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While checking my e-mail today, I was introduced to an on-line resource for green design and living that I wanted to share - www.Re-Nest.com. Re-Nest is part of the Apartment Therapy family - I receive daily e-mails from Apartment Therapy and absolutely love to click through the daily House Tour photos - one of my favorite daily indulgences. I can’t believe I’d previously ignored Re-Nest...until now. This simple site contains posts on a variety of useful and/or entertaining topics. I especially enjoyed 13 Products That Are Unnecessary and Wasteful. Looking at lists like this helps keep your shopping filter sharp and focused - do I really need this or do I already have something that can do that job...or does the ‘job’ even need to be done? This doesn’t mean these items don’t serve the purpose their makers intend them to, but most of us are better off adopting a ‘less is more’ philosophy when it comes to our homes. The Re-Nest House Tours can also give you some great ideas to refresh home with furniture and other household items you already own. As we all know, not buying new stuff is one of the best ways to conserve resources.Bottom Line: I hope you enjoy this site as much as I am. I just added it to my Google Reader so I can get a regular dose of great green ideas!
With the beginning of school upon us, now is a great time to think about how to go green with your family’s lunch routine. For kids and adults, taking lunch from home is a great way to save money and can also make it easier to stick to a healthy routine. Lunch from home can also easily be a green way to eat, especially when compared to day after day of take-out in disposable containers. Here are some great products to help you and your family reduce lunch-time waste.
One of my favorite discoveries are Lunch Skins made by 3 Green Moms. These super-cute, food-safe and dishwasher-safe snack and sandwich bags in various sizes and patterns completely eliminate the need for plastic baggies or aluminum foil in the lunch bag.
And speaking of lunch bags, while kids have always had a variety of lunch bag and box options, adults now have super-sleek and easy to-go options, such as BUILT’s line of lunch totes. These neoprene totes zip close and help insulate foods and can be thrown in the washing machine to keep them clean. No more brown bag lunches!
A great set of reusable food storage containers, such as Rubbermaid’s Easy Find Lids line can help round out your green lunch routine. You can also pick up some biodegradable, reusable cutlery and of course quench your thirst with reusable BPA-free water bottles, such as the WaterWeek bottles we highlighted in July.
Bottom Line: Do lunch-from-home in green style with great reusable products the whole family will love!
Photo Source: www.lunchskins.com
If you have ever wondered whether something should/could be recycled, you are not alone. While recycling can be a great way to conserve resources, it only works well when people a) understand their local recycling guidelines and b) follow them.
I live in a large condo building and we have a recycling system in place for both paper and plastic/metal containers. Unfortunately, it is very clear whenever I go to empty my bins into our larger dumpsters that the guidelines are not being followed by everyone, which always makes me wonder what happens to our recycling pick up - does it end up in the trash or is the trash sifted out of the mix? While I don’t know the answer for our recycling provider - something I could probably look into - I do know that becoming familiar with your local guidelines and making sure you and your family follow them is a great place to start. You can also make sure you do what you can to eliminate waste altogether from you home - recycled or not. Reduce your need for bags and take-out food or beverage containers by using reusable bags, water bottles and coffee mugs and buy items with less packaging whenever you can.
There are also some fairly common items that you may be surprised to learn are not good candidates for recycling. Earth911.com compiled them in their article What NOT to Put in the Bin. Check out the article and make sure you are not contributing to recycling confusion.
Bottom Line: Get to know your local recycling guidelines and make sure you’re playing by the rules.
