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Recyclebank’s Green Your School Year Challenge: Step One Back-to-school Shopping

August 17, 2011 By 11 Comments

Have you done your back to school shopping yet, are your kids back in school yet? Mine won’t be going back until after Labor Day. That’s just how we swing on the West Coast, or at least in the Pacific Northwest. So we haven’t even thought about getting back to school supplies, but I do suppose that it is time to get into that frame of mind. Both of my children will be in preschool next year, so I’m going to need to be ready for lunches and afternoon snacks. If you know me, I work really hard to feed my children healthy and what better way than to use organic food.

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I’ve been asked to participate in Recyclebank’s Green Your School Year Challenge and it starts today. Recyclebank, the company that rewards consumers for every day green actions. Green Your School Year was designed to educate and motivate families like us to make more eco-friendly school year decisions.  You’re invited to join me and participate too. There are prizes for everyone to win like a $2500 Macy’s Gift Card for a Back-to-School shopping spree, a NOOK Color eReader and much more.

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The first part of the competition is about Back To School Shopping.

First you have to take the pledge. Pledge to buy organic recycled or recyclable products and tweet #greenschools http://ow.ly/61D3z via @recyclebank or share on Facebook. You can do both directly from Recyclebank.’s Green Your School Year site.  Then collect your points. You can decide what to pledge, you could even pledge to carpool. Pledge anything that will benefit the environment.

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Then from there you can also download some valuable tips on how to find out if products you are buying are environmentally sustainable. Check company websites to read their environmental sustainability policies prior to shopping, and make sure that the places you shop support the same environmental initiatives that you do. Get the checklist in order to learn what to look for. Then continue on throughout the day and keep earning points. take a few quizzes. Consider your electronics, do you recycle them? Dispose of Batteries Properly, Sell Used Electronics and Find ways to properly dispose of electronics. These are just a few ideas we’ve written about before. Then you can take more polls and quizzes, while learning all about everything you need for back to school.

Recyclebank is full of great information and tips on becoming more green. Share your tips with me, how would you become more green this school  year.

 

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Recyclebank.

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Green Tip: Ditching Plastic Pantiliners

February 28, 2011 By 9 Comments

By Summer,

I love to find new ways to go green as it’s a passion of mine and I am thankful to Child’s Play Communications for giving me the opportunity to host a STR!DE Everyday party … my friends and I will be panty partying this Friday. STR!DE (a.k.a. STRIDE or Stride) is underwear with light leak protection built right in. And don’t laugh (if you’re not wearing STRIDE); you might just pee a little.

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Since having my two sons I’ve been working out the most recently as I’ve been doing Lindsay Brin’s 60 Day SlimDown and there are exercises I’d done pre-children that my body just doesn’t react the same to now. So since I seem to leak a little now, I’ve found that STRIDE is an embarrassment saver by being a pants saver. STRIDE can also save you during sneezes, while you’re prenatal, or during your last light days post-natal or of your period.

STRIDE makes underwear from both women and men, so they have your family covered. For men they make boxer briefs and briefs. For women they make bikini, brief, seamless, and thong styles. I’ve worn the bikini (See picture; thought that’s not me modeling them for you!), seamless, and thong as they were given to me in order to host the SRT!DE party.

clip_image005So the GREEN and GREEN of it: STRIDE can $ave you money by eliminating the need to purchase boxes of pantiliners as well as saving the environment as you just wash STRIDE underwear as opposed to throwing away plastic protection. But don’t worry, STRIDE Everyday panties are machine washable. Each wash allows the gusset and panty to thoroughly release any “locked” in moisture for a fresh wear every time. You can also save with FREE shipping on orders over $30 by using the promo code SNEEZE at checkout or you can purchase STRIDE for women in local retail stores.

You can LIKE Child’s Play Communications on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @ChildsPlayFiona. Child’s Play Communications also has a blog you can follow to keep up with Mom Market Trends. You can also follow STR!DE on Twitter @StrideEveryday.

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31 Green and Eco Friendly Tips and Ideas

January 1, 2011 By 13 Comments

My friend Summer helped me put together 31 posts about living green and eco friendly tips to live by. Thanks to her help, I’ve compiled a list of 31 Green and Eco Friendly Tips and Ideas to help you turn your life more green. Here are those 31 tips!

 

image1) Buy Chemical Free Products

2) How to Go Paperless Banking

3) Repurpose Tennis Shoes Through Reuse a Shoe

4) Donate Used Greeting Cards, Christmas Cards, Valentine’s Day Cards, Easter Cards, all occasion cards to St. Jude’s

5) Ways to Reuse Boxes before you recycle them

6) Eat Local, Fresh and Organic

7) How To Get Off Mass Mailing Lists (Go Electronic)

8 ) Use Eco Friendly, Natural, and green cleaning products

9) Give Live Flowers or Herbs instead of cut flowers as gifts

10) Bring Your Own Coffee Mug or Sleeve to the coffee shop

11) Use Green Compostable Utensils and Plates

12) Give digital versions of gifts, music, books, games. These types of gifts are all available digitally.

13) Dispose of Batteries Properly

14) Know Local Places to donate used toys, electronics, and other items. Donate used items to charity.

15) Find places to Sell Used Electronics

16) Ways to dispose of Christmas Lights

17) Adopt and Animal

18) Give the Gift of Experience

19) Find ways to properly dispose of electronics and make some money doing so

20) Use Green Gift Wrap Techniques

21) How to create an Eco Friendly Advent Calendar

22) How to find an Eco Christmas Tree

23) Turn Home Made Crafts into a Charity Project

24) Recycle Cell Phones through Operation Gratitude

25) Turn off Vampire Appliances

26) Lower Your Paper Trail by using electronic invitations and e-greeting cards.

27) Use a water filter instead of buying water bottles

28) Use Plantable Paper, Botanical Paper, and Tissue as gift wrap

29) Make Home Made Items whenever possible

30) Regift items that you do not need or do not want to donate. Do not throw them in the trash!

31) Earth Friendly Plant and tree Disposal

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Lower Your Paper Trail The Green Eco Party Invitation and Holiday Cards

December 15, 2010 By 2 Comments

Remember, we’re going green this December with a series of articles written by my friend Summer. We’ve had lots of great tips from how to recycle Christmas lights to giving gifts that are eco friendly. Today’s Green Tip from Summer is about throwing parties. During imagethe holidays we have lots of parties, but this is a great tip to remember all year round….

Lessen your paper trail by inviting people to your holiday party via electronic invitation. I use evite and they’re updating to new things. A new user interface is in Beta mode but I think for the most part it’s easier to use (though I miss the option to change a guest’s status and/or comment) and evite now is very Facebook-like. Not only will this cut back on paper but you’ll save green (money) on purchasing invitations and the stamps to mail them. AND if you have changes or updates that’s simple, just email them straight from evite.

If your family will forgive you than skip the card sending too! You can make a card or letter via Microsoft Word or Publisher with all sorts of pictures and text and just e-mail them out. Printing cost zero; postage cost zero. It takes just as much time as creating any other card and will save you in the addressing time. You also won’t have to limit who you send it too, like if you only ordered 100 photo cards for the 102 people you owe cards too.

On a final green note, you save the gas and emissions of all the driving just to get your letters to their final destination. (More on lessening your paper party trail tomorrow.)

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.

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Clean out your Electronics By Selling Them–Electronic Recycling

December 11, 2010 By 2 Comments

I’m running a day behind here on  posts, my new contributor Summer has been helping me come up with content. She’s even been extremely good about giving me enough to last me over a week at a time, and here I still can’t get her content up. Aye Yi Yi! Anyways, enough about my delinquency!!

imageSummer is full of wonderful green tips and has been sharing her own "Tis the Season of “Red and Green”” Here on Mom Start. We’ve had 9 tips already and here is tip number 10 on being more green than red this Holiday Season. Clean out your electronics, by re-selling them. Of course you can reuse them, donate them, and recycle them through specific programs, but today’s tip is to just sell them again! Check out Summer’s ways to sell your old electronics.

- Have a garage sale if you live in warmer climate with low precipitation. Set it all out and use your local newspaper to advertise.

- Use eBay on items that have high values and a board audience. You can sell items using “Buy It Now” for a set fee or you can allow people to bid on your items by simply setting a lowest acceptable price. Using eBay may also cost you a fee to simply post your items, but the buyer pays all shipping costs when they front the money for your item. Remember you’ll have to mail these items so plan accordingly during this holiday season. I purchased my son’s Imaginext pirate ship for under our tree there last month. Don’t forget to get your eBay box on the move too. eBay also owns a book division called Half.

- Find specific venues such as places like Half Price Books which pays money for your used books.

- Last and not least, Craig’s List, where you get to sell unwanted items locally. The buyer and you hook up at a mutually agreed upon place and time, you get on the spot cash, and the win- win is they get the product they want and you get rid of the product you’re done using. I have been using Craig’s List to get rid of all my no-longer-needed baby items.
Not sure you want to sell or if it has any value? Check us out tomorrow!

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.

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Red and Green Tips on Finding an Eco Christmas Tree and Living Christmas Trees

December 2, 2010 By 3 Comments

Today is day too in Summer’s Red and “Green” event here on Mom Start. We’re bringing you tips on turning your house into an eco friendly green house. Yesterday’s Tip from Summer was all about Eco Advent Calendars. Today Summer brings us some tips on Christmas Trees:

Get your tree! It surprises some people that environmentalist actually endorse using real trees in decorating. Fake trees last forever — in your house and in a landfill. Fake trees also cause MORE allergens as they collect dust year after year. Real Christmas trees are grown for the holidays on tree farms. These farms cut down a select number of trees each year and cycle their land so they can offer trees each year. These farms also replant what they harvest. Not only can you get your tree at the store or from a parking lot vendor BUT many of these tree farms allow people to u-cut their own tree (saws and such materials are typically provided). Another fresh option is getting a permit from your local national forest or park to u-cut (no supplies provided, bring your own). See December 31 for a green way to get rid of your real tree.

christmas treeFor my family, we have to use a fake tree because my sister in law is allergic to real trees. I do love the smell of a real tree, but that’s exactly what she is allergic to. So this is one step we can’t join any of you on. Being the savvy blogger that I am though, I found out that in California you can have a live, living tree.

There is a way to reduce some of the stress while preparing for the holidays – and reduce your environmental impact while you’re at it?  The Living Christmas Company allows customers to order a tree, have it delivered and picked up from the comfort of their couch.  This way, you can get back to what’s important: running everything.

The Living Christmas Company rents to its customers (currently Greater LA area) a live potted tree, which is kept alive all year long, so households can enjoy the experience of a live tree every year.  The Living Christmas Company is a unique way to celebrate the holidays while helping the environment.  With prices starting as low as $25 (plus delivery), prices are competitive with buying a tree from a cut tree lot. 

In addition to helping the environment, renting a tree from The Living Christmas Company will improve the safety of your home.  It is proven that a live tree is more fire resistant than its plastic or cut counterparts.  Also families are able to rent the exact tree from the previous year, adding another “branch” to your family tree for the holidays.

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.

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