Do It Together: 10 Tips for Going Green with Kids

Want to go green with your kids but don’t know how? Keep in mind that small changes make all the difference. Your family can adopt green habits easily by making them fun and routine. Consider placing friendly reminders around the house to help enforce the environmentally friendly changes or singing a “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” song when kids are helping out. Use these tips as a guide to teach your kids about being environmentally conscious – it’s better for the planet if they learn young! Ready to make some green changes? Do it together!

Turn Off the Water
Help your kids get into the habit of turning off the water while they brush their teeth. After wetting their toothbrush, tell them to play their favorite song while the water is off (which should be around two to three minutes, the perfect time to brush their teeth).

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Switch Off Lights and Appliances
Kids can help out by turning off lights and appliances when not in use. Put them on “light duty” and have them go around the house shutting off lights that are not needed and turning off unused appliances. 

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Make Your Home Green

Your children can go with you to a local nursery and pick out their favorite plants to have in the house. This equals more oxygen for your home! Take this opportunity to teach your children about plant care as well and have them help you water and care for the plants.

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E-Waste

No more disposing of e-waste in the trash! Teach kids that batteries from everyday objects like video game controllers or Wii remotes should be recycled, as well as any electronic equipment. Place an e-waste bin in your home and label the container with a bright color so kids won’t forget!

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Sorting Fun

Make sorting recyclables a fun activity for kids. With color-coded bins, kids can sort paper, glass, plastic, etc. while singing a recycling song!

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Learn Green

When kids need new school supplies, take them on a hunt for eco-friendly school supplies. Have them search for supplies that say “recycled” or “eco” or “green” on the packaging and celebrate their finds!

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Plant a Small Garden

Whether it’s a flower garden or vegetable garden, kids can learn about green living by helping plant a garden. From seed to bloom, kids can see how rewarding it is to have a garden of their own!

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Buy Reusable Water Bottles

Have your kids choose a favorite reusable water bottle and pack it in their lunch box instead of a juice box. This way, you reduce waste while they enjoy drinking out of their cool water bottle!

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Donate Old Clothing

Have kids go through their closets and make a “donate” and “keep” pile. Teach them that donating their clothes helps reduce waste in the environment while helping those in need.

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Meatless Monday
Have kids vote for their favorite vegetarian recipe for Meatless Monday. Cutting down on meat consumption can help cut greenhouse emissions.

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Double Take

For homework, help kids get in the habit of printing on both sides of paper.  Place a sign above your printer for a friendly reminder or have kids ask their teachers if they can email assignments – that way, no paper is used!

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Go Organic

Take your kids with you to the grocery store and have them help you search for products that are labled organic, like milk, fruits, and veggies. They’ll be excited to help out the family when they make their finds!

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Resource:  Homesessive

10 easy, New Year's resolutions for the eco-slacker

These resolutions will help you save money, cut your carbon footprint and decrease your home's waste.

Going to farmers markets and becoming a weekend vegetarian are two easy green lifestyle changes you can make in the new year. (Photo: JohnnyRokkit/Flickr)

It's easy to think about all the big changes you're going to make in the New Year as the old year comes to an end — but by the second week of January, most of us are already finding reasons to skip the gym or break the spending freeze. That's why we've come up with ten green New Year's resolutions so easy you'll have no excuse not to keep them — and as they help you save money, cut your carbon footprint, decrease your home's waste stream, and improve the quality of the Earth, you'll be glad you did.

1. Never buy bottled water again

Trade your bottled water habit for an at-home filtering pitcher and you can help make a dent in the 1.5 million barrels of oil used to make plastic water bottles each year; pair it with a reusable bottle (like one made of glass, aluminum, or recycled plastic), and you'll always be prepared to tackle your thirst. Bonus: With bottled water no longer on your shopping list, you could save as much as $1,400 this year.

2. Brew your own Fair Trade coffee

Carrying your own coffee in an insulated travel mug helps you reduce waste from cardboard cups and carrying sleeves — which are thrown away at a staggering rate of 58 billion each year. For greener at-home brewing, choose a Fair Trade blend that supports farmers; add organic milk instead of artificial creamers; and try a French press (instead of a traditional brewer) to save electricity.

3. Remember your reusable bags

With more than 1 million plastic bags ending up in the trash every minute, taking reusable bags to the store is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint — but the hardest part about using them is simply remembering to take them with you. A set like this one from Blue Avocado is almost impossible to forget: It comes with six different bags, sized for everything from frozen goods to fresh fruit, and the entire collection folds down into a slim packet for easy transport.

4. Cut back on paper towels

If you're grabbing a paper towel for everything from wiping up spills and cleaning your counter to scrubbing the bathroom and keeping your hands clean at dinner, it's time to make a change. Instead, invest in a few cotton cloths and some fabric napkins; then drop them in the wash when you run a load of laundry. Using the cloth alternatives is just as easy as using the paper versions, and you only need to buy them once — plus you can help eliminate the 3,000 tons of paper towels that end up landfills every day.

