Eco friendly Archives

Why Use A Glass Drinking Straw

October 18, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

While I had braces I used a straw all the time. It was the easiest way to eat and drink. It wasn’t a difficult transition because I love drinking through straws anyway. Tribest has recently released new BPA-Free, glass straws. They are really nice because they come with a straw cleaner.

I’m no longer using straws because of my braces. I am now using them because I am making smoothies and juices and when you have a protein powder sometimes there is residue left inside the straw; making it difficult to get clean. The glass is much easier to clean in the dishwasher and if there is anything left just drag that straw cleaner though it and run it through the dishwasher again.

Concerns for the environment warrant special consideration for the choices we make every day. Each container we drink, eat or store food can make an impact on the ecology. Keeping in mind that only 20% of plastics produced make it to a recycling center, Tribest is introducing highest quality glass straws as a way to replace plastic straws. Made from borosilicate glass, these straws are made from the safest and strongest glass commercially available. They are dishwasher and microwave safe and comes with unprecedented lifetime guarantee — if it breaks, it will be repaired or replaced. Try ordering one today and elevate your drinking experience while helping the environment!

Tribest GlassDharma drinking straws are:

• 100% handmade in California

• Great for all hot or cold drinks

• Perfect for specialty drinks such as bubble teas, shakes and ice teas, and smoothies.

• Durable

• Kid-friendly and safe

• Elegantly green

• Guaranteed for a lifetime

Top 10 Eco and Wallet-Friendly School Year Tips

September 21, 2011 by Momstart 21 Comments

I’ve been working with Recyclebank for the last two months and I wanted to share this exciting eco friendly tip list with you. Recyclebank went through more than 100,000 submissions to date and compiled the best eco- and wallet-friendly advice from members across the country. The most common themes? Get your family involved, and make it fun! Here are some highlights:

1. Swap it out. Hold a clothing and school gear swap party with other families in the neighborhood. It’s a great way for the kids to get “new” clothes and backpacks without hurting the planet, plus it saves money. Another great tip was to visit trading sites like ThredUP.com to swap clothes your kids no longer wear for newer duds.

2. Throw a closet-cleaning party. Clean out closets before going shopping to see what fits, what can be repurposed or what can be donated. Make it a fun activity for the whole family to do together—turn on some music, serve some snacks and have a fashion show!

3. Put a new twist on something old. Pull out your sewing machine, material stockpile and accessories to re-invent hand-me-downs. It’s a fun and creative activity for the family, saves money and encourages the kids to enjoy recycled clothing.

4. Extend the life of your crayons. Take crayons from the previous school year, melt them and pour them into molds to create different shaped crayons. Once cooled, you have cool “new” crayons.

5. Save on textbooks and conserve paper. Buy used text books from students who were previously in your kids’ grades. College students can use textbook renting sites such as Chegg.com, which even plants a tree for each book rented. And if you buy a textbook on Amazon.com, you can sell them back for gift cards to use towards next year’s books!

6. Plan a supply hunt. Organize a pen, pencil and notebook scavenger hunt around the house—you’d be amazed what you can find in drawers and bags. It’s a fun rainy day project for kids, and a great way to reuse the supplies you’ve already bought.

7. Give supplies a facelift. You can add some flair to old school supplies that are still useable. Fill an old binder with un-used pages from cast-off notebooks, recover them with sturdy fabric and then break open the craft drawer and let your kids go wild! Last year’s binder becomes a work of art.

8. Make it a game. Each morning, get out the stopwatch and have everyone race through the house to ensure all lights are off and appliances and electronics are unplugged. This helps save energy, and reduces your electricity bill and burns off excess energy!

9. Paint the classroom green. Encourage your child’s school administrators to have recycle bins in the schoolyard, classroom and hallways so kids develop the habit early. If your school doesn’t have recycling, bring in your own bins and set up a collection schedule with other parents! If your town is a Recyclebank community, families can take turns collecting bins and share the coupons with the classroom. Many towns supply recycling bins to residents, but if yours doesn’t places like Home Depot and Target sell them.

10. Form a club. If you have junior high or high school aged kids, ask your school if you can form a “Green Club.” Members can serve as green ambassadors in their respective classrooms, and help raise awareness and implement school-wide eco-friendly actions.

