eco gift ideas — MomStart

Green Gift Wrap Ideas

December 4, 2010 By Momstart 6 Comments

December 4th means tip number four from Summer’s Red and Green Holiday Season here on Mom Start. Have you ever really thought about all of the trash that Christmas amounts too? Christmas wrapping paper, packages, and more packages. Summer has a few ideas on how to wrap up those gifts and save the environment.

Rethink your wrapping! It’s fun and very memorable to wrap a child’s gift and have them rip it open with excitement, but here is my gift wrapping suggestion … BAG IT!

* Using a simple gift giving bag with tissue paper is a great way to reduce waste. Hopefully the recipient will reuse it, as will subsequent receivers, and when the bag and tissue paper become unusable the final recipient can recycle them.

* Buy or make cloth bags. For children, Santa can leave their sack which you can "mail back" or leave in the stocking for Santa’s elves to claim if you wish to continue this green tradition year after year. For adults, bag it with something they can continue to use such as an Envirosax®, ReUsies®, or even a purse or traveling makeup bag.

* Cloth bag patterns can be found for free online if you’re crafty, but if not support local businesses by buying locally produced wares. This makes your purchase even better for the environment by cutting long distance transportation costs such greenhouse gases and emissions.

I love to use the newspaper, or my children’s artwork as gift wrap. I think it’s a great touch for the grandparents and it’s a good way to pass on the art. Just remember to recycle all of the paper you can this year, that’s the first step.

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living.

Filed Under: green Tagged With: Cloth Bag Patterns, Eco friendly, eco gift ideas, eco tips, Envirsax, Green giftwrap, homemade bags, reusaable bags, ReUsies

Red and Green Advent Calendar Ideas

December 1, 2010 By Momstart 3 Comments

Happy Holidays, it’s December first and yes, I really am inspired to be more green. I have always been afraid that I just can’t be green but one of the things that I learned at the Great Wolf Lodge Ecomoms event was that it all starts with baby steps. I recruited my friend Summer to help us with some of those baby steps and she has put together, MomStart’s Red and Green Event.

So for December 1st, Summer has some ideas on Advent Calendars and what to put in your advent calendar:

Day one of going green for the holidays with Mom Start. Take your advent calendar and in each day place a piece of paper with holiday activities you and your family can do together. This will cut down on all those useless trinkets plus if you invest in a reusable calendar then you also have less waste that way too. Include things like: make bird/squirrel feeders from popcorn, nuts and dried fruit; making a spare plate of goodies for a in family need; get your real tree (check back with Mom Start tomorrow for more on selecting a Christmas tree); make a tie-knot fleece blanket as a family and donate it.

My favorite advent calendar is one that I bought from Starbucks about five years ago give or take a year. Wow, that makes me realize that my daughter is about to turn four. Oh, sad. Anyways, it’s been great using the same one every year, we can refill it and now thanks to Summer, I realize I’ve been green all along and never even realized it.

About Summer:

Filed Under: green Tagged With: advent calendar, Eco friendly, eco gift ideas, eco tips, Great Wolf Lodge, green ideas, living organically, reusabe package, reusable advent calendar, what to put in your advent calendar

I feel Inspired…Great Wolf Lodge Eco Moms Event

November 30, 2010 By Momstart 5 Comments

I can’t believe it’s almost been a full week since Kristin (Our Ordinay Life) organized and put on The Great Wolf Lodge Eco Moms Event. I’ve been working on a small local event and I’m not even the point person like Kristin was for the Eco Mom event and I can’t imagine how she stayed organized and on top of things. Yes, first I have to tell you how amazing Kristin is.

Kristin is a mother to two adorable girls, a wife to a husband that cares about her very much, a college student almost ready to graduate with a business degree, and a full time blogger making a business out of what she does. But on top of all of that she is Passionate, very passionate about everything organic and teaching others how to share in her passion. She took her passion and made a Mommy Blogger Event out of it, that just amazes me, She amazes me.

