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"

Mother's going GREEN Day 18 - Childrens Eco-Craft

Today (Friday) is Mother's going Green craft day and today's official craft is "Watering Cans" but as it turns out there was a surprise second craft "One-of-a-Kind Gift Wrap" - I was in need of some wrapping paper for our Fathers Day gifts.

Watering Cans

You will need:

- Empty Milk Jug (saved from the recycling bin)

- Sharp instrument to make holes (I used one of the handy dandy tools on my Swiss Army Knife)

- Paint

- Paint Brushes

- Sheet of paper or Newspaper

Instructions (with adult help if required – you probably will need it for using the sharp instrument):

- Lay down the newspaper or craft paper on your work area.

- Set the empty clean milk jug down and make some holes on the top side of the milk jug opposite the handle (see picture).

- Make anther hole on top of the handle which will allow for air to go into the bottle as water comes out.

- Paint the jug (be as creative as you can be – anything goes) – allow the jug to dry.

Once dried fill with water screw the lid back on and you have a one of a kind watering can. (I found having the lid on was great for my younger kids as with a normal watering can they tend to pour all the water out from the top – with the lid this stops all of that and the water comes out in a nice ‘sprinkle’

Enjoy watering your flowers and plants.

One-of-a-Kind Gift Wrap

Take the paper that you painted your jug on and use it to clean your brushes by brushing off the excess paint – allow to dry – you have instant gift wrap.

In fact you can use this idea with any painting craft you do. Instead of throwing away or recycling your “drop” paper just turn it into gift wrap. The excess paint will add some colour to newspaper and a truly unique piece of gift wrap.

A little 'reusing' history on our "drop paper":

We received it in a package, the items were protectively wrapped in it. Then it became our 'drop paper' for our craft project, acted as our 'paint brush cleaner' and finally our gift wrap. Talk about reusing!!!

Mother's going GREEN Day 15 - Picnics the Green Way

Summer is almost upon us in our neck of the woods, although you wouldn't believe it with our cool temperatures.

But with summer here many people will head outdoors for picnicking and there is an eco-friendly approach to these wonderful outdoor meal occasions.

• Make your food fresh and organic and local if possible.


• Use minimal packaging to transport your food. Perhaps glass containers for homemade salads, fresh veggies and dip, a nice sandwich and some yummy homemade cookies for dessert.


• Ditch the paper plates, plastic cups, cutlery and paper napkins and dine outdoors in style with stainless steel cutlery, glass glasses, cloth napkins and china plates (the plates you use on a regular basis). This way you will not creating additional waste which eventually lands up in the landfill.

Our family has a "picnic basket" - a gift I received from my husband for my very first mother's day and in it we keep all of our utensils, china plates and glassware along with our traditional red gingham cloth tablecloth and matching cloth napkins. It is perfect.

Going picnicking as a group or joining a group on a picnic can also be environmentally friendly if everyone just brings there own plate, cutlery, glassware and cloth napkin.

Going on a picnic is all about enjoying the outdoors, experiencing mother nature so in turn it would be nice if we left none of ourselves behind. Happy summer and happy picnicking.

Mother's going GREEN Day 11 - Children's Eco Craft

Friday’s Craft Corner: Individually Wrapped Chocolate Drops (especially for dad in preparation for Fathers Day)

You will need:

A jar (recycled – an old jam jar works well)
Foil wrap (preferably recycled – perhaps from chocolate or candy bars – I collected ours from chocolate bars – that is before we stopped eating them – but more on that in tomorrows blog)
Chocolate (preferably fair trade chocolate we used Coco Camino http://www.cocoacamino.com/)
Piece of old material
Wax paper

Instructions: (with an adults help if required)

Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave (microwaves take up less power than the stove)

On the wax paper and with a spoon drop the melted chocolate – see picture (it is a good idea to out the wax paper on a cookie sheet if you intend to put it in the fridge to set)

Allow the chocolate to set ( you can put it in the fridge to speed up the process)

Once the chocolate has set you can individually wrap them (see picture) and then place them in the jam jar

Cut a circle in the fabric large enough to cover and overlap the jar lid and tie it on the lid with a piece of ribbon or string.

Voila, you have Individually wrapped chocolate drops you’re your favourite dad for Fathers day and remember to reuse or recycle the wax paper.

I hope your dad enjoys these tasty treats. For added individuality you can place a nut on each drop of chocolate before it sets.

Enjoy.

See the chocolate all over the t-shirt; you can eat the left over chocolate in the bowl.

Next weeks craft will be a 'watering can' for your garden.

Mother's going GREEN Day 10 - Spreading the "Eco" Word

Today in South West British Columbia it is a cold and miserable "winter" day. 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit). I thought it was supposed to be summer. I almost wanted to turn on the heat - but grabbed some extra sweaters instead. This is what climate change is all about!!

Gandhi once said: "Be the change you want to see in the world." hence my decision for my family to start living a greener life. I urge you to spread the green word, if my blog does not appeal to you there are others that also offer great green tips in a different format - one of my favourites is http://www.ourgreenyear.blogspot.com or visit http://www.bestgreenblogs.com to view a green blogs worldwide.

The point is: Share this blog with your family, friends, neighbours, strangers or just about anybody perhaps it will inspire them, if not you to be more environmentally proactive.

When I first announced to my family that we were "going green", my husband was a little reluctant - but he recently suggested that to his work place that they should encourage a group order on an organic food delivery thus cutting back on the amount of delivery stops the organic company would need to make, reducing carbon emissions and promoting organic eating among the staff members. My 5 year old son also today made an announcement to his preschool class that his family was going green and trying not to make so much garbage and save the earth. Baby steps, but steps in the right direction.

Please feel free at anytime to post your comments and your green ideas.

Thank you.

Mother's going GREEN Day 8 - Home Eco - Checklist

Today me and the children did what we are calling a "Home Eco Checklist". Basically we went through the house and looked at areas where we could improve our energy and waste consumption.

• Appliances not used on a regular basis need to be unplugged. We found several - Cell Phone Charger; Night Lights - although these are handy are they really worth the extra energy - we decided no - so unplugged them; Coffee Maker & Toaster. We found a couple more but we need to think of how to make the plugs more accessible in order to plug and unplug them with relative ease (that is without having to move furniture). We have placed these on our "To Do" list.


• Energy efficient light bulbs. We checked all of our light bulbs to ensure that they are the florescent energy safe ones. We noticed that there are some lights with still the older light bulbs - so they have to be changed.


• Fish Tank. We decided that rather leaving the fish tank light on all day that we would only put it on for a few hours in the evening. We also unplugged the "bubbles" as we found the filter provides enough oxygen into the water. We also decided the next time we clean the fish tank rather than through out the water we would use it to water some of our garden plants. Getting double the use out of the water.


• Doors and Windows. We ensured that all our doors and windows close properly and that there is no gaps allowing either cool or warm air to escape (pending the season). We found one that could use a little fixing.


• Appliances. We checked to see if our fridge and stove doors where correctly sealed when closed - since they are new we had no problems here. We do not want to be wasting energy when we use the oven having the hot air escape and same with the fridge - we do not want it to work harder to stay cool when warm air is getting in.


• Finally we checked the "Junk Closet". Things that we throw in there probably because they are broken and we haven't gotten around to getting rid of them or we no longer have a need for them. We found an extension cord that the dog had chewed and I decided that with some electrical tape it would be as good as new. Some items we set aside to donate to charity and some will go to a consignment store - nothing will go into landfill - at least from our home. It is important to fix or donate items rather than just throw them away.

I think the small actions of today could save some energy and every little bit helps. We have decided that every 6 months we will do our "Home Eco Checklist" to ensure everything is as it should be.

It would be great if everyone took a little time and walked through their home and just did some little checks to ensure their energy efficiency.

Mother's going GREEN Day 7 - My take on Cloth Diapers

On Sunday (yesterday) was our first official day of cloth diapers. I thought I would leave my comments on them for today as now I can comment based on experience.

I LOVE THEM !!!! Truly and honestly they are great. I have had two kids in disposables for a 21/2 years each and would have never ever thought of making the switch to cloth. They are easy and slim fitting (and really now that is all I can say about them). I want to say they are disposable, but when you think of how long it takes for a single diaper to compose (they say up to 500 years), is it really disposable.

Cloth diapers are great - no more complicated than a disposable to put on to a baby. There are no pins like in the days way back when. If you plan to wash your diapers every second day then you do not need to put them in a pail to soak and deal with that yucky mess. What about the poop you say - well with disposables and especially in young breastfed babies as my youngest is. Their bowel movement are so runny that I was always having to rinse my child's clothes as the disposables always leaked no matter what. My baby has had 4 bowel movements and not once did the cloth leak onto her clothes. Okay so now I am dealing with a poopy diaper instead of poopy clothes.

I have only one con for the cloth diapers - well it makes my baby's bum look so much bigger - yes they are quite bulky compared to disposables.

I realize that there is still some debate out there as to weather cloth is more environmentally friendly compared to disposables.... This is how I see it:

• Cloth have no dangerous chemicals in them (both good for my baby and the environment). Disposables have bleaching agents, and chemicals that are linked to toxic shock syndrome. Those chemicals are not good for the environment or my baby. It also these chemicals that lead to diaper rash (skin irritation) Cloth diapers are less likely to cause a rash.


• Cloth diapers will last as long as your baby is in diapers and for future babies you may have, saving the environment and your bank account. Disposables well they are expensive and take forever to decompose. Since I plan not to have any more children, I am already thinking that these cloth diapers will make the best cleaning rags ever.


• Washing cloth diapers is said to use up as much energy as flushing the toilet 5 times in a day. If this little baby was going to the toilet then we would be flushing it 5 times a day.


• Furthermore Treehuggers.com They say that cloth diapers has a 53% ecological footprint of that of disposables. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/how-to-green-your-baby.php and since my goal is to reduce our family's footprint I am sticking with cloth.

For more websites debating cloth or disposable (although it seems cloth wins) visit:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2004/12/ecotip_nappies.php

http://www.ec.gc.ca/envirozine/english/issues/45/any_questions_e.cfm

AS FOR ME I GIVE CLOTH DIAPERS THE FULL GO AHEAD AND GLAD I MADE THE SWITCH FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND MY BABY !!!!!