Little Green Books - Little Green Blog

Know somebody who deserves recognition for their efforts to take green to the mainstream? The Daily Green’s Heart of Green Awards honors celebrities and stalwarts of the environmental movement. Like in years past, they are looking to the public for nominations for a Local Hero. Nominating your friend, teacher or child is a great way to show your appreciation for all of their efforts in making their communities green. Best of luck!

Creating homemade decorations was my favorite holiday activity growing up. Coming up with new ways to make gift wrap, gift tags and ornaments from things found around the house and around the neighborhood was part of the challenge and the fun. With being green on all our minds this holiday season, we have an even greater reason to be resourceful and to look to nature for inspiration. Here are some of my favorite projects you and your children can do together:

Green your gift wrap:

Save money on all that gift wrap that ordinarily gets ripped to shreds and thrown away. Make your own gift wrap by sprucing up paper grocery bags or recycled brown paper. Create nature stamps by coating leaves and flowers with non-toxic paint and stamping them on the paper. You can also find treasures from outside and glue them right onto the paper, or simply color and paint your own designs. For gift wrap that is reusable year after year, try wrapping your gifts in fabric Japanese style using a furoshiki. Click here to learn how to wrap virtually any gift shape in a furoshiki. If all that tying and twisting has gotten your mind in a knot, simply secure the fabric with a bow.

Green your labels:

Gather holiday cards you have received and let you child cut gift labels and name cards for the dinner table. He or she can simply cut off the written message and keep the cover image or cut the image into sections to make little tags. You can cut fun shapes like stars, hearts and trees to give the image new life. Or attach a ribbon and viola! You have an ornament!

Green your decorations:

Bring nature in from the cold to add life to your holiday decor. Evergreens, pine cones and berries make beautiful garlands, centerpieces and accessories to gift wrap. Gather dead vines to make a wreath that will last for years. Pine cones can be placed in a bowl and splashed with cinnamon and clove to add a nice aroma, or used to hold those homemade place cards previously mentioned at the dinner table. Remember to return these items outdoors when you are done so that they can biodegrade back into the soil and become part of next year’s evergreen boughs and berries.

Hey Green Parents!

Nothing says Christmas like a beautiful tree covered in chemicals, right? Wrong! Sadly, many trees, that timeless symbol of Christmas, are dangerous to your child’s health. Some farmers use 40 different pesticides, as well as chemical colorants, when growing christmas trees. The good news is that there are now a number of tree-farms that sell pesticide-free trees, so ask your local Christmas tree seller, or search for an organic tree farm near you.

If you want to go the extra mile and ensure lasting memories, you can purchase a tree with roots still intact. Once the holidays are over, you can plant the tree in your backyard or donate it to a local organization and watch it grow for years to come. To learn more about trees with their roots intact, click here.

America Recycles Day November 15th

America Recycles Day (ARD), November 15th, is a day dedicated to educating and encouraging Americans to recycle and buy recycled products. Now in its 12th year, ARD has grown to include millions of supporters who have pledged to increase their recycling habits and to buy products made with recycled materials.  Volunteer coordinators across America are organizing events in their schools and communities to educate and inspire others to recycle.

To become better informed about recycling, to take the recycling pledge, or to sign up to create your own ARD event, visit www.americarecyclesday.org.

“The Story of Stuff” is a must-see short video about where all of our “stuff” comes from, how it’s made and where it all ends up. It also reveals what effects the manufacturing, selling and disposing of all our “stuff” has on our planet, our bodies, and even our happiness. With great animations, The Story of Stuff is an engaging, thought provoking and life changing video. Going to the store will never be the same again!

Hey Kids!

Did you know that we share our homes and yards with many creatures…other than your little brother? From tiny spiders to foxes, creatures live all around us, even if we can’t always see them. Sometimes we just have to use our sleuthing skills to find the evidence.

Can you spy any of these signs of wildlife?

-A nest

-A feather

-A spiderweb

-A nibbled leaf

-A shed exoskeleton

-Animal tracks in the snow, dirt  or sand

-A burrow entrance

And now, try to spy the things a creatures needs to survive:

-Nuts, seeds and berries

-Pollen for bees

-Tall grasses, brush and trees to hide and nest in

-A source of water

With the evidence you find, can you make up a story about one specific creature’s day?