Hi all! I’m still out of town, but wanted to tell you that my very first original post for the new site 5 Minutes for Going Green is up! I don’t want to give too much away, but if you have a child who
A) has a birthday
B) likes gifts
C) gets too many presents you wish you could exchange, or
D) all of the above
than this post if perfect for you! Don’t forget to check back daily at 5MFGG for tips, tricks, rants and raves about living eco. Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, and I’ll be back soon with Back-to-School eco-faves, giveaways, and more!
I don’t subscribe to many magazines (I’m pretty reformed, but our magazine bin is always full to capacity). But as much as I read on-line, green or otherwise, I do like to keep things on hand for browsing or reference that I don’t need to turn on my computer for. KIWI is one of them. KIWI Magazine is a bi-monthly, family-centered publication with a focus on natural and organic lifestyles, but like the fruit, is sweet and many shades of green. KIWI focuses on every aspect of eco-wellness, from health to food to clothing and the fun stuff. KIWI shares the desire held by all parents to create a safe, happy environment for our children that promotes growth and well-being.
The on-line KIWI experience is just as rewarding and brings the magazine even more to life. There’s an awesome recipes page, articles on everything from safe pregnancy to endangered species, a great blog and podcast and KIWI kids funpages to print out and keep your little ones busy all summer. There are also a bunch of newsletters for KIWI in your inbox, with coupons, green tips, and the new cooking club for kids newsletter (there’s no link, but a neat little box where you can enter your email address).
This week, one lucky winner will get a year subscription to KIWI! The rules are the same, as always. Please leave a comment here with an answer to this question - what’s your favorite aspect of KIWI Magazine? You have until next Monday, July 28th at midnight, PST to enter! Good luck!
This contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone for entering!
I make an effort to stay as far away from my computer as much as possible on the weekends, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to stop reading about green. I thought I’d try to pass along some valuable articles each Friday for you to click through. You can check out more links of favorite articles around the web each Sunday at 5 Minutes For Going Green!
FDA lifts salmonella warning for tomatoes, and admit they don’t even know if the tomatoes were the culprit. Farmers lose hundreds of millions of dollars from destroyed crops: CNN
Walking the walk: America’s 10 Most Walkable Cities: Daily Green
Happy Birthday Eco-Libris! Help them celebrate the more than 50,000 books balanced and over 65,000 newly planted trees all over the world!
High has prices have increased the use of public transportation to its highest rates in 50 years. Are you taking the bus or train yet?: Sustainablog
Need to replace the plastic turtle sandbox? The Green Guide’s guide to buying safe, sustainable backyard playground equipment is invaluable for upgrading your outdoor space.
Between going to the beach, pool, and general hot and sweatiness of summer, I find myself doing more laundry than usual (blame it on the towels). As I’ve been using a great laundry detergent lately, I dropped everything (pun intended, wait for it) when I found dropps laundry detergent.
dropps is eco in many ways. First, they come in presized packs, so say goodbye to bulky plastic detergent bottles to recycle. This is great for college kids or city dwellers (or, moms and dads) who don’t want to lug around hefty bottles of detergent. Then, these little power packs of detergent completely dissolve in the water (like those Listerine mouthwash strips that disappear when they hit your tongue). dropps detergent claims to be 6x concentrated detergent, is biodegradable, phosphate-free, high efficiency washer compatible, chlorine-free, npe-free and safe for septic tanks. It comes in scented or unscented for those with more sensitive skin.
For a cool spin on dropps (the jokes are just so easy), check out their spin cycle blog, where their resident Stain Guru gives you tips on getting out everything from mustard and ketchup to watermelon (which is the leading cause of stains for my three year old!) They also post monthly listings of eco-events across the country, and keep you informed of dropps news as it unfolds. (I couldn’t help myself!)
