Tag Archives: summer

Thinking Over a Green Summer

I’m watching my husband and oldest daughter in the garden today. They’re planting some aloe vera we bought the other day. I have fond memories of aloe vera from my childhood, as my skin has always sunburned easily. My kids tan like their father, but aloe is still good to have around. We also have some swallows nesting on our house for the first time ever. I’ve heard that can be messy, but they’ve picked pretty good spots so far as I’m concerned (not near any doors), and will hopefully help control our hornet problem.

It’s a good start to the summer.

We have a lot of plans this summer. Camping in Yosemite is the big one and I can hardly wait for my kids to see it. Yosemite is very special to my husband, and it has been far too many years since he has been there.

I’m preparing the kids for all the hiking by taking regular family walks. Now that school is out, I want to take regular walks in the morning to the local park, about a mile each way, and mostly uphill on the way there. Given summer temps around here, these have to be in the morning. I don’t want to do a lot of walking in 100+ degrees F weather, and that’s what we get pretty often here during the summer. I bought some Blue Lizard sunscreen to help ward off sunburn.

That will also be a part of their tradeoff for TV/computer time. They have to play outside to earn time sitting in front of a screen.

I’m working on Mylar covers for some of my windows. Now Mylar is rather ugly, so I’ve added some white tissue paper on the parts visible from outside, so the homeowner’s association won’t give me any trouble if anyone notices. It’s mostly back windows anyhow, but with the white facing out, it’s not that different in appearance from the white backing of some of my curtains. Or so I hope. I can really tell which windows I’ve done, and even with the tissue paper, the Mylar seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping the heat out. From the inside, of course, the curtains hide it.

9 Eco Friendly Activities to Keep Your Kids Busy This Summer

My son is out of school for the year, and soon my oldest daughter will be too. It’s time to start thinking about how I’m going to keep them busy, ideally without spending a lot of money or wasting a lot of resources. Here are some of the ideas I’ve come up with.

1. Grow a garden.

This is already started, of course. We have more tomatoes than I think we’ll manage to eat, but my husband always wants to grow a big variety of tomatoes. If they go well, I’ll either have to figure out how to preserve them or start giving the excess away to family, friends and neighbors. Not a bad deal.

We also have zucchini, basil, pumpkins growing from the seeds of last year’s Halloween pumpkin, strawberries and beans. Not a big garden, but we’re pretty limited in this house we’re renting to what we can do to the yard. We also have a few flowers planted just for attracting bees and for pretty. My favorite so far are the native larkspur that grew on their own.

The kids are learning to weed and are responsible to help keep the garden watered. They love knowing that they can snack freely on what grows and is edible.

2. Stargazing

Kids love looking at the stars, and my son picked a small telescope out for his birthday earlier this year. Stargazing is a great way to make those summer nights special for your family.

3. Camping

Take a little time and go camping with your family. Most areas have decent local campgrounds, or you could camp in your own backyard. Older children may even enjoy camping out in the backyard on their own. This was a favorite when I was growing up.

4. Playing with friends.

Don’t get so into doing activities with your kids that they don’t get a ton of time to just play with friends, whether it’s at your house, the friend’s house or on their own at the park once they’re old enough and responsible enough. Let them have fun doing their own things.

5. Visit the library.

Our library has a summer reading program that allows kids in grades 1-5 to earn prizes for the number of pages they read. Prizes shouldn’t be needed to get kids reading if you’ve encouraged it all along, but make sure they keep the habit of reading books that interest them all summer long. The library is a great resource that will allow them to read more books than you could probably afford to buy.

Don’t forget to check out any special activities your local library may have over the summer. Many have activities for all age ranges, which is great when your kids have a range of interests and abilities.

6. Do recycled crafts.

I covered a few good books to help you get ideas for recycled crafts just the other day. Summer is a great time for trying some of these ideas out.

7. Visit museums.

While museums bring a picture of boredom to some minds, they don’t have to. Most kids love a good, hands-on science museum, and many other museums have come to recognize that having a hands-on component makes it more interesting for children.

Check with your local museums to see if they have any free or reduced price days to keep the expense down. These days are usually more crowded, but may put this activity into a more budget friendly category.

8. Go to the zoo.

Most children love the zoo. Annual passes may be quite affordable, or you can suggest that family give passes as a gift. Children will be impressed by the range of animals, and it’s a great opportunity to discuss why we need to protect the habitat of various animals.

9. Go hiking.

Yet another thing you can do fairly locally in most places. Find out where the hiking trails are in your area and you have a great family activity that will help to keep you fit while seeing nature in action.

5 Recycled or Natural Craft Books to Keep You and the Kids Busy This Summer

Here comes summer! School is getting out soon and it’s time to figure out how you’re going to keep the kids busy.

Crafts are a great place to start. They encourage kids to be creative. Recycled crafts are even better, as they teach your family how to reused things that might have been trash otherwise. Feed that crafting habit without buying a ton of new supplies. Here are some books that can help you get started.

Craftcycle: 100+ Earth-Friendly Projects and Ideas for Everyday Living
This one has ideas suitable for a wide range of ages, not just young children. It has over 100 ideas for you to try that encourage sustainable living. If you’ve seen those bags made out of old potato chip bags, for example, this book will help you make your own.

Alternacrafts: 20+ Hi-Style Lo-Budget Projects to Make
This book is recommended for grades 8 and up, but crafty kids at younger ages may enjoy it too. The book has a bit of a quirky style, and you’ll learn to make things such as pin-prick cards, pop bottle pendants and more.

Green Crafts for Children: 35 Step-by-Step Projects Using Natural, Recycled, And Found Materials
While not everything in this book is recycled, most of the ideas here will be things you have around the home anyhow. Not like you can recycle the ingredients for salt dough anyhow. Other crafts encourage the use of found materials such as shells, pine cones and tree bark.

