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The belief that green living is expensive is not always so. Sure there are some green products and processes that are very expensive, but green living does not always constitute a lot of money. There are MANY ways to live naturally and green AND save money.

Grow Your Own -If you love to get your hands dirty, starting a garden will save you enough money to go on a small weekend getaway by year’s end. With the price of food and gas today, if you have a garden you have your own fresh produce to cook with. A garden filled with herbs, grains, fruit, and vegetables will keep you from weekly trips to the store because you can make your own dressings, seasonings, and even items like bread, cookies and cakes. With a garden, your trips to the grocery store are limited to meat purchases and staples that you can’t make at home. Cut meat out of your diet and think how much more you will save. There is no need to run to the store and waste valuable fuel and time. Just go to your backyard with your reusable grocery bag and fill it up with fresh produce. Doing this is also a source of fun and exercise for the whole family.

Buy Second Hand - Many people miss the huge savings in purchasing used. Thrift stores and yard sales are a treasure trove of items that you would pay five to ten times more for in department stores. Items like clothes, books, dishes, linens, and furniture can all be found in your local thrift shop at your neighbor’s yard sale. Sure not everything is in great condition but for the most part the items are in decent to good condition; sometimes you can even find items that have never been used before. Most thrift stores also have special half off days and on those days you can add more change to your savings account.

Go Virtual - What about managing your financial affairs in the virtual world? By doing things like getting investment reports and paying bills online, doing direct deposit, and opting out of receiving catalogs in the mail, you can save $150-200 per year because you are not using checks or stamps; and you even avoid those dreaded late fees. You can also buy music and movies online and watch them right on your computer.

Clean Green - The average U.S. household spends approximately $600 per year on household cleaning products. By learning to use inexpensive items like baking soda, vinegar, lemons juice, essential oils, and borax to clean your home, you can cut the cost by about $500. Add to that a savings from using only cloth rags instead of paper towels and you have saved a bunch. Your home will be naturally clean and you will feel better knowing that you have a safer home with some cash in your pocket.

Natural Beauty - You can make natural beauty products and toiletries right at home for cheap. Make your own toothpaste, lotions, deodorant, diaper rash creme…the possibilities are endless and the solutions are just as good as what you pay top dollar for in a store.

Cloth Diapers - This option has gone mainstream and for good reason. Cloth diapers are a superior product, they are safer for children, and they save a lot of money. Parents will easily spend thousands of dollars on disposables diapers for just one child…but a nice collection of cloth diapers will usually run from $300 for the minimalist to $800 for the snazzier diapers with bells and whistles AND they cloth diapers can be sued for one or more subsequent children or sold. The used cloth diaper market is huge. I cloth diapered two kids and LOVED every minute of it.

Green is Healthy - Using green and safe products and eating sustainable, organic foods often translates into health. Think about all the doctor visits and prescription drugs you can avoid because you are living healthfully. Let me just give you an inkling of what I mean. My bad choices in years past resulted in cancer. Conventional treatment was oh so modestly priced at $7000 a week, every other week for 6 months. Add to that what I spent on natural and homeopathic products and treatments and you can see why I wish I could have avoided it altogether.

Long Term Savings - Even the so-called expensive green investments like solar panels or energy star appliances are not really more expensive in the long run. You save money on lower energy costs every month for the life of the product.

There are many ways to save money living green. That is a good thing. However, the benefits of going green far outweigh the amount of cash you have in the bank at the end of the year. It is about helping your family to get healthy. It is also about the longevity of an Earth that is more than good to the people who dwell in it. Do you part and save money while you help the Earth.

Now it is your turn. How has going green saved you some green?

One of the best ways to have natural fun in the summer is to have a mix of spontaneous and planned activities for your kids to enjoy. Summer is all about FUN…kids are out of school (unless you homeschool) and the weather is great. The days are also long so there is plenty of time to pack a summer full of activities.

First you’ll want to see what planned activities your kids will be involved in. For instance if they’ll be taking swimming lessons or day camps look at what their days or weeks will be like and coordinate schedules with friends and family who may have kids that will want to join your kids for some planned and not so planned fun.

Summer time marks the return of birds and all kinds of wildlife that was either hibernating or away for much of the winter. Take the time to teach your kids to watch and record the wonderful changes happening around them. My kids and I can’t get enough of this. We can just meander outside all day looking at spring blossoms and all the life bubbling over after a long winter. Today we spent quite a bit of time trying to find the source of a lovely black licorice smell. It was divine…I wish I knew what tree was responsible so I could plant ten more of them!

This is not only fun but a great learning opportunity especially if you home school your kids. Have your kids write down and catalog the types of birds in their yard or neighborhood. If you have mature trees where you live it can be a wonderful activity to watch the various types of birds that are attracted to your trees and garden. Right now we are seeing Cardinals and Blue Jays and some unidentified yellow and brown birds that seem to love our birdhouses.

To attract more birds, do some research with your kids to determine the kinds of seeds preferred by various birds. You might even take a trip to the library to make this a really interesting research project.

Some local bird feed and pet stores can be a wealth of information about seeds and the types of birds that are indigenous to your area. Talk to these store owners and consider some of their suggestions. Obviously they’ll be able to offer bird attracting devices like bird houses, bird baths and all the different types of bird feeders you need to consider when trying to attract certain types of birds to your property or home area. Our yard is filled with them…seriously we have probably a dozen birdhouses and another dozen feeders.

Still keeping with the topic of wildlife, why not plan to make a few trips to the zoo this summer. Take a little different approach than the usual stroll through the pavilions. Spend some time getting to understand each animal’s habitat. Ask your children to tell you what they find interesting and unique about the wonderful and exotic that have been gathered at your local zoo for their enjoyment and education.

Encourage your kids to interpret their perspective of animal life by drawing pictures of the animals they see at the zoo. That kind of activity makes the experience more meaningful and it will provide and interesting record in the years to come. I have seen kids doing this at the zoo before and thought it was awesome. Who knows…your child may develop such an interest in the animals they focus upon that they’ll end up wanting to support initiatives that help to protect these animals in other parts of the world where they may be endangered.

Another idea for summer fun activities is going to a local state park. The beaches, trails, camping and boating would definitely keep the kids entertained for quite some time. Most parks let them bring their bikes as well and biking is great exercise.

We can’t forget that summer is also the best time for great outdoor activities that don’t require 30- minutes of gear preparation! A bathing suit and towel are the basics for a great day of swimming or running through the sprinkler. If you don’t have your own pool make sure you get the schedule for your nearest community center pool and arrange it so that your kids can swim regularly. It’s great exercise and it is a good way to ensure that your kids get the experience and teaching they need to play safely around water. Don’t forget the non toxic sunscreen. My kids will NOT be bored in this regard. Their grandparents bought them a Vortex Spin Slide and Pool. This thing is MASSIVE…but they are going to love it.

One of the age old activities that kids have done in the summer months to wile away the hours is to create a skit involving neighborhood children. Electronic games and TV may have placed a damper on this activity in recent decades, but with the renewed emphasis on physical activity you have an opportunity to get your kids involved in this kind of creative fun once again. Help them along by suggesting venues (the backyard deck), theme ideas and suggestions for a script, costumes and the creation of a “kids’ promotion team” to advertise the play to neighbors and friends. Need cool props? Check out this play parachute and these playsilks.

Most importantly though…enjoy the summer fun!

When it comes to summer vacation, one thing is for sure, parents always get worried about keeping their kids occupied and kids just want to have fun. Keep these simple things in mind when planning your summer: Kids want to get wet, be outside and have their friends around, with these in mind, you are good to go when it comes to planning.

As you read this I am on vacation! But of course obviously you are reading this so how is that possible? Welcome to the miracle of scheduled posts. You’ll be seeing pre-written stuff for a few.

I am super excited but also anxious about keeping kids entertained on the way to and from Florida and also nights at the hotel. Family trips can be a great experience or a source of extreme stress. They can be fun, educational and rewarding too. Without planning, however, the family road trip could turn into a nightmare. Kids get restless and irritable when boredom sets in and the next thing you know you have a battle going on in the back seat.

I have been getting creative lately in preparation. Here are some of things I have planned.

DVDs - I know…I am sooo bad but oh well. We have a DVD player attached to the roof of our car so the actual trip will be a breeze. We also have a portable DVD player for the hotel room.

