I don't know about you but this time of year when I go to the store and see lots of plastic Easter grass, plastic eggs, and huge chocolate bunnies… it makes the environmentalist in me cringe? This is the big green mom conundrum… how to make holidays fun for our kids without leaving a large mark on our planet. Lucky for us though there are numerous ways to make Easter green without festooning our lovely planet with fake grass! 

1. Give your children a decorative cloth bag with a set of child's garden tools, seeds, or other gardening supplies instead of an Easter basket. You can put a few eggs in it with seeds and it can even contain "instructions" from the easter bunny asking your child to help plant spring flowers for bunnies and children everywhere to enjoy. Kids will LOVE getting a special assignment.

2. If you still want to go with a traditional basket, choose eco-friendly materials such as cotton, hemp, or jute. Or purchase hand-made, fair trade certified baskets that you can find other uses for after Easter (how about toy storage?). Thrift stores usually have baskets this time of year too (I know mine does)… used is better than new! Also, you can make your own Easter basket from materials around the house, such as hand-decorated bags, totes, wastebaskets, laundry baskets, etc.

3. Fill the Easter baskets with biodegradable, sustainable materials that can be composted, such as natural straw, hay, moss, or simply grass from outside. It is really easy to grow your wheat grass in the house, so start now to have some ready by Easter. You can also shred up the Sunday funnies or colorful scrap paper or shred some of those colorful catalogues and magazines that come in the mail. Kids won't mind.

4. Make your own treats for the basket instead of buying the processed junk – make some raw cookies or brownie balls or dehydrate some fruit.

5. Re-use what you have. This is our secret weapon. We bought Easter stuff a few years ago from yard sales and thrift stores mostly and we keep it all in a box in the garage. This includes everything from plastic and ceramic eggs, baskets, and Easter decor. We even have an Easter egg wreath made using leftover Easter eggs from years past and a Christmas wreath we got at a yard sale. We made it about 4 years ago now and it is still one of my kids favorite Easter decorations. If you already have plastic grass, use it as a base for a centerpiece or a creative springtime scene.

6. Decorate using scrap paper and junk mail – cut out bunny shapes and string them onto colorful yarn, or cut out Easter shapes into a chain. You can also use leftover felt  or fabric scraps to make cloth eggs or to make stuffed bunnies. Cloth scraps can be used to make a decorative banner with felt letters thats says "Happy Easter".

7. For your Easter feast eat bunny food. Serve cut vegetables, fruit, and maybe some dandelion greens in a green smoothie.

8. Dye eggs using natural easter egg dyes -mix a tablespoon of white vinegar per cup of boiling water and add onion skins (yellow), red cabbage (light purple), shredded raw beets (deep red), spinach (light green), coffee grounds or tea (brown), etc. 

9. Get your eggs from a local farmer or urban chicken-keeper. If the eggs are brown, you can use eco-friendly paints on them instead of dyes. Also try blowing the eggs first so they can be kept for future years. Wooden eggs or knitted eggs are another good option.

10. Fill your children's Easter baskets with enduring sustainable toys (puzzles, cute games), a deck of cards, dominoes, these cute Easter mugs, bunny books, etc. Take your child's personality into consideration rather than just giving the "usual" stuffed bunny and plastic trinkets. Then you can build a basket theme around your child's interests.

All of these ideas will help reduce waste this Easter season while preserving the "fun". What is your best green easter tip?

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Looking for a Green Way to Say I Love You?

Sometimes it's tough to come up with new and creative ideas for romance when you don’t want to spend or consume resources.

If you'd like to keep expenses and ecological impact to a minimum there are plenty of ways to have an excellent time without spending much, if anything. 

Consider the following ideas:

1. Cuddle. Sometimes when you're both busy, you may forget how good it feels to cuddle up to each other and relax. It's a great activity to enjoy when things have been stressful and you just need a calm break. A good cuddle session will do much more for your relationship than a flower basket.

2. Go to the mall. You don't have to spend money when you go to the mall, although it may be tempting. Walking the mall can be a great way to get out of the house without having to worry about the cold weather. 

3. Listen to music. If you and your partner happen to share some musical tastes, you can always enjoy listening to music together. Chances are you can even find some live music at public winter festivals with no entry fee. Or maybe you can ask each other to come up with one or two songs that they would dedicate to you and then listen to them together. Slow dance like you were still in highschool. 

4. Play games. Games are a popular choice for people of all tastes and ages. The variety is astounding! You can play a slow paced puzzle game against each other like Scrabble or Dominoes or you can play strategy games like Uno or Hearts. Some of them can really draw you into the action… strip poker anyone?