5. Use a bike for short trips

It takes a certain amount of dedication to permanently give up a car in favor of a bike, but even an eco-slacker can make it work for short trips that don't require hauling a lot of stuff: picking up milk at the local grocery store, after-dinner ice cream at your favorite dessert spot, your morning yoga class, brunch with friends at the coffee shop. Ride your bike for trips shorter than 2 miles and you could cut your carbon footprint significantly, save money on gasoline and car maintenance, and increase your fitness level — all at the same time.

6. Order from your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Going to the farmer's market always sounds like such a great idea — until Saturday morning rolls around and you realize you have to get up early, have enough cash, and fight other customers for the best strawberries. Instead, have your local CSA program do the hard part for you by putting together a box of their best produce each week — and, if you're really feeling lazy, have it delivered right to your door so you get fresh, local fruits and vegetables without giving up your lazy coffee-and-crossword mornings.

7. Become a weekend vegetarian

Cutting meat out of your diet just two days a week can decrease your carbon footprint by about 1/3 of a ton — and coming up with meat-free meals for Saturday and Sunday isn't as hard as it sounds. Try pancakes and fruit for breakfast; fresh salads or roasted vegetable sandwiches for lunch; and veggie pizza, bean soups, and creamy risottos for dinner. And since doubling a recipe rarely adds any time to your prep work, you can make extras to eat throughout the week (and trim your carbon footprint even more).

8. Eliminate phantom power

It takes approximately one second to unplug the charger for your cell phone, mp3 player, e-reader, or iPad — but if you really can't be bothered, then let nifty, energy-efficient gadgets do the work for you. Use power strips to turn off all your appliances at once; put your television, DVD player, game system, and stereo on a timer so they automatically shut off overnight; and invest in chargers that stop drawing current when the device's battery is full. You could cut your energy bill by as much as 10 percent annually — without lifting a finger.

9. Switch to green power

Switching your home to run on green power sounds like a big job — installing solar panels, geothermal energy, or a tankless hot water heater is not a job for the construction-impaired. But you can also make this happen without getting out of your chair: Call your local energy company and see if they offer renewable options (most do). You might see a small jump in your bill, but it's an easy way to make a big change.

10. Replace your lightbulbs

Replacing your lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lights may be the ultimate change for the eco-slacker. Despite all the jokes, it takes only one person to change a lightbulb — and since CFLs last longer than traditional bulbs, you'll be saving time for years down the road while cutting your energy use by as much as 80 percent. Can't even face the hardware store? Order your bulbs online and have them come straight to your door.

Resource:  Mother Nature Network

Easy, Cheap and Green Cleaning Tips for Floors

Thanks to HGTV.com, you can make your floors look like new again with these simple techniques for cleaning tile, hardwood and vinyl.  Happy cleaning!

How to Clean Tile, Wood and Vinyl Floors
 

Ceramic-tile floors can be cleaned easily with nothing but warm water, but be sure to sweep or vacuum first to remove any loose soil or grit. Never use a sponge mop to clean ceramic-tile floors. It will pull the dirt right into the grout tracks. This makes the floor more difficult to clean. A micro-fiber mop picks up all the dirt that a sponge mop leaves behind. Pour the ingredients into a bucket and use a rag or micro-fiber mop to clean. If you do use a rag and the on-your-hands-and-knees method, be sure to wipe in a circular motion across the floor. Don't forget the cabinets and baseboards. If you have really dirty grout, use a brush.

Use boiling water and two teabags to clean hardwood floors. The tannic acid in tea creates a beautiful shine for hardwood floors. Let two teabags steep in the boiling water for a few minutes. Pour the tea into a bucket. Take a soft cloth and wring it out in the tea. The cloth merely needs to be damp, not soaked. This will enable the floor to dry quickly. Wash the floor and be ready to be amazed by the sheen.

If there are scratches that stand out after cleaning the hardwood floor, simply take a crayon the color of the floor and rub it on the scratch to fill the gap. Turn a blow dryer on high, heat the area where the crayon was applied and buff it with a soft cloth.

Clean the vinyl floors. Mix Borax in a bucket of warm water and wash the floor.

Remove hairspray residue from hard surfaces with a solution of one part fabric softener and two parts water.

For stains on concrete floors, try laundry detergent, pre-treat stain solutions or dishwasher detergent. Let the solution soak for about 30 minutes then scrub.

How to Clean Floor Grout

Many stains are on the surface of the grout and can be removed with sandpaper. Just fold the sandpaper into a crease, and work it back and forth along the grout line. If sandpaper doesn't work, you may have better results by applying a pencil eraser.

If sandpaper or an eraser fails to remove the stains and dirt, try an over-the-counter grout cleaner -- or create a similar solution from household bleach and water. Squirt or pour the solution onto the grout, and scrub with a toothbrush. Make sure the area is well ventilated, and wear rubber or latex gloves when working with bleach.

If bleach doesn't do the job, you may need to remove and replace the grout. Use a grout-removal tool or a rotary tool with a carbide tip. After you install new grout, seal it with a grout sealer to reduce the likelihood of future stains setting in. Reapply sealer once every two years.

Resource:  HGTV.com