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!

One great thing about Panama - no junk mail. Well, no MAIL really - they don’t have a well established government regulated postal system, so if you have a PO Box, you get what you subscribe to and not much else. So, I thankfully didn’t need to recycle 100 pounds of catalogs in November and December, but now, I’m already ankle deep in junk mail (and I haven’t even been shopping yet!).

This wonderful service called Greendimes, however, will help eliminate your name and address from all the popular junk mail lists, and reduce your junk mail by, get this, up to 90%! Started in 2006, Greendimes boasts it has stopped over 3 MILLION pounds of junk mail from reaching mailboxes across the country; almost 500,000 unwanted catalogs from being thrown away or recycled; and over 680,000 trees saved from a life of junk mail.

For $20, let Greendimes do all the work, and only find happy, wanted mail in your mailbox. If you sign up, you can even choose which catalogs you want stopped being sent (hellooooo, I haven’t bought anything from that company that makes silk longjohns since I moved from New York SEVEN YEARS AGO). You get the point. Greendimes is a great concept that you can participate in for little money. Think about it as a new waistline for your mailbox! Easier than getting to the gym, for sure…

When I first heard about ‘Buy Nothing Day’ and its participation date - November 23rd - my immediate, fly-off-the-handle response was, “Are they CRAZY? That’s Black Friday, only, like, the biggest shopping day of the year!”

Oh, DUH.

The funny part is, I’ve never participated in Black Friday. Maybe it’s because I can’t wake up that early and do more than lie on the couch and zone out to a cartoon. Maybe it’s fear of the Target crush. Or, could it be, it’s actually nice to stay home and do nothing for once after a day and night of cooking and eating?

The concept behind Buy Nothing Day is that, since we are a world of extreme consumers, no amount of hybrid vehicles and solar paneling will help us as a society if we consistently overdo it. Therefore, if we take a day, possibly the most economically important day of the year - and actually don’t buy anything, we’re making a conscious effort to step it up and say we can consume less and get more out of life because of it. Participate by not participating. Or, participate in one of the many Buy Nothing Day activities BND groups have put together in 65 countries to protest consumer over-spending, including the infamous ‘zombie walk’ through shopping malls.

I understand about finding good prices, especially in this day and age. But, through writing teensygreen and reading about so many other parent’s experiences, I’ve come to learn that ‘less is more’ can truly apply to everyone, even the kids we want to spoil rotten and give the world to. And we can - it just takes better decision making on our part to give them the best of what we can.

So this Friday, stay home. You don’t need to brave the cold or the crowds to bust into a superstore at five in the morning. Take a walk with your kids. Eat leftovers, or have a leftovers swap with the neighbors. Hey, have a leftovers street party! Nap with your kids. Nap with the dog. Anything but taking out the AmEx.

Target will be there on Saturday. Thanks for listening…

Now that Halloween is over - the costumes are being recycled as dress-up, candy is put out of little hands reaches (in my house it was the back of the freezer) - you may have found some older kids leaving their Halloween mark around the neighborhood. No, this isn’t a “flaming bag of poo” post, but I have been saving this great product just for this day. SoyClean Graffiti Remover is a natural, soy-based, non-toxic, non-abrasive spray for effective removal of graffiti, and also ink, marker, lipstick, and paint, making it a handy year-round product. It works on virtually every surface in your home, and the website actually has great suggestions for uses in schools and neighborhoods. I especially like their reference to “gang graffiti” on municipal signs. Hopefully you’re just dealing with pranksters, but you get the point…

Soyclean has a wide range of products, including BBQ Grill cleaners, paint stripper, deck and driveway cleaner, even a dry-erase markerboard restorer. All products are non-toxic, meaning it’s safe for your family and the environment. Maybe it even has a product for removing crunched eggs from your car (a favorite prank from my ‘hood)…