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Posted: August 2, 2011 ...by Manda
The New York Times warns that your child's playground might be boring them to death (or at least into a phobia).It’s summer time and parents everywhere are crowding onto playgrounds with their children. Me included. And I am shocked at just how boring they have gotten. Gone are the days when playgrounds were thrilling places: climbing to the top of a huge jungle gym, teetering 5 feet off the ground and screaming at my little brother not to drop me, or hurdling around on a tire swing until getting sick. »Read More
Posted: April 21, 2011 ...by Manda
Our indoor air quality is consistently more polluted than our outdoor air. One of the main culprits are the cleaning supplies we use. We don’t want to drink chemicals, but we have no problem pouring them down the drain to be filtered out of our drinking water (we hope). We don’t want them in our food, but we clean our countertops with them. We don’t want our children exposed to poisons, but they play on floors cleaned with chemicals often known to be toxic, allow them to mouth toys disinfected with bleach, and play on grass treated with pesticides. »Read More
Posted: April 21, 2011 ...by Manda
You can read more about the beautiful potential of composting in The Green Mama Composting 101 blog. The short version, though, is that we are spending loads of money and significant greenhouse gasses to take our kitchen scraps to landfills where they make up 65% of landfill waste and, once there, will take lifetimes to biodegrade (if they ever do). At home you can turn kitchen scraps, paper products, and maybe even compostable diapers into fertilizer. »Read More
Posted: April 19, 2011 ...by Manda
The Green Mama's Top Eleven Green Faux Pas for 2011 »Read More
Posted: April 18, 2011 ...by Manda
Common items that we use everyday, such as toilet paper, disposable diapers, notepaper, plastic containers, cellphones, ink printers, bottles, and so much more COULD be made with recycled paper, plastic, metal, glass, or even concrete. If you aren't buying the recycled items when and where they are available you are not only contributing to, for instance, new trees being used but you are also making it harder to develop markets for recycled products. »Read More
Posted: April 18, 2011 ...by Manda
Idling equals getting ZERO miles to the gallon. It wastes money and petro, damages modern car engines, and creates pollution. Each day Americans waste 3.8 million gallons of gas and 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide by voluntarily idling their cars. Voluntarily idling can also damage a car. It is better to turn the car off and back on, even if it is for just 20 seconds while you are at the drive-through or car-pool. Learn the facts of idling versus the myths at Hinkle Charitable Foundation. »Read More
Posted: October 26, 2010 ...by Manda
THE GREEN MAMA’S CHEAT SHEET FOR SAFER, HEALTHIER CLEANING IN CHILDCARE FACILITIES You are a childcare provider and you want to go green but aren’t sure where to start? The answer is probably right in front of your eyes: the soap next to the sink, the bottle of bleach for spraying down the tables, the window cleaner in the cabinet. »Read More
Posted: March 26, 2010 ...by Manda
In our family this year, we are celebrating Earth Hour by monitoring our energy use. Hooray!?? (Earth Hour is celebrated around the world on Saturday March 27, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. in whichever time zone you reside. You can participate by simply turning off your lights—or unplugging the computer and TV—for that hour.) »Read More
Posted: February 24, 2010 ...by Manda
Top 10 Green Faux Pas (originally published on Chicago Now) This list is based on observations I’ve made about the little things we can do every day to be green. Little things are important because they keep good green practices front of mind and visible to others, hopefully causing others to join in. To find out how you can make the biggest impact, calculate your total carbon footprint. Here are my top 10 green faux pas: »Read More
Posted: November 10, 2009 ...by Manda
This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. »Read More
Posted: July 2, 2009 ...by Manda
I know Independence Day is coming up for us U.S.-based folks, but I have to take a moment to praise the British for their efforts in regard to waste. »Read More
Posted: May 13, 2009 ...by Manda
Chicago has made a stand for children (and green parents). Today, March 13th, Chicago became the first American city to ban BPA from products geared toward children 3 and under. The City of Chicago’s action follows similar leadership by the state of Minnesota, and the county of Suffolk in New York. »Read More
Posted: February 9, 2009 ...by Manda
I hated middle school (I was new, nerdy, skinny, and had really big, thick glasses), but I loved my middle school building. It was such a caricature of a school. »Read More
Posted: September 2, 2008 ...by Manda
I hated middle school (I was new, nerdy, skinny, and had really big, thick glasses), but I loved my middle school building. It was such a caricature of a school. »Read More
Posted: January 2, 2008 ...by Manda
Although part of this comes from a deep paranoia that I will find a private eye going through my garbage and picking out a #5 plastic thingy that could have been recycled, mostly I reflect on my green-ness from a sincere desire to do better and know more. I found that it was easier for me to THINK about my green actions if I had a way of organizing them in my mind. And, like everything else, once the organization exists, it is much easier to accomplish the goal. »Read More
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