Two caveats if you try dropps - keep them away from kids, since they look like candy in their pretty pouches (which you’ll do anyway since you’re all responsible adults), and be forewarned that they are more expensive than even brands at Whole Foods. The jury’s out on this one at my house. We’re in the testing phase at our house, and it’s tough to forsee buying a 60 load supply for $24 (eek!). However, you can find dropps cheaper at walmart.com, target.com, and amazon. What do you think?
Do you give your kids vitamins? I’ve always flip-flopped about them. My girls are both petite but not underweight for their size. They’re also very healthy (thank goodness) and eat fairly balanced (based on the day and what I’m cooking, sometimes). My kids are fascinated, however, with the multivitamin kid’s section at Whole Foods, and they always insist we try something - that and the fact that I think a little extra boost can only help them. The problem is, many of the vitamins I’ve found are still high in sugar, or are low in taste, and are the same gummy-crunchy-goopy non-goodness you’re looking for. What to do?
I was sent a sample of EveryKid by New Chapter, a whole-food based multivitamin that is gluten free, 100% vegetarian, organic, and with no refined sugar and no artificial colors or flavors. It’s actually very low in sugar, with no aluminum dyes. (There are soy and yeast ingredients, for those with allergies.) The fun part is for the kids (of course)! EveryKid is like healthy Fun-Dip - it’s a crystalline , but you don’t mix it into water (you can if you want). Kids pour it directly on their tongue. My daughter tried the “Awesome Apple” flavor and was a bit confused at first. Then she declared, “It’s sour, but sweet at the same time. Yummy! When can I have another one?” Enough said!
EveryKid is recommended for kids four and up, so my three year old can’t get in on the fun just yet. We’ll be trying the “Brilliant Berries” flavor next, and there’s a grape flavor found exclusively at Whole Foods. Would love to hear what you think about vitamins in general - I feel like it’s always a hot topic, especially for kids.
I’m all about Etsy, although I try to keep my postings about it to a minimum, for fear of this turning into an Etsy/teensygreen exclusive site! Every once in a while I do love to share something beautiful and fun for kids that parents can also appreciate. Handmade items seem to give off a much more personal vibe to me, and I find myself giving more and more Etsy-found gifts than ever before!
How thrilled was I when Amber from cloud9 designs found me! Her organic, silkscreened onesies and tees for kids feature something we all would love our kids to be (all?) the time - little angels. Her tees are supersoft organic, some vintage, and she hand-screens her clothes with eco-friendly products. I say, put a set of these wings on your kids during their crankiest days, so you never forget where they came from! Seriously, these are hip and original designs that would look good on any kid.
This week, two people can win either a 3-6 month onesie OR a toddler tee (of the “nonburnout”) variety - that’s two winners, one item each. Check out cloud9’s Etsy shop (click on “baby” or “children” to see the kid’s designs) and answer me this with a comment here to enter - what is your favorite Cloud9 Design? It can be a mom tee as well (your fave). I’m coveting a few of them myself! This giveaway will run until next Sunday, July 20th at midnight, PST. Good luck!
This contest is now closed! Thanks for entering!
Exciting news! The women behind the hugely popular, mom-centric site known as 5 Minutes for Mom has launched a network of sister sites today, including 5 Minutes for Going Green. I was so flattered to be asked to participate, and I’ll be writing as a monthly contributor! I’m so proud to be associated with these other eco-Moms, many of whom I’ve been reading for a while, some new to me, but all passionate about keeping families in the know about being eco-conscious (and amazing writers as well!). Meet the Green Team!
5 Minutes for Mom has officially launched today, so keep checking back (and back and back) as we bring fresh and exciting green content. And don’t forget to check out 5MFM’s other sister sites - 5 Minutes for Special Needs, 5 Minutes for Parenting and 5 Minutes for Books!
When you have a moment, check out the other 5MFGG writers -
I knew there was something I left out for my Fourth of July posts - snacks! Of course, you all served fruit and veggies and healthy things to everyone at your picnics and beach outings, right? If you’re in the market for organic snacks that are not scary to give to your kids on a regular basis, here are two finds that have made permanent space in our pantry!