The first night there we went out to eat at a local restaurant and everything they served was organic. OMG, the chocolate dessert was to die for. I shared it with my son, and my husband shared his with our daughter and it was gone in seconds!

Day 2 we were mostly on our own. Great Wolf Lodge provided each of us with a Magic Quest adventure, I finished one quest. Yeah, it’s tough taking a two year old and a 3 your old up and down the stairs, but it was so much fun anyways. They got wands at the Howl O Ween event that we attend the month before and the great thing about Magic Quest is that once you have the wand you can just have them re-activated whenever you return. Little kids use demo mode and everything still interacts with the wands.

That night, Kristin had an organic wine tasting party. That was lots of fun too and she handed out door prizes and tons of organic swag. As I said before, I can’t imagine the hours she spent organizing this event.

It isn’t often that you can attend an event where the whole family can attend. It makes sense though, that organic companies and Great Wolf Lodge (a family resort) would be invested in families and I’m very grateful for the opportunity and relationship I gained at this event.

On Day 3 we had the actual conference. I wasn’t able to stay for very much of it. It started off with learning from Great Wolf Lodge about all of their efforts to go 100 percent green. It’s taking a lot of time because it is a lot easier to be 100 percent green when you start with building the building that way, but I’m still very impressed with everything they are doing to get there. The water park can not be green certified because there are no green certifications for water parks. Check out Project Green Wolf to learn more about Great Wolf Lodge and it’s efforts to be green.

There is no waste in their water park and all water in the resort, even the water in the hotel rooms is heated in the same location. The only water loss is splash out by guests and they are using as many LED lights as they can making it very cost efficient to have rides that light up!

Then came all of the fun stuff that I’m sad to say, I missed out on like making butter, eating Nature’s Path Samples.

Gardening 101

Making Home made soap

making home made cleaning supplies

Special Thanks to : Great Wolf Lodge, Nature’s Path, and Organic Valley. There were many other organizations that helped with the Great Wolf Lodge Eco Event, they are all listed on Kristin’s site.

I feel inspired to start being green around my house. I’m going to be taking baby steps but I invite you to take them with me. I have a friend that is going to be sharing a green tip with us once a day for the month of December.

Be red and Green this Holiday Season!

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: blog trip, Eco friendly, eco gift ideas, ecosmart, great wolf eco moms, Great Wolf Lodge, mommy blogger, nature's path, Organic Valley

Thursday Thirteen things to get dad for Father’s Day – A gift guide

June 17, 2009 By MomStart 5 Comments

So I get e-mails all the time asking if I’m making a Father’s Day Gift Guide. Hmm. So here is my gift guide. In no particular order upon request I’ll link to a review if I have one but most of these I have never seen or touched.

The HEXBUG Ant is an autonomous, high-speed micro robotic creature with probing, tactile antennas and hooked claws. The industrious critter features front and rear touch sensors, which allow it to maneuver around objects in its path, and wheel-legs that propel it forwards, backwards and over small obstacles with furious speed. The HEXBUG Ant has an inner body loaded with robotic intelligence, protected by a hard, transparent exoskeleton casing.

Best yet, with a retail price of $9.99, this gift is economically friendly and can be found at www.hexbug.com and at RadioShack stores nationwide.

With so many families on a limited budget, it’s smart to give the “Mr. Fix It” in your life a Father’s Day gift he will really love AND use. CarMD (www.CarMD.com) is an award-winning handheld diagnostic tool that instantly diagnoses the health of a vehicle using the same technology used by repair shops. Additionally, Studies show that the number of Americans choosing to take driving vacations within the U.S. is likely to approach all-time highs this summer. Give your car a clean bill of health before embarking on summer road tripsCarMD retails for $98.99 (less than the typical trip to the mechanic), www.CarMD.com.

Daddy Diaper Bag - The latest addition to the Storksak collection, this canvas diaper bag is stylish and functional. Water resistant canvas with faux leather patent trim. Roomy pockets, wipe clean lining, padded changing mat, separate insulated bottle holder, and adjustable shoulder strap. detachable key holder, inner detachable make-up bag, padded changing mat, wipe-clean lining and leather trim. This Diaper Bag retails for 158.00.

At only $129.99 the Clutch i465 can be used with Boost Mobile’s Monthly Unlimited plan which provides UNLIMITED talk, text messaging and Walkie-Talkie, all for one flat rate of $50 per month, taxes included! Boost Mobile’s $50 Monthly Unlimited Plan can save families up to $695/year in comparison to similar prepaid plans. In addition, with no contracts or credit checks, dads and grads will have an easy, reliable and inexpensive way to keep tabs on family and loved ones.

The Clutch i465 is available online at www.BoostMobile.com with NO CONTRACT and at select retail stores, including RadioShack, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Sprint stores

Walletbe designs and manufactures high quality yet inexpensive wallets for men that are small, thin, slim, zippered, non-zippered, and handcrafted with 100% Italian leather. Each men’s wallet is designed to fit comfortably and conveniently in the front pocket of your shirt, pants or jeans. If carried in your back jeans pocket, the slimness and thinness of the design does not leave the creases of larger bulkier wallets Our wide selection of men’s wallets is fun, smart, functional and fashionable and is priced under $30. Each designer wallet has a sturdy construction for durability, can withstand the rigors of your busy lifestyle and accommodate your needs: thin design, plenty of space for credit cards, easy access identification sleeves and a secure yet convenient cash holder.

Keurig Coffee Brewer – Every Keurig single-cup brewing system makes a perfect cup of coffee every time. Coffee enthusiasts simply insert the no mess K-Cup® Portion Pack into the brewer and hit the brew button. K-Cups brew a cup one-at-a- time and quickly, in under a minute.The Platinum Brewing System is Keurig’s best single-cup brewing system for your home. This premium model offers discerning coffee drinkers the widest range of five cup size options for brewing.

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Fish for some gift-giving compliments from your fave angler with Bottle Cap Lures ($40/6), lures made from soda and beer bottle caps – that really work. Keeps the caps out of landfills, new materials out of production, and Dad out on the water reeling ‘em in. Give it.

Give the gift of movies the fast and fun way with Fandango Bucks via e-mail. It’s easy! Choose the design, amount and personalize the message. They’ll instantly receive your Fandango Bucks – redeemable for any movie, any time, at any Fandango partner theater!

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Clairsonic Skincare System

New! Free Father’s Day Gift

Purchase any Clarisonic Skin Care System and receive a free gift valued at $50. Includes a Normal Brush Head and full-size Gentle Hydro Cleanser. Offer ends Sunday, June 21.

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Get your hands dirty in the early stages of the epic battle between UNSC and Covenant. Developed by Ensemble Studios, Halo Wars for Xbox 360 brings all the drama of a real-time strategy game to the popular Halo Universe. Set in the year 2531, before the initial Halo first-person shooter game, this game lets you control the human armies of UNSC in a whole new way.

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Amazon Kindle – A copy of every book you purchased from the Kindle Store is backed up online at Amazon.com in case you ever need to download it again. You can wirelessly re-download books for free any time. This allows you to make room for new titles on your Kindle, knowing that Amazon is storing your personal library of Kindle books. We even back up your last page read and annotations, so you’ll never lose those, either. Think of the Kindle as a bookshelf in your attic–even though you don’t see it, you know your books are there.

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Remington makes great products for women and for men, from hair care products to personal grooming products there is a Remington product for you. Featuring slick designs, great functionality, user friendly options, and affordable prices, Remington offers something for everyone in the family.

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Motorola MOTONAV™ TN30 GPS – For those who can’t live without a personal navigation system and their mobile phone when on the go, the advanced MOTONAV TN30 enhances all the great features of a standard GPS with added bonuses. MOTONAV TN30 is an ultra-durable Bluetooth® enabled, portable GPS navigation system that combines the confidence of finding destinations with a speaker for hands-free cell phone connectivity on the road.”