Green Options

Here in Los Angeles kids go back to school just after the Labor Day weekend. I’m finishing up the shopping for school supplies and clothes. Shopping for lunchbox items has been a little more complicated. It’s no secret that I’m a big Tupperware fan but Tupperware doesn’t fulfill every need in this house.

The good folks at Enviro Products sent over a stainless steel food container. I was a bit skeptical at first, because my son is the only one who packs a lunch and sometimes these things are too difficult to unlatch. It turns out I had no reason to worry, the latches are firm but easy enough for an elementary school boy to maneuver and there’s no metallic taste. It’s a large container, and I’d love to see one that’s sandwich sized, because that would keep the sandwiches from flailing around and falling apart. It’s perfect for pastas grains and fruits. My kids seldom want soft skin fruits like peaches or nectarines in their lunch boxes because they’re ruined (smashed) by lunchtime.

“Spend a year tickled pink with flowers and leaves native to northern california and oregon, and sometimes found in other parts of the western u.s.“ with the the floral leaves datebook or “spend a year in the forest and the coral…lush green interior pages with 8 repeating original illustrations of all the little details found in the forest and in the tidepools.“ with the forest coral datebook!

They’re 100% recycled paper and have beautiful front and back covers in full-color printed with vegetable-based inks on reincarnation paper.

Minimize your carbon footprint with this wonderful eco backpack for a balanced back. It is now on sale at Lands’ End! It’s:

• made of 100% recycled fabric
• equipt with a padded laptop sleeve
• made to keep things organized with panels to hold school supplies straight
• 360° reflective trim helps keep you visible in the dark
• cell phone/MP3 player pocket on shoulder strap fits your personal items
• D-ring is set to clip on lunch box
• set up with a side locking system for attaching the bottle holder from the eco-lunch pack…

Children today are dangerously lacking in many vital vitamins and minerals.  Why?  Perhaps because we spend so much time indoors playing video games and watching television.  Or maybe its because we are a microwave nation… rushing to grab a fast meal on the go at the sacrifice of our health.  Maybe its the over abundance and cheap accessibility of processed foods filling nearly every American pantry.

The deficiency of necessary vitamins and minerals coupled with the addition of chemical colorings, preservatives and flavorings directly relate to the increase in disease and behavioral issues. As caring parents, we all want the best for our children and that means getting these vital nutrients back into our children’s body.  Here’s some easy tricks!  Stay with us after the jump for a delicious recipe that is full of nutrition and the kids will eat it!

There are lots of cute, environmentally kind supply options for the 2009-2010 school year. Who doesn’t love banana paper and Smencils?  Sometimes, its the basic items that are the hardest to find. Here is a set of basic back to school supplies from Sustainable Group for your child to personalize.

These supplies remind me of my high school days when I made collages on all my binders with magazine photos and funny quotes. They were the talk of class and several friends requested that I also make collages on their binders as well. How I wish these binders and replaceable covers were around then!

Eco-friendly pencils, soy crayons, smencils, Forest Stewardship Council approved colored pencils, banana paper notebooks, washable markers, recycled paper sketchbooks and journals…Stubby Pencil Studio has eco-back to school supplies for your little ones.

I love Stubby Pencil Studio because they have the cutest and most practical eco-art supplies for my kids.

My kids keep outgrowing EVERYTHING.  I hear this is normal, but sheesh… would someone slow them down so my wallet can keep up with their clothing needs?  With five children (16G, 9B, 9G, 7G, 4G) to dress, it becomes even more important that I choose clothing which will last and is cost effective.  My Fall clothing budget is around $100-$150 per child (with the older ones taking a larger chunk of the overall spending because the younger girls get lots of hand-downs).  When nine pair of undies can run $20.00 (or more!), I have to be very careful with our funds.  I also want to purchase items which will hold up well to kid wear and tear so that it can be saved for the next child (or passed on to a friend).  If you are looking for a new backpack, check out Wenona’s post. Here’s how we do it.

Where did July go? I can’t believe it is almost August. This always happens. The 4th of July comes along then all the sudden summer is over. I know there’s still August, a whole month before school starts but it is going to be busy with appointments and trying to squeeze as much out of summer as we can before it’s gone.

One thing I am dreading is school shopping. All the stores are already doing their sales. Both my school age kids need new backpacks (among other things) since theirs have fallen apart. So I’ve been researching eco-friendly backpacks. So far here’s what I have found.

Going back to school poses a dilemma for mindful parents. We don’t want to compromise our children’s health with school lunches. We also do not want our children to feel set apart in a negative way. Earth Friendly lunches have been a hot topic lately, and there are numerous suggestions on how to green your child’s (or your own) lunch.

So, we ponder, how do healthy parents handle this? In our house, we decided to invest in Laptop Lunch Boxes for each of our school age children. These lunch systems allow me to pack healthy, fresh, and non-disposable lunches. My children love the lunch boxes, because they are cool and the envy of their friends.

I am so wasted on cheap wine tired from all the summer activities that this will be a short post.

Y’all may or may not remember my head lice trauma. If you don’t recall, the journey begins here. Unfortunately it continued here (careful I cuss a lot). I learned a lesson, it’s a horrible lesson.

Not every mother will keep their child home when they have headlice. *sigh*

Today we did the lice wash. Not because we’re infested, but because we don’t want to be. We’re a few weeks out of any infestation, and I’d like to keep it that way. In preparation for back to school I’m washing everyone with Happy Heads, I’ll continue doing so two to three times a month ad infinitum.

Back-to-school preparations traditionally mean stocking up on lots and lots of paper stuff: filler paper, notepads, laser paper, construction paper, folders and, of course, lots and lots of books. And while students are becoming increasingly eco-aware, a lot of those paper things on their shopping lists are impossible to buy used: notepads and printing paper have to be pristine and even many textbooks become quickly and uselessly out of date.

So what’s a conservation-minded student or teacher to do? Here are some suggestions: