School Rules: Limit Lunchbox Waste

Helping the kids go green? One of the easiest ways to share an eco-friendly philosophy with your kids is through meals. Whether recycling food scraps in the compost bin or yard waste container or packing a waste free lunch for school, little hints add up to big results.

There are some great tools to limit lunchbox waste. Here are a couple I love!

Check out Mama Goes Green for great BPA-free and organic products. Check out the LapTop Lunch Bento Box System. The $34.95 price tag sounds steep, but consider how many Ziploc (R) baggies you'll save!

And to keep the kiddos hydrated and plastic free, sling a web around this Spiderman Thermos. The inside is Stainless Steel and non-reactive. This is better than other aluminium lined options.

Keep it green!

An Apple A Day...

Keeps my toddler happy. It's nice when the kids acutally like fruits and veg. It also doesn't hurt that our favorite apple varieties tend toward the sweet - Gala is the best!

But with the fall harvest and all the gorgeous apple displays at our local grocery, we're still given pause when comparing the prices of conventially grown versus organically grown apples. In our area there's about a 100% difference in price $2.99/lb. for organics and around $1.49 or even less for conventially grown. Oh, and we live in Washington, the nation's largest apple producer. Hmmm.

We still opt for the organics and spend a little more time picking out those that don't have any slashes or noticable bruising to ensure a bit longer fridge shelf life. It's worth it to know we're avoiding the chemicals and supporting the growers to keep our lands green. And if you're looking to lower the apple bill, try mixing in other organically grown fruit and getting your kids excited about a fruit salad. You cut and/or peel and they mix. Add some orange juice, fizzy water and/or other fruit juice to give it some zip.

So next trip to the grocery, pick up a few apples and keep your little ones happy and out of the clinic this cold season.

Stay healthy and enjoy!

The paradigm shift - BYOSB - Bring your own shopping bag

Just a friendly Sunday shout out to all the thoughtful Safeway shoppers who bring their own bags. It's clear to me that the green consciousness level is rising and everyone seems to be along for the good ride.

Kudos!

Milk it! BPA-free, Glass Baby Bottles for Green Babies

Let's face it, plastic is getting a bad, bad rap especially when related to baby bottles or how about Chinese Baby Formula and for good reason. So to stop the maddness and scare tactics, it's best to just look for a tried and true alternative - glass bottles for babies.

It's likely that you baby's health is the top priority when choosing nursery and feeding supplies, but glass bottles can be expensive. Baby Grows Green did some price checking and here's what we found.

Evenflo - 3-Pakc 8-Ounce Glass Bottles - A steal at $6.99 from Bed Bath & Beyond

Nature Pure - 3-Pack 8 oz. Glass Baby Bottles - $10.99 Direct from the Manufacturer

Dr. Brown - 2-Pack Natural Flow 7 oz. Standard Neck Glass Baby Bottle - On Sale for $12.99 at Drugstore.com

Born Free - 2-Pack 9oz. Vented Glass Bottles - $19.99 Direct from the Manufacturer

babylife - Single 9 oz wee•go™ bottle - $18.00 Direct from the Manufacturer - Expensive!, but definitely the cutest of the bunch with a bpa-free sleeve to protect the bottle from bumps and bangs in the diaper bag, car floor, etc.

Go Green, Get Rich

Well maybe not, rich-rich, but there will be more money in the kitty at the end of each garbage, recycling and yard waste collection bill. Consider that the average person generates 4 pounds of garbage per day and what that adds up to for the environment and the family's bottom line. Now consider the alternatives.

Here's a fun Garbage Quiz from the fine folks who run King County, WA to get you thinking and acting!

We just downsized to a smaller garbage can and will save more than 50% of what we were paying. We inherited a larger can from the sellers of our home and got the wind knocked out of us on our last public utility bill about the cost of that large can. I promptly called our utility and requested a can 1/2 the size, which will be delivered after the holiday weekend. Considering we were only using 1/2 or less of the can anyway, we're home free.

But what's more is that we realized we're having an easy and profitable time sorting waste and makin great use of our yard waste/compost bin and our recycling tubs.

Farmers Markets: Helping Baby Grow Green

There's no other response to my discovery of Local Harvest a site that provides zip-code based info on farmers market locations, local CSA(Community Supported Agriculture) groups, Co-Ops and more than total enthusiasm and reverence for the good people who have digitized incredible amounts of local information for use by many.

Serving baby organic, healthy food that's grown locally is a great way to support the environment and fun too! But where to find such manna? At Local Harvest, you simply type in your zip code or city and state to retrieve local (walking distance!) info on where to find your nearest farmers market or CSA. CSAs is the closest I'll ever be to a farmer, but I love the concept that supports local producers using organic farming methods. As Local Harvest puts it:

"A CSA is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season. A CSA season typically runs from late spring through early fall. The number of CSAs in the United States was estimated at 50 in 1990, and has since grown to over 2000."

And each listing gives the location, website if possible and any other pertinent information. They make the caveat too with a message that says when the last update to the informaiton was made, so always good to double check it on your own.

Enjoy thinking globally and acting locally at your own community's farmers market!

Recycling for Toddlers

When baby grows green it's never too early to teach ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Toddlers as young as two can begin to understand the concept of recycling and taking care of the environment with a little coaching and fun!

Here are a few things to try with your little ones to encourage life long green waste management.

1. What kind is this? Let your toddler help you sort types of recyclable materials. Whether sorting into your city's recycling bins or your own tubs, take time to show the difference between plastics, bottles, newspaper, other paper and food scraps that can either be tossed into a yard waste bin or composted.

2. Green arts and crafts time. Encourage toddlers to color, paint and draw on both sides of his/her paper or sketch pad. Try telling a story with each days new art installations. Monday through Friday should reveal some fun Mad Libs!

3. Please turn off the water, Mommy! Instill good water conservation habits by telling your toddler about the importance of turning off the water faucet when not in use. Whether brushing teeth, washing hands before meals or helping wash vegetables for meal time, show and tell your toddler to use water carefully. Listen to him/her begin to instruct you!

Good luck and enjoy!

Sleep Easy, Little One

Discovered that CoolerChoices.com carries a great line of all natural crib and toddler mattresses from Naturepedic. You've heard the horror stories about the nasty off gassing in adult mattresses. Unfortunately, the same is true for the smaller versions. Naturepedic's No-Compromise Organic Cotton Classic Crib Mattress is the simple and affordable solution to an otherwise daunting buying decision.

CoolerChoices shares, "The No-Compromise™ Organic Cotton Classic is simply the healthiest crib mattress available. It is waterproof, firm and eliminates potentially harmful chemicals from your child’s crib. It will provide your child with a more natural, healthy and comfortable sleep environment."

You don't have to compromise on a restful night's sleep for junior (or you!) any more.

While you're at CoolerChoices, check out Satsuma Designs. Enjoy!

Earth Friendly Goes Junior Luxe!

Think 'green' means scratchy and too au natural when it comes to blankets, wraps and other fabrics? Wrong!

Satsuma Designs' partner B This and That offers an incredible nursery throw and adult throw blanket in a heaven-sent blend of cashmere and silk. Available in baby soft colors - powder blue, baby pink, cloud (ivory), and more, all items are dyed using eco-friendly, Swiss dyes that are good to the environment, ensure a durable blanket and are easy on skin.

Don't miss these sleeping beauties!

Defending Baby's Teeth from Green

I discovered these great all natural baby and toddler tooth wipes from My Dentist's Choice at One Mommie Goodie today. What a great idea! My tried and true method for cleaning our son's teeth is to basically put him in a gentle head lock and run the brush over top and bottom in all of 1.5 seconds. With these tooth wipes life could indeed be easier.

It says they're flouride, paraben and sugar free, which sounds like they've taken all the fear out of an already intimidating ritual. Yay!