To learn more easy and inspiring tips for going green this school year from Recyclebank.

To share your tips and get rewarded for the simple things you do to live greener lives, take the Recyclebank Green Your School Year Challenge, a nationwide effort to inspire families to make eco-friendly decisions throughout the school year. The Challenge, which runs until September 30, sets Recyclebank members on an interactive school year journey with opportunities to earn points along the way towards winning over 100 incredible prizes, including a grand prize package designed to green all elements of the school year valued at $7,500.

The Ecological Solution to Moisture & Odor Zeelytes Review

May 2, 2011 by Momstart 3 Comments

I live in the Pacific Northwest and you’re known for our moisture … well maybe more for our precipitation, but it does tend to stay moist in my pantry, bathrooms, laundry area and closets. If you have the same problem then I can recommend Zeelytes to you!

Zeelytes will help you with your PLEDGE TO STAY GREEN and $ave green.

You’re save energy costs of running fans; According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “Dessicant dehumidification could reduce total electricity demand by as much as 25% in humid regions.” You’ll ask save by extending the shelf life of your food by reducing moisture, the spread of bacteria, and cross contamination. I’ve had mine in my pantry for about a month now and I’ve VERY impressed; the can tell the difference in my pantry were I store my potatoes, garlic, and onions. They aren’t stinking up my pantry and they are lasting longer than their normal shelf life in my pantry.

Zeelytes also works in air conditioners and makes them more efficient as it pulls the moisture out the air which reduced the amount of energy your AC needs as it will work less to process the air it’s pumping into your house.

Zeelytes is an environmentally friendly green product that is 100% biodegradable and non-toxic. Zeelytes is made from Zeolite which is a naturally occurring porous mineral. Zeelytes obtains their Zeolite from mines in the United States. Zeolites are also listed by the FDA to be GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), which designates a substance safe by experts. Plainly, Zeelytes is safe to be in your pantry and refrigerator or other areas of food storage.

To get your own Zeelytes shop their site. EWize Zeelytes can also be found on Facebook.

Disclosure – A product was provided to me free of charge by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the writing of this review; however, opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

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.

Unique Ways to Use Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape

April 22, 2011 by Momstart 2 Comments

A Unique Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape from 3M Review By Rachel.

Tape is a very handy tool. I think that goes without saying. It’s kind of an emergency around here when we run out of tape. Especially Scotch tape! Ever wrapped a present using blue painter’s tape? Well, I have. More than once. It’s kind of embarrassing. I also have a very creative, crafty daughter who comes up with more ways to use up our stash of Scotch tape than I ever thought imaginable. I generally buy it in bulk at Costco.

Out here in the great Pacific Northwest, we like to ‘be green’. You know, recycle and compost and grow organic wheat grass and stuff like that. We have a bit of a reputation for being ‘tree huggers’ and hippies and wearing wool socks with our Birkenstocks… I admit it, the shoe fits! I have been known to hug trees while wearing Birkenstocks (wearing a flannel shirt and a down vest, in the rain, no less!), and when possible, I try to make environmentally conscious decisions about the products we use. But honestly, it never occurred to me to be concerned about the type of tape I used. Other than using a refillable dispenser, I didn’t know there was an option, other than your run-of-the-mill, Scotch tape.

Not so! Scotch has come out with new Magic Eco-Friendly Tape! Just like normal Scotch tape, but eco-friendly! So I tried it out. We used it just like we would use regular tape… Meaning, I left it on the desk, and my kids found all sorts of uses for it: Taping papers together to make books; Making huge signs and taping them in the front windows of my house (We’re classy like that.); Repairing torn pages in library books; Taping toy trucks to our feet to make roller skates…

No, seriously. My daughter did this, just today! And it’s not the first time she’s done it either.I figured that was pretty good timing, since I was reviewing the product! This tape worked just as well for all of the above uses as regular Scotch tape. And it takes some pretty good tape to hold these suckers on your feet while skating around the living room!(You’ll have to excuse the dirt on my carpet and the dog hair on my daughter’s socks… Maybe somebody will send me a really good vacuum cleaner to review???) as you can see, this looks just like the regular Scotch tape that we all know and love. The dispenser is the same, the logo is the same. The tape looks, feels, and sticks the same! The only thing I can say about it that is NOT the same is the small. You know that Scotch tape smell? I love that smell. I know that’s probably kind of weird, but I like it. This tape really doesn’t smell like much of anything, and honestly, that’s probably a good thing.

Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape, as described by the company:

Refillable dispenser (including packaging and tape) is made from more than 75 percent renewable or recycled materials
Tape is made with plant-based adhesive and works just like the original Scotch Magic Tape
Refill rolls of Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape are also available
MSRP: $2-4 for a refillable dispenser and roll of tape; $5-7 for a two-pack of refill rolls
Same great adhesive strength and performance of original matte-finish, invisible Scotch Magic Tape
Photo-safe
Can be written on with pen, pencil or marker

About Rachel

Rachel is also a MOMS club member. She is thankful for the blessing of staying home to raise her three crazy, wonderful kids. In addition to scrapbooking, she likes knitting, gardening, reading, blogging and otherwise avoiding the housework she should be doing. You can read about her adventures and disasters at rachel’s ramblings.

31 Green and Eco Friendly Tips and Ideas

January 1, 2011 by Momstart 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!

1) 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

Green Tip: Buy Chemical Free Products This Year, Here’s Our Chemical Free Product List

December 31, 2010 by Momstart 5 Comments

This marks the last green tip from Summer in our 31 days of Red and Green here on Mom Start. Hopefully Summer will grace us with many more green tips and steps on making our lives more eco friendly in the future. Her last tip is about buying chemical free products and these are her chemical free product selections.

Are you ready to begin the New Year? Moreover, is your house ready for the New Year? Try and make yourself greener in the New Year by purchasing products not tested on animals and chemical-free. It is ok to start off with small changes in your toiletries. You know, small changes like in your shampoo, conditioner, make-up, lotions, toothpaste, etc. are a great place to start. I’ll share with you some of my favorite chemical free products:

Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Wash – Trader Joe’s Refresh (for about $2 a bottle it’s a steal)

Lotions – St. Ives lotion

Deodorant – Arm & Hammer Essentials Natural Deodorant and Tom’s of Maine (make sure there’s no antiperspirant and that it’s aluminum free)

Lip Balm (and Other Beauty Products) – Burt’s Bees Lip Balm

Diaper Cream – Burt’s Bees Diaper Cream

Toothpaste – Tom’s of Maine

In finding and using products like these I feel good about my body and the environment. If needed, take little steps to introduce products such as these into your home. These are products I actually use and love. Be sure, as with any new product, that you test new products on a small area of skin if you have sensitive skin or believe you may have a reaction on a product.

Thank you for joining me in my red and GREEN December 2010 adventures! Hope I gave you some great ideas that made you and yours healthier and happier. Happy New Year!

About Summer:

Go Electronic Get off the Mass Mailing Lists

December 28, 2010 by Momstart 3 Comments

Today’s Green Tip:

Get off all those catalog mailing lists! Did you know that by purchasing goods online, companies may’ve signed you up to their mailing lists? This year I received catalogs from As Seen On TV to Pottery Barn. So here’s the deal, go online to “Contact Us” for each catalog you received. From there you can find a drop down for getting off their mailing list. If this is proving difficult than wait for your next catalog and check the back which should tell you how to be removed from their list. You can also call the company to get removed from mailing lists. This isn’t telling the company that you don’t want to shop with them, you’re simply going paperless. By doing your part companies will begin to use less paper to print catalogs and lower mail carrier emissions due to fewer deliveries.

I know this takes a lot of time on our parts, but it’s important. Every single catalog I get goes straight into the recycling, and you may say, well at least it’s getting recycled. Yes, that is true, but even recycling uses valuable resources. Plus, I agree with Summer, if we get off the mailing lists then we are making companies think about moving to electronic catalogs.

I will admit, I love getting magazines and most of the magazines I’m subscribed to have coupons in them. That being said, coupons are moving to electronic form too. They are going as far as aps on phones, with no printing at all. Now we just need all of the grocery stores to catch up to the times too!

It is time that we all start thinking about green and eco friendly ways to live. Most things are really small but multiplied by each of us makes each step huge and profound. What is your fresh idea?