5. Say I Love You. Challenge each other to find a unique way to say "I love You" in a photo. Spell out I love you with rocks or hold up a sign from on top of a bridge… just find a unique way to say it capture it via a photo to gift to each other. Get them printed out via Flickr for just a few dollars and treasure them forever.

6. Watch a movie. Agree on a genre and then find a good movie to watch together. You may be able to find one on TV or you can rent one for a day for a dollar or two. If you can’t agree on a movie then each of you pick one and watch both.

7. Go out in the snow. Take some time to play in the snow. After all, it's not something that you can do anytime. Put on your winter gear and go for a walk. You can even bring out your inner child and make snow angels, build a funny snowman, or have a snowball fight.

8. Make a meal together. You can still have a romantic dinner even if you aren't going out. Choose a nice meal that you can cook together. You're probably used to either you or your partner cooking. It'll be a nice change to have the two of you in the kitchen together.

9. Plan a Garden. Spend some deciding where your spring garden will go and what you will plant. Look over catalogs and order seeds. Plant a few flowers that represent love like red tulips, Forget-Me-Nots, and Daisies. You could even call that area the “love” garden and bring the cut flowers indoors in the summer to enjoy together.

10. Volunteer together. Spend a day at a homeless shelter, a food bank, a clean-up site, or some other place that needs volunteers. Working together to better your community and better yourselves is a win-win for everyone.

Just because it's cold outside or because Valentine’s Day is approaching doesn't mean that you need to go broke or sit around and be bored. Try some of these activities together and create some new memories!

We had a very lovely Christmas, one to treasure forever. It was so low key and relaxing and I think that is what made all the difference. I did not allow myself to get stressed or pulled in too many directions and I did not allow myself to be guilted when I could not meet someone else's expectations.

I have been going back and forth between my home and my parents home with my hubby going back and forth between our home, my parents home, and his grandparents home pretty much all week. But despite all the activity we have managed to make it all work and get some much needed relaxation.

One way we avoided stress was to keep gift giving simple and put the emphasis on family time. For my extended family I bought Zazzle mugs with the kids pictures on them. For the kids we kept it pretty darn easy. My oldest son got a card game, the World of Zoo Wii game (for the console his grandparents gifted us), and a dreamcatcher I got at a thrift store. My daughter got an assortment of Haba play food, and the book Apple-Pip Princess, recommended by a reader. My youngest got an EverEarth Wood ramp racer. I didn't have to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn to put anything together either. I actually got to sleep in because the kids tired themselves out playing Wii (which they opened early).

I loved my gifts too.. a bean pot (wohoo!), a crocheted dish scrubbie, a mousepad with my kid's pictures, and books. My peeps know me so well!

At my parents house there was ham or turkey for every meal so I ended up eating lots of salad and my kids ate lots of fruit… it was rather nice though. I didn't feel any guilt when we didn't care to eat the main dishes and I never left the table feeling like a stuffed turkey.

At around noon on Christmas day my husband took the two oldest kids to his grandparents house. I opted not to go because I knew I would just end up shadowing my toddler all day to keep him from breaking all the figurines and tchochkes they have there. I saved us both the aggravation and just spent the day with my parents. I ended up lounging in front of a fire with a book while my toddler played. We took breaks to sip on hot cocoa or read some children's books every so often. It was HEAVEN! The book I read was The Daily Coyote… FABULOUS!!!

When the other kids came back the following morning we spent the day playing the Wii. My son loves the boxing, my daughter loves the bowling, and I love the tennis. Right away I can see that this gaming console is VERY different than most and I can truly see not being so worried about hours spent playing. I mean after an hour of boxing and tennis my arms HURT and I felt like I went to the gym. We also got some games that are educational in nature like the World of Zoo.. where the player gets to be a zoo keeper, caring for the animals.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. It was all about love and togetherness with some gifts thrown in for good measure. It wasn't crazy… it was just fun.

How was yours?

I have been enjoying these first lazy days of winter and the holiday season immensely. The kids and I have been getting crafty… watching some good movies, and generally just enjoying our time together. While they have been at school I have been doing some SERIOUS cleaning. I mean scrubbing the baseboards with a toothbrush type cleaning. My husband has been afraid to walk in the door for fear I will rope him into some sort of cleaning "project". I think the cleaning is coming to a close though… my carpel tunnel (which is so bad I usually cannot hold a pencil for longer than 5 minutes) is flaring up AND the kids and I will be going out of town for awhile… a week, maybe two. I hope it snows soon… we want to go sledding.

