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?
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 -
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!
We all need help to be smart about food. Whether you have kids with allergies, diabetes, obesity, or just need to brush up on the latest food trends, if you’re reading this blog you are part of a community of parents who care about raising kids healthy and happy with food. This is why I love the website Smart Foods Healthy Kids. Started by Kelly Corbet (she calls herself the CEO/Chief of Belief), a environmental policy Harvard-educated mom of two (one with food allergies), the SFHK team is a group of passionate, health-minded people with the littlest eaters in mind.
SFHK covers all aspects of nutrition for kids. For kids with allergies and intolerances, check out their resource page, run by Robin O’Brien of Allergy Kids. There are great video and audio classes with recipes and information about nutrition and food trends. I’ve been using their recipe bank at least once a week, and my girls love the simple recipes that they can even help me prepare. What I really look forward to is their free weekly enewsletter, highlighting a healthy tidbit for you and your kids. Information such as the organic “dirty dozen” and “cleanest 12″ foods to help save your wallet at the organic market - and help you build a healthier kitchen.
While we’re on the topic of water, I received this interesting email from Seventh Generation about their new campaign, “Get Out of Hot Water“. While Seventh Generation makes wonderful, naturally-derived cleaning products for your home, they also put out a great monthly newsletter. Their writing addresses education about keeping our families safe from chemicals; environmental implications of our home uses, and how we can improve them; and philanthropies Seventh Generation is involved with.
“Get Out of Hot Water” is a wake-up call to use cold water in your laundry instead of warm or hot water. They explain that heating water uses 90 percent of the energy when doing a wash - eliminating that step can save you plenty of money, especially if you do as much laundry as we do! There’s a calculator on the site where you can estimate how much money you can save - just plug in if you use hot or cold water; if you have a standard or energy efficient washing machine; and how many loads of laundry you wash per week. If you take their pledge, you can receive a free copy of their guide Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe and Healthy, Non-Toxic Cleaning! The offer is good while supplies last, so take the pledge today! What do you do to reduce energy costs for your laundry?
Personally, I do wash everything in cold water, except for sheets and towels. Cold water protects the color of clothes, making them wear out in less time. However, I do believe that sheets and towels, that take a beating from our bodies on a daily basis, need to get a warm (not hot) bath. I’ve found that warm water is usually hot enough - I can’t say I’ve ever used the “hot” water on the washing machine! But this is personal preference!
Can I mention again how much I love Twitter? I’ve met some wonderful moms on Twitter, and have also been introduced to some amazing writers who have inspired me to explore my own writing and writing purpose. I wanted to highlight a few of them today, since I know so many of my loyal fans are writers and bloggers themselves. I hope these websites can bring your insights as well into your writing and your life!
Words for Hire - Karen Swim (don’t you love her name?) is the CEO of a targeted writing and marketing firm. Aside from being a perpetually cheerful and positive person, Words for Hire is Karen’s way of giving readers back a bit of her experience, which turning a mirror to you. Karen always asks readers focused, important questions about the roadmap of life. I look forward to getting her daily post in my inbox every evening - they give me a great reason to go to sleep thinking about how I can be a better writer and person. Follow Karen Swim on Twitter.
ProBlogger - If you’re a blogger who wants to make money, Problogger should be your first stop. Darren Rowse leads a group of writers as they guide you through the AdSense process, tricks for improving your blog, business blogging, and much more. Problogger is often a bit technical for me, but I do like the articles that highlight networking with other blogs, building blogging relationships, as well as many, many links to job boards and other freelance websites. Follow ProBlogger on Twitter.
The Writing Journey - For more personal insights into writing, I really enjoy Bob Younce’s really helpful, no-frills posts. As Bob puts it, he’s “helping internet writers to acheive their dreams”. From fiction to internet writing, The Writing Journey reminds you that, whether writing is a job or a labor of love for you, it is truly a journey to be navigated! Follow Writing Journey on Twitter.
How Not to Write - Jamie Grove is a self-described “cheery fellow” (seriously, he told me himself!), and his blog about writing, rejection, and redemption really shows how well he handles the often-rocky road of writing. It’s wonderful to read about someone else’s writing process, book reviews, and of course What Not to Do When Your Story is Rejected. Follow How Not to Write on Twitter.
It’s a big world to change, but somebody has to do it - why not kids? Epic Change is seeking to make a difference, through a “pay it forward” model that doesn’t just ask people to reach into their pockets. One of Epic Change’s founders, Stacey Monk, was in Arusha, Tanzania for a few months to volunteer, and came back with her heart bursting. There, she found a small school, called Shepherds Junior Academy, a pre- and primary school of about 170 kids, which had been displaced because the landowner was selling it to a developer for a hotel. These children - in one of the most destitute countries in the entire world - were about to lose their chance at an education they may not ever regain.
Luckily, Stacey’s heart had room for all these kids, and an idea to start Epic Change. Monetarily, here’s Epic Change’s approach: they take donations, large and small, from anyone willing to chip in. They then give an interest-free loan to the targeted project. Giving doesn’t stop there, however. Epic Change then helps the organization to generate income to help pay the loan back; they then recycle the money given back to help fund another project; and so the cycle goes on. It’s a truly monumental approach to giving, much in the vein of Kiva, except you get to see firsthand the changes being made through Epic Change’s website. According to the website, Epic Change has loaned about $30,000 to Shepherds Junior - with that, an acre of land has been purchased, classrooms have been built, and classes started this past March! They have also been paid back about $500 through funds raised by a school performance - a TON of money in Tanzanian terms, and important all the same.
The best part about Epic Change (ok besides helping these beautiful children) is the effort being put into empowering kids (yes, your kids!) to take the initiative towards their own epic changes; a “Kid-Powered Revolution” as they put it. There are many suggestions for FUNdraising events, such as a LemonAID stand; a YouTube group, where kids can post short videos introducing themselves and questions to the children in Tanzania; and a Flickr group for artwork showing what makes your kids happy and sad.
When I told my five year old, normally camera shy daughter about Epic Change and making a video for kids in Africa who need a school, I could see her mind turning. It excited her to know that something as small as talking on camera can help someone across the globe feel like they have support. Please take the time to check out Epic Change’s website - there’s so much amazing information to read, and many opportunities to volunteer and get involved!
Follow Stacey Monk on Twitter
Follow Epic Change on Twitter
While we’ve been on the subject of planting trees and saving paper, eliminating junk mail seems to be the next logical topic. That being said, I hope you’ve all been clicking on that bubbly box up top there. ProQuo is a free service to manage the unwanted junk mail that inevitably clogs your mailbox (and recycling bin!). When you sign up, ProQuo sets you up with a personalized dashboard, where you can pick and choose which publications you want to see - or never receive - in your mailbox. It includes coupons and weekly circulars; credit reporting bureaus; marketing lists; and various other junky directories.
It works like this (verbatim from Erik at ProQuo) - “ProQuo acts on your behalf to request the removal of your name from a wide variety of data broker lists, coupon books, catalogs, etc. Depending on the organization, we either electronically fill out a web site form, send an e-mail, direct them to a third-party site, or have the consumer print out and send pre-populated templates. ProQuo follows whatever opt-out procedures the organization requires. It takes one to three months, and will reduce anywhere from 50 percent to 90 percent of junk mail. ProQuo is currently the No. 1 free site for reducing junk mail and managing catalogs!”
Pretty impressive! My favorite part of ProQuo is their new service specifically for catalogs. Pick which catalogs you want to opt out of - or, if you’ve been itching to browse, say, the latest L.L. Bean catalog, sign up to have it sent to you. You can change your selections at any time, and add other members of your home or additional addresses. It’s a revolutionary way to manage the mail you never believed you had control over!
One thing I absolutely love about writing teensygreen is the amazing amount of moms (and some dads, but mostly moms) I’ve been meeting, either through working with eco-products; communicating with readers who make comments; or being directed to other bloggers. Social media networking has blown up this past year, expanding well beyond Facebook into much more mature, intellectual realms that people can really share with. Here are just a few social networking sites I can’t go without on a daily basis! Let me know if you’re on them too, would love to connect with more readers!
Twitter - You’re a parent, so you have plenty of time on your hands to communicate with thousands of people at once, right? Yeah, right. Twitter is the ultimate ADD outlet. Write thoughts, post a link, vent, have a conversation - the catch is, you only have 140 characters per tweet to do it. Sounds complicated? It takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, Twitter can be highly addictive. You can “follow” what other people are saying, and vice-versa. I’ve met people from all over the globe, and for many interests - going green, parenting, love of cereal - seriously. There are tons of Twitter tricks that I won’t get into, but believe me, you’ll either be thanking me or hating me. If you need a place to start to find friends, Wendy Piersall of Sparkplugging just posted the “Ultimate List of Moms on Twitter” - and received over 200 more moms who commented with their Twitter names! Dads, we didn’t forget you! Here’s the “Ultimate List of Dads and Husbands on Twitter,” just for you! PS - my Twitter name is ‘teensygreen’.
Hot Moms Club - If you haven’t clicked through the big pink button on my sites column, go now! Hot Moms Club is the newest and hottest mom-only social networking site buzzing everywhere. Put up pics, videos, links, join groups, make friends, show off your kids…all with the HMC magazine providing you with amazing articles about being a modern mom in an upside down world.
Blogher - “You say it. We share it.” Blogher is a deep, vast website for women who want to write, learn how to blog, or simply read from the 10,000 other blogs to discover. Get political, find a book club, or even going green - Blogher is the grandmommy of blogging sites, and is well worth exploring. There really is something for everyone here, as well as a calendar of conferences and BlogHer events to meet up with other women who have lots to say!
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.
