Let’s face it - if you could have someone come into your home, for a small (but seriously affordable) fee, jumpstarting the way you clean and green your home - would you do it? Of course you would! Reading green is one thing, but actually putting your home to the test is completely different. Thankfully, there’s someone who can help you walk the eco-walk.

This month’s “Mommy Go Green” Blog Tour presents Green Irene, who really want to be your personal green makeover consultant!  For only $99, and one to two hours of your time, a local Green Irene representative will come to your home and walk you through the many ways you can save money, health and peace of mind, including

• water conservation
• energy conservation
• reducing harmful chemicals with greener cleaning products
• tax credits, rebates and incentives in your area
• indoor air quality
• overall carbon footprint.

If you’re in the market to outfit just one part of your home, Green Irene also offers specific kits that present a wonderful bottom line - a lot more cash in your pocket! Their EZ Bulb Swapout service does just that - brings in a Green Irene specialist to help replace your energy-sucking, carbon-spitting incandescent bulbs with energy efficient, long-lasting CFL bulbs in every shape and size. You might think this isn’t much of a torturous task. But, have you counted how many bulbs your home has? According to the Green Irene website, replacing ONE 75-watt incandescent bulb will save you $80 alone in New York City. Multiply that by all your bulbs, and your mouth is guaranteed to drop! CFL bulbs also release much less heat, saving you in cooling costs as well.

If you’re psyched about Green Irene coming to your home, or if you have a passion for eco-ing everything and want to spread the good green word, you too can become a Green Irene Eco-Consultant! This is a growing business with great opportunities for both consultants and clients. And in this economy, any little bit helps. Check out the FAQs for becoming an Eco-Consultant. Your community will thank you!

With the end of the year fast approaching, talk about Thanksgiving and other holidays goes on and on, but I’ve been starting to hear conversations about that other important holiday - winter vacation, of course. I’m sure in this economy many people won’t be jetting off to too-faraway places, but there are still plenty of vacation spots offering value and fun for families.

Here in Florida, Disney World is the place our girls ask to go year round (are you surprised?). While we don’t head up there during peak tourist season, we do try to make a trip there once a year. Full of joyous music and people, not to mention the smiles that light up everyone’s faces, Disney always seems like a picture-perfect place to spend time with family.

The Center for Health, Environment & Justice wants you to know there’s a, um, dirty side to Disney - and you can do something about it. In their investigation of Disney’s cleaning practices, CHEJ found that while Disney uses twelve certified green cleaning products, they also use over 80 toxic cleaners in all their parks, hotels, restaurants and shops! Basically, the green cleaners are used at the animal parks (where the animals have high sensitivities to toxins). Hello?! Happiest place on Earth? I don’t know who budgets for their cleaning products, but if Disney can take care of their animals with such respect, I think they deserve to be told by all of us how unhappy we are with this arrangement.

On October 29th, CHEJ held a “Disney Go Green Campaign” National Day of Action, where activists and concerned parents called Disney and held get-togethers to collect letters and emails challenging Disney to step it up and have 100% eco-cleaners for their park. Although the big day has passed, you can still get in on the protesting. Visit CHEJ’s site and do all you can - send an email, and tell everyone you know about the smudge on Disney’s cleaning practices. Shouldn’t you and your kids stay healthy and safe while sharing the magic of all things Disney?

While trying to decide for the millionth time if I’m supporting a bad habit by buying Starbucks coffee, I found this little square of paper in a handy container sitting near the cash register. Titled the GOOD Sheet, this one-sheet is Starbuck’s latest attempt to bring a little green into stores with a whole lotta waste. Through collaboration with GOOD Magazine/Blog, these quickie reads are part of a series of “graphical explorations of some of the major issues facing us this election season and beyond”. You can also subscribe to GOOD for one year at your price ($1 and up), with all the money going to charity.

So, is it worth picking the strategically placed paper up? The Good Sheet is not all about eco, although it is only one sheet of 45-50% post-consumer recycled 28 lb. newsprint, with the carbon emissions from printing and distribution offset. The first issue, all about CO2 and global warming, is a basic primer about the issues, causes, and solutions, full of pie charts, statistics and cool graphics. This week, The Good Sheet features a bleak picture of health care. The latest issue, out now, tackles immigration.

I want to applaud Starbucks for putting these issues on paper literally in people’s faces, probably when they’re only thinking about their first sip of coffee. And I love GOOD magazine, both on the website and in hard copy - it’s informative, thought-provoking and has a modern, snarky pulse. On the other hand, you can go right to The GOOD Sheet on-line, weekly, without having to bring another piece of paper home.

I’m just saying.

