IPad Helps Families Go Green
Check out these articles about IPad Apps that help families go green!
13 Awesome Green Themed Apps For New IPad
App Store – Free Green Living Tip of the Day.
In health,
The Living Green Team
Ambitious Sprouts
Families all across the country have jumped aboard the home vegetable garden bandwagon. Back in the day, every household grew a garden and relied upon said garden to provide for their families. In modern days, we have the convenience of grocery stores to keep us from tilling up the ground in 1.2 acre backyards; however, what if we could take a small piece of our ancestor’s “green” history and make it a modern family project?
This tip is probably one of the more ambitious green challenges that I will offer you, dear reader. I encourage you, however, to seriously consider the benefits of investing your time into a small container garden for your family kitchen.
Even if you have a so-called “black thumb”, a garden is still a great possibility. It will save you money, give you a great opportunity to spend extra time with the kiddos and, better yet, it is unbelievably environmentally friendly.
A home garden is good for cleaner air, a cleaner diet and a thicker wallet. Give it a shot!
I started my home garden last week and I already have 72 adorable little sprouts! My son can’t wait to check on his “plant babies” every morning and I am looking forward to the harvest days. Even if you’re not the most horticulturally blessed, you’re taking little financial risk in order to reap fantastic environmentally friendly rewards.
Check out some of the sites listed at the bottom of this post for help getting started on your little green patch of environmentally friendly sprouts.
In health,
The Living Green Team
Recommended Sites:
Yahoo! Indoor Vegetable Garden
Turn Your Shopping Trip Green
Today’s post is all about going out into the world and being organized enough to anticipate a greener existence; however, I promise that these little tips won’t require any complicated planning.
Everyone has seen those “reusable shopping bags” available at the check-out stand at the grocery store. Most of them have a sort of green living inspired logo staring you down as you wait for the cashier to tell you how obscene your grocery bill is this week. You glance away hoping that nobody notices you are ignoring the eco-friendly accessory and you encourage the bagger to load up your groceries in the plastic sacks we’ve all been conditioned to use on a daily basis.
Well, today is the day to break the mold of plastic bag shopping. I am commissioning you to splurge on the whole $1 per reusable bag and make your new purchase a part of your daily life. The bag may add a bit to your bill initially but the benefits far outweigh the already low price-tag.
Firstly, your new accessory makes a statement. Anyone seeing you use the bag at the grocery store or as you run your daily errands will know that you are on a mission to make the world a better place. The impression gives you a great image and may even inspire your onlookers to take some initiative and begin a green revolution within their own lives.
Secondly, you can rest assured that you have just gone one step further in helping make the planet a cleaner, greener place for yourself and your family. Since the our goal here is to make small changes while making large impacts, this simple alteration from plastic to reusable is a great starting point.
Finally, what do you really have to lose? Do you really need to have a bunch of extra plastic bags hanging around your home? After all, they can present suffocation and choking habits for children and pets in addition to being strong contributors to environmental destruction.
I made this change this last week. To be honest, I was somewhat opposed to the idea because I thought I’d always forget them. Not the case at all. I like them so much that I use one as a book bag and sometimes even as a back up diaper bag! I also got some great discounts at the grocery store for opting to use my eco-friendly bags rather than request the plastic bags at checkout.
In health,
The Living Green Team
America’s 50 Greenest Cities
America’s 50 Greenest Cities | Popular Science.
Check out this article by Popular Science and see if your city is one of America’s greenest!
Our First Green Living Challenge: The Laundry
When switching over to an environmentally friendly lifestyle, we all want to make the transition as painless as possible. Well, the daily laundry routine is the perfect place to begin.
Firstly, wash most of your garments in cold water rather than warm. Washing clothing in cold water instead of warm water conserves energy and, as an added bonus, cuts back a little on the monthly energy expenses. Besides, most of our clothes don’t actually need to be washed in warm water. Seems pretty simple, right?
Secondly, switch to green laundry products. They are pretty easy to find and are usually fairly affordable. The higher quality green laundry products will be found in concentrate form which, in addition to keeping your home chemical free, cuts on shipping costs, material costs and usually helps the wallet out a bit as well. Having tested out nearly all of the supermarket brands and even a few specialty brands, I can honestly say that I have found a favorite environmentally friendly laundry product. To learn more about my favorite laundry product pick, check out the “Recommendations” list on the bottom of this post.
Enjoy trying out these simple switches and keep me posted on your journey toward a green lifestyle!
In health,
The Living Green Team
Recommendations:
Let’s learn to live green together!
Learning to live a greener life can seem like an intimidating concept. After all, we can’t all afford to trade in our current vehicles for a hybrid model and many of us don’t have the extra cash we need to update all of the windows in our homes; but what if living more environmentally friendly wasn’t as hard as you thought?
I am encouraging you to learn how to become more environmentally friendly
with me. As embarrassing as it can be to admit, I too am new to the green movement and am very excited about the transition. My goal is to make the transition as painless as possible and to help you to do the same.
The purpose of this blog is to help both you and I on our journey down the green path to doing our part in building a better future for our planet. After all, a healthier planet directly impacts the health of both of our families. Living “green” is beginning to sound a bit more appealing, right?
I will continue to develop this blog and provide you with tips, tricks, reviews and advice for adding green living to your current lifestyle with hardly any additional effort. I encourage you to join me on my quest to build a better planet and, in turn, a better future.
Again, welcome and thank you for joining the green revolution with me!