Coloring - This is an all time favorite activity for all 3 of my kids but I don’t want to lug around tons of crayons or crayon boxes so we are using our homemade crayon rolls. They each hold a dozen crayons or more and they roll up very small. These are perfect for restaurant and hotel entertainment.

Peak-A-Boo Bags (also called I-Spy Bags) - My kids really like these. They are little fabric bags with a see-through window that contain a filler material (ours has rice) and several little trinkets that you need to find like buttons, bells, paper clips, dice and other little items you would likely find at a craft store like a mini baseball or a snowflake. The one we have has a card attached to you can cross all the items off as you find them. They are really fun. We get ours from my friend Deb at Made by Mama. She rocks!

Games:
Slugbug - You look for Volkswagen beetles and yell Slug bug when you find them. Kids love this game. You are supposed to hit the person next to you when you find them but we leave that part out.

Create a Story - Create a story while traveling from the names on highway signs and billboards. The first player picks a name off a sign and begins telling a story using the name in the sentence. After each sentence the next player goes picking his name and adding a sentence to the story and continuing back to each player until the story is done.

My Road Trip Journal - Prepare a backpack for each child with notebooks, sketchpads, markers, crayons, sticker, scissors, and paste. The children can keep an account of the trip. They can write down events, draw pictures of things seen, and paste collected items such leaves, pamphlets, and colorful stones into the journal. Pictures from the trip can later be added to their journals.

Books and Quizzes - Kids love to guess. Pack plenty of puzzle and word fill books, flash cards and easy trivia games and the children will be occupied for hours.

Listening Music and Stories - Kids of all ages love stories. Books on CD’s can be borrowed at the library to bring on the trip. Add to the list music CD’s; family sing-a-long songs are great fun. I am taking my iPod and car adapter so we have plenty of all the above for mom and kids.

Bring along lots of snacks and drinks to prevent whining when hunger pangs strike. We have trail mix, dehydrated fruit, beef jerky, Horizon milk cartons, and Larabars for the road.

Allow time to stop every two or three hours for the bathroom, meals or just to let the kids run for a while. A family road trip does not have to be a disaster. Plan wisely and the road trip will be a pleasurable experience…I so I am saying now…I will let you know later…when I am really here cause right now I am not.

For years I could brag…I have no lawn. That was when I lived in the desert though. Now I am in the Midwest and yes I do have a lawn and it is enough to make an eco conscious person want to faint. Using a gas mower for one hour will produce the same pollution as driving a car 1300 miles. Ouch! Guess what I have and what I use to mow my 2 plus acres of land? You guessed it…a riding mower. So there is my great green guilty confession for the week. To ease things up a bit we tilled up some land for two big gardens, so that took a nice chunk of our mowing land out of the equation. We are also thinking about getting one of these nifty Cordless Mulching Lawn Mowers. It is the only cordless mower that has the Energy Star rating. That coupled with a manual mower will help us cut down on carbon emissions even further. It would have to be a family affair.

We also have a small gas mower too and I found these instructions for converting a gas mower to solar power. My hubby wants to try this.

This issue got me to thinking about what other steps we can take towards natural lawn care for a cleaner safer environment…

According to the U.S. National Wildlife Federation, over 70 million tons of fertilizers and pesticides are applied to residential lawns and gardens annually. What most of the users of the tons of fertilizers and pesticides used per year are not aware of is that the chemicals they are using is doing more harm than good. This harm has a high environmental cost.

The fact is that lawns are for more than making your home look good. There are many benefits to having a properly nurtured lawn. They aren’t all BAD.

One of the benefits of grass is that it absorbs water, helping to reduce storm runoff and improve water quality. It also has a cooling effect, provide oxygen, traps dust and dirt and filters rainwater contaminants. The focus then, for those with lawns, needs to be on reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers and developing a healthy lawn that is naturally resistant to weeds, insects, and diseases.

If a lawn needs to be fertilized more than once a year some steps towards improvement must be made. Things like improving the soil, choosing locally adapted grass, mowing often but not too short, watering deeply but not to often, and controlling thatch build-up are all important steps towards developing and maintaining a healthy lawn. These steps are all health basics for proper and natural lawn care.

Caring for the lawn is not just a physical aspect, either. It should also be an environmental importance. A lawn nurturer should water grass early in the morning to help reduce water usage, leave some clippings on the lawn to help reduce the need for fertilizer; and control weeds with natural ingredients like corn gluten or spot-treat them with vinegar. Another good water conservation tip is to water with rain you have collected in barrels or garbage cans.

There are some who feel that leaving behind grass clippings keeps a lawn looking untidy. A few important facts about leaving grass clippings that should be considered are that you will have 45% less crab grass, up to 66% less disease, more earth worms, more water reaching the plant roots, 25% greater root mass, and 50% reduced need for nitrogen fertilizer. It should also be noted that by using your grass clippings as mulch you are not adding plastic bags filled with grass to landfills hence you are doing one more green friendly deed. We leave a light dusting of grass clippings on the lawn and then with the rest we compost it.

So these are only a few of the ways that you can care for your grass naturally. I would love to hear some tips from you if you have them…leave a comment. It is important to take the time educate yourself on how grass responds to chemical care, over watering and improper mowing and the harm they can cause. Learn about the natural techniques you need to apply for healthier lawn care and take the steps to developing and maintaining a naturally nurtured lawn.

I know I love to walk in the grass barefoot whenever I can and my kids play on the lawn constantly. So we need healthy grass and a non-toxic environment for our family. Even though there is a lot to consider I am not trading my lawn in for the desert again any time soon. Here is too a summer of fun!

I was surprised when I did some research awhile back on cosmetics, that nail polish is one of the worst offenders for nasty, toxic ingredients. I am not big on cosmetics or even nail polish but occasionally I did like to spruce up my toes with some candy apple red nail polish since my preferred footwear is the flip-flop. And my daughter, who is totally girly would love to wear it all times but I couldn’t in good conscious let her wear it too much if it were as nasty as some research has said. Also, some of the ingredients would be especially bad for little girls (see below).

Some of the ingredients of conventional nail polish are scary…Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), formaldehyde and toluene. Dibutyl Phthalate is a plasticizing ingredient known to affect hormone function. Studies have linked phthalates to early puberty in girls, uterine problems in women, low sperm counts in men, and birth defects. Toluene is said to cause liver damage, reproductive and developmental problems, skin irritation and respiratory tract irritation. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen and inhaling the fumes can result in watery eyes, headache, burning in the throat, and labored breathing.

Just think about it…these toxins are dangerous when breathed in and nail polish is one of the smelliest beauty items around. Just think about how strong smelling it is in a nail salon. That stuff is potent. And this doesn’t address the toxins making their way into your body through your nail bed. Almost all brands of commercial nail polish contain toluene and formaldehyde and many contain Dibutyl Phthalate…except in progessive countries like the European Union which has banned all pthalates.

So are we Dying to Look Good? I kept thinking about this as I found my 4 year old daughter getting her nails painted by daddy the other day. Obviously she knew she wouldn’t get anywhere with me if she asked for nail polish so daddy got her some and he was painting her fingernails and toenails for her. After the initial cringe I decided to see if I could find some safer nail polish online. I was happy to find that there are a few options.

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Free of toluene, formaldehyde, and pthalates and LOTS of hot colors including a lovely RED, my fave.

OPI Nail Polish - This is a big nail polish company that removed toluene, formaldehyde, and pthalates from their formulations last year. Lots of options and colors.

Nubar Nail Polish - A healthy alternative for beautiful nails. These are free of toluene, formaldehyde, and pthalates. They also come in TONS of gorgeous colors. I like the Get Hot Tech Kit. My daughter and I would have a blast with those colors.

See also:

Suncoat Natural Nail Polish Remover - Earth friendly product which is 100% Soya and Corn based. It is naturally derived from farm crops and does not contain any petroleum ingredients. Non-toxic, non-carcinogenic and is also readily biodegradable.

Sante Nail Polish Remover - Acetate-free Nail Polish Remover, based on organic ethanol and orange oil. Ingredients: Alcohol, citrus dulcis, ricinus communis, aqua (water), parfum (organic orange oil).

No more cringing when my daughter asks to paint her nails!

More Info on: Formaldehyde Toluene Phthalates

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