Greening Sam and Avery

back at home

After a long weekend in St. Louis we are back at home and settling back in.

The weather down in St. Louis did not exactly cooperate. My poor friend Tracy had to get married in the rain! Literally. She was determined to have the outdoor wedding of her dreams and even though the constant sprinkle was coming down she dealt with it and got married outside anyway. We all got wet but she looked beautiful and the ceremony was perfect. And certainly a wedding I will never forget!

The rain kept on and the boys could not go golfing so instead we took five energetic kids to the St. Louis City Museum. This place is the largest example of upcycleing I have ever seen! The whole place is made out of materials that have been reclaimed from old construction sites, schools, buildings and other places around St. Louis. And the kids can do just about anything; run, climb, create, yell, ride a train, slide, crawl through a maze, explore a hallway of mirrors, and much more!

 

Yup, I did some climbing too!

She got a little too high!

The kids had a blast!

This is certainly a green tourist destination and an awesome place to play with kids! Or grown-ups, they have late night events that include a bar...but you can still do all the fun stuff that the kids can do during the day!!

homemade crayons

Crazy crayons got me motivated to try recycling our own crayons and making some new crayons.

Just the other day Sam was coloring and purposely broke a crayon in half, then handed it to me and said "this one is broken, I need new crayons". This ended her coloring session for the day and we had to have a long talk about why we need to be more careful with our things. But sometimes crayons do break on their own. We have a lot of little broken crayons that I insist to Sam are still usable but she refuses to color with.

Today I grabbed all those little pieces and tried out making our own crayons. I actually have a tree mold from making christmas candy, so I made tree crayons today!

Super simple stocking stuffer made entirely from stuff I already had! LOVE THAT!! 

Have a homemade Christmas (yes, I am now using the name. who are we kidding...Christmas will be here before we know it!) post up already that you would like to share? Please leave the link in the comment section, I would love to see what you are making and share some green christmas ideas on my facebook page as well.

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The Nitty Gritty!

This is a project that Sam could have helped with and if it weren't a stocking stuffer for her too I would have let her help. She would have loved peeling all the paper off the crayons and breaking them into even smaller pieces. I would have had to do the oven part of it but she could have helped me pop them out of the molds.

I can see this being a fun kid project that we will do again in the future!

outdoor play link up - pumpkin week - pumpkin ball

SUPER EXCITED! The Outdoor Play Link Up is BACK!!!!

Thanks goes out to Mama Pea Pod for getting this awesome link up back up and running. We have added another host that I am honored to be working with. If you are not familiar with Learning for Life you have to check it out.

Okay, so what were we up to this week for outdoor play? Pumpkin Ball! I actually made these for our carving party on Tuesday night but the kids were just more interested in their own play ideas then the ones I had come up with. What's a mom to do?! But the girls and I have just loved playing with these in the backyard this week.

I simply took washed out milk jugs, cut the bottoms off and then painted them. I used black electricians tape to cover the slightly sharp edge and used a black permanent marker to draw on the face. I covered the whole thing in modge podge to seal the paint. They worked pretty well with the bigger ball. The small ball was fun because it was a pumpkin but hard to know which direction the ball would go when you threw it using the jug.

Super simple, upcycling and tons of fun!

Now, let's get this linky started! If you have never been a part of a link before please be sure to check out the other ideas, leave comments, and let them know you are stopping by from the Outdoor Play Link Up. It is just more fun if we are all out there checking out the ideas and chatting about what we are finding at the Link Up!

How did your kids play outdoors this week?
 
Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us! Here’s just a few guidelines for sharing.

• Any kind of children's outdoor play is welcome. If it happened outside, then please link it up!
• Please do not share any competitions, promotions, or posts that are not related to Outdoor Play.
• Please remember to link back to this post and help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play!
• Each week we will feature an activity from the previous week. By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished.

 

pumpkin week - upcycle pumpkin craft

Starting a week on pumpkins! And get ready for some awesome ideas! No, probably not the things that we will be doing that are MY ideas, but the TONS of links I am going to pass along this week of all the amazing pumpkin themed stuff that other incredible preschool and parent bloggers are doing out there. I can't wait to share with you all the stuff that I have found.

But first, here is what we did today.

And of course I had to make one too!

I was really impressed with how well Sam took to this project. She loved finding the orange and green pages in the magazines and then cutting the small pieces. She also worked really hard to make sure that the whole thing was covered. And I think the pumpkins are super cute too!

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The Nitty Gritty!
So, I want to start this week of pumpkins and sharing ideas off with sharing some of our favorite pumpkin ideas from the past.