But I can't help but smile when I see my little guys snuggle up on the couch with wool blankets, watching movies that make them laugh so hard their sides ache (G-Force). The house lights are off but the Christmas lights are twinkling and providing ambient lighting. Every now and then the toddler gets bored and decides to remove ornaments from the tree… which is why the bottom of the tree is now bare and the top is stuffed to capacity. I love that we keep adding homemade ornaments.. salt dough, cinnamon & applesauce, pine cones, and photo frames.

I also did some furniture re-arranging. My two oldest have art tables in their bedrooms and with the craftiness in the air this time of year, I was getting lonely with them hiding out in their bedrooms. So I picked up an old-school desk from Craiglist and put it along the same wall where my computer desk sits. Now I can work away and have one of my kidlets sitting next to me working on their own projects. LOVE it!! I am on the lookout for 2 more so I can line them up next to each other.

All of these moments are so special. I think that in many ways because we don't have any religious motivation for celebrating it just makes this time of year even MORE about family and love. If it weren't for my kids I wouldn't even bother to celebrate so this is a tradition born out of love for my family. It makes me keenly aware of how fortunate I am. We are healthy, we are warm, we are well fed, we are inspired by every breath we take to live and learn, and we are happy. Beyond that there is just the call to be good people, do good things with our lives, and leave the planet better than we found it.

From my family to yours… wishing everyone a very happy holiday season!!

A reader was recently asking me about low impact gifts and what I would recommend for kids for Christmas. Well I certainly have my list of green gifts and all that jazz but probably my favorite gift idea is to get season passes for your local zoo. We have done this for years and it is a gift that gives throughout the entire year, not just for the month or two after Christmas… until their new toys lose their luster. It is a tradition of sorts in this house.

My kids have been very fortunate to live in two major cities that are typically honored with having the best zoos in the country. In Phoenix we had The Phoenix Zoo which usually rates 3rd in the country. We also had the World Wildlife Zoo and Out of Africa. In Columbus, we have The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium which is rated #1 in the country most years.

Seeing these guys at our local zoo is always a treat for my oldest boy, who is often homesick for his beloved Arizona. These little fellas (Gila Monsters) were not hard to find near our home and Daddy used to catch and play with them… exactly what every grown man should teach his kids to do when they find poisonous creatures.

But I digress…

For less than $100 you can get season passes and visit all year long with free parking to boot. We have been twice this week… once we pulled the kids out of school early to spend some time there and then the next day we went back at night to see the Zoo Lights. For an extra $20 we added to guests two our package so that the kids can take friends or we can take the grandparents. We have already been enough times to pay for our membership so it feels like ‘free fun’ all year long.

It amounts to a low cost or free activity when funds are low. It is a great way to get exercise for the whole family. Heck, instead of buying a gym membership so you can walk on their track, you can do laps around the pond at the zoo instead. It is a great learning opportunity as you can really spend time getting to know all about the animals and studying them. I know they have really encouraged my little guy to talk and make the animals sounds… something that books and Animal Planet never made him want to do. Most zoos have special seasonal events that are fun as well. We love Boo at the Zoo and Zoo Lights.  The Columbus Zoo just spent 2 years replacing all their lights with LED lights so that they could be greener.  The lights are ten times prettier in my opinion and their impact is way less. Seriously for anyone in the area,  Zoo Lights at the Columbus Zoo is on par with Disney World for festivity and beauty and I have spent many a Christmas with the mouse. They even have a chorus singing Christmas carols.

And of course it doesn’t have to be a zoo either. You could get a season pass to the local art museum, botanical center, kids play museum, or science museum. We also have the latter and find it is a great place to spend time in the winter. Seeing an IMAX movie about the coral reefs or the Grand Canyon at the Science Center is better than letting them veg out at home in front of iCarly. There are interactive exhibits and fun things to do all year long. This month ours has a day for kids to play dozens of different board games and a day for them to pretend play, using their minds to create the fun. We were totally jazzed to find out that the Titanic exhibit is coming back to our science center this spring. We have seen it once before and the kids have wanted to travel to go see it again and now it is coming to us.

Its a gift that lasts and its a gift that has many rewards and that is why season passes to some natural, educational museum or zoo would be my top gift choice for families. Buying season passes also supports what they are trying to do… preserve nature, instill a love of science, or otherwise engage our kids in meaningful ways.