10 ways to be more sustainable with your vegetable garden

Yes, I know a vegetable garden in and of itself is a pretty sustainable thing. Growing your own food instead of getting it from the store (usually in some sort of plastic bag or container) is great. But what are some extra steps you can take to be even more sustainable with your garden? Here are ten of them.

1. If you start your own seeds, do it in reused containers instead of buying new ones. Yogurt cups are great for this, but any container will do. Also starter pots made from newspaper are an eco-friendly way to go.
2. Use water saved from cooking or captured water from running the faucet to water your plants. When you cook vegetables or pasta in water, nutrients leach into the water and that water makes great plant food. Don't use water that you've used to cook meat in to water edible plants, though. And, make sure the water has cooled before you use.
3. Water early in the morning or late in the evening so the midday sun doesn't soak up half of the water before the plants get it. You'll have to use less water this way.
4. Save your seeds for next year. In addition to saving seeds from my own garden, I plan on buying a couple expensive heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market, enjoy them, and save their seeds for next year. I'm not sure how well it will work, but I'm going to give it a shot.
5. Share your bounty. Your bound to have too much of something (basil? zucchini?). Don't let it go bad. Share with friends and neighbors or find a food bank that will take the donations.
6. Compost. Turn your vegetable and plant waste into food for next year's garden.
7. Rotate your plants. Even in a small garden, moving the plants around from year to year will help the soil.
8. Deter pests naturally. It's very tempting, and I know how tempting it is from experience, to want to destroy bugs or keep the rabbits away using toxic methods. But, this is food your family will eat so keep the chemicals away. Experiment with natural remedies and be okay with losing a little of your crop while you're figuring it out.
9. Learn about the types of diseases your plants could get and how to identify them. This year especially with the late blight wiping out tomato plants, identifying and properly handling a disease could save part of your garden and your neighbor's garden, too.
10. If you have kids, get them out in the garden with you and pass on the skills that you have (or maybe learn skills together) so that they will continue to garden when they have their own space.

10 easy ways to be more sustainable with your clothing

I'm not too different than other women. I like clothes. I like to feel good about what I'm wearing. I have a certain style, and when I see something that I think is "me" I want it. Unfortunately, buying whatever I want isn't very sustainable - either environmentally or financially. My clothing buying has considerably dwindled in the past couple of years. 

Still, I need clothing (believe me, it would not be all that pretty if I did not have them). So how can I be more sustainable with my clothing and with my family's clothing? Here are ten ways to be greener with clothes.

1. Wash your clothes less. Lots of the things we wear don't need to be washed every time we take them off. I have a rule that my boys have to wear their pj's at least three nights in a row before they can go in the hamper. We take a look at what we wear each day to see if we can get another wearing out of the before they get washed. Washing less helps the clothes to last longer and you use water and energy because you wash less.
   
2. When you do wash, wash in cold water. It takes a lot of energy to heat the water that is used when you wash in warm or cold.
   
3. Line dry clothing whenever possible. 
4. Buy clothing made of organic fabrics. The making of organic cloth is much less harmful on the earth than non-organic cloth.
5. If you can't buy all your clothes made from organic fabrics (and it's very difficult to do so - I don't), try to buy as many from natural fabrics - cotton, linen, bamboo, hemp and wool are natural. While some of these may be grown using fertilizers and pesticides, it doesn't take the additional chemicals to turn them into fabric as it does for fabrics like rayon or polyester.
6. If your all natural clothing is no longer useful - say your jeans are so holey that you can't donate them, you can compost them. They act as "brown" additions to your compost pile. Cut them into thin strips so they will break down more quickly.
7. Buy used - thrift stores and consignment stores help the environment because they are instrumental in getting clothing reused. You can find some really fabulous clothing for good prices, too.
8. Accept hand me downs for your kids (and even yourself). Kids grow so quickly and need new clothes a couple of times a year. There's nothing wrong with accepting hand me downs. It can keep a lot of resources from being used in creating new clothing, and of course it will save you a bundle.
9. Hand down or donate your old clothing. Don't let clothes sit in storage if you aren't going to use them again. Get them back out into the market so they can be used.
10. Cancel the majority of your catalogs. I mention Catalog Choice here a lot because its such an easy way to cancel catalogs. If you have a bad habit of buying on impulse because you saw something you have to have in a catalog, cut off the source. If you don't know the items exists, you can't want it.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with Valentine's Day

