Search Results for: blog five easy ways to go green right now

Easy Thanksgiving Crafts You Can’t Mess Up

Thanksgiving is just two weeks away. Are you hosting the Turkey Day celebration this year? Preparing a massive meal for your extended clan is no picnic. Add to that the task of decorating your home for the holiday and you may be wondering if you bit off more than you can chew. With time ticking down to the big day, now is the time to recruit the troops. Get your kids involved in the making simple decorations to embellish your Turkey Day buffet. The following Thanksgiving-themed projects are so easy you can have a houseful made in no time: PAPER … Continue reading →

Top 5 Most Depressing Jobs

Last week there was a local talk show on. One of the co-hosts on it was talking about an article she had read, which listed the jobs that cause the highest rates of severe depression. This list might surprise you…but it might also include your particular career. First on the list were those who work in nursing homes and childcare centers or homes. Taking care of the elderly and the very young comes with a great deal of responsibility, yet the pay doesn’t match it. I can attest to this, since I used to work as a preschool teacher in … Continue reading →

On the Road (Part III)

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7:30AM Our road trip has officially begun! I have been mentally preparing for this long trip for the last few months. Driving this fifteen hour all day excursion is never easy. I’ve only driven the whole thing myself when we moved down here five years ago. I made the same trip twice during my last pregnancy, I was even in my first trimester (6 weeks) for one of them, but I didn’t drive at all for that one. My biggest concern now is that I don’t get really nauseated or fatigued. We have plenty of high protein snacks with us … Continue reading →

Super Fab Super Bowl Party Eats

You don’t have to travel to Dallas to celebrate Super Bowl XLV. In fact, I would venture to guess that there is more collective partying going on right now in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania than in ice-covered Dallas where airports have been shut down and highways are littered with stranded vehicles. I live less than an hour from famed Lambeau Field, home to the Green Bay Packers, and I can attest to the party-like atmosphere that has engulfed the entire state of Wisconsin. People here have been celebrating since the Green and Gold beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship … Continue reading →

The Effects of Off Gassing on Our Children

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When Maggie was born, I knew little about off gassing. I knew it existed, I knew it caused problems, but I wasn’t overly concerned. Then she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and protecting her lungs became our number one priority. That is when my husband and I began to pay much closer attention to the products in our home. We rid our house of chemical cleaners and bleach and we keep the windows open as often as possible. We also used no VOC paints and run air purifiers throughout our home. Off gassing has become a serious threat to our … Continue reading →

It’s the Little Things

Does your home have a Little Things List? Mine certainly does. When we moved into our current home, there were 101 things wrong with it. We’ve fixed perhaps 50 of those, and the last 51 are smaller and less noticeable, but they’re certainly there: the leaky tap, the broken light fixture, the closet door handle that spontaneously falls off. I have a little things list, and this summer I am trying to cross them off faster than they accumulate, because these little things do accumulate. And when they accumulate, they make life a little more difficult in all of those … Continue reading →

Getting Kids On Board

I recently wrote about Going Green in 2010 – Step by Step, but I just realized something: I can do my part and make a small difference every day, but I also need to get my kids on board! It was much simpler when they were little to get them to comply because they followed my example easily. I would put the toys in a box and they would follow suit. I would put the dirty dishes in the sink and they would do the same. They liked to do those things because they were always seeking to please me. … Continue reading →

Greening Your Computer

Let’s face it. There are very few of us who can live without a computer these days. From work to home to social use, the computer has become a standard bit of equipment in the home. But computers can use up a lot of energy. Here are some ways to reduuce your computer’s drain on the environment. First if you have a choice, a laptop is better for the environment than is a desktop machine. Laptops tend to use less energy to run and are made to be as efficient as possible in order to preserve as much battery life … Continue reading →

Greening Up Your Neighborhood

Now that you have got a good handle on green practices for your home, why not expand a little and lead the charge to green up your neighborhood? You can start with a single neighbor or hit the town. It is up to you. No matter what you choose, you will be making a difference. Here are some ideas to get you started. Organize a park clean up day If you are already park of an organization, such as a civic organization, a church family or a parent’s group, then you may already have a ready group of volunteers to … Continue reading →

Simplify Your Life to Go Green

While I am not suggesting that you have to go live in the woods with bears and eat tree bark (I am after all using a laptop computer and an Internet connection to post this blog), but I am suggesting that anything you can do to simplify your lifestyle will reduce your footprint on the Earth and make the world a greener place. There are many different ways to simplify your life. Here are a few suggestions. Take a look at your current belongings. Are there any that you can reduce and pass on to others who may make better … Continue reading →