credit: Design*Sponge
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Biodegradable and compostable picnic disposables
Happy Birthday Earth Day and Green Up Day!
Happy Earth Day!! Not only is today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, it's also the 40th anniversary of Green Up Day in Vermont. Green Up Day takes place on the first Saturday in May across the state of Vermont. Kids and adults alike gather in their communities to clean up liter. If you have ever visited Vermont, you will notice right away the impact this one day of action has. Not only do the roads, sidewalks, streams and trails get a facelift, but new generations learn the importance of keeping our environment clean. As a kid, I participated in Green Up Day with my classmates every year. I learned the importance not only of putting trash in the garbage can, but also the how important it is to recycle and to reduce the amount of trash we create. While scanning the ground, bushes and ravines for trash, I began to notice how our garbage impacts the habitats of small creatures in my community. Suddenly one day of action turned into a year-long effort to reduce trash, recycle and protect the natural habitats in my town.
If you live in Vermont, you can participate in Green Up Day on Saturday, May 1st. If you live elsewhere in the country or world, why not start your own Green Up Day? All you have to do is gather a friend or two, a parent or teacher and get greening!
Give to be green
This time of year the fun and excitement of giving and receiving gifts is often overshadowed by a certain amount of guilt over mass consumption and wastefulness. And it’s not all in our heads; holiday waste increases by 25% from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. That’s an additional 1 million tons a week dumped in our landfills. So how do you reconcile this concern and set an example for your kids while maintaining the tradition of holiday giving? Well, for a start, you and your kids can gather used books, toys and clothing to give to local charities, hospitals, schools or libraries.
Rummage through that closet or toy bin with your child and pick out gently used items that you don't need anymore. Find places around town like the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and Habitat for Humanity that would benefit from your items or pass them on to neighbors in need. Holding a rummage sale is another option. Earning hard cash will help kids realize that their castaway toys and books still have real value.
Passing on unwanted items to those who can use them is crucial for keeping our lifestyles sustainable. Everything we buy is made from valuable materials from the earth. Harvesting these materials, manufacturing them into products and shipping them around the world take a tremendous toll on our planet both in terms of resources wasted and energy consumed. Giving those items a second chance at life will go a long way in protecting the planet and remembering what the holidays are really about.
check out my non-material gift guides for more great holiday ideas...
Rummage through that closet or toy bin with your child and pick out gently used items that you don't need anymore. Find places around town like the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and Habitat for Humanity that would benefit from your items or pass them on to neighbors in need. Holding a rummage sale is another option. Earning hard cash will help kids realize that their castaway toys and books still have real value.
Passing on unwanted items to those who can use them is crucial for keeping our lifestyles sustainable. Everything we buy is made from valuable materials from the earth. Harvesting these materials, manufacturing them into products and shipping them around the world take a tremendous toll on our planet both in terms of resources wasted and energy consumed. Giving those items a second chance at life will go a long way in protecting the planet and remembering what the holidays are really about.
check out my non-material gift guides for more great holiday ideas...
NYC School Recycling Workshop
The United Federation of Teachers will be holding a school recycling workshop this Monday, November 23rd at 5pm at the UFT headquarters, 52 Broadway, New York. Register here, it's free!
Recycling 101 and America Recycles Day
The 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
We’ve all heard this catchy phrase. The last R, recycling, tends to get all the credit. Reducing and Reusing, however, are even more important. If you can reduce the materials you consume you will not only create less waste, you also won’t need to worry about what to do with all the things that you buy when you are done with them. Reuse is a great way to make the most of the things that you do buy. Once you no longer need or want something, pass it on! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Buying or trading vintage, refurbished and used items is a fun way to get cool stuff while preventing pollution and saving the earth’s precious resources.
You can recycle up to 84% of your trash simply by taking it out of the garbage can and putting it in the recycling bin. Items made from recycled materials take far less energy and create only a fraction of the pollution to produce than items made from brand new materials. And of course, imagine the natural resources that are saved!
– Avoid buying things that use excessive packaging and buy in bulk.
