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There are so many great ways to contribute to a healthy planet. Some steps are larger than others; some are quick and some eco-friendly ideas take substantial planning. We’ll eventually talk about all these ideas at length but just to get you thinking here are 100 various ideas that can help your family go green.
Buy less stuff.- Fix that leaky sink
- Change one regular old light bulb to an energy efficient bulb
- Visit the library instead of buying books
- Buy in bulk
- Grow an egg carton herb garden
- Invest in a kitchen compost
- Hand down clothing from bigger kids to smaller kids
- Eat at least three vegetarian meals a week
- Use a flea comb on the family pet instead of toxic chemicals or try this method
Rotate the tires every 8,000 miles on the family car- Recycle old school notebooks
- Look for the star
- Grow your own container lettuce — click on the picture to see more cool container ideas!
- Just say no; to Post It Notes (come on, you know you have scratch paper around the house)
- Attend a beach or neighborhood clean-up as a family (note: this will open in pdf, but is a great resource)
- Install a low-flow shower head
- Have a green picnic
- Power toys with rechargeable batteries
- Stop using plastic baggies
- Use cloth diapers
- The next time you go to a park take five minutes and clean up some trash that other people left behind
- Play material free; think hide & seek, leapfrog, and tag
- Quit buying coffee filters
- Buy recycled pencils for school kids
- The next time you feel like redecorating try rearranging your current stuff instead — you may not need to buy any new items
- Take your ink cartridges to a recycling center (better yet, mail them — no gas)
- Get your next load of veggies from a local farmers market
- One evening this week turn off all the lights and the television; light a candle and tell spooky stories
- Put homemade pudding in the lunch boxes instead of pre-made pudding packs
- Find your perfect green home
- Make Halloween costumes out of items you already have at home
- Make a natural air freshener instead of buying a commercial product
- Use both sides of a piece of paper
- Mamas, if you wear make-up try going natural one day a week
Live within your means- Buy organic apples
- Decide what you want before opening the fridge
- Visit a forest
- Make popsicles and eliminate cardboard and plastic waste
- Buy recyclable toothbrushes
- If you build a home, build green
- Cancel the newspaper if you don’t honest to god read it
- Gather up used plastic easter egg containers and reuse them next year
- Quit singing in the shower
- Purchase Fair Trade coffee
- Shop for household items at a thrift shop
- Weatherize your windows
- Invest your money using green sensibility
- If you need a Christmas tree get a living tree
- Spend 10 minutes a day discussing green living issues with your children
- Forget the yellow pages
- Find out what birds are local to your area
- Make sure empty toilet paper rolls make it out of the bathroom and to the recycling bin
- Buy or make organic baby food
Cancel two magazine subscriptions- Paint the kitchen toxic-free
- Buy unsliced American cheese instead of individually wrapped slices
- Use both sides of and then recycle your tin foil
- Look into greener transportation
- Donate your old glasses
- Take a walk, late at night with your kids (does nature look different at night?) what does it sound like?
- Quit using drinking straws
- Color hair naturally
Give a hug and some time instead of a new toy to a child- Use baking soda to freshen your toilet
- Cancel your junk mail
- Introduce yourself to one new neighbor this month. Ask them if they like the idea of a neighborhood clean-up, pot-luck, or other community event.
- Use refillable shampoo bottles (most co-ops have this option)
- Spend less; work less; and be with your children
- Design, your own art instead of buying new
- Visit five other green-minded blogs (see my sidebar for ideas)
Make soup from scratch using some leftover item in your fridge before it goes to waste- Support at least one green business
- Plant a tree for each child in the family
- Be a breastfeeding family
- Visit a butterfly conservatory
- Read TreeHugger and learn something wicked cool every day
- Use the sunshine to make fruit roll-ups
- Throw away mothballs and use cedar blocks
- Turn off the lights when you go to bed
- Make every long distance phone call count
- Share an electric or push lawnmower among neighborhood families
- Carpool to work and school
- Create or join a community garden
- Go see what’s new at the local recycling plant (call ahead)
- Stomp around in the rain and see how many worms you can count
- Take off your shoes in the house
- Stop using real bleach
- Give used toys to a good cause like a woman and children’s shelter
- Play eco-friendly kid games on the computer
- Purchase bulk peanut butter in your reusable container from the co-op
- Stay put if possible; relocation is not very eco-friendly.
Use fewer fabric sheets; see if one half works as well- Install solar outdoor lighting
- Build or obtain a rain barrel and paint it a beautiful color
- Kids; become an official planet protector!
- Learn what size of footprint your family makes on the planet
- Read Tree Hugging Family (I had to go there)
- Dream that a greener planet is possible in your children’s lifetime
What are you already doing as a family?
I did a few test drives last week and prices across the board are unbelievable. Electric cars look good .. Zap especially. The Yaris, Corolla and Fit are pretty good too. Good luck on the decision, and be sure to send a pic over once you decide on one!
Well, now I guess I need to take a road trip to Montana! Just kidding — although next time I travel through I probably will stop by. I can be funny like that. I’m not used to snow because it rarely snows in my area of Oregon / Washington but I’ve traveled in Utah and sledding was much funner than I thought it would be.
you’d be most welcome at the inn… i didnt think i ‘d like the snow… trust me in may it gets old, but for the rest of the time… where we’re located it pretty much melts off by noon
happy weekend
gp in montana
Hey hil, no car decision yet — although cost wise I may have to go with pretty fuel efficient not hybrid :( I’ve got a lot going on right now that’s eating up car shopping time and I’m still not sure if I can afford a hybrid.
Thanks for stopping by!
WOW! What a list … and it’s full of good ideas and links. You really outdid yourself with this post. Thanks :)
(Oh, and thanks for the mention. Have you been making any headway on the car decision?)
It’s wonderful to see people thinking about water conservation and catchments as well as how to live a greener life. At http://www.aridsolutionsinc.com/ we actually sell child safe and animal safe rain barrels. Our website, though, also has information on other ways to conserve water and other products to help reduce waste emissions into the environment. Good Luck in all your endeavors.
Actually you can opt out of the phone book; but since more people might be interested I’ll grab my resource and throw up a post about it :) Maybe tonight.
On #52, I thought you were about to tell us how to opt out of getting the yellow pages. I wish it were optional because I reallly hate the phone book. I always find it easier to use http://www.bigyellow.com or whatever.
You know Kate I did not put #1 there on total purpose; but it came to me first so maybe subconsciously I did. It really is the crux of the whole live lighter issue I think. Thanks for pointing that out. If you do make an egg carton garden you should send in some pics!
Thank you for putting number 1 exactly where it belongs.
And the kids and I are definitely going to do number 6.
I love that, “A darker shade of green” very cool. And I LOVE Montana; my son is named after Red Lodge, and I’ve traveled all through there — if there was less snow I might consider a move.
wow…. this is great… some great NEW tips to help us make our inn a darker shade of Green :)
thanx
gp in montana
Crabby; I’m surprised to see you here. You know. I think this lazy thing may be an act… I think you’re more of a do-gooder than you let on :)
I can’t believe you found a hundred great ideas for ONE post, including helpful links! Some great reminders and a whole bunch I’d never thought of before.
And I agree, I’m looking forward to delving into some of these more deeply. But in the meantime, you’ve really got me thinking and there are definitely some items I need to get going on ASAP.
Marye; I KNOW is that the best idea for broken carts or what. I love it. The options are pretty high gardening wise as a cart is so deep.
Lib, should I perhaps be ridiculously unthorough? I could write a whole post that says, “Go Green NOW!” Just kidding, and yeah, I’d say one at a time… although if anyone did try all this at once they should send me pictures because that would be amazing!
Hey Julie, nice to see you this morning… I’m a good influence on everyone ;)
Great list Jennifer! Now I need to start following them. :) You’re a good influence on me.
Another great and ridiculously thorough list, Jennifer. I can hardly wait to dig deeper into some of these tips. Maybe only a few at a time, though. ;)
I love this list! I especially like the grocery cart planter.