Only eleven days until the holiday where we celebrate love. Of course, showing our love to the people in our lives is paramount on Valentine's Day, but showing our love to people all around the world by helping to make sure they have a healthy earth is important, too. Here are ten easy ways to be a little more sustainable with your celebration this year.

1. If you're eating out, find a local restaurant that serves most of its food from local sources or small organic farms. A good place to locate one is at Localharvest.org.
   
2. If you're eating in, buy what you can locally, and make sure your ingredients are organic and all-natural.
   
3. Use soy or beeswax candles to set the mood.
   
4. Make a card from things you have around the house instead of buying one.
   
5. Buy organic, fair trade chocolates. Try Sweet Earth Chocolates if you can't find any in your local store.
6. Give locally grown flowers (if you can find them this time of year) or at least make sure the flowers you give were grown organically.
7. Don't buy new music for your in home dinner. Go to Pandora.com and create a Frank Sinatra station. All night long you'll have a swinging rotation of Frank and his Rat Pack buddies along with some of his other contemporaries and some of our contemporaries like Harry Connick, Jr. and Jamie Cullum. It may not be your normal nightly listening, but for Valentine's Day, it's perfect.
8. Buy her recycled jewelry.
9. Buy him a pre-owned box set of Die Hard movies or James Bond movies.
10. Agree to forgo gifts altogether. Your love is enough, right?

Image: aussiegall

10 Easy ways to be more sustainable with your mail

Mail. It comes six days a week, and I throw 75% of it out immediately. I've got less to throw out now than I did in the past, however. There are some things you receive in the mail that you are never going to be able to avoid, but many of the things you do receive can be managed. Here are ten easy ways to curb the amount of mail that comes into your box and the paper waste that you generate.

1. Get paperless bank statements. Most banks will now e-mail you your monthly statements instead of sending them in the mail. If you want to make sure that you keep track of everything, you will need some sort of banking software that will allow you to download those statements.
2. Go paperless with your monthly bills. The phone bill, the electric bill, your insurance bills, your credit card bill - many of them can now be sent to your e-mail and then paid online. Not only does this keep paper from coming into your house, it saves you money in stamps.
3. Get rid of unwanted catalogs by going to Catalog Choice and opting out of individual catalogs.
   
4. Contact non-profit organizations that send you requests for donations (the ones you don't donate to) and ask them to remove your name and address from their mailing list.
5. Don't renew magazines that you never read.
6. Visit DMAchoice.org to get off of many direct marketing lists.
7. Go to privacyrights.org to find out how to opt out of all sorts of mailings such as credit card offers, flyers, advertising supplements, and sweepstakes.
8. Send e-vites for casual get-togethers instead of mailing formal invitations. 
9. Save the return envelops from mailings you do receive to use for things like making grocery lists on and sending money into school with your kids.
10. Recycle all unwanted mail. Anything with sensitive information on it should be shredded first then recycled.

10 easy ways to be more sustainable with your water usage

Welcome back to my 10 easy ways to be more sustainable... series. I took a little break from my regular weekly series over the holidays, but I'm finally back in the swing again.

Water. We all use it. Here in the U.S., it's easy to come by in most areas. Just turn on any tap and there you have it. I don't live in an area that has frequent drought problems so sometimes its hard to make conserving water a priority. Still, conserving water is important.

I need to remember that all of the water that goes down the drain in my home has to go to a treatment plant to get cleaned and put back into the system. That takes a lot of resources and energy to do. So while there isn't an urgent, immediate need in my region to save water for fear of losing our supply, there is still an environmental reason to conserve it.

