“I’ll give you my tuna fish sandwich if you give me your fruit roll-up.” Sound familiar? The old cafeteria game of swapperoo enters the virtual realm on a host of new swap websites where one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Websites such as Swap Tree,Swap Ace and Swap Bot help eco-minded people looking to give their things another chance at life while simultaneously reducing their own footprint by not buying new items. Reducing consumption is an great way to cut down on the use of raw materials and the energy used to manufacture them…not to mention lightening the load on landfills.
Most food travels more than 1500 miles to get to you plate. That means a typical three–course meal, with each course containing at least one ingredient—plus cooking oils, herbs and spices—travels almost half way around the world before it ends up in your mouth. The ships, trucks, trains and planes that transport our food burn tremendous amounts of fossil fuels all along the way. The typical American meal contains, on average, ingredients from five or more countries outside the United States. Asparagus makes it’s way to your plate all the way from Peru. Bell peppers often come from The Netherlands, Clementines from Spain, and blueberries hail from as far way as Chile, Argentina and New Zealand!
Green Challenge: Become a localvore and eat locally
When you go to the supermarket, check the label to see where your food comes from. If it says that it comes from your state or a state that borders yours, that’s a great first step. But if you really want to make a difference, shop at a farmer’s market, where you will find fresh, healthy, locally grown food. And, chances are, you’ll get to meet the farmer who grew the food and have the added satisfaction of knowing you are supporting the families and farms in your community.
Green Tip: You can really eat locally by growing a garden right at home. All you need is a little plot of land, a terrace, or even a windowsill will do.
On Earth Hour 2009, hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support for strong action on global warming by turning off their lights for one hour.
Earth Hour 2010 will take place on Saturday March 27th at 8:30 pm local time, and you are officially invited to take part! Join the global call to action and stand up and take responsibility with millions of individuals, businesses and communities around the globe. Iconic landmarks from Europe to Asia and across the Americas will be blanketed in darkness.
Little Green Blog Tip: Make Earth Hour a community event! Organize your school, classroom, church or community group to hunker down together for an hour by candlelight. This is also a great excuse for a sleepover with friends…imagine all the fun stories and games you and your friends can share in the dark!
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!
Heating your home creates greenhouse gas emissions, whether your family uses electricity, home-heating oil, or a woodstove. In fact, heating and air–conditioning devours more than half of the energy that an American home uses. Making door snakes is a fun way to defend our home from drafts that leak from under doors and around window sills.
Here’s what you can do:
Make a door snake that will fend off drafts, keeping rooms warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Here’s what you’ll need:
One yard of fabric (scraps work great)
Small piece of felt or ribbon for the tongue and eyes
Masking tape
Sand or fine gravel
Scissors
Pins
Measuring tape
Fabric glue
Funnel
And here’s how you do it:
Measure the width of the door.
Cut out a fabric rectangle that is about 1.5” longer than the width of the door and 7” wide.
Turn the fabric upside down and fold in half lengthwise.
Glue the long end and one short end, leaving a 1 inch border. Make sure to leave one of the short ends open! If needed, hold the seams in place with tape or pins until the glue has dried.
Use masking tape to seal the seam shut so that the sand won’t leak out.
Turn the material inside out so that the other side of the fabric is showing. Using a funnel, fill the snake with the sand.
Glue the last end shut.
Cut out the tongue and eyes and sew or glue them onto your snake. You can also use googly eyes or buttons if you have them. Add any other embellishments you can think of—like spots, stripes or even a rattlesnake tail!
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.
Mother’s and Father’s Day may have come and gone, but it’s never too late to help out with the household chores. In the summer, you can get the sun and wind to pitch in too by hanging your clothes outside to dry. Sun and wind are both renewable resources, which means they will never run out! Line drying one load of laundry prevents about 3.35 pounds of C02 emissions by saving the electricity it would take to run the dryer.
For many families, piling suitcases, kids and even cats and dogs into the car for your summer vacation is a yearly tradition. You and your family can green your car trip and get the summer off to a cool start by trying these simple steps:
1) Don’t idle. Have you ever walked behind a car in a parking lot that was sitting with it’s engine going? Cough! Cough! Idling causes unnecessary pollution. It’s a good rule of thumb to turn off your engine when parked for more than 30 seconds. The best way to “warm up” your car is to drive the vehicle and it will be “warmed up” in 30 seconds.
2) Lighten up! Get that junk out of your trunk. Driving around with unnecessary weight makes your car less fuel efficient.
3) Be a smooth operator. Avoid jerky starts and stops and use cruise control to maintain a steady speed. And slow down! Your car uses less fuel when driven close to the speed limit.
4) Keep it in tune. Get regular tune ups and make sure your car’s tires are properly inflated to boost it’s MPG.
5) Check your cap. Many cars have missing or broken gas caps which cause gas to leak and harm the environment.
6) Don’t be a drag. Remove bicycle and ski racks when not in use, and keep those windows closed when driving on the highway to reduce drag and improve your fuel economy.
7) Make a plan, Stan. Plan your route to avoid sitting in heavy traffic.
Did you know that last week was Arbor Day? On Arbor Day, people all around the country plant trees in their communities. If you haven’t planted a tree, it’s not too late! Trees do many wonderful things for the planet, like filtering carbon dioxide from the air and giving us oxygen to breath. When planted near a house, trees provide shade that cools the home in the summer, helping to save energy. Planting trees native to your area is a good idea. They require little maintenance and provide homes and food for the creatures in their ecosystem. To learn more about how you can get started planting trees visit the Arbor Day Foundation.
Today we have great suggestion from “Sam’s Mom” about raising chickens with kids. Thanks for sharing!
When my child’s Montessori school teacher brought an incubator and chicken eggs to the classroom, we were not aware of the profound impact it would have on our daughter and the important life lessons we want for our children. She patiently watched the eggs in anticipation of the day the shell would give forth to the little fuzzy bits of life. She picked out her favorites, and helped with feeding and caring for the chicks in the classroom. We were asked to adopt some of the chickens, and couldn’t resist. Sam cared for her chicks under a heat lamp in the utility room, and once they were old enough to leave the heat of them lamp, we moved them outside to the chicken coop. Sam soon found the chickens to be less friendly with their newfound independence, and her relationship with the chickens evolved. She helped with watering and feeding the chickens and watched them mature into egg laying hens. She was proud to have a rewarding relationship with the hens she raised from chicks, and told everyone she knew about the hens she fed, who fed her in return. Wow! At three years old, our daughter learned the importance of caring for animals, and learned acceptance of how relationships with animals and nature evolve with new meaning. But, one of my personal favorite lessons, was that of sustainable living. Our chickens eat feed, and a lot of very delicious leftover bits of organic and whole foods, they live on our land, and the eggs they lay for us, are healthy, local, and appreciated. The hens are part of our daily ritual, an extension of our family, and the springboard for other green topics in our household, including recycling, composting (both table scraps and chicken poop), growing our own fruits and vegetables and water conservation. The rewards, low cost and ease of raising chickens is one every family should consider. Go green with chickens for children!
