Eco-Friendly in the Kitchen

Being eco-friendly can also extend into the kitchen.


Activities and Challenges
Make Solar Sweet Tea

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Eco-Friendly on a Budget, Day 4

Use environmentally friendly products. When you go to the grocery store, you probably see more and more “natural” or “eco friendly” products every time.  

There are generally two big problems with these products: 
1. Just because they’re more natural than regular products, doesn’t mean they’re entirely natural. 
2.  They’re often expensive.

If you want inexpensive, natural, safe products, why not just make them yourself? 

Vinegar is a great way to clean and disinfect glass and other surfaces. 
Need to remove stubborn stains? Just add some baking soda to your vinegar cleaner. 

Some quick searching online will lead you to hundreds of other natural safe home-made cleaning products.

We all knowing that going green is better for the environment, but it’s also better for you.  Conserving resources also helps save you money, which is something most of us are happy to live with.

* This post may include referral links. By clicking on those links I may receive a small amount of money and/or points that can be redeemed for gift cards or other rewards.

Eco-Friendly on a Budget, Day 3

Here is the third in our series of articles on Budget-Friendly ways to make your home more eco-friendly.


Tip #3 --  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. 

Most of us know the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, but when we work on conserving, we often leave reuse out of the picture. 

While you can often find tips on how to reuse common products from other people, what you need most is creativity. With a little thought there are many items around your home that can be reused – toilet paper holders can be used to sow seeds for the vegetable patch. And old yogurt containers can be cut into strip to make plant labels. Old food jars can be refilled with homemade foods or can make great impromptu vases.

Activities and Challenges:


Missed an article from our National Green Week celebration?  Here they are again.

• National Green Week 2012
• Eco-Friendly on a Budget
• Eco-Friendly on a Budget, Day 2 

* This post may include referral links. By clicking on those links I may receive a small amount of money and/or points that can be redeemed for gift cards or other rewards.

Eco-Friendly on a Budget, Day 2

Clipart Credit

Need more ideas on budget-friendly ways to make your home more eco-friendly?

Tip #2 -- Use less energy.

If you don’t have the money to buy a hybrid car or convert your house to solar power, you can make a big difference with small changes.

- Buy energy efficient appliances.  They may be more expensive, but make up for the increased cost in lower energy bills.

- Unplug chargers when you’re not using them.  Cell phone and other chargers use up powers even if there’s nothing attached to them.

- Put devices with remotes, like T.V.s, VCRs, and stereos, on a power strip and turn it off when you’re not using them.  These devices use a lot of power to run the remote receiver even when the device is off.

- Walk or ride your bike for short trips.

-  Buy local products. It takes energy to transport food and other products across the country. Buying local not only supports your local economy, it helps them use less energy.

When it comes to saving energy and water, it’s a great idea to get the kids involved. 

• Have them track how much water and electricity everyone is using. 
• Compete to see who uses the least water.
• Make it fun! 

Activities and Challenges

Green Energy Challenges to do with the kids:

1. Make Your Own Stickers
2. Create an Energy Board Game
3. Play Energy Pictionary

Missed an article from our National Green Week celebration?  Here they are again.

• National Green Week 2012
• Eco-Friendly on a Budget 

* This post may include referral links. By clicking on those links I may receive a small amount of money and/or points that can be redeemed for gift cards or other rewards.

Eco-Friendly on a Budget

Budget-Friendly Ways to Make your Home More Eco-Friendly

We all want to do our part to protect the environment, but without a large paycheck, that can be seem difficult, if not impossible. But doing your part doesn’t have to be hard.
Small steps add up to a big difference -- you just have to know which ones to take. 

Tip #1 -- Use less water.
 

Photo Copyright FreeStockImages.org

Saving water is all about small steps, here are a few that will help save big.

- Shut off the water while you brush your teeth

- Take showers that are a minute or two shorter

- Only flush the toilet when you need to

- Only run full loads of laundry and dishes

- Buy from sustainable producers. These are farmers, ranchers, and other producers that use techniques that pollute less and use less water.

Activities and Challenges

Measure the Water Flow Rates in Your Home

   ~ Determine the rate of flow from your faucets and showerheads.  Download this activity by clicking on the image to the left. (Activity provided by the Green Education Foundation.)

   ~ Ask: What kinds of equipment can be installed in sinks and showerheads to conserve water in a home or building with a high flow-rate?

Stay Tuned for tip umber 2 tomorrow.

* This post may include referral links. By clicking on those links I may receive a small amount of money and/or points that can be redeemed for gift cards or other rewards.