a thrift store for $9.00, 15 years ago - it is still one of my favourites and still looks as good now as it did then. One of my favourite things to do to clothes to is to re-invent them. I am lucky enough to know to sew and have often changed an item of clothing after I got bored with it. An ankle length skirt becomes a short skirt - pants can become capri's or shorts etc.

So I guess I have been on the right track all along - I just now need to ensure that any new items I purchase are either recycled (thrift store) or environmentally friendly and are fair trade.

Shopping for my husband clothes - well I do not do that - so hopefully he will read this post and take a few hints.

Well, I started off this post thinking that it might be a challenge for me to go green with the clothes but it seems at least for myself I am doing a pretty good job already and that I just need to work on the shopping for my kids clothes.

After my post yesterday - I found so many cool online green and fair trade stores that I will be adding them to a list on the right for easy access to all.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 88 - Pre-School Jitters

My oldest is about to start school - kindergarten -in a few weeks and I am starting to feel anxious. Not about him leaving home and going to school, actually I am looking forward to him being away a little. Stretching his wings, gaining some independence and yep, you guessed it a bit of a break for me.

What I am anxious about is him leaving his 'green' nest and going into that toxic world of school. I am anxious about his school supplies - which I have not purchased yet and will not be given an indication to what he needs until 3 days before he starts. Not sure why that is but for the kindergarten class we will meet with the teacher a few days before class starts and as per the letter they mailed: "(the teacher) will be giving you a handout at that time regarding their school supplies and snacks." My mind starts to panic...where am I going to get environmentally friendly school supplies on such short notice. If he needs crayons - do I just purchase whatever they are selling in the store even if it goes against my green ethics. Do I just send him to school with the old crayons we have from home rather than purchase the other new crayons and then wait to order some soy crayons. What about a ruler which is better for the environment plastic or wood are their any other options??? Pencils, erasers where to buy? What to get? And if required can I get them on such short notice.

My husband says I should not worry about it - just pick up the supplies at the store just like everybody else. This is the husband who routinely breaks all my green rules - it is clear that he is not worried. His worry, if anything, is that our son might be singled out for his mothers "greenness". No batman or spider man back pack or lunch bag with matching plastic drink container for him.

Perhaps I am being a neurotic mother and in some part of my sub conscious am being obsessed with the 'green school supplies' to calm my unacknowledged anxieties of him going to school.

If anyone out there can offer some suggestions and guidelines for this 'green school supply syndrome' I would appreciated any comments or feed back.

I will sign this post off as "the neurotic mother who is crazy green"

Friday, August 22, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 87 - Children's Eco-Craft

My son will be starting kindergarten in the fall so I thought we could prepare something that we can file his artwork in once it has had its time being posted on the wall. A variation on the Magazine File. Of course you could make yours to hold magazines, story books, papers that need to be filed etc.
Magazine File

You will need:

-- a cereal box, or any other suitable box
-- Mod Podge (not sure how environmentally friendly this is - but we have it and it works great.)

-- Any one or all of the following: Pictures, newspaper, other children's artwork, pages an old colouring book, magazine pictures or gift wrap. We used an old world map.

Instructions (with an adults help if required):

-- cut the cereal box to resemble a magazine file

-- cut out pictures newspaper or whatever you have chosen

-- glue using the mod podge to the cereal box

-- finish with a coating or two of mod podge

-- allow to dry

You are done... and your magazine file is ready to store all of your chosen items.
Art/Space saving tip: We all love our children's art and it is important to display it in order to build their confidence. Here at our home we display it for a week and then take it down. I make sure I get a digital picture of their art which I save on a separate disk. This way I do not need to keep all of there masterpieces. I will always have copies on file. After awhile I ensure the "old" art is discarded in the environmentally correct way.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 86 - Fair Trade Coffee

It took us 80 plus days for us to run out of our our 'regular coffee' (my husband likes to purchase non perishable items in bulk - that means coffee). And with the purchase of our new coffee maker we are finally moving to fair trade organically grown coffee.

The coffee we have chosen is Ethical Bean and according to their website: Coffee is the world's second-largest traded commodity after oil, and the global market for coffee is extremely volatile. Over a decade ago, farmers saw prices drop 80% worldwide in less than 12 months. Over the past three years, the average price of coffee has fallen almost 50% and now rests at a near 30-year low, impacting over 25-million coffee growing families in over 50 developing countries.

But buying fair trade coffee for us just isn't good enough as based on my research it is also important to purchase coffee that is organic and shade grown in addition to being organic.

Fair trade coffee means that the coffee growers will be getting a fair price for their coffee. A price that will ensure a reasonable standard of living.