Last winter, I wrote about a green challenge from Crunchy Chicken, titled the “Freeze Yer Buns” Challenge. From November through April, CC asked readers to turn their thermostats down for saving energy’s sake (and maybe getting in a little extra cuddle time with a loved one in the process). Since we were living in Panama at the time, living very close to the equator in winter did not affect my heat - especially since we didn’t have any. I did try and reverse the challenge for my home by turning off air conditioning units when we weren’t in the room. Let me tell you - Panama + no air = no fun.

This summer, the always inspiring Crunchy Domestic Goddess is hosting a wonderfully motivating green challenge aptly called “I’m having a quickie - The Five-Minute Shower” Challenge. Over 60 people have signed up, including yours truly, to reduce their shower time to 5 minutes (or less!) from June through August. I know for me, shower time (usually) means a few (precious, not-taken-for-granted) minutes of quiet and unwind time; often, it means lingering under the water. Next thing I know, it’s, well, way past five minutes!

You can get your kids involved by timing you, or purchase a shower timer so you can’t escape the countdown. I’m personally on the fence about a shower timer, because it tries to justify buying another piece of plastic that you really don’t need (your watch on the toilet, or a cooking timer would work just as well). But, to each is own, and there are some clever products out there to accessorize the shower you’re hopefully going to be spending less time in anyway.

The point is, showering faster saves many gallons of water, as well as energy to heat the water. According to CDG, cutting your shower time by three or four minutes can reduce your water consumption by roughly 10 gallons per day; reducing shower time by one minute can result in saving almost 1,900 gallons per year! Now, this might be enough to get you to shut down the spray faster, but getting teenagers to follow through with this might be the true challenge…

So sign up, buck up, and good luck!

We moved (again, within the country, no worries) a couple of weeks ago, and had many boxes sitting in our living room. Some of them were not unpacked from Panama, so they went from Panama to a Boca garage to a Boca apartment. And after almost six months of these unopened boxes sitting around, what, do you think, made an appearance in my living room on a bright and sunny Sunday morning? Yes, it was a gigantic roach. GIGANTIC, or as my kids will tell you, it was THIS BIG (feel free to move hands as far apart as you might think is possible - they’re still debating the size). And not only was it big…it was ruthless! It crawled away from the line of boxes we had so neatly set up to actually be removed that day, right into my kitchen.

Being as eco-friendly as possible with bug products and living in Florida seem to be polar opposites. The ants and water bugs, plus other unnamed creatures, pop up anywhere and everywhere, especially living by the beach. We even had blue crabs travel to our door one summer (I know that’s not technically a bug, but it is creature-like, and NO, we did not kill them)! The only product I could find on this morning was my Orange Guard. Now, I admit, I had never tested this on roaches. It’s been my ant spray for a while, and it works pretty well to keep them away. Plus it’s water based, and all ingredients are listed safe by the EPA. That being said, I checked the bottle, and Orange Guard clearly states you can spray “DIRECTLY on roaches - Kills on contact”. What it didn’t tell you was that, if this was a Panamanian cucaracha like I suspected, it actually had the opposite effect. This THING had the nerve to saunter into my pantry, surprise attack my foot, then attempt to leave the house - all while it was being doused, no, SOAKED with Orange Guard. Nothing. What finally did this beast in was my husband’s shoe (and a lot of yelling choice words at it).

So, aside from spraying my baseboards with Orange Guard for ants, I’m on the lookout for a new bugspray that will actually get rid of the bugs. Any suggestions? I’ll be heading to Whole Foods soon to see what’s out there. The saga continues…

This month has left me with not too many posts and a lot of questions.  I’ve been wondering what direction to take teensygreen, and I’ve realized, who better to explore this with than my loyal readers whom (I hope) have an opinion of what they’d like to read and see more (and less of).  So?  Let me have it!  What would you like teensygreen to deliver - more “stuff” and fluff?  Eco-activism?  Like the balance?  Looking for something else?  I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions, and thanks so much for reading teensygreen!

Best - Stefani

Happy Belated Earth Day! Of course, it would happen that my computer/internet would give out on me on the official “greenest” day of the year. I looked at it as having my carbon footprint reduced just a touch…

But, time to get back to business! A couple of weeks ago, Amazon.com launched “Amazon Green: Your Green 3″, an interactive community of eco-conscious consumers who share their most favorite three green products. This can be anything - from books to lightbulbs, shampoo to bikes, baby gear to home goods - anything from Amazon’s website. This is NOT as easy as it looks, for me anyway. Who can choose one product over another? It’s all about what’s important to YOU, as a parent, consumer, builder, or just a human being. There are also discussion pages, FAQs about green products, and a running list of the most voted on products.

So, what’s your “Green 3″? When you search for a green product through the Amazon Green search engine, you can vote for it from the page. If you don’t mind commenting here after you vote, I would love to see what you choose. I’ll of course let you all know when I make my official vote as well. Remember, in order for your Green 3 votes to count, you must have an Amazon.com account (and signed in), have made a purchase on Amazon, and have a Pen Name associated with it (which you create when you pick your first product). And, if you’re wondering about Amazon’s commitment to the environment, here’s a great FAQ section about how they are reducing packaging waste, saving energy, and overall keeping eco-consumers in mind.

Ever break a plate and wonder what to do with the pieces? Kids knocked over your favorite vase and can’t bear to throw it away? New mom and crafter extraordinaire Juliet has taken reincarnating dinnerware it to a new, super-crafty level. An all-around crafter (she was the brains behind the Junk Mail Love project), Juliet and her alter ego, fittingly called The Broken Plate, takes everything from vintage and antique finds to trendy Anthropologie plates and breaks them to make beautiful pendants, rings, and brooches. After a bit of smoothing and soldering magic, Juliet’s pendants are transformed into a work of broken-art. She’ll even take broken wedding plates or other custom work (family china, anyone?) and give them new life as jewelry!

This Valentine’s day, two winners can accessorize with their own Broken Plate Pendant necklace! Juliet has graciously created a classic Valentine’s day red and pink leaf pattern plate pendant, as well as a vibrant turquoise Japanese plate pendant. Please leave a comment here with an answer to the following question - which is your favorite Broken Plate Pendant? It’s a tough call, but take your time - it’s worth a look (and planning which necklace will go with which outfit!) You have until Valentine’s Day, Thursday February 14th at midnight PST. Good luck!

This contest is now closed.  Thanks SO MUCH to everyone for entering!  Congrats to Vida and Laura S for winning! 

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, but I think living in Panama blocked me from feeling - or even thinking about - cold weather. Moving back to Florida in December, however, allowed my memory to come back a little. My girls have been wearing pants and long sleeves on and off since we arrived, and last night - GASP - I turned the heat on for a little while. A teensy while, because 1 - not using the heater all year makes the house stink and 2 - it got really HOT! It was then I remembered this great challenge from favorite blogger Crunchy Chicken called “Freeze Yer Buns”.

Freeze Yer Buns is simple - or is it? How far do you think you can turn your thermostat down in the name of the environment, not to mention saving a little dough? Having the heat on full blast constantly is harsh on your skin, parches throats, and overall isn’t the best condition to be in.  Even lowering your thermostat a degree or two makes a huge difference (especially with your heating bill).  As of today, Crunchy has 187 people who are altering their personal home heating levels. I’m shivering for all of those people who keep their home at 50 degrees, but commend them for their stamina, guts, and creativity to keep warm!

The proverbial freezing of buns is going on until April 1st, and everyone is welcome to join. Then, it switches to “Sweating Yer Buns,” I guess! Whatever the case, see how chilly you can make your home - you’ll be amazed at the results!

Now that I’m back in the states, one difference in my daily routine stands out - carpooling. In Panama, my girls took a bus to school (yes, even the two year old!) It left me jittery, but with an odd sense that putting 10 kids and a couple of teachers in one vehicle every day made more sense than 10 SUVs in all their gas-guzzling glory prowling the streets. Odd, maybe, but now that I’m driving to school again, I’m completely guilty of that unique mommy characteristic - idling my car. I’ve been finding myself waiting 20 minutes or more for my kids in the carpool line, letting my car idle for the sake of using air conditioning (I live in Florida, a necessary evil or else for much of the year). Forget defending myself - evidence of idling shows it’s not only bad for the environment, but your health as well. Here are some myths about idling your car you’ve probably agreed with over the years -

• Turning your car off and on again wastes gas and is bad for your engine;
• Idling is good for your car (keeps it warm);
• Your engine needs to be warmed up before driving (great theory in the middle of January!).

Here are the realities -

• Idling your car for one hour burns almost one gallon of gasoline;
• Turning your car off and on does no damage to your car, and actually saves you money over time (ie, you’re not wasting gas!);
• Really, we all jump in the car and ‘warm it up’ for the heater anyway, but driving your car is the most effective way to warm your car up.

One suggestion is to park your car and, in my case, wait inside the school until it’s time to pick up the kids. Or, on nice days, jump into a friend’s car and catch up. You might not be able to listen to the radio, but if you’re idling for 20 minutes a day, five days a week…that’s 100 idling minutes, equal to wasting over a gallon and a half of gas! That adds up to a lot of money over time. There’s also evidence that idling can lead to health problems over time, perhaps from car fumes traveling through the car. And let’s not forget the pollution that’s spilling into the air.

Check out what the Consumer Energy Center has to say about idling myths and truths (their other energy myths and facts are pretty fascinating as well), and keep them in mind the next time you’re waiting in your car!