– Buy durable things that will last a long time
– When things break, see if they can be fixed before throwing them away.
– Wash and reuse plastic cups, utensils and bags.
– Precycle by buying products whose packaging can be recycled
– And always bring your own bag! If you are just buying a few things just carry them in your hands.
– Complete the cycle and buy products made from recycled materials. When you buy products made from post-consumer recycled materials you are helping to reduce carbon emissions and saving resources.
– Americans throw away about 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back nearly 20 times. Recycling an aluminum soda can saves 96% of the energy used to make a can from ore, and produces 95% less air pollution and 97% less water pollution.
– Every pound of solid waste that goes into a landfill results in 2 lbs of greenhouse gases
– Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
– Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy for a 100 watt light bulb to be lit for 4 hours.
– You’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle.
– Only about one-tenth of all solid garbage in the United States gets recycled.
– The average American creates 56 tons of trash every year.
1) Ask your local municipality for recycling guidelines and bins.
2) Set up a place in your home for the recycling bins. The garage or big roll–out kitchen drawers are good places.
3) Make a label for each bin clearly listing what items belong in them.
4) Bring your recycling to the curb on recycling day.
You can recycle up to 84% of your trash simply by taking it out of the garbage can and putting it in the recycling bin. Items made from recycled materials take far less energy and create only a fraction of the pollution to produce than items made from brand new materials. And of course, imagine the natural resources that are saved!
Here are some great ways to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle:
– Buy only what you need and use all of what you buy.– Avoid buying things that use excessive packaging and buy in bulk.
– Buy durable things that will last a long time
– When things break, see if they can be fixed before throwing them away.
– Wash and reuse plastic cups, utensils and bags.
– Precycle by buying products whose packaging can be recycled
– And always bring your own bag! If you are just buying a few things just carry them in your hands.
– Complete the cycle and buy products made from recycled materials. When you buy products made from post-consumer recycled materials you are helping to reduce carbon emissions and saving resources.
Did you know?
–If all the other people on the Earth used as much "stuff" as we do in the U.S., there would need to be three to five times more space just to hold and sustain everybody.– Americans throw away about 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back nearly 20 times. Recycling an aluminum soda can saves 96% of the energy used to make a can from ore, and produces 95% less air pollution and 97% less water pollution.
– Every pound of solid waste that goes into a landfill results in 2 lbs of greenhouse gases
– Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
– Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy for a 100 watt light bulb to be lit for 4 hours.
– You’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle.
– Only about one-tenth of all solid garbage in the United States gets recycled.
– The average American creates 56 tons of trash every year.
Here’s Your Mission:
Set up a recycling system at home and at school.1) Ask your local municipality for recycling guidelines and bins.
2) Set up a place in your home for the recycling bins. The garage or big roll–out kitchen drawers are good places.
3) Make a label for each bin clearly listing what items belong in them.
4) Bring your recycling to the curb on recycling day.
I uses to wear WHAT???
I don't know about you, but I feel like throwing a tantrum every spring as I pull out the clothes I wore last summer and try to cram my winter clothes back into boxes to store under the bed. So what's a person to do? Throw those unwanted clothes away? No Way! You can swap them, sell them or donate them. Chances are someone will want to wear your hot pink jean jacket!
To learn about swapping your clothes, check out these great websites:
Or hold your own swap meet and trade clothes with your friends!
Here are some websites to sell your clothes (if you are a kid...don't forget to ask mom and dad!)
You can always donate your clothes to those in need:
And for those items of clothing that are beyond salvage, you can recycle them. Some farmers markets collect textiles for recycling.
Happy cleaning!
The Story of Stuff
"The Story of Stuff" is a must-see video about where all of our "stuff" comes from, how it's made and where is ends up. Not only that, but the effect that the manufacturing, selling and disposing of all our "stuff" has on our planet, our bodies, and even our happiness. Going to the store will never be the same again!
