Mother's going GREEN Day 21 - Shopping the eco-friendly way

Yes, there can be an environmentally way to shop.

• Shop less (do we really need everything that we buy - lets think how quick the excitement of the product you buy will wear off - especially when it comes to children's toys)
• Shop locally - support your local businesses in your community, often the business in our community in turn support the community we live in. Also, it will help foster relationships which is also a good thing.
• Locally made - Shop for locally made products. Support your country's economy.
• Shop online (my personal favourite) - when you shop on eBay or Craig's list you can choose to buy second hand items (recycling) "one mans junk is another's treasure" and many of the warehouses use much less energy than your conventional store.
• Packaging - try to purchase items with minimal packaging. Today, I was so excited to buy my infant a baby rattle (made no less with the environment in mind) it is made with wood and natural fibres packaged with recycled paper and none of those plastic ties which you land up having to pry from the toys with some sort of sharp object. This toy had natural string holding it on the board - a simple knot to untie and toy was ready for enjoyment. (pictured on right)
• Bring your own bag - always bring your own bag or try to anyway.

References for this post was from a book I have on hand "Green for Life (200 simple Eco-Ideas for Every day)" by Gillian Deacon

Mother's going GREEN Day 20 - Those darn plastic bags

Even though we long ago said "NO PLASTIC BAGS" one or two always make their way back into our home via my husband. As soon as he walks in the door he apologises - but he did not have any fabric bags with him and they just gave him a bag anyway is his excuse. It is a challenge to teach an old dog new tricks. First off I have suggested to him to just say no - no to plastic bags the cashier does not take any offense to it; and also at all times to have a bag ready. But I guess for some men remembering to take a bag with them everywhere they go can be quite a feat.

These plastic bags are like cockroaches - always around and no matter what lengths you take to get rid of them they always seem to be there and like cockroaches they will probably be around long after too - give or take a few hundred years.

Today, I told my husband that I am not getting rid of anymore plastic bags he accidentally brings home. I will be reusing them in several ways. I have found a website that gives you detailed instructions on how to make "fabric" out of them (he might be wearing a rain jacket soon from the bags he brings home). There is also many websites that offer crochet patterns for plastic bags. I love to crochet so I might be doing a bit of that with the bags. I already have 2 crafts that I will be utilizing the plastic bags in my children's Eco-craft Friday's. So my dear hubby better watch out - he might soon find himself among a ton of creative re-incarnations of the "plastic bag".

Some serious facts about the plastic bag:

• Well over a billion single-use plastic bags are given out for free each day.
• Each year billions of bags end up as ugly litter.
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
• Production requires vast amounts of oil.
• Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
• Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.

The above facts and more plus possible solutions can be found on the following website: http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php

Treehugger provides some pictures of 'plastic' fabric clothing and some links to places on how you too can make your own fabric or perhaps your next crochet project - just visit the following link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/diy_plastic_bag.php