Recycled Crafts Box
This book is definitely more for the elementary school set, not so much for older kids. What’s great about this book is that not only does it give you great ideas for recycled crafts, it separates the ideas by the materials and gets into how they’re made and how they’re recycled.

Socks Appeal: 16 Fun & Funky Friends Sewn from Socks
We all have orphaned socks and socks that just don’t fit the kids anymore. Why not have a little fun with them and make toys from those old socks you don’t need anymore?

Socks Appeal has projects suitable for kids and adults who are new to sewing, as well as those with more experience.

How Can You Make Your Summer Road Trip More Eco Friendly?

Summer is a great time for family vacations. The kids are out of school in most areas and the weather is great… so long as you aren’t after snow or something. Now you just need to find that balance between a fun vacation and being good to the environment, particularly with the Gulf oil spill much on our minds. You have a few options.

Staycation

A staycation is often the most environmentally responsible choice. Check out the fun things to do in your own area. Often people skip the tourist destinations in their own area because they’re always there. You know you can visit them eventually, and often eventually is really far away.

Use your staycation to do the fun things in your area. Visit local historic sites, parks, beaches, trails and so forth. Try out unfamiliar restaurants.

Local Road Trip

Next best is a local road trip. Find some nearby areas you can drive to visit and stay there. This can include camping, exploring sights a bit further from home, staying in a hotel and so forth.

Longer Road Trip

A long road trip can be a lot of fun for the family. Mine someday wants to do a long road trip up the California coast on the 101, camping whenever we need a break. It’s a great way to appreciate the natural beauty of a place.

If you’re driving for your vacation, short distance or long, make sure you inflate your tires correctly, remove excess weight from your car, use your cruise control and obey the speed limit. These tips should improve your fuel efficiency.

What About Buses, Planes and Trains?

This is a complex calculation. Which is the best depends on what’s available for your transportation, the distance and how many people are in your group and sharing the transportation with you. A full flight is going to be more efficient per person than a half empty one, after all! Depending on where you’re going, you may still need to rent an efficient car to get where you’re going. Most of us aren’t going to spend a vacation in the immediate vicinity of the airport.

Time is also a factor. Planes are fast, but may not be the most efficient option in terms of direct fuel cost. If you don’t have the time to drive, take a bus or train to wherever you’re going, that’s the option you’re going to pick, regardless of efficiency.

There’s a good review of the options at Scholars and Rogues that discusses the lifecycle cost of each type of transit. It has a lot of food for thought. It covers the issues from more than just the viewpoint of fuel consumed by each vehicle. There’s the entire complex lifestyle, and the results go against the usual calculations done based on fuel expended per person. It’s an interesting perspective.

Don’t Forget Bicycling

Bicycling isn’t an option for all family vacations. Kids can only ride so far, and may not be able to do distance riding safely. But of all options, it’s the most energy efficient and the best way to appreciate nature. If you’re going on your vacation by car, consider taking bikes along, remembering that the bike racks will decrease your gas mileage.

No option is perfectly environmentally friendly, but then living isn’t perfectly environmentally friendly. Think about your impact before you pack.

11 Eco Friendly Ways to Keep Cool During the Summer

Summer’s here in full force and it’s not always easy to keep cool without using the air conditioner. While sometimes that really is the only way, there are other ways you can cool yourself and your family that won’t add so much to your power bill.

What works best for you will depend on the conditions you live in. Some tips aren’t so great for areas with high humidity, for example. Try things out and see what’s right for you.

1. Damp Washcloth on the Neck

Soak a washcloth or bandana with cool water. Drape it on your neck. It feels great.

You can also wipe the cloth across your face and wrists to feel cooler. It’s amazing how much of a difference such a small thing can make.

2. Turn on the Fans

Before you resort to your air conditioner, turn on your ceiling fan, standing fan or any other fan you have. The motion won’t make the air any cooler in reality, but the moving air will help you to feel cooler. Plus fans are cheaper to run than air conditioners.

3. Eat Spicy Foods

It may sound contrary, but it works. Spicy foods can help you to feel cooler due to your body’s reaction to them.

4. Get Your Hair Wet

Damp hair helps you to feel cooler too. Use the coldest water you can stand, and towel dry as little as you can stand. Most people aren’t going to enjoy going dripping around the house, but on a really hot day that effect won’t last for long.

5. Spray Yourself with Water

Fill a clean spray bottle with water. Spray yourself lightly with water wherever you have bare skin. The evaporation of the water will help you feel cooler. You can even spray a fine mist into the air and walk through it.

6. Cover Your Windows

Windows are a major source of heat for your entire house. Let the sunlight through them and you’re going to heat up.

Closing curtains and blinds should be a basic step, but you can do more. Cardboard boxes look ugly, but they block a lot more heat. Covering your windows with blankets is an alternative, as is using mylar sheets to block out more sunlight.

7. Open the Windows

Different times of day, different solutions. If your nights are cool enough, an open window can cool your home nicely while letting in a breeze.

8. Eat Raw Fruits and Vegetables

These won’t cool you directly, but they’re quite refreshing on a hot day. Keep them in the refrigerator until it’s time to eat. Cucumbers are particularly popular with my family.

9. Enjoy a Frozen Treat

I make popsicles out of fruit smoothies, but any sort of frozen treat is going to feel good on a hot day.

10. Wear Cool Clothes

Dress right for the weather. Wear lightweight cotton clothes as much as you can. If not, at least go for short sleeves.

11. Adapt

Your body can adapt wonderfully to a range of temperatures. It can cope well with hot days if you don’t always demand a thermostat set at 72 degrees F.