Snikiddy Snacks are organic, free of hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup, are low in sugar, kosher, and pesticide-free. We tried the Mac n’ Cheese Puffs and the Chocolate Chipper cookies. Let me just say, they didn’t last very long. The cheese puffs are gluten free (in all flavors), so they’re safe for celiac kids, and the cookies are the only commercially available cookies made without refined sugar. But really, they’re just so yummy, and super kid-friendly! Snikiddy can be found at Whole Foods and now at SuperTarget, so they’re surely easy to find. If you can make it home without devouring them, let me know your secret!
If you’re looking for juice alternatives, Honest Kids (from the makers of Honest Tea) have awesome flavors like Goodness Grapeness, Berry Berry Good Lemonade, and my daughter’s favorite, Tropical Tango Punch. Honest Kids have at least half of the sugar of regular juice boxes (and actually have LESS sugar than the Mott’s for Tots my girls also drink). They do contain organic cane sugar, while the Mott’s for Tots is unsweetened, but all other ingredients are all natural and USDA organic. Honest Kids packs also come in recyclable boxes, instead of plastic wrap. And check out their events blog for pictures of Honest Tea with all their fans!
Summer is fun! Isn’t it? Kids are in camp, kids are swimming, kids are outside. If your kids are like my kids, however, they’re also hot, hyper, and a little bored when the summer rains won’t let up. After you’ve done the library thing, the cooking thing, the games, music, and dare I say it, the TV thing, we always wind up back to crafting. Crafting is a great way to spark imagination any time of year, and with many different mediums. Do you have a favorite arts and crafts site for your kids? I’d love to write them! Comments are always appreciated!
Here are some of my favorite crafting websites for kids. My five year old and three year old can both do many of these crafts together, or with help from grown-ups. They always appreciate a fun project that brings them out of their usual routine!
Kids Craft Weekly - Amber Carvan is an adorable Australian SAHM who started this creative, well designed newsletter FREE to your inbox. My girls get so excited when I tell them the new Kids Craft email is here! Each newsletter has a great theme, everything from pirates to stripes to the latest issue, Animal Favorites. The crafts are designed for a wide range of ages, uses a lot of items from around the house and can be modified for even the youngest kids. You can find the entire Kids Craft Weekly archives on-line! There’s also a wonderful Flickr pool for Kids Craft-ers who want to show the world (ok, other kids) what they’ve come up with.
scrumdilly-do is where all the hip kidlets are going to make crazy crafts. Jessica Wilson consistently comes up with funky, innovative projects mixed with kids book reviews and “Boredom Busters” - quick and not too messy ways to kick your kid’s creative moods in gear. scrumdilly-do also has a Flickr pool and an awesome blogroll to lead you to other kid-related sites and cool products.
I’m new to The Crafty Crow, but I love it already. It’s CHOCK FULL of recipes, crafts and ideas for “repurposing” items (which is a lovely word for recycling without having to actually recycle). I especially loves these Toddler Activity Bags when traveling with little ones, or these amazing lanterns made from jars and cans, for backyard summer camp-outs!
I’ve been getting a ton of emails about how to keep safe this Fourth, including the dangers of fireworks to the environment, green grilling and other fun stuff. Here are some articles from around the web about Independence Day. Have a great weekend!
The Daily Green offers 8 Fun Alternatives to Fireworks - You CAN celebrate without them! Great ideas for families with young children.
Speaking of fireworks, droughts and dry weather across the US has caused many fireworks shows to be canceled this year.
Check this list to see if your Fourth of July hamburgers contain contaminated beef. While you’re thinking about your menu, here are some green grilling tips. If you’re a vegetarian, find an incredible amount of veggie-based recipes from my new go-to, Eden Foods.
Spend some time making Fourth of July crafts! Give the kids some fun things to make for their day off.