Worms in my kitchen!?!?! Composting when you don't have a backyard
Ordinarily it would be pretty hard to convince your parents to allow you to keep worms in your kitchen, but Vermicomposting is a great way to make compost that the whole family can get excited about. Worms make compost by eating then casting (what you and I refer to as pooping) organic matter that is very high in nutrients and free of bacteria. If you are lacking in outdoor space or just like playing with worms, this effective way of composting is a great alternative. To learn more about composting with worms, get a book from your library or search online for how–to's, such as this kitchen-composting guide.
The Nature Journal
A nature journal is a notebook or sketchbook that you record your observations and thoughts in when you are in nature. Find a natural place outside to explore. Sit quietly and let all your senses awaken to the world around you. Imagine that you are experiencing this environment for the first time and record in words and pictures what you see, hear, smell and feel. You can write a poem or describe in detail a single plant. If questions pop into your head write them down, too. Notice the similarities and the differences between things. Imagine how all the living things around you, from the worm deep beneath the ground to the tree that reaches many feet into the sky, are connected. Think about how each one affects you, and how you affect them.
Make your own Nature Journal from recycled items from around the house!
You’ll need:
– Scrap paper that is all the same size
– A piece of colored paper or any paper you would like to use as a cover
– A stick about 7 or 8 inches long
– A rubber band that is long enough to stretch the length of the stick
– A hole punch
1) Place one piece of paper blank side up on top of another piece with the blank side facing down
2) Glue, staple or tape the two pieces together. Repeat this a few more times until you have a nice stack of paper.
3) Gather all the paper together in a pile with the colored cover piece on top. Fold the papers in half.
4) Use the hole punch to punch two holes 1/4” from the folded edge and 1 1/2” from the top and bottom.
5) Through the back of the book, thread one end of the rubber band through the top hole and insert the stick into the loop.
6) Thread the other end of the rubber band through the bottom hole and insert the stick into the loop.
Tip: You can attach a plastic ziplock bag to the back of your journal to collect things you find while exploring.
The 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
We’ve all heard this catchy phrase. The last R, recycling, tends to get all the credit. Reducing and Reusing, however, are even more important. If you can reduce the materials you consume you will not only create less waste, you also won’t need to worry about what to do with all the things that you buy when you are done with them. Reuse is a great way to make the most of the things that you do buy. Once you no longer need or want something, pass it on! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Buying or trading vintage, refurbished and used items is a fun way to get cool stuff while preventing pollution and saving the earth’s precious resources.
You can recycle up to 84% of your trash simply by taking it out of the garbage can and putting it in the recycling bin. Items made from recycled materials take far less energy and create only a fraction of the pollution to produce than items made from brand new materials. And of course, imagine the natural resources that are saved!
Here are some great ways to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle:
– Buy only what you need and use all of what you buy.– Avoid buying things that use excessive packaging and buy in bulk.
– Buy durable things that will last a long time
– When things break, see if they can be fixed before throwing them away.
– Wash and reuse plastic cups, utensils and bags.
– Precycle by buying products whose packaging can be recycled
– And always bring your own bag! If you are just buying a few things just carry them in your hands.
– Complete the cycle and buy products made from recycled materials. When you buy products made from post-consumer recycled materials you are helping to reduce carbon emissions and saving resources.
Did you know?
–If all the other people on the Earth used as much "stuff" as we do in the U.S., there would need to be three to five times more space just to hold and sustain everybody.– Americans throw away about 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back nearly 20 times. Recycling an aluminum soda can saves 96% of the energy used to make a can from ore, and produces 95% less air pollution and 97% less water pollution.
– Every pound of solid waste that goes into a landfill results in 2 lbs of greenhouse gases
– Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
– Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy for a 100 watt light bulb to be lit for 4 hours.
– You’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle.
– Only about one-tenth of all solid garbage in the United States gets recycled.
– The average American creates 56 tons of trash every year.
Here’s Your Mission:
Set up a recycling system at home and at school.1) Ask your local municipality for recycling guidelines and bins.
2) Set up a place in your home for the recycling bins. The garage or big roll–out kitchen drawers are good places.
3) Make a label for each bin clearly listing what items belong in them.
4) Bring your recycling to the curb on recycling day.