Get Kids Involved: Earth Day Activities for Kids

This is part four of a five part series on Earth Day. These small tidbits of information are meant to help you make tiny, unnoticeable changes that amount to something bigger down the road.

It's a whole lot easier to educate a child than it is to educate an adult. Kids today have a better perspective on the environment than anyone else. For example, let's say you had to choose between your 89 year old Grandmother and your 8 year old daughter to educate on Earth Day. Who would you want to teach? Kids are more impressionable, open to new ideas, and eager to learn (sorry Grandma!), and they're going to absorb more of the things you teach them. What you tell them about the environment could amount to a whole lot of changes to the Earth tomorrow.

Here are some activities for kids this Earth Day:

• Earth Day Activities for Kids: plant a garden, decorate a compost bin, make a papier mache globe, or make crafts from nature.
• Planetpals Earth Day Educational Ideas: Earth Day activities like recycle wall charts, challenges, interactive games and fundraising ideas.
• Earth Day Craft Projects: Dozens of craft projects for April 22, with recycle themes, ideas on reusing and more.

Here are a few more activities to try with your kids that are timeless (and they'll remember them forever):

• Plant a tree, but not just any tree. Let your kids pick the tree, and help research which trees will grow best in your yard. Maybe the best tree to grow might be a cherry tree, a flowering dogwood, or a shady pine?
• Reuse things from your cellar. Have a bunch of stuff that's ready to make it's way to the dump? Kids can get creative and find ways to repurpose some of the things in your basement into entirely new things. Try using objects as organizational containers, or even sell off some of your old stuff on Ebay and share the cash with your kids (if they agree to help!).
• Melt down crayon ends and make something cool out of them. This project is a lot of fun, and a great way to reuse something that would otherwise be tossed away.

Keep reading this blog for the rest of the Earth Day series!

How to Have a Slower, Greener Lunch

This is part three of a five part series about Earth Day, and how you can implement small changes to make a difference everyday.

Lunch is quick. If you're like most Americans, you grab something fast. Take-out from a sub shop, fast food from a hamburger joint, or maybe a salad in a plastic container from cafe. When food is quick, unfortunately it never tastes as good. Is there a way that you can make your lunch last longer, and be more enjoyable? The answer is to get the word "fast" out of your lunch. Being concerned less with the quantity and more with the quality will leave your more satisfied and healthy. Another nice side benefit is that the environment will reap the benefits, too.

Slowing down your lunch is going to take a little bit of extra planning, a change in your current habits. Here are some of the ingredients you'll need for a slower lunch:

* Someone to talk to
* Reusable containers (no disposables allowed)
* Something that involves little packaging

So how will you make time for your new, slower lunch?

1. Switch your lunch hour to a time when there are less lines at restaurants. Bump it up 15 minutes, or change it to one hour later. By changing the time, you'll avoid the lines at most restaurants and be able to enjoy your lunch more (and think more about what you're eating).
2. Eat lighter instead of heavy. Lighter foods are easier to eat, so you'll be able to eat them slower, and you won't feel bogged down after you eat it.
3. Know the busy lunch days for restaurants around your workplace, and skip eating out on those days. Opt for eating in on those days instead.

How eating slower will help the environment:

1. Eating slower means you'll eat less. By eating less, you'll be consuming less packaging, less disposable utensils, less napkins, and less money.
2. Slower eating means you'll be able to tell when you're full. This means you'll be losing pounds, and losing weight can help the environment.
3. You'll be able to think about what you're eating, and that way, you can improve your diet by eating more veggies and fruits.

Keep reading this blog for more Earth Day tips and updates all day long!

How to Lessen Your Environmental Impact During Your Commute

This is part two of a five part series on Earth Day, and lightening your environmental impact.

Maybe for some of us, our morning commute consists of walking downstairs to get some coffee, but not for most people. 70% of America has to leave for work or school, and nearly everyone has to leave the house at some point or another. In other words, it's inevitable that you will have some sort of commute, sooner or later. Here's a few things that you can do to lessen your environmental impact during your commute:

1. If you drive by car: make sure your tires are properly inflated, make sure the oil is changed, and fully maintain your car. The better your car runs, the less it emits into the environment and the better mileage it gets (not to mention it save you money, too, and it's safer).
2. If you take the train: Ride your bike to the train, or hitch a ride with someone else who takes the train.
3. If you have the option to let your kids take the bus, let them take it. It's far less impact on the environment to let them take the bus vs. you picking them up.
4. If you walk, keep walking! This is great exercise.

5 Things to Do This Morning for Earth Day

Be greener and have a lighter carbon footprint from the moment you get out of bed

This is part one of a 5 part series on Earth Day. Why not make a few small changes in your life, beginning with Earth Day?

From the moment you wake up, we start consuming things. We breathe, we brush our teeth, run the water, take a shower, cook our breakfast, throw away things, and drive to work. What if we just took one or two of those things and started to change them in such a small way that it didn't even affect our lives in the least? That's called being realistic, and that's what will work if you're going to be making some changes in your life. Here are ten things you can do this morning, starting from the moment you wake up, to be a little greener and less wasteful:

1. Eat stuff with no packaging. Go ahead, eat a raw fruit, a bakery item that you purchased without the bag, or something you baked yourself. The real point is, the less packaging, the better it is for the environment... but it's also better for you! When you bake your own items, you'll be in control of the calories and ingredients, and when you eat fresh fruits, you'll be eating something low calorie, nutritious, and pretty tasty.
2. While you're at it, bring stuff to work for lunch that doesn't have much packaging, or simply bring your own lunch. By bringing your own lunch, you'll be saving yourself some cash, but also be throwing away far less plastic, paper, and foil than if you visited your local fast food restaurant, sub shop, or favorite take out restaurant.
3. Turn the water off while you shave and brush your teeth. That's pretty easy.
4. Take a shorter shower. Don't worry about cutting your shower time in half or even shaving off a few minutes, just worry about reducing it even by a minute. If that's far too hard for you, order a low flow shower head when you get home from work (this will pay itself off in just a few months anyway).
5. Ask another Mom to drive the kids, and take a walk. Carpooling will help save gas, and give you time to do your own thing. A brief walk will burn calories, and keep you out of the doctor's office (not to mention you won't have to buy the next size up clothing!).

Keep reading this blog all day to keep up to date with more tips in this series for Earth Day.

Why You Should Start Eating More Fruits and Vegetables

The benefits are numerous, but do you really have time to squish in all of those fruits and vegetables into your diet? In a world of processed food, fast food, and hard to pronounce fillers that are taking the place of real food, the real question is, can you afford to not eat more fruits and vegetables? It doesn't take a vegetarian to know that eating plants is good for you, and you don't have to be a vegetarian or vegan to have some of those same benefits. Simply by incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet, you'll be doing a few of the following:

• Losing weight (it's impossible to gain weight on fruits and vegetables alone)
• Gaining control of your finances (you'll be grocery shopping more, eating less expensive meat, and maybe even skipping fast food more often)
• Best of all, you'll feel better.

Not fully convinced yet? Read the new lens featuring 30 reasons to eat more veggies, and see if a few of them convince you that you should up your veggie intake. What could you lose? Only pounds, inches, and maybe some debt.

50 Things to Do During Earth Hour

Every last Saturday of March is Earth Hour. The goal of Earth Hour is to raise awarenes towards the need to take action towards climate change. Business and homes everywhere participate by shutting off their lights and lowering their energy consumption in any way that they can. Every year, the participants in Earth Hour have grown in numbers, as more people become more aware of the changes our planet are going through (and the Earth Hour event itself).

Think Earth Hour sounds like a great idea, but you're struggling to find things to do? Here;s a list of 50 things to do during Earth Hour, from candlelight dinners to scary ghost stories. You're bound to find something on the list that you'll find fun and interesting!

1. There's never been a better excuse to cook up some Smores by the fire.
2. A game of flashlight tag feels even more justified and fun during Earth Hour.
3. Tell some scary ghost stories in the pitch black of the night.
4. Cook up a late night BBQ and serve some of your family's favorites.
5. Get the whole area involved and throw a neighborhood party for Earth Hour.
6. Kids and adults alike can appreciate the simplicity of candelit shadow puppets.
7. While you have your candles burning, you can also plan your own romantic candlelight dinner.
8. Experience the phenomenon of glow in the dark Lifesavers at night.
9. Let the kids bring out their collection of glow in the dark stickers to fully appreciate the glow.
10. Play with glow sticks, tons of fun in the pitch black dark.
11. Listen for owls at night and learn the different calls. Just be very quiet and go into the woods with your call tape (wait a few minutes after each call to wait for them to respond).
12. View constellations and try to find some of the popular ones like Orion's Belt and the Big Dipper.
13. Go camping in your own backyard for the night.
14. Start a campfire and enjoy those Smores and tell ghost stories. It will be a night to remember!
15. Play board games by candlelight.
16. Plan a night hike, a thrilling experience that's far different from any day hike you've ever gone on.
17. View the beautiful, natural wonder of tidal pools lit by moonlight (bring a flashlight, too).
18. The first warm, rainy night of spring is when the salamanders walk to the vernal pools to breed. This is a sight to see (and might not happen during Earth Hour, but it's around this time of year).
19. Listen for animals near your home, or in the woods. Like owls, you'll just need to be quiet and patient.
20. Turn off everything in your home and go grocery shopping. You'll enjoy the short lines at the grocery store!
21. Go to the movies. They'll be using the electricity in the theater whether you go or night.
22. Tell one of these scary ghost stories and terrify everyone around you.
23. Attend a restaurant that is participating in Earth Hour. Google your local area plus "earth hour restaurants" for more information.
24. Sleep. The average American could use more of it. Why not tonight?
25. Hold a blind taste testing for beer, wine and cheese.
26. Ask for a massage, or give a massage. They're even better in the dark (and a great way to relax during Earth Hour).
27. Plan a scavenger hunt at night in your yard, in the woods, in the city, or wherever you find fun.
28. Listen to your favorite music on your ipod in the serenity of the dark.
29. Walk around to see who else is participating in Earth Hour.
30. Break out those scented candles that you've been storing and actually use them.
31. Play board games that you've never played before, maybe even the scariest one of all, the ouija board.
32. Read by candlelight (not too close though!).
33. Reminisce about your past, talk about it, and share it with your kids, partner or friends.
34. Let the kids play outside late. They'll be thrilled.
35. Play horseshoes in the dark. It's much harder.
36. Go thermostat free and bundle up (if you need to).
37. Read up on reducing, reusing, and recycling on your charged up Blackberry or iphone.
38. Use your Kindle to read without any candlelight.
39. Play new video games on your Nintendo DS or portable game system.
40. Take a bath. They're even more relaxing in the dark.
41. Pamper yourself with all of your spa and beauty products, then recycle the containers.
42. Take a walk along the beach if it's low tide and take in the fresh air.
43. Take the train into the city and walk around.
44. Enjoy the free lights and electricity at your local coffee shop.
45. Make campfire food.
46. Use the time to talk about what you'd like to plant in your garden (or indoor garden), or other green ideas for the coming spring and summer months.
47. Look up at the nighttime sky to notice how dark or not dark it really is.
48. Listen for frogs and spring peepers.
49. Make some fondue.
50. Start making your own list of things that you did during Earth Hour, then share them here or on your own blog!

Did you participate in Earth Hour? If you didn't, you can make plans to participate in Earth Hour next year, or just plan your own personal Earth Hour on a different day. It's all about reducing our impact on the environment and educating others. You can also read our other post on things to do during Earth Hour for more ideas.

Are Salon Shampoos Killing Your Skin and Hair?

Sitting in the waiting room in any salon, you'll see product after product available for sale, to keep the color in your freshly dyed hair, to keep that teased, perfected hairstyle in place, and to moisturize your hair after all those treatments. These products are made by professionals though, so how bad can they be for you? After all, the bottle says "the true professional," so that must mean they know what's good for us, right? Maybe not.

As it turns out, those hair products could be destroying your hair more than fixing it, all the while depositing a range of chemicals into your scalp, skin, nails and hands. What chemicals? The internet is full of conflicting information about chemicals. At the very least, the chemicals could be doing nothing (though many articles and studies have suggested otherwise). Worst case scenario, the petrochemicals in salon products and shampoos could lead to severe skin irritation, cause birth defects, and potentially shampoo could cause Alzeheimer's Disease. Are salon products going to kill you overnight? No, you have a better chance of winning the lottery and then being struck by lightning while seeing a flying pig in your last moments. Over long periods of use, your salon shampoo that contains petrochemicals cause some annoying irritation, weaken and damage your hair, strip it of vital nutrients, and expose your hair and scalp to unncessary agents (and some of the potential risks described previously).

What About Animal Testing with Shampoos?

One brand that doesn't test on animals is Paul Mitchell. However, you do have to be careful when a product says that it "has not been tested on animals." The final product itself may not have been tested on animals, but the individual ingredients may have. How can you be really sure your product hasn't been tested on animals? Look for the little bunny. Products that have the "leaping bunny" logo have met standards where the product is cruelty free, including suppliers, all ingredients, testing, and manufacturing.

What are the alternatives to traditional salon shampoo?

There are some alternatives out there for salon shampoo. An organic shampoo is a great choice, but you have to look at the ingredients just like any other product. Just because the product states that it's organic, that doesn't mean it's healthy. First, you'll always want to look for certified organic products. Some companies cannot attain organic certification because some of the ingredients simply aren't made organic, or the price difference in certain ingredients is astronomically different. If you have questions about any product, check the cosmetic database, and check reviews from other consumers online by doing a quick google search for the company name + reviews. There's also biodynamic shampoo, which is not just organic, but a product that is made from a self sustaining ecosystem. In other words, nothing comes from outside of the farm. The herbs are grown on the farm, and all of the other ingredients in the shampoo. The cost of the biodynamic organic (which you can find here) shampoo will also be comparable to that of a salon product, but will be far higher quality - and won't damage your hair.

If you're interested in reading more about what chemicals might be lurking in your cosmetics, you may want to read the following posts from our blog:

• Why Buy Certified Organic Perfume?
• Organic Baby Bath Products