Recycle This!

Recycling is a great idea, but when you’re pressed for time, it may seem just so much easier to toss things in the trash. Let’s face it, when you’re trying to clean up the dinner dishes, help your kids with their homework, and put up a load of laundry, it can be a real drag to rinse out that empty jar of spaghetti sauce or can of soup. But keep this in mind…the more stuff you recycle, the fewer trips you will have to make to the dumpster. Take a minute now to rinse a jar and you'll save time and energy later schlepping garbage. As a bonus, recycling creates jobs, saves energy, preserves natural resources, reduces greenhouse-gas emissions, and keeps toxins from leaking out of landfills.

Buy The Book!

Get all of your green parenting questions answered in one easy-to-read, easy-to-use book! The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Earth-Friendly Living, gives parents all the info they need to go green while raising kids...from diapers to school fundraisers to green gift ideas, The Green Parent is an incredible source for any parent (or teacher, or grandparent, or caregiver) who wants to raise eco-savvy kids and protect the planet for today and tomorrow!

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Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Books A Million


Here's what the country's leading environmentalists had to say about The Green Parent:

“"As thoughtful stewards of the little people we care for and of the planet we inhabit, we want to tread lightly. In The Green Parent, author Jenn Savedge guides us through how to live “green” and pass that love and respect for the earth on to our children—whether it’s working with our kids’ school to ensure anti-idling, planning an eco-family vacation or finding an earth-friendly (and scalp-friendly!) way of dealing with head lice. Savedge writes with an infectious optimism that motivates us to change our ways…and change the world in the process.”"
–Leslie Garrett, journalist and author of The Virtuous Consumer, mother of three
“

"The Green Parent is an excellent guide for parents! Savedge provides an encyclopedic approach to a range of issues from energy efficiency to saving money. For people who don’t have time to research environmental issues, this book boils them down to their key components, then offers easy solutions that any parent can manage. The simple format and step-by-step suggestions make this a nifty resource to read cover-to-cover, and then use as a reference guide whenever you need just the right answer. Savedge includes fun ideas like a “Light Patrol” badge to get kids involved in saving energy, as well as ideas for throwing a “green” party. She covers very practical ideas too, like how to get rid of head lice in an environmentally friendly way. I’'ve dog-eared many pages in this book and always keep it close at hand.”"
–Kathleen Ridihalgh, www.greatgreentips.net, mother of one


Click here to read more praise for The Green Parent
Click here to read an excerpt

Packing Peanuts

Call the Plastic Loosefill Council at 1-800-828-2214 for a list of locations where you can drop off those plastic peanuts that you get in shipments. Most UPS Store locations accept foam packaging peanuts for reuse. Check out www.theupsstore.com for a location near you.

Grasscycling

Bagging up leaves and other yard trimmings not only wastes your time and energy, it also puts a tremendous strain on the environment. Instead, try grasscycling. After you mow, leave the grass clippings on the lawn. They will naturally decompose into the soil, helping to hold in soil moisture, prevent freezing, and return nutrients to the soil.

A Bright Idea

Lighting adds up to 15 percent of the total energy use in the average American home. So don’t overlook the obvious: turn off lights when you leave a room. Also, try using a lower wattage bulb or swapping out regular light bulbs for energy-saving, long-lasting compact fluorescents that can save energy and cash.

See Double

Whether you’re at home or at work, get in the habit of using both sides of a piece of paper. Kids’ art projects, grocery lists, and messages can give paper a second life. Check with your kids’ school to see if any of your waste (such as jars, magazines, paper towel rolls, newspapers, or plastic bottles) could be used for art projects. At the store, bring along your own shopping bags; either the plastic bags from your last trip, or better yet, a reusable tote bag.

Turn Trash Into Cash

If it’s worth something, you can make a tidy profit by selling toys, clothes, and books at a yard sale, consignment shop or on sites like Ebay or Craigslist. If that doesn’t work, donate it to your local thrift store or use Freecyle or Recycler’s Exchange to find someone in your area who might need it. One person’s junk is another’s treasure.

Follow The Sun

Even if you don’t have solar panels on your roof, you can make use of the sun’s power to warm your home in the winter. Leave shades and blinds open on sunny days, but close them at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows. In the summer, block that warmth by closing shades and blinds on the sunny side of the house

Stop Junk Mail

Every time you order something online, fill out a warranty card, or join a club, your personal information is collected and sold to marketers who will flood your mailbox with offers, wasting paper as well as your time. To stop junk mail, start by contacting the Mail Preference Service to request that your contact information be removed from lists run by The Direct Marketing Association (a trade group of marketing companies.) Removing your information from this mailing list will cost $1 but it will also help to stop junk mail for up to five years. This can be done online at: http://www.dmaconsumers.org/offmailinglist.html, or by sending a postcard or letter to:

Mail Preference Service

Direct Marketing Association

PO Box 643

Carmel, NY 15012-0643

Credit card offers are another big source of junk mail. You can call 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day to stop any and all unsolicited credit card offers from coming your way.

Take Control Of Your Temperature

This is one of the simplest and most powerful things you can do to save energy around your house. In the winter, see if you and your family can still be comfortable with the thermostat set around 68 degrees. Turn it down even more when you go to sleep. During the summer months, bump up the thermostat and open a window when there is a fresh breeze.

Pull The Plug

Even when appliances are off, they are still draining energy in “standby” mode. Use a power strip to turn off televisions, stereos, and computer systems when you are not using them and unplug appliances such as phone chargers, extra refrigerators, and printers until you need them.

Make A Waste-Free Lunch

Many parents rely heavily on pre-packaged and disposable goods when packing lunches. Sure, they’re convenient, but what is the cost of this convenience? Much of the trash generated in the American home comes from the packaging on the food we buy. According to Wastefreelunches.org, each school-age child who packs a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That works out to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school. Ditch those pre-packaged goods and make your kids a waste-free lunch.

How do you make a waste-free lunch? Instead of wrapping sandwiches in aluminum foil or plastic bags, use a reusable container that can hold the sandwich as well as fresh veggies and other treats. Substitute cloth napkins and reusable silverware for disposables. Replace juice boxes and water bottles with reusable drink containers. And use a lunchbox or cooler instead of paper lunch bags.

Don't Buy It...Borrow Instead

Start a toy exchange with friends. As every parent knows, today’s favorite toy is tomorrow’s closet clutter. Instead of buying new toys every week, bring a box of your old toys to a friend’s house and bring a box of their old toys home. Swap them back after a few weeks. Instead of buying books, movies, and magazines, utilize your local library or movie rental store.

Go Paperless

Think twice before you hit that PRINT button. Read documents, news, and magazines online. Pay bills over the web to save paper from bills and checks. Send out e-cards to save both paper and cash. At work, distribute memos and circulate documents by email.