6 Places to Shop for Eco Friendly School Lunch Supplies

6 Places to Shop for Eco Friendly School Lunch Supplies

My kids love bringing lunch to school. School lunches have improved, generally speaking, over the past several years, but we still enjoy the flexibility of bringing lunch rather than buying it.

The challenge comes in finding more eco friendly containers for the kids’ lunches. Kids are great for losing things, so you don’t want to spend a fortune. So far, most of my kids’ stuff has eventually made it back to us, anywhere from being found in the lost & found the next day all the way to appearing in a different teacher’s classroom the following school year. Obviously, sometimes I’ve had to buy more containers because I thought the previous ones were gone.

You also want containers that will last well. I prefer stainless steel, and for the drink bottles, ideally no straws. My youngest still gets straw containers, even though the straws eventually go bad because she chews on them, because that’s what she can open without needing help and close reliably. For older kids, I like bottles that the kids twist the lid off rather than a sports bottle type opening – kids are great for not closing sports bottles tightly enough and having it leak all over their lunch bags.

Insulation is wonderful, especially for drinks. Ice works well to keep drinks cool, and you can freeze milk into cubes so you don’t ruin the flavor if that’s your child’s preferred drink. Make sure the drink bottle has a wide enough mouth that ice is easily added.

Size is key with food containers. Some will be too small to hold enough food for your child’s appetite. Too big and you may have to rethink the lunch bag. Pay attention to reviews as well as how much your child tends to eat for lunch to figure out what’s the right container. Some have their own carry bags available.

There are plenty of places to buy eco friendly school lunch supplies. Here are just a few:

Amazon (seems like they carry everything)
Shop Waste-Free Lunch for Kids at ReUseIt.com
ECOlunchbox
PlanetBox
The Ultimate Green Store
Laptop Lunches

Coping With the California Drought

Coping With the California Drought

You may know that California is in a particularly intense drought right now. If you live in California, you had better know that, as things are bad enough that watering incorrectly can cause you to be fined. I’m fortunate enough to be in an area where it isn’t as bad as it is elsewhere, as we rely less on imported water and more on wells that apparently aren’t in bad shape yet, but we’re still being strongly encouraged to conserve. Given that no one knows when this particular California drought will end, it’s important that everyone do their part.

Watering outdoors less is a big part of it. Most areas are restricting watering days and times, and homeowner’s associations aren’t currently allowed to enforce rules against brown lawns. It’s a temporary rule, of course, and I can’t help but wonder how fast HOAs will be putting out fines once it expires, regardless of whether or not the drought has continued.

One big thing to do is to check for broken sprinkler heads and pipes. I found out that in addition to a couple broken sprinkler heads, a tree root has broken one of our sprinkler pipes. We’re having a guy out soon to fix it, though it may be partially under the sidewalk and a bit of a pain to fix. I check the sprinklers a few times a year, and this is the worst round I’ve ever had to deal with. To keep our water use under control, it’s necessary to keep up with the problems.

You should also mow your lawn higher, and that’s something I’m going to catch the yard guy about, because he mows us really low. I think a slightly taller lawn is prettier, and it’s also more water efficient.

We do a cycle and soak watering for our lawns. This takes advantage of the sprinkler system’s multiple start times, so each section gets just a couple of minutes of watering before it goes to the next, then the system starts over again. This allows the soil to absorb more of the water and reduces runoff.

Can’t We Just Cut Out the Lawns?

If we weren’t renting, we’d be doing things a lot different, drought or no. I’d much rather have the front yard xeriscaped than deal with a lawn. I like a bit of lawn in the back as a place for the kids to run and play. It’s a big part of why I really don’t want to live in a HOA controlled area – I want more flexibility in how my property will look when I own it.

I would love to see would be a big push for more xeriscaping, especially in new developments. Make it harder for homeowner’s associations in new neighborhoods to require a lawn. Well done xeriscaping takes very little water or maintenance, yet looks very nice.

Artificial turf is another idea, although some HOAs have rules against it. I believe ours does, as the house across the street had some artificial grass for a few months, then real stuff was put back in. I’m generally more in favor of real plants – they’re better in pretty much every way so far as I’m concerned, save water use – but if you must display a green lawn, that artificial stuff starts to look pretty promising. Personally, I’d rather not have it, but there are times when I understand why one might choose it.

Indoor Water Use

There are ways to save water indoors as well, of course. Shorter showers, don’t let the water run while handwashing dishes,only wash full loads of dishes or clothes,make sure your water-using appliances are efficient, things like that. There are a lot of good tips at http://saveourh2o.org/content/home. Most changes you make indoors will only save a small amount per use, but it can really add up.

A lot of these changes we’ve long since made in our family or just never done any other way. I don’t think I’ve ever just let the water run while brushing my teeth, for example – that never made sense to me.

What About Big Agriculture?

I know a lot of people want agriculture to do their part, as California agriculture uses way, way more water than goes to residential use, but that’s a harder change to make. That’s changes over huge areas of land, I would imagine with significant equipment and personnel costs. Farmers can’t just water less and expect their crops to still grow. Certainly I believe they could water more efficiently, but not quickly. It’s much simpler for residents to change their own watering habits quickly, which I believe is a part of why there has been so much focus on residential use.

5 Habits That Make You Less Eco Friendly

5 Habits That Make You Less Eco Friendly

We all have those habits we wish we could break. If you’re trying to be more eco friendly in your daily life, there are probably a number of things you would like to change, but just haven’t managed to yet. Here are some bad habits you may want to work on changing so you can be more eco friendly.

Bad Habit #1 – Forgetting Reusable Shopping Bags

For many of us, it’s easy to forget to put the reusable shopping bags in the car or where we’ll grab them before heading out to shop. If single use plastic shopping bags haven’t been banned in your area, that means you get more of those thin shopping bags that pile up so fast.

To get past this bad habit, come up with a way to remember to bring your reusable bags along for shopping. Get into the habit of putting them someplace easy to see when you’re going shopping.

Consider giving yourself a penalty when you forget your bags, such as having to drop a quarter into a jar for every non reusable bag you bring into the house, kind of like a swear jar.

Bad Habit #2 – Paper Towels

Paper towels are really convenient for cleaning up some messes, and they can be advertised as being more sanitary than cloth towels or sponges being used over and over again. Frankly, that depends on how often you change or clean your cloth towels and sponges, as there are ways to handle the germ issues in those. Paper towels, being single use items, are rarely the right choice.

Bad Habit #3 – Bottled Water

Don’t buy bottles of water when you’re on the go – bring your own in a reusable water bottle. Mine is stainless steel. It’s a few years old and still going strong. It’s easy to carry when I go somewhere – I chose an insulated bottle so that my drink stays cold even if I leave it in the car for a while.

Bad Habit #4 – Lights On During The Day

When you can, don’t turn the lights on in your home during the day. Open the blinds or curtains and get a little natural light in. Of course, if it’s too hot out, you may be better off with closed curtains so you don’t let the heat in and need to run the air conditioner.

Bad Habit #5 – Over Reliance On The Heater Or Air Conditioner

There’s no need to keep your home a steady temperature all year. Learn to enjoy a wider range of temperatures indoors and you can use your heater and air conditioner much less throughout the year. Wear warmer clothes indoors during the winter rather than heat the entire house, and use fans to keep cooler for less in summer.

Don’t forget to take advantage of your programmable thermostat if you have one. You don’t need to heat or cool your house so much when you aren’t home, and you may want cooler temperatures when you’re sleeping than when you’re awake – not to mention that, weather permitting, you may be able to open windows at night to cool things down after a hot day.

Kick Your Kids Out Of The House This Summer!

Kick Your Kids Out Of The House This Summer!

How much do your kids grumble about having nothing to do now that school’s out, especially when you tell them to shut the screens off? There’s a simple solution to that – make them go play outside.

Think about your own childhood and how much time you probably spent outside playing. Doing much the same will be good for your kids too. Have them dress appropriately and wear sunscreen as necessary, but get them outside. Here are some ideas to help them be happy about it if they aren’t sure what to do.

Water Fight!

What kid doesn’t love a good water fight? Set up rules if the kids can’t agree on their own, but let them try it their own way first – parents don’t have to set up rules all the time. If you have a kid who tends to squirt everyone else right in the face or otherwise do things that might hurt someone or are just plain annoying, that’s one thing, but many kids can handle making their own rules – sometimes that’s part of the fun!

Sidewalk Chalk

If you have a good sidewalk, clear driveway or patio, sidewalk chalk is a lot of fun for kids. Even my oldest enjoys it some days still.

Play Tag/Hide & Go Seek, etc.

A good game of tag gets the kids running and having fun. You may even be able to get some neighborhood kids in on the fun, just make sure all are agreed upon the rules, especially how to handle the street.

Ride Bikes

Send your kids out to ride bikes, with as much range as you think appropriate for their ages. Ride with them if you want, but remember that it’s good for kids to develop independence at appropriate ages.

Play in the Sprinklers

Time to water the lawn? Send the kids out to enjoy it if you water late enough in the day.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Have the kids look for things you know they’ll find in your area outside. If you include bugs on the list, make sure the kids don’t hurt them, and release them at the end, especially if it’s a beneficial bug. If the kids have digital cameras available, you can consider having photographs be a part of the challenge, so they don’t have to take things with them.

Play Frisbee

Just have the kids play catch with the frisbee, or have them aim at targets or invent a game of their own. It might not even involve throwing the frisbee – they’re not bad for carrying some things.

Build a Fort

Anything from a simple sheet over a picnic table to something built using wood and tools counts. You and the kids decide how to go about it… just try to stand back and let them work when it’s something they know how to do on their own. Just keep enough of an eye on things to know that it’s more or less safe.

Camp Out Overnight

If you have a backyard, an overnight campout is a lot of fun for the kids once they’re old enough. Set up a small tent (have them do it once they’re big enough) and have the kids bring out pillows, blankets, etc. for a night out. Remind them that bugs will go in the tent if they leave the door unzipped, but mostly let them alone. Leave the nearest door unlocked in case anyone needs to come in for some reason at night. We leave our window open so we can hear the kids too. It may only be the backyard, but kids feel really independent sleeping out of the house on their own.

Go Play With Friends Outside

Why do parents have to come up with all the ideas? Let your kids go play with their friends, with as little supervision as their ages and situations allow.

All this assumes that you have a safe place for them to be outside, of course. If you don’t have a good place for your kids to be out, try to find places and times where you can allow it, but don’t be too hard on yourself if things just don’t work out that way.

There’s lots more kids can do to play outside. Here are more sites with ideas:

50 Outdoor Summer Activities For Kids
50 Simple Outdoor Activities For Kids
Outdoor Activities for Children Ages 6-10

7 Ways to Recycle Your Child’s Crayons and Markers

7 Ways to Recycle Your Child's Crayons and Markers

Like most children, my kids love to do art. While they enjoy using repurposed items such as toilet paper tubes and really old computer paper (remember the type with the holes down the side to feed through the printer? We still have a bunch!), they’re always going to use some things we have to buy, such as crayons and markers. Here are some ways to handle the leftover bits from those supplies.

Crayons

As crayons get too small to use, save the bits in a container. You can reuse them a few ways.

1. Chop into smallish pieces and put into molds. Heat oven to 150 degrees F (or lowest heat possible if your oven doesn’t go that low). Heat crayons in molds until crayons have melted, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from molds when cool.

2. Send old crayons to Crazy Crayons. They’ll make them into new crayons.

3. Make melted crayon art by holding pieces of crayon to a canvas with a fork, and using a blow dryer to melt the crayon.

4. Make new crayons in glue stick containers. Infarrantly Creative has the instructions. Yes, another craft supply to reuse!

Markers

Kids are great for using up markers and for leaving the lids off until the colors dry out. This doesn’t have to be the end of the marker!

5. Bring a dried marker back to life using white vinegar. It only takes a drop or so on the tip of the marker. Learn more at http://www.instructables.com/id/bring-a-dried-out-marker-back-to-life/. Water may also work for water based markers; my youngest even noticed this on her own by running a dry marker under the faucet. Try isopropyl alcohol for alcohol based markers such as Sharpies. Obviously, this won’t work if you’re simply out of ink.

6. Send old markers out for recycling. There are programs through Prang, Crayola and Terracycle, but they’re mostly for schools. There’s also the Pen Guy, who uses old markers in art.

7. Make watercolor paints from old markers. The instructions are available at Crafting a Green World.