Category Archives: Eco Friendly Parenting

4 Green Valentine’s Day Ideas for Kids

Kids love Valentine’s Day. Mine always want to give out valentines that include some candy and yes, sometimes I let them. It’s hard to make they always go against what all the other kids are doing. But there are some really wonderful projects kids can make for Valentine’s Day that are a bit more eco friendly and still fun.

Valentine's Day Ideas for Kids

Obviously, when you’re talking about valentines to hand out at school, you’re talking cheap. No one wants to spend a ton of money making somewhere over 20 cards per class. If your kids are like mine, they also don’t want to be the only ones giving out plain cards without treats. These days it’s pretty much expected. Fortunately, there are ways to keep things just that little bit more green.

Sadly, I can’t recommend homemade treats, as many schools have rules against such things.

1. Make homemade Valentine’s Day cards.

It’s really not easy to find classroom packs of Valentine’s Day cards made from recycled materials, but you may be able to make your own. Look around for any appropriate paper and cardstock you may have. There are plenty of printable Valentine’s cards available too. Add a crayon or so if it’s made to be colored in.

2. Make crayon hearts.

If you have a bunch of crayon pieces, melt them into heart shaped molds, and let your child include those with their Valentine cards instead of candy.

3. Add candy to your Valentine cards.

Rather than buy the cards with candy already attached, you can pick out your own candy and attach it yourself. Punch a hole or two through the card to make it easy to add a lollipop. There are all kinds of amazing ideas out there for lollipop Valentines.

4. Give pencils.

I don’t know why it is, but even kids too young to write love getting pencils. Put some heart decorations on them, and you have a really cute gift that kids might actually use.

Being a Green Soccer Mom

My son loves to play soccer. He says it’s mostly the running, so he’s in a running club as well. It’s great exercise for him as well as fun. His team is about where I like it for his age – they win fairly often, but lose enough to learn that lesson too. He has a coach who isn’t excessively strict – I’ve seen some coaches freak out when their team isn’t winning, screaming at the kids and generally setting a bad example, so this is highly welcome. At the same time, the coach is strict enough to push for good effort.

The trouble with soccer is some of the stuff involved. Many things we’ve been able to use from season to season – cleats, shin guards, the soccer ball, but other things generate waste every week, especially the after game treats the parents take turns providing.

Now, there’s only so much you can do about waste when you’re not always the one providing treats. The typical treat bag includes a juice box, some treats, and often enough some small, plastic toy. They get really wasteful, and often are unhealthy, as cookies are a far more common snack than the fruit usually provided when I played soccer as a kid.

About the only thing you can do about it is make sure that what you provide is a little healthier. We always put in sliced oranges for treats, and most of the kids really like them. No little toys either – not like they last anyhow. We still give juice boxes, as a nice drink is important after the game, and the kids have usually finished the drinks they brought with them by the end of the game.

If you like, you can talk with the other moms about alternatives for snacks to improve matters for your team. You may encounter a lot of resistance – the kids do love the treats they get now, after all. It’s still worth a try.

You can be picky about what your child brings for his or her drink during the game. It’s not the healthiest, perhaps, but my son still likes his Gatorade for during the game, so we buy the powdered mix. Cheaper than buying the bottled stuff, and easy to put into a reusable bottle.

Don’t forget sunscreen. Get a good brand, and make sure your young soccer player uses it, as well as any of the rest of the family coming to the game.

6 Fun Fall Field Trips for Your Family

Fall is coming, the weather is cooling off in many places (still HOT here!), but there’s still lots to do outside as a family. While availability and practicality depends on where you live, there are still a number of outings you can take as a family in the fall.

Obviously, any indoor field trips such as to museums work at any time of the year; what I’m focused on here are more seasonal field trips to consider.

1. Leaf Collecting

Fall is one of the best times of the year to collect leaves. Some leaves turn truly amazing colors, and are really fun for kids and parents to collect.

One important consideration is that you must collect leaves where collecting is allowed. It’s not allowed in all areas. Be aware of any restrictions on collecting leaves in parks and other areas, and of course respect the property of others. It may “just be a leaf,” but if you aren’t supposed to collect it, don’t. Close up pictures of leaves may make a good substitute for leaves you can’t take home.

2. Apple Picking

Apple picking is big in my area. There are some very nice local orchards, and the variety of apples is delightful. The cost to do this may or may not be better than what you’d pay at the grocery store, but you’re having the experience of picking the apples too, which can make it all worthwhile. Some apple orchards also have other activities available.

3. Visit a Pumpkin Patch/Farm

I don’t really mean the pumpkin patch in the city, where it’s all prepicked pumpkins stacked all over the place. If at all possible, go where the pumpkins are grown. We have a truly amazing one by us that grows a lot of their own pumpkin varieties, including some really unusual ones I haven’t seen elsewhere.

4. Other Farms

Take a look at what grows in your area and see if now is a good time to visit. Farms can be very interesting in the fall. Farms can have fun activities for the whole family. PickYourOwn.org is a good resource for farms that allow you to pick your own produce.

5. Go Hiking

Do you have a favorite place to go hiking? Take some hikes during the fall to see how it changes with the weather. This field trip can be done repeatedly to really get an idea of how things change as fall progresses. Make sure to take pictures, especially of places and things you can compare as the weeks go on.