Here are 10 easy ways to more sustainable with water use.

1. If you are washing dishes by hand, turn off the faucet unless the dish is under the water at the moment.
   
2. Always do a full load of laundry, or if you simply don't have enough to fill the washer but want to use it, adjust the fill level so it only fills to the point necessary.
   
3. Turn off the faucet when you are brushing your teeth.
   
4. Use water used to boil pasta or vegetables (but not water that meat has been in) to water inside and outside plants.
   
5. If you're letting the kitchen faucet run until the water gets hot, catch the water in a pitcher and put it in the fridge. Then use that water for drinking and cooking.
6. Put a low flow shower head in your shower.
7. When you are done with your bathroom towels, hang them immediately so they don't get all musty. You can go longer between washings.
8. Moderate the time of your kids' showers.
9. Place a toilet tank displacement device in older toilets so they don't use as much water when they flush.
10. Don't wash your car often. When you do, take it to a car wash that recycles its water.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable in Your Home Office

We have two separate offices in our house. One for me and one for my husband because we both work from home. Physically, we could both fit in his office on the third floor, but it would be very disruptive to have us both in the same space. Plus, I'm a big ol' slob and he's not, so my mess would drive him insane. It often drives me insane.

Anyway, I try to be as environmentally responsible in my office as I can be, and I encourage my husband to do the same. Here are ten easy things that can be done that can make your home office more sustainable.

1. Plug your computer, printer, speakers and anything else that goes together into one power strip with an off button. When not in use, just touch one button and you turn them all off, saving energy.
2. Keep a recycling bin for papers right next to your trash can.
3. Before papers hit the recycling bin - use both sides. I print a lot because I'm not very good at proofreading off a screen. I use the backs of papers (particularly the papers that get sent home from my boys' school) to print on because after proofreading, the papers just get put in the recycling bin.
4. Buy the best recycled paper you can afford. 100% recycled paper is expensive, but paper with 30% post consumer content doesn't cost much more than virgin paper.
5. Change the lightbulbs in your office to CFL's or better yet, LED's.
6. Recycle your ink cartridges. Send them back to the manufacturer, donate them to a cause that is collecting them as a fundraiser, or drop them off at many office supply stores.
   
7. Make sure that you properly dispose of e-waste (electronic waste). Electronic equipment that ends up in landfills wreaks havoc on the environment. Most counties have special e-waste collection days, many manufacturers are beginning to take back products, and still useful electronics should find new homes.
8. Be wise with your office supplies. Reuse folders, save the rubberbands that come wrapped around flowers or newspapers to use in your office, live with a manual pencil sharpener instead of one that needs batteries or electricity. Every little bit helps.
9. When you need a new piece of office furniture, try buying used first. Go to yard sales, a thrift store, or Craigslist. Or try Freecycle and perhaps you can get what you need for free. You may even want to try e-mailing friends and family to see if they have anything sitting unused that they would be willing to part with.
10. Think about putting a plant in your office. Unless you've been able to go out and purchase all new eco-friendly furniture, carpeting, and paint for your walls, your office is probably full of toxins from carpets, the glue that holds together your particle board second hand bookshelf, even the ink from your printer. Care2 has a list of plants, such as English Ivy and Peace Lillies, that help remove bad stuff from the air.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with Your Holiday Preparations

Last year I cancelled almost all of my catalogs. You wouldn't have known it this past week. A whole new slew of catalog companies have found my name and address, and I've got a pile of holiday catalogs. I'll be going to catalog choice to cancel them sometime this week. Their arrival made one thing clear. It's time to start thinking about holiday giving.

I'll be talking a lot about gift choices in the upcoming weeks, but I thought I'd start out the conversation and get back to my regular Tuesday feature with a 10 Easy Ways list.

1. Decide now to limit the number of gifts you give to your kids. I know this can be a difficult one, but in the past I've fallen into the trap of picking up a few little, inexpensive things just to make the pile look better under the tree. Those things rarely get played with. Things that go unused are a waste of the materials and energy it took to make and ship them.
   
2. Don't buy new decorations just to have something new. If you have enough, be content.
   
3. If you need decorations (yes, I know nobody NEEDS decorations, but people in their first apartment or home may want to decorate and have little) try buying used from thrift stores, yard sales, church rummage sales, etc.
   
4. If you need to take a hostess gift, consider organic wine, fair trade chocolates, or soy candles - all are greener choices than their conventional counterparts.
5. Belong to a club or organization that always does a cheapo pollyanna out of tradition?Buck tradition and suggest that everyone donates the money they would have spent on a lame gift to an agreed upon charity. You don't end up with a crummy gift, and a charity gets a boost up.
6. If you buy a real tree, make sure it comes from a sustainable tree farm. If it's a local tree farm, all the better.
7. Organize yourself before you go out shopping. Make lists and try to map out efficient routes to avoid excess driving.
8. Commit to no paper products at holiday dinners. Buy extra plates at the thrift store. Borrow extra place settings or silverware from guests who are coming. 
9. Take stock of your gift wrap, cards and other supplies. Do you have a box full of  two or three leftover cards per pack from years past that are just sitting there. Use them up before you buy new ones. Same with last years wrapping paper. Use the scraps. See if you can buy no new cards or paper this year.
10. Be a good example, not an obnoxious one. Don't sit around the holiday dinner table talking incessantly about the ORGANIC pumpkin pie or how your coffee is FAIR TRADE or how GREEN your gifts are this year. Try to make your sustainability efforts be a natural part of your holidays, not the centerpiece of them.

See easy. Just trying one or two of these ideas can make a difference.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable This Fall

Last night, I made my first chicken pot pie of the season. It was good. I made a side of scalloped apples. I love taking the edges of the pot pie crust and dipping them in the apples. It's like dessert in the middle of dinner. And it all smells so good.

I'm always glad when fall is finally officially here. The few weeks between labor day and the start of fall are orphan weeks. They belong to no season. It's technically still summer, but the pool is closed and the kids are back in school so it's not really summer. It's not quite cool out enough to bake a pot pie or a lasagna, but I'm over grilling every night. 

So I was happy tonight when I warmed the oven and made a pot pie (and later made oatmeal raisin cookies just because). 

In honor of fall, here are ten ways you can make it a more sustainable season.

1. When it starts to get chilly, throw on a sweater or sweatshirt instead of turning on the heat at your first shiver. See how long you can go before you turn on the thermostat.
   
2. Plant some organic bulbs.
   
3. Buy a bunch of apples from a local grower and make applesauce or a pie (or applesauce and a pie).
   
4. Order a free range turkey for Thanksgiving from a local farmer.
5. Keep visiting the farmer's market until it closes for the season. On the last day of the season buy as much as you can afford and store without it going bad. Let them know you want them to come back next year.
6. Turn your fallen leaves into mulch for your garden beds or put them in the compost.
7. Shop at a second hand store when you realize that your kids need new coats because last year's coats are, of course, too small. Donate those too small coats so they get reused.
8. Organize a Halloween costume swap.
9. Give fair trade or organic candy for Halloween.
10. Pick pumpkins from a local farm instead of buying ones that have been shipped really far to your grocery store.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with Your Linens

Table cloths. Dish towels. Bath towels. Cloth napkins. Bed sheets. These are all commonly known as linens although very few of them are actually made of linen. According to Wikipedia* 

The collective term linens is still often used generically to describe a class of woven and even knitted bed, bath, table and kitchen textiles. The name linens is retained because traditionally, linen was used for many of these items.

We have entire closets dedicated for holding our linens (or in the case of my small house, two very crammed shelves in the only hall closet in the house). There are stores devoted to selling linens. If you've got linens, and chances are you do, here are ten easy ways to be sustainable with them.

1. Shop for used. Now, I don't think I'd like to buy used bed sheets or bath towels, but I have bought many used table cloths at yard sales. Sometimes, the most beautiful ones are found at yard sales and second hand or antique stores.
   
2. What you don't buy used, buy made form organic cotton, hemp or bamboo. Our bed sheets are organic cotton, and they were very reasonably priced from Target. I think our queen set (flat sheet, fitted sheet and two pillow cases were $50).
   
3. Don't buy more than you need. Do you really need more than two sets of sheets for each bed in the house? Some people might say you only need one if you can be diligent enough to wash and put them back on the bed the same day. 
   
4. Wash all your linens in cold water. A lot of the energy used in washing clothes is for the hot water. 
   
5. Hang dry your linens. They come out crisp and smelling great, and you won't put the 5 pounds of green house gasses in the air that you would have if your ran them through the dryer. They will also last longer.
   
6. Use them wrinkled. What a better excuse not to iron than, "I just don't want to use the electricity that the iron uses."
7. Try natural stain removers like lemon juice and water, then a good soak in the sun, before using stain removers with harsh chemicals.
8. Hang your bath towels up carefully after each use so they don't have to be washed that often. Towels that quickly air dry avoid getting that funky smell.
9. Borrow. If you're having a party, think about borrowing some linens that a friend might have - a tablecloth or extra cloth napkins -instead of going out and buying something new. If you're having a huge party, consider renting them from a party supplier.
10. When your linens come to the end of their life, give them a new one as rags.

* I don't hold much stock in Wikipedia's general accuracy, but I don't see the harm in using them for this type of topic.

Image courtesy of flickr

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with Books

I am a bibliophile. Always have been. I love reading, but I also love books in and of themselves. They are a beautiful thing. I really can't see myself reading digital books. You can't curl up with a Kindle. You can't write its margins or risk dropping it in the bathtub on one of the rare occasions you have a long afternoon bath.

But I've had to curb my book habit a bit and change it in ways. According to eco-libris "about 20 million trees are cut down annually for virgin paper to be used for the production of books sold in the U.S. alone." That's a lot of trees. It makes me think twice now before buying a book on the Barnes and Noble sale table just because I can. If you've got a serious book habit like me, here are ten ways to be more sustainable with it.

1. Use the library often - especially for books that you're just interested in reading once. If you have kids, take them with you and let them pick out their own books.
   
2. Buy used books. Unless the book has just been published, there are many places you can get used books easily - eBay, Amazon, Barnes and Noble's website, Alibris, and other online sites have used books.
   
3. Borrow books from your friends and lend them yours.
   
4. Have a book swap with friends - do it for both adult books and kids books. A book swap is when you give your books up but you get ones in return.
   
5. Try swaptree.com for swapping books. Swaptree is an online services that matches up the books you want to give away with the books (or DVD's or video games) you want.
   
6. Take advantage of library books sales. Many libraries purge once a year and accept donations from the public. Then they have a sale (my local library sells hardbacks for $2 and paperbacks for $1).
7. Purge your own library from time to time. If you've got books that are just sitting collecting dust that you will never read again, let someone who wants to read them have them. You can donate them to libraries before their books sales, senior citizen centers, the Good Will and other places.
8. Contact book publishers and let them know that you would like them to start using recycled paper when printing books.
9. Plant a tree for each book you read to help balance out the paper consumption your book habit causes. 
10. Read the eco-libris blog. They have a lot of good information about books and being sustainable with them.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable With Your Leftover Food

How are you all doing with your waste less food mini eco-challenge? The other night I took a bunch of vegetables in the fridge that would usually be destined for the garbage disposal (I REALLY need to start composting!), chopped them up, threw a little olive oil in the pan, went out back and picked some parsley to add in and sauted them together with a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I ate three servings - it was so good and had enough left to reheat for last night's dinner.

I've been keeping a list of what has gotten thrown out (wish my oldest would eat his crusts - the list would be much shorter). 

In keeping with wasting less food - this week's 10 Easy Ways... is how to be more sustainable with your leftover food. Being more sustainable with leftovers basically means not wasting them. 

1. Put a container in your freezer to make leftover soup. Throw the odds and ends of