Just recently we made some really cute 3D pumpkins that are still hanging up in my kitchen.

A great toddler pumpkin book and activity - Five Little Pumpkins.

Something fun to do when all the halloween fun is over and your pumpkins are a pile of rotting mush! Plant them!

And of course we have carved them!

Now you can see why we need to have a pumpkin themed week, we clearly have not done enough stuff with these things.

Stay tuned this week for LOTS of great ideas from around the web. And if you have an idea that you would like to share or have blogged about please leave a link in the comments so I can check it out and share it with my readers (if you have already told me on Facebook you do not have to share the link again!).

 

homemade notebooks

We made these today.

 
The cardboard was a bit hard for Sam to cut through so I did most of that but she had fun trying to cut and picking up the scraps from my mess!

I was reminded of this idea from Counting Coconuts. I have made them before in natural journaling programs and have made them with young kids before so when I saw the idea I knew I wanted some for the girls.

We will hopefully be using them tomorrow on an adventure! 

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The Nitty Gritty!

If you like to write or draw outdoors or want to encourage your kids to get creative outside these notebooks are great. They are small enough to throw in a backpack or daypack, cheap so you don't care if they get ruined in wet weather, sturdy so kids can draw on them easily outside and who doesn't love a good up-cycle project!

Start saving cracker boxes or cereal boxes and make some of your own.

Day 348: preparing for the fair

Sam and Avery helped me to prepare for a job that I am doing this coming weekend. I coordinate the children's workshop portion of the Midwest Renewable Energy Associations annual Energy Fair. The fair is up in Custer, WI and 20,000+ people will filter through the three days of the fair. It is an AMAZING experience for anyone even remotely interested in renewable energy or sustainable living practices. I love being a part of it.

This year I am doing double duty I am running the children's workshop tent and I am doing a preschool education program. I will be teaching them all about bugs! A great book and art kind of presentation. I have a whole list of books that I am bringing, a couple of which I will read to them at the start of the program and many more that I will simply keep on the tables for them to use as inspiration.

And for the art portion they will be making any number of wonderful recycled art insect creations!

Butterflies.

 

Spiders. Yes, I know they aren't really insects but I thought there might be some boys that would like making spiders.

 

Caterpillars.  
 
 
And then for those not interested in making bugs they can make "homes" for the bugs; flowers and trees!

 
 
We made toilet paper flowers and toilet paper trees a while back that I will also be bringing with me as examples.

I think it will be a lot of fun for the 2-5 year old crowd! If you are at the Energy Fair stop by and say HI!!

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The Nitty Gritty!

Yes, Sam did help with the painting and putting together of the insects! I chose the ones that I had a bit more of a hand in to photograph and take to the Fair as examples...shoot me for wanting cuter ones sitting on the tables at the Fair!  All the insects and the flowers that I had photos of on this post were made out of egg cartons. Super simple and very fun for little kids to paint and play with. The last caterpillar was particularly fun for Sam because it could wiggle around, it is strung onto a piece of yarn. The hardest part of making all of these is poking the holes for the yarn or pipe cleaners. I used a "bead ramer", which I am sure is the technical term, to make the holes.

Day 264: zero waste day

Woohoo! We did it.

One whole day. No trash. I really was not sure that it would be possible but not one thing made it to our trashcan today. I did compost a few things that probably would have gone in trash on a regular day; a piece of string and my dryer lint, although I may start composting that all the time.

The hardest part for me was when Sam asked to do projects and snack time.

Sam always wants to do stickers, paints, or other creative projects when Avery goes down for her nap. Most days I jump all over this and we spend a ton of the afternoon being creative. But today I knew that these activities usually create some kind of waste (back of stickers that can't be reycled, plastic wrap around specialty stickers, empty paint containers, etc.) so I told her that we couldn't. Instead we had to do puzzles, read, play blocks and other simple activities. Just changed our routine a little bit.

And snack time was another issue. My girls LOVE the Quaker rice cake snacks. These come in a non-recyclable plastic bag. Since we were trying to stay away from non-recyclable of reusable containers today I opted not to let the girls have these. Sam was a little disappointed but then I told her that they could each have their OWN apple and she perked right up. Normally I don't give them each their own because they inevitably can't finish it and food waste results but today I made the exception; one form of waste for the other really.

The one thing that I noticed is that even though TODAY we did not throw anything away tomorrow there will still be waste. I know we will play Chutes and Ladders tomorrow (the new game from Pawpaw and Grandma) which has plastic wrap around it), eat rice cake snacks, craft and my toothpaste tube will probably run out tomorrow as well. Waste. Lots of waste.

So, I guess it isn't really fair that I can claim today to be waste free becuase even though I made choices to avoid the waste today I didn't make the changes to prevent it in the future. It is still in our house and will have to be used and thrown out at some point.

BUT tonight at Trader Joes I paid way more attention to what I was buying, what kind of container it came in and what I would/could do with that container. Which means that I am calling this experiment a success. I learned. I changed behaviors today and gained a greater understanding for my habits. I will make wiser choices in the future!

SO, how did you do? Would love to check in on the other's that were participating so join up in the linky below and let me know. OR if you don't have a blog PLEASE leave a comment with a waste reduction tip, habit or product that you have learned about. I would love to hear how other's reduce their waste.

 

Day 262: reduce, reuse, recycle

Have questions? Go to the expert!

My Zero Waste is an AWESOME resource for all things reduce, reuse, recycle. I am so excited that she was willing to answer some of my silly questions about how to reduce our waste and what alternatives were available to change our habits. So below are the experts advice on the things that I (and a couple of you!) was thinking about after how How Disposable is Your Life Day.

1. What kind of snacks does your family eat? Do you make your own or buy in bulk?

I make all our cakes, biscuits and treats; even ice cream! I tend not to buy in bulk as these types of products are still individually wrapped; usually in composite materials which can't be recycled. The only thing I don't make is crisps (potato chips) but fortunately we have a way to recycle the packets, so it's not a problem.

2. What do you do with your dryer lint?

I don't have a dryer, but if I did I would compost it or stuff it into cardboard toilet roll inners and use it to light the fire during the winter and put it into our hedges for the birds to use as nesting material during the spring.

3. What about crackers and cereal? Both of these items have those awful plastic insert bags that aren't recyclable but my kiddos are addicted to cheerios and I am not sure that I can live without my wheat thins. Have you found alternatives that don't have that non-recyclable bag?

For crackers, these are pretty easy to make - you'll find all sorts of great recipes on the internet. We don't eat much cereal; I tend to buy just two varieties; oats, which come in a cardboard box and no plastic inner which I make porrage from (oatmeal I think you call it) and something called Shredded wheat which come in a cardboard box wrapped in paper.

Our breakfast tends to be pretty much 'outside the box' - we're not big cereal eaters!
If your kids are addicted to cheerios then go ahead and buy them - you could reuse the plastic inner bag for wrapping sandwiches or storing other items to help ease your conscience! Your kids won't be at home for ever so give them what they like and ditch the guilt.

4. Do you home compost or do you send some stuff to a municipal compost?

We home compost the small things such as vegetable peelings and grass clippings while hedge trimmings go into municipal compost.

5. I love your meal plans. Does having these in place not only cut trash but cost too?

Reducing food waste is my number 1 way to save money. The simplest way to do this is to view your leftovers as ingredients and base your meals around what you already have at home. Before you go to the store check your fridge, fruit bowl and vegetable rack to see what you could as the base for the next few days meals. It's a fantastic way to experiment more and get more creative in the kitchen too.

6. Do you take your own to-go containers with you to restuarants in case you have leftovers to bring home?

We don't eat out much, but I think I might do. Taking home leftovers is not done much over here and to be honest I think I might be embarrassed, so perhaps I would call the restaurant first to check their policy and pre warn them what I would like to do!

7. Do you pratice zero waste at work, restuarants and while traveling as well?

Absolutely - this is a lifestyle commitment for us. I've been known to come back from holiday with things in my luggage to recycle at home!

8. What was the hardest thing for your family to give up? Find a replacement for?

Probably not one particular thing, but general convenience. It's much easier to grab a pack of apples that have been selected for you and wrapped in plastic. It's much easier to take what you want from a shop without having to think about end disposal. it's much simpler to buy things that are easily transportable (such as biscuits and cereal bars for children's lunchboxes) than taking the extra time to bake and then wrap things, but it's the commitment you make and I feel good about our choices.

Thanks so much for giving up some advice and a little insight on how to be more waste conscious! I hope everyone will get more educated (GO HERE!) on this topic and make changes in their homes to reduce their waste! And we all love new blogs to read, so add this one to your list!

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The Nitty Gritty!

Today was the big birthday party which I will share a few pictures from and some stories about tomorrow. But right now I am SO tired that I just need to lay on the couch and watch basketball.

But I did have to admit a failure and make an apology really quickly.

I have been talking up this Zero Waste Day and linking to a site that I LOVE for information. But somehow got my links mixed up and was not linking to the site that I thought I was. So, PLEASE visit the links that I listed above. Rachelle has been gracious enough to work with me on this project, inspire me and answer my questions. She deserves a little link love, which I have been failing to give her. I feel so awful for my mistake and owe her my sincerest apologies.

 

How Disposable Is Your Life?

Today is the practice Day! To prepare for Zero Waste Day coming up in just one week we are having a practice day. I will be tracking EVERYTHING that I throw away today (see below) and then asking for help from you all as to how I eliminate those items so that I can go one whole day without any trash. Any questions you may have about waste, recycling, how to reduce waste, habits that are wasteful, ANYTHING please leave them in the comments. The Zero Waste Home will be answering our questions right here on my little blog on Saturday! So ask away!

And if you are having a practice day too please link up below so we can all hop around and show each other support and read how we all did! If you don't have a blog but are participating please feel free to leave your facebook page or twitter page in the comments too so we can find you and see how you did.

So here goes my list of trash for today -

1. Sam's pull up! She takes it off and throws it away before she even sees me most morning so I had completely forgotten about this one! Do they make cloth training pants?
2. Small silver film, cover thing on a new bottle of hand soap. Not recyclable. How do you avoid this one?
3. Husband called to inform me that he threw away a restuarant styrofoam carry out container this morning. Packed his lunch today with leftovers from dinner last night. Do you take your own containers to the restuarants with you to avoid the styrofoam?
4. One "Three Musketeers" candy bar wrapper.
5. Two packages (the empty wrappers!) of white-chocolate chips. Darn birthday treats for Sam's school tomorrow.
6. Dryer lint. I have NO idea how you would go about not throwing away dryer lint. Can it be composted?
7. Two foot long section of wax paper; used to lay the chocolate cover pretzels on for decoarting and then to let them dry.
8. Packaging from our tool shed; three plastic bags.
9. Foil film from the top of a yogurt container.
10. Plastic wrapping around my husband's new golf clubs (two clubs); golf season has begun!
11. Paper/foil seal from new peanut butter container.

Okay, I think this is the list from our whole day. 11 things. Had to open three new items in the kitchen today; yogurt, peanut butter and hand soap. All three had some type of packaging I could not recycle or reuse. Frustrating. Also we opened the new tool shed and a few new golf clubs tonight. Annoying that they both also had plastic packaging that could not be recycled. I have questions about these things for the Zero Waste Home. I am also curious about some of the things that I noticed in our home that didn't run out today but would have lead to some serious waste had they run out. 

Please leave your questions about waste reduction, leading a zero waste life, or anything else that you would like to know from the zero waste home in the comments section!

Hope you will join me today to examine the amount of trash we throw away in one day.

Waste

Do you pay attention to how many bags of trash leave your house each week? What things you typically throw out? Is your recycling and compost more full than your trash can?

These are questions that I have been curious about lately. I have been monitoring my trash closely lately trying to figure out if there are alternatives I could be using or doing to avoid having those items to throw away. But I don't have the answers. SO I thought why not try and figure it out, and maybe see if anyone else wanted to help me.

The Plan -

Part One - "How Disposable is Your Life?" Tuesday, March 15

        Next Tuesday I am going to be hosting a How Disposable Is Your Life Linky. I am hoping that other poeple will join me in documenting EVERYTHING that you throw away in a 24 hour period. Literally EVERYTHING! Then we can all blog, facebook or tweet our results and through comments, discussions, tweets and email we can offer each other advice on how to make changes to elminate the things that we threw away.

Part Two - "Zero Waste Day" Tuesday, March 22

    After we all figure out how to reduce our waste I am going to challenge us all to a zero waste day where we plan and try our best to not throw ANYTHING away for 24 hours. Again, there will be a linky so we can all check up on each other and read the stories from the day.

Why? I have discovered that I have more waste than I think I should. And we recylce and compost A LOT. Which means that most families probably have more waste than we do. So, there must be creative solutions. There must be better ways of buying groceries, greener brands that have more recyclable packaging, etc. Basically I know that not everyone pays attention to all the things that they throw into the trash. I want us all to be more conscious of it. More aware of exactly what and how much we are throwing out. Become aware, become educated and then make changes. That is the plan. The goal is for all of us to make changes that will reduce our waste in the long run. Will we all take on a zero waste lifestyle, heck no. But maybe we will change one habit or behavior that can really reduce our waste. And then that habit will get passed down to our kids, FORVER reducing their waste.

SO, are you up to the challenge? I would love to have this become HUGE but even if I only get a couple of people to participate it will be worth it. If you are interested please feel free to spread the word on your own blogs or share this on Facebook or Twitter. No prizes or giveaways. Just change. Good change. That will hopefully help all of us be a little bit greener.