About Summer:

Reuse A Shoe Three Ways Shoes Can Be Repurposed

December 27, 2010 by Momstart 5 Comments

So Christmas is over, what did you get? Do you need to pair down? We tried to keep Christmas small around here, but I do need to go through the toys. WOW, seeing all of the presents under the tree made me remember back when I used to have mounds of presents under the tree. Today, Summer has a few tips on how to pair down, especially how to pair down on shoes!

If you got new clothes for Christmas don’t forget to go through your closet to consider clothing for donation to a charity of your choice . But if you got new sneakers and your old ones are not donate able then consider repurposing, reusing, and recycling your old shoes with Nike. They will make your shoes get the kind of game you only wish you had! Your shoes will become an athletic surface — field, track, court, or playground.

Nike will take your sneaks (any brand) and grind them up. (yes, they take your used shoes and repurpose them) They use the 3 portions of the shoe for different purposes … or should I say repurposes. First, the rubber from the outsole of the shoe can make track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles, playground surfacing and even new Nike products like shoes or on clothing as buttons and zipper pulls. Then, the foam from the midsole is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts, as well as futsal fields. Lastly, fabric from the upper portions is used in the creation of cushioning pads for facilities like indoor synthetic courts and wood courts.

You just need to turn those shoes in to any Nike store or certified Nike collection center or mail them into Nike. Be sure you adhere to their guidelines to help them cut down on waste — both time in sorting and literally trash of shoes they can’t recycle.
Even if you didn’t get new tennis shoes consider going through your family’s stock pile for out grown or old shoes just lying around and turn them into Nike so they get used. Come on … Just Do It! (Okay, that was cheesy, but you get the point.)

About Summer:

Homemade Outdoor Tree Ornaments

December 22, 2010 by Momstart 2 Comments

More green ideas from Summer, Today it’s about getting in the kitchen and making something fun and useful with your kids.

Get the kids involved and make outdoor tree ornaments. During the winter months when our little woodland neighbors have a harder time finding food use a non-coated, pure cotton thread which is biodegradable but can be used by the birds in nests once the food has all been eaten. Thread popcorn, fresh or dried fruit, citrus peel, and nuts or seeds. Choose foods containing no sugars and no additives.

Another form of bird feeder can be made by taking an apple core spread in nut butter or shortening and rolled in bird seed. If you live in an area with sturdy, woody pine cones you can use that instead of an apple core.

My son helping me make string ornaments

Strings made by me and my son

Pinecone made by my son at preschool

I love these ideas, in fact, Zoe was able to make a bird feeder at a recent party she attended. One of the party activities was to make bird feeders. They had pine cones, and covered them with peanut butter. Than they tossed them in a paper bag along with birdseed and then they had bird feeders. I was surprised at how little of a mess it made. I expected there to be peanut butter and bird seed everywhere, but there wasn’t!

Thank you Summer for the great idea!

About Summer:

Plantable Paper, Botanical Paper and Tissue Paper, More Green Gift Wrap Ideas

December 20, 2010 by Momstart 2 Comments

At the beginning of the month Summer and I went over some great Green Gift Wrap Ideas. Now Summer has even more green tips on how to wrap up those gifts for Christmas this year.

Now that you have the presents you may have bagged them as I’d previously shared, but if you’re choosing not to bag it then you’ll be using or purchasing paper. I’d like to help you get the right kind of paper to still be ecological … you know, just in case you’re not using a reusable method …

1. Pick a paper without foil in it or a foil base. Though foil and paper are both recyclable they won’t process the combination paper. So avoid it!

2. If you have the plain, simple, ordinary wrapping paper then (even with the tape attached) it can be recycled.

3. For those of you using bags and tissue paper do note that when the life of tissues paper has ended it can’t be recycled, but it can be composted. Give it a new life in your compose bin, your waste management yard waste bin, or use it as a preventative layer in your spring garden by laying the paper down and placing a top soil over it. You can plant your desired plants though it and the tissue paper will stop the weeds from coming up before it decomposes.

4. But the simplest of all, if you plan to wrap in paper, would be to just buy paper and/or gift tags you and the receiver can REALLY make green out of – paper you can plant. Shop on line at places such as Botanical Paper Works, try your local specialty shop, or ask our usual paper place to start carrying plantable paper.

About Summer: