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Author Archive | Jennie Lyon

Teaching Your Little One About Sustainability Through Fun Projects

November 12, 2021 0

Taking care of our environment has become a top concern around the world. If you have children at home, it’s time to start teaching them about sustainability so they can grow up with knowledge on how to make the world a better, greener place.

Here are a few fun projects you can do as a family that’ll give your children a solid foundation for sustainable living.

Learn How to Care for Indoor Plants

If starting a vegetable garden in your backyard isn’t a task you’re up for just yet, you can teach your children how to care for plants in an easier fashion by adding indoor plants to common living spaces in your home. With over 28 million small businesses throughout the country, you can surely find a greenhouse or two in your area that sells an assortment of plants to choose from.

Start with plants that don’t require a ton of upkeep. Aloe vera plants, snake plants, cacti, spider plants, baby’s tears, and prayer plants are a few easy types of plants your kids can handle. Go over how to pot, repot, water, and care for the plants on a daily and weekly basis. You may have your kids write down which days they need to water the plants on their personal calendars so they can own the responsibility of caring for them on a regular basis. Once they’ve mastered the easy plants, you can move to plants that require more care.

Turn Cardboard Into Art

Between cereal, pasta, and other snacks in your pantry, you likely have a lot of cardboard boxes filling up your recycling can. While recycling is the best way to dispose of these boxes, you can also turn this “trash” into art.

Your kids can turn flat pieces of cardboard into their own board games, create a painting for their playroom, and even create themed pieces of art during the holidays. For example, you can create cardboard turkeys for Thanksgiving festivities and snowmen and reindeer for the December holiday season. By creating art with cardboard, your kids will learn how to make a product useful for something other than holding food.

Create Nature-Themed Picture Books

If your children attend one of the 87% of private schools that have fewer than 300 students, they likely have an excellent selection of kids’ books to choose from on a daily basis. Your children probably spend a good amount of time reading and writing at school, but how can they bring these skills home and learn about the environment at the same time? Creating handmade nature-themed picture books is a unique idea you can get started on right away.

All you need is your cell phone or another type of camera, a printer, empty scrapbooks from a craft store, glue or tape, and colorful writing utensils. Take your kids outside in your backyard, around your neighborhood, and to local parks. Have them take a bunch of pictures of the nature that surrounds them. Then, get their photos printed. Create a crafting station at your dining room table and let your kids get to work gluing or taping their photos in the scrapbooks. Encourage them to a write caption for each picture. Not only will your kids love their handmade books outlining their naturesque adventures, but they’ll get in some writing practice, too!

Encourage Your Kids to Become Leak Investigators

Did you know that fixing easy-to-fix leaks can save you about 10% on your water bill? Dripping faucets and worn toilet flappers are among the easy-to-fix leaks everyone in your family should be aware of. To help avoid water waste in your home, encourage your children to become leak “investigators.”

Show your children the signs to look for in a bathroom, the kitchen, and the laundry room that indicate there’s a leak. For example, if your children notice damp or damaged flooring, strange noises when the water is on, reduced water pressure, or water stains, there may be a water leak in your home that requires some further investigation.

Teaching your children about sustainability and how to better take care of the earth around them is a responsible parenting move. Consider these fun projects as you teach your kids the best ways to take care of our environment and reduce waste at home.

The Best Way To Take Care Of The Planet? Take Care Of Yourself

November 4, 2021 0

The desire to adopt a greener lifestyle is something that unites millions of people across the nation at this time. However, finding the motivation to stay consistent in those endeavors is often a fairly difficult task. Learning to focus on the personal benefits will change this forever.

Many aspects of self-care will bring eco-friendly rewards as a by-product. Here are four of the best solutions that will deliver stunning results for you and the planet.

#1. Improve your diet

A healthy relationship with food is one of the most beneficial lifestyle changes you’ll ever achieve. The fact that it will boost your well-being is the main focus. Still, many of the steps will actively reduce your carbon footprint too. After all, the key attributes of a winning diet include eating more fruit and veg while reducing your reliance on processed foods. Cutting your meat intake can also support the bid for a greener lifestyle while also delivering physical health rewards. Drinking more water is another positive step, just be sure to avoid plastic bottles.

#2. Boost the home setting

Creating a positive home atmosphere can work wonders for your health. As well as boosting your mental wellness, it can actively support your physical wellness. Adding insulation and upgrading your HVAC systems will make illnesses less likely. This is due to improved heat efficiency and air quality. Those steps will also aid the environment and your long-term bank balance. Switching to eco-friendly cleaning materials and a solid cleaning schedule will work well too. Again, the focus is on your breathing health. Yet, your carbon footprint will fall.

#3. Seeking Quick Physical Recoveries

When you get injured at work, during sport or in daily tasks, focusing on your recovery is key. It’s OK to be self-centered at this time and worry primarily about what will bring the fastest return to normality. In reality, though, a faster recovery will put less strain on resources both at home and in medical centers. Therefore, quick responses with suitable wound care will help your body heal quicker and avoid infections. Once again, the main reason for doing this is that you will get back to your best far sooner. Still, the fact you’ll use fewer materials and make fewer trips to the hospital will lower the carbon footprint.

#4. Spend more time outside

Spending more time outside is one of the best ways to support the planet. Whether actively taking on tasks like planting trees or just enjoying the great outdoors is up to you. Either way, embracing nature and the simple things in life will mean that you use fewer resources like gas and electricity. Crucially, ideas like nature walks are great for your physical and mental wellness. Outdoor activities are also a great outlet for creating magical memories with friends and family. Better still, it’s a good way to maintain social distancing from large groups inside. Right now, that’s as big an incentive as any.

Simultaneously looking after yourself and the planet is a truly beautiful thing. You’ve got this.

5 Red Flags When Shopping Online for an Eco-Friendly Kitchen

October 26, 2021 0

When shopping online for eco-friendly products for your kitchen, you may come across some products that are not really what they claim to be. Whether you’re looking for dishwashing liquid, small appliances, or kitchen utensils, finding the right products is important to your health and safety. Many products for the kitchen advertised as sustainable may not be. In this article, we will discuss warning signs to look for when shopping online for sustainable products. We will discuss sites that have products too good to be true, sites with no reviews or refunds, products sold with credit card purchases only, products advertised as green that are not, and how to tell the difference. Follow these tips and you will be able to buy sustainable eco-friendly products for your home with confidence.

Products That Appear Too Good To Be True

When shopping you may come across eco-friendly products that seem too good to be true. They promise more than what they deliver. For example, a dishwashing gel that advertises it is sustainable and safe. When you check the ingredients, you find it has sodium borate in it and other chemicals. The advertising is false because this dishwashing gel is still toxic and not eco-friendly as advertised. Always check the ingredients in a product to use in the kitchen or the materials that cookware and utensils are made of before buying. Nonstick coatings on cookware are known to be toxic, and when advertised as eco-friendly, signal false advertising.

Checking the materials small appliances, cookware, and utensils are made from will help you make better decisions. With a 40% increase in kitchen and bathroom remodeling, it’s essential to know how to shop for eco-friendly products that improve the safety of your home before undergoing your own kitchen remodel. Always research products before buying them for your home.

Website Offers No Refunds Or Product Reviews

The website sells eco-friendly products but offers no refunds or exchanges for their products. This is often a sign that they do not make good products. A credible website will offer refunds for a damaged or defective product or send a replacement. An Internet crime is committed by a site that offers false information about products or services to consumers, and when a product has no customer reviews, that can be a sign that the product could be a scam. Look for products with guarantees or refunds on products you buy.

Website Only Offer Credit Card Payment Option

A site that asks about credit card information before you look at their products or actually purchase them is a big red flag. A good website will offer you more than one way to pay for products. Once you pay by credit card, you cannot really go back and change the transaction. Websites that accept checks or payment on delivery show they are reputable and have different ways for consumers to purchase their products. Sites that accept a variety of payment options show they stand behind their products.

Suspicious Product Advertised

You visit a site and find that they have a product you have never heard of with a rather general description. It has quality photos but the description does not match the photos. You cannot find any information about the product or reviews. This may be a warning not to bother buying it and to just keep looking elsewhere. A website that has no address or phone can mean the site is shady.

Kitchenware That Is Not Eco-Friendly

Plastic products for storage and eating often have chemicals that are harmful to the human body. Polystyrene is used to make plastic cups, plates, rubber, food containers, and packaging has been linked to cancer. Some disposable water bottles have been found to be made with harmful chemicals. Plastics become more lethal when heated, and used with acidic food. Avoid small appliances made of plastic or substances like Tritan that studies link with health problems. Due to the fact that more people are eating at home, it’s important to use safe eco-friendly products in the kitchen.

There are some things we cannot change in our fight to make the environment better. Using oil in our cars and appliances is unavoidable, with oil so ingrained within our culture since the first oil pipeline was constructed in 1862. However, by investing in eco-friendly products for our homes and kitchens, we can do our part in helping to make the planet greener. Just be sure you are watching out for potential scams when beginning to shop for eco-friendly products!

Taking Charge of Your Family’s Health

October 21, 2021 0

Taking charge of your family’s health is a great way to keep everyone healthy and happy. You can start by making an organic garden for fresh produce, going on a hike with the kids, or taking up a new sport. 

There are so many ways to take care of your body and mind! Below are simple but effective steps to better yourself and your family’s well-being.

Have an Organic Garden for Fresh Produce

Having an organic garden for fresh produce means you can grow your healthy foods. This provides you with the peace of mind knowing exactly what’s going into your food, and it supports local farmers who produce organically growing sustainable practices.

Organic foods are generally healthier than non-organic foods and offer more nutrients. An organic garden is a great way to start your healthy living journey – you can always redirect where you want it to go later on when ready!