Organic coffee means that the coffee has been grown and processed without harsh toxic chemicals. When pesticides and chemicals are used to grow anything it not only kills the pests but makes its way into the surrounding environment and water supplies doing further damage to nature. According to this website - organic coffee beans have a rich, smooth flavor.

Shade grown coffee is very important to the environment. Coffee is best when grown in its natural environment - the shade of the rain forest. But because of the huge demand for coffee, forest are being cut down to make space for more coffee plants which then find themselves growing in full sun - not ideal for producing a good coffee bean and because of this it is drenched in fertilizers and chemicals in order for it to grow.

So next time you grab your next coffee consider for a moment where and how it was planted and what was paid for it.
Side note: I have reach 1000 hits today - yippee hooray for me. I get excited when I see how many people visit and makes me feel that all this blogging is worth while.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 85 - Trip Planning

This concept, Trip Planning, is not something new for my family. I would say I have been practising this since I had children. It is only lately that I learned it is a green action. Just goes to show you that some of your habits and actions maybe green and you don't even know it yet.

Trip planning is planning your trip so that you are not running multiple errands separately. This is especially important when you are driving.

For example if you need to say go to the post office, pick up some milk and drop your kid at an extra curricular activity - then you plan out your trip. Not go and pick up the milk in the morning, return home and then after lunch go to the post office and return home and then late afternoon deliver your kid to his karate practise. Instead you leave a little early for the karate pick up the milk and go to the post office on the way to the karate lesson. This saves huge amounts of gas, energy and reduces your carbon emissions.

Since I am using karate lessons - you can guess my son does karate. Instead of dropping him off and returning home only to pick him up later. I either stay and watch the practise or I take my little ones and go for a walk and do some 'window shopping' again saving some milage, gas, and carbon emissions.

On a side note I was impressed by my husbands green action. I came downstairs after settling our little one down for the night and noticed our garbage can in the middle of the driveway with the lid open in the pouring rain. Puzzled by this I ask my husband what he was doing. "I am washing it out. I figured instead of using the garden hose to rinse it out. I would collect some rain water in it instead and use that to rinse it out." was his confident response. WOW was my reaction - this green thing does rub off on him in little ways. Way to go hubby for thinking green.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 84 - Spreading the Eco - Word

Today's post will be brief - I think- I say this as sometimes I start out with this thought but the posting lands up to be lengthy.

The other day I gave myself a new job title. Stay at home mom does not quite cover it. As I have stated in my blogger profile I am now an "Environmental Manager - Lifestyle Applications" Now doesn't that sound important... Well, yes it does and it is an important job - part of my job description is spreading the Eco-word. I then went on to create my own business card of sorts.
The business card stems from a recent incident I had at a local store. I forgot my bags at home (something I seem to be doing quite often - not sure why) but I got to the cashier with quite a number of items and requested not to have a bag. The cashier looked at me quizzically and piled up my items as she scanned them. I then attempted to load them into my arms to carry them out of the store. Remember I have 3 children that are always with me. One I am usually toting around in a car seat so my one hand is always full. The cashier watching my struggles again offered me a plastic bag and I replied: "No thanks, I am saving the environment and will figure something out." I did... the kids each carried 2 items, I stuffed a bunch in my purse and some I stuffed around the sleeping infant in the car seat. We made it back to the car where I unloaded the loot into the trunk.
I felt very satisfied with myself. But I did feel that I could have offered the cashier more of an explanation - other than 'I am saving the environment' hence I came up with the idea of the 'business card' I can hand them out to people I meet - like the cashier - it may explain what may appear to some as my peculiar behaviour.

The front of the card is a snapshot of my blog with my blog address and on the back it has some tips we can use to live greener.

I am hoping this will continue to spread the green word - the more people who implement the smallest of green changes will ultimately make a big difference. SPREAD THE WORD. Green is the new black. BE GREEN.

I too would like to take this time to apologise for any typo's that may appear in my blog. Often I am typing with an infant on my lap and click on the publish now button when the children are needing my attention without proof reading. Thanks to all who read through these errors and still post great comments.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 83 - Green Printing 101

Green printing...it seems so simple but on the weekend when my husband wanted to print something (17 pages long) I gave him a quick course on printing green which I have decided to share.

-- First off - do not print everything save the website or document as you favourite and refer to it (my husband loved to do this so I hid a paper on him - which prompted our lesson)

-- If possible use recycled paper

-- Select to print in "draft mode" this will use less ink. To do this for most printers go to print settings and select draft. Using less ink will save you money make the 'plastic' cartridges last longer so you do not need to discard of them. When they are empty look at using the ink you can refill these with ( I tried it once and was not really happy with my results) otherwise take it back to the store were you purchase your ink from and they will recycle.

-- Print on both sides of the paper. With some printers this is an easy option. You can select it on the printer settings (most offices are equipped with this sort of printer.) Our home printer does not have this option so I find out how many pages I will be printing. In my husbands case as mentioned above 17 pages so then I only insert 1/2 the amount of pages in the printer 9 pages for this example and then print. The computer/printer will alert you that you are then out of paper. I take the paper and turn it around and run it through the printer so that it prints on the other side. Okay, so your page order is a little out of the ordinary but does that really matter in the "green" scheme of things?? Some people may disapprove of running printed paper back through the printer as it supposedly is not good for the printer. I have been doing this for sometime now and see no negative effects on my printer.

-- Also, reuse paper that has been printed o one side only.

That concludes our green printing lesson...quite a simple change to implement.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 83 - Greening my Baby Food

You would think by now I would be a pro at this - now starting my 3rd child on solids... well I think we are getting close to perfecting it.

I remember with my son (our first) - my husband and I would spend one day a month making his food from scratch and then freezing it (in plastic containers and non organic food). We thought he was lucky and getting the best food ever. Our second unfortunately ate everything from a jar (well she hardly ate - did not like much of anything and still doesn't - I am constantly amazed that she survives on what little she does eat - but that is whole other subject). Now our third... they say practise make perfect.

First off we have not purchased any of those fun little plastic dishes to serve their first meals in. One with lids, multiple colours and all those fancy plastic spoons that change colour when the food is too hot. We are using stainless steel teaspoons and little glass containers.

Secondly we are not spending hours preparing her food from scratch and then freezing it. She is basically eating what we eat. If we have carrots - I cook some extra well done - puree it and then serve. Same with peas, potatoes, beets, etc. Fruit like bananas are again pureed and then served. All my kids love apple sauce and we purchase a large container of organic apple sauce and I serve that to her. No need to stock up on those tiny little jars of food (which are not necessarily all recycled by many families out there). I will admit that I do purchase the organic baby cereals - as I do not think I have the time to make those from scratch or even know how - so if you do - please share your thoughts on this.

I am finding my new way of preparing food for my little one to be very simple, easy, fresh organic and 'green' - and she seems to be loving it. Perhaps too because it is my third child I am not being overly concerned about he possibility of allergies and am serving her something different each day (they say you should serve the same food several times to rule out any allergies - since none of my other children have allergies - perhaps I am hoping for the best).

The World Health Organization also suggest that you breastfeed exclusively for 6 months before introducing solids - again as with my first I am not sticking to this. She seems interested and has her first tooth at 4 and half months and is enjoying the food - so I feed her. My philosophy is - if you have teeth you can start on solids - but this is a personal choice.

In closing I would like to say that feeding your baby 'green' is quite simple - I wish I had done so with my other children. But live and learn.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 82 - Wildflowers and Bees

Most of us have heard about the decrease in bees over the last few years. A decrease of approximately 30% as noted by the US Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service and in 2006, beekeepers began reporting losing 30 percent to 90 percent of their hives.

The decrease in the bee population has become known as Colony Collapse Disorder. The cause of this disorder is still unknown. Possible explanations include pesticides; a new parasite or pathogen; or are under stress which makes them more vulnerable to pests and disease and perhaps limited or contaminated water supplies.

An estimated 80 percent of all flowering plants depend on a living creature, mainly bees, for pollination and seed production. The remainder of the pollinators are other insects including butterflies. “Bees are responsible for one in three bites of food you eat,”says Tuell, who studies bees as a post-doctoral researcher at Michigan State University. In the past few years, honeybees have started to disappear, a puzzle known as Colony Collapse Disorder. While the cause is unknown, some scientists believe honeybees are under stress that makes them more vulnerable to pests and disease.

Bees are responsible for pollinating the food we eat and the farmers need the bees to grow more food for us to eat. No bees equals no or very little and expensive food.

Hear in our home we are trying to create a safe little haven for the bees and have planted wild flowers almost everywhere. They are pesticide free which is what these little guys need and did you know that a bees favourite flower colours are blue, purple, yellow and white. Butterflies like red. (see picture of our flowers to the right)

In this small way we are helping the bees. We have seen a lot bees in our garden (and butterflies too) and no we are not afraid of getting stung and my husband to is slowly overcoming his fear. Like I always tell him when he tries to swat them away: "If you do not bother them, they will not bother you."

Help the bees, the environment and the future of our food and plant a garden for the bees.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 82 - Children's Eco-Craft

Today's craft is rather simple. It will make a Simple Statement. A Green Ribbon, show the world that you support a Green lifestyle. It is so simple that you can make a whole bunch of them and give them to your friends.

The Green Ribbon.

You will need:

-- Green Ribbon

-- A Safety Pin

-- Needle and Thread (Ideally the same colour thread as the ribbon - but just use whatever colour thread you have on hand - no point going to buy a matching thread. The only green thread I had was a dark green colour.)

Instructions (with an adults help if required):

-- Cut a length of your green ribbon (mine is approximately 8 inches long)

-- Approximately a third from the bottom sew on your safety pin (see pictures to right)

-- The fold the ribbon to create a loop (ensure the cross over piece of ribbon covers your stitches of sewing the pin on)

-- Stitch the cross over piece of ribbon in place.

You're done. Wear your ribbon with 'Green' pride - make a few more and share....


Thursday, August 14, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 78 to 81 - Back on the GREEN Schedule

Day 78, Day 79 miss a few Day 81. Having the husband at home for a few days after our vacation puts my schedule out of whack. As I explained to him I run a tight ship around here and he just gets me out of my routine. Makes my life much busier as I now need to tend to his needs too... All the wives out there - I am sure you can relate!!! But he is back at work today and life returns to normal. Please do not get me wrong - I enjoy having my husband around and miss him now that he is back at work but now I have time to get back to blogging...

On the subject of my dear darling husband - he seems to have taken some several steps back on the green scale since we returned from home..... that darn darling husband (DDH). I asked him to go to the store to pick up some organic baby rice cereal - (started solids for our little one - but more on that on a another posting).

The DDH returns after several hours with plastic bags of stuff....His excuse for the plastic: "Well I did not think to take the canvas bags as I was just getting cereal". Then why did you not just get the cereal.....

Then there was the new coffee maker - Here is a snippet of the conversation:

"Jen the old one is terrible does not keep the coffee warm after a couple hours and it spills the coffee when you try and pour it - and besides this one does not have a pot so no spills and you can get a cup of coffee with one hand - look the picture on the box. The mother is holding her child while she gets a cup of coffee - I just had to get it."

With a stunned expression I respond: "Did you forget that we only buy stuff we really and truly need - not just want and besides I never had a problem pouring a cup of coffee with one hand using the old coffee pot. And you should be drinking the coffee after it is made and not leaving it turned on all morning hoping it will stay warm when you want it."

Still hoping to get himself out of his ungreenness he states: " Well if I use this coffee maker, I can make coffee to take to work in a reusable cup rather than buy some on the way to work; idling the car while I wait to go through the drive-through and then land up throwing away the cup - now that is a good thing you can post in your blog."

"Sure, and you could not do all that with the old coffee pot?" I ask still a little stunned by this new object that has intruded into my green world.

If you are wondering where I am going with this - Well it is quite simple - Do not buy stuff you do not need. Do not fall for the marketing on the packaging and do not buy things on a whim!!! Think GREEN!!!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Mother's going GREEN Day 77 - Light Shade of Green Vacation

Well our family is back safe and sound from our vacation. Very tiring but very enjoyable at the same time. A nice break.

Attempted as much as possible to stay on my green track but I will admit being on a vacation away from home does present many challenges. I am sad to admit that I did succumb to many of the not so green activities.....

I did pick up a plastic bag or 2 - those Disney bags - I felt I needed one as a souvenir - why I am not sure.

Although we took our Klean Kanteen water bottles with us we still used some plastic bottles - boy is it ever hot in California, and we needed lots of cool drinking water. We purchased some cold bottles of water the first day but did reuse them (not recommended because of the plastic) but it was only for a few days... I came up with a great way to keep the refilled bottles cooled - I packed them into a soft sided cooler - filled it with ice and kept it in the bottom of the stroller - we had cold water all day. The melted ice (water) I then sprinkled in one of the many flower beds thus reusing the water.

Food was another source of a challenge of staying green. We did pack several organic snacks from home which we ate as snacks and for breakfast had cereal which we purchased there but for lunch and dinner we had fast food or either ate at restaurants. But I can say at least we put in the effort.

Staying in the hotel room was the easiest - I managed to do everything I set out to do in an earlier blog - so that's one good green thing.

Souvenirs - now that was a real challenge especially for the kids - so many toys and paraphernalia with lots of packaging but we did let them get a couple of things. For myself I managed to pick up a 100% cotton dress and a beautiful paper sun hat. It says it is paper but it looks like a straw hat. Both natural and zero packaging. The biggest souvenir will be all the pictures we took and ticket stubs, maps etc. I will be making each of my kids a "memory" book of their vacation.

Lessons learned: It is tough to maintain your green status on a holiday, especially when you are fairly new to the green thing. But we learn from experience and next time I know I will be better prepared especially when it comes to the food - I would say that was our biggest downfall.