6. Go Birding

Kids love to watch birds, and the cooler fall weather makes for a pleasant time to look for them. While it’s not in fall, consider participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count in February. Now could be a good time to practice identifying local birds so you’re ready.

Walking to School Encourages Children’s Independence and Responsibility

My kids have been back in school a couple of weeks now, walking themselves there without me. They’ve always walked to school, as we live within a quarter mile of their school, but in years past one or the other has been at an age where I had to handle the pickup. Now they’re old enough to walk on their own. This, I believe, is great for their independence and responsibility.

I did walk them the first two days of school. Those are the days when everyone’s getting used to the school, and things were just plain hectic around the school. We had people parking their cars around the corner from our house because the school lot and the rest of the neighborhood was so full. Even more so than the rest of the school year, I refuse to drive them the first days because we’d end up parked in our own driveway for the best possible spot.

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not easy letting them walk on their own. Parents taking their kids to school are sadly not always the most alert for pedestrians, even when those tend to be other children. But I’ve taught my kids to be extra careful crossing near the school, and fortunately there are often other students and parents crossing at the same time.

That’s just one way walking to school encourages independence and responsibility. They have to decide when to cross a rather busy street to get to school. The street is only busy during the times people are dropping off or picking kids up, but during those times it’s really busy.

They’re also responsible for getting to school on time this way. Once they’re out that door, they can’t rely on me to remind them to keep moving, no matter what neat things they want to investigate on the way.

I also see benefits in how happy my kids are. They’re so proud to walk to and from school on their own, something I was allowed to do much younger. They have house keys for on the off chance that I’m not home when they get there (I don’t expect that to happen, but one can’t always plan for things) or if I lock the door and don’t hear the doorbell. They’ve had those for a while, actually, but now they have more chance that they’ll actually be used.

I know that we’re lucky. Not everyone lives all that close to their children’s school, or in neighborhoods safe enough to allow kids to walk there on their own. We have these advantages, and so mine walk rather than get driven to school. It’s fun, healthy and saves quite a bit of gas. Given the amount of traffic I’d have to get through, it’s also faster than driving them to school in our situation.

This is something I really encourage. Having kids walk to school has a lot of benefits. It’s really worth it if it’s a possibility for your family.

It’s Time For Back to School! Do You Have Green School Supplies?

It’s that special time of year when families crowd the stores looking for great deals. Not Christmas, but Back to School, one of the big shopping times of the year. So many supplies are needed to get kids and classrooms ready for months of learning. Now how do you keep it a little greener?

Reuse is my favorite way. That’s why I buy stainless steel water bottles for my kids – those things last forever. One thing I’ve learned over time is that the sooner you can switch to a cap that has to be unscrewed for your child to drink, rather than a sport cap or straw model, the better. Sport caps and straws are great, but my kids tend to break them, and not all brands make those easily replaceable. I hate having to buy a whole bottle because one part doesn’t work or is leaking a bit too much.

We also reuse backpacks and lunch bags when possible. Kids are hard on these things, but I can usually get at least two years out of them before they’re in just too poor of shape. Every year I hope to get more than that, but it doesn’t usually work out that way.

Where to Buy Green School Supplies?

The challenge in part is figuring out where to find eco friendly back to school supplies. They aren’t everywhere. If you have a store locally that has them, please, go for it. Support your local economy, it’s a good thing, especially if it’s a smaller store, not a chain. Otherwise, I love shopping online. That stuff that’s just impossible to get locally some places is easily available online much of the time.

The Ultimate Green Store is one possible place. They even have an eco back to school supplies section on their site. Makes it nice and easy to find appropriate supplies, whether you’re looking for backpacks, lunchboxes, drink bottles, crayons, pencils and so forth.

Of course, you do have to balance your back to school budget with the cost of eco friendly items, which can cost more. Still, it’s good to take a look and see which items you can do better on. Some items, such as drink bottles, can save you more in the long run over buying juice boxes throughout the years.

What Do You Need?

In our school district, parents get a list of supplies the teachers want the kids to have on the first day. I really wish it were sooner,  as this limits our flexibility in buying school supplies. We can buy basics such as backpacks and lunchbags early, but some other products are more challenging. Everything is needed so quickly. Still, there are some basic considerations.

1. Only what you need

It’s all too easy to buy much more than you need, especially if you hit a really great school supply sale. Still, be careful about overbuying, and if you do buy more than you need, make sure you keep it on hand for next year. One great thing about school supplies – they don’t spoil. Keep good track of your extras.

2. Look for recycled products

There are a variety of products made from recycled materials these days, from the classic recycled paper products to backpacks made from recycled bottles to pencils made from recycled newspapers and more. And of course Terracycle makes a variety of interesting products.

3. Use refillable products

Lunch bags and backpacks aren’t the only things your child can use throughout the school year. Depending on what the teacher wants kids to have, take a good look at items such as binders and pencils. I’ve heard that some teachers won’t allow younger kids to have mechanical pencils, as younger kids break leads too fast and may play too much with the pencils, but these are good as the kids get older, as you only replace the leads, and you can buy mechanical pencils made from recycled materials.

4. Make packing healthy lunches easier

Plan out your needs for your child’s school lunches. What kinds of containers will you need to send a healthy lunch to school each day? Think about how any plastics used are made and if you’re comfortable with them. Consider stainless steel containers when appropriate. Glass can also work, but there is more risk of breakage.