Organic foods include fruits, vegetables, meats, and non-genetically modified grains. There are many benefits to growing your food – aside from the health aspects – it also provides a fun family activity that all ages can participate in!

Take Your Fitness Routine Up a Notch

Fitness refers to the level of activity that someone does. Routine refers to something done regularly or repeatedly to develop a skill.

Fitness routines can be adequately developed, but taking your routine up a notch can help motivate yourself and improve your overall health at once. When taking your routine up a notch, the first thing you will want to do is figure out what kind of exercise works best for you because not all exercises are suitable for everyone’s body types and capabilities. 

You should also set goals that over time become easier. This means that there has been an improvement in how much effort you need to put into each workout session towards reaching them. Lastly, you may want to consider signing up for a fitness certification. This can help improve your fitness skills which you can later turn into a side hustle as you will be legally certified. 

Mind Your Environment

Your environment is everything. It is all around you, and it has the potential to influence your lifestyle in several different ways. So how do you mind this environment?

You can mind your environment by eating healthily and avoiding pollutants. This is a great way to ensure that you are making the right choices for your body, as well as those around it.

Eat Healthily

Eating healthy is another great way to take charge of your family’s health. This includes eating nutritious foods and staying away from processed sugars and fried/fast food.

Eat more fresh produce instead of processed food products. It doesn’t have to be all organic either; try getting some organic items in there where possible! When you’re out shopping, choose local produce rather than what’s on offer from overseas or interstate if given a choice between them both.

In conclusion, taking charge of your family’s health can be done by taking a few simple steps. The most important thing is to have the right mindset. If you believe in what you are doing in life to take care of yourself and those around you, then there’s no telling how far it will go for all involved.

How to Keep Your Eco-Friendly Home Clean When You Have a Pet

October 13, 2021 0

Whilst standard vacuum cleaners will be reasonably effective at cleaning up after your pets, over time they can become less efficient, leaving behind fur and odors. A ‘pet-friendly vacuum usually has extra strong suction to deep clean your flooring, preferably with anti-wrap technology to prevent the brushes from getting clogged with fur.

Welcoming a pet into your home can make it feel complete. They can offer you companionship and endless love. However, what they can also offer is a laborious cleaning routine, focused solely around tidying up their mess.

Ask some owners and they’ll tell you that owning a pet and having a clean house are mutually exclusive. However, whilst your animal companion will certainly give you more to think about when it comes to your cleaning, it is possible to maintain a clean and healthy home despite their best efforts. Follow our three simple tips to stay one step ahead of your pets and their messy habits.

Use a pet-friendly vacuum cleaner

This will be particularly important to people with pets that shed their fur more often. When talking about dogs, certain breeds, such as beagles or German shepherds, can be particularly heavy shedders, and you should devise a vacuuming regime that reflects this. Many experts recommend that pet owners should be vacuuming on a daily basis to maintain a healthy living environment.

This isn’t just to reduce the buildup of fur around the home. Particularly adventurous pets are prone to bringing unwanted bacteria and germs into the house from their travels, so a daily clean can help to mitigate the threat of illness or infection.

For the eco-conscious among you, bear in mind that some vacuums will be more eco-friendly than others. Typically, plug-in vacuum cleaners will be far better for the environment. This is due to the absence of lithium batteries, which have been found to have significant environmental impacts, particularly during the lithium extraction process.

Keep your pets clean

In this section, we’ll be referring to potentially the muddiest of pets – the dog. It may sound obvious, but cleaning your dog, especially after a particularly muddy walk, means any dirt on their paws or coat will not be transferred to your pristine carpet or upholstery. Whilst this may seem a chore at first, washing your pup will be far easier than dealing with stains you’ve let build up around the house.

Keeping your pet clean doesn’t just refer to washing away the mud, however. There are several other cleaning methods you should be considering. For some breeds, regular brushes of their fur can make a world of difference in preventing hair from getting caught up in the carpet and furniture. Furthermore, regularly washing their bed will prevent the buildup of harmful bacteria, which can not only create health problems for your pet, but also for their human companions.

Dealing with accidents

It can be one of the most frustrating parts of pet ownership. Just as you’ve finished your weekly clean, the cat decides now is the best time to have an accident on your previously unblemished carpet. Unfortunately, accidents are unavoidable. But, failure to deal with them properly can create far worse problems further down the line, so it’s imperative that you begin the clean-up efforts as soon as you notice the problem.

At times like this, stain removers can be your best friend. Whilst most all-purpose stain removers will be effective in this situation, there are pet-friendly products designed specifically to not only lift stains but also to reduce the pungent odour attached to them.

When stains are attended to improperly, or not at all, not only will your house quickly be filled with a bad smell, but in the worst cases, it can result in carpets or upholstery needs replacing. This can be a costly process, not only to your bank account but also to the environment. Improper disposal of carpets is still a widespread problem across America, with an estimated 5 billion pounds worth sent to landfills in 2017 alone. Keeping on top of any marks will prolong the life of your carpet and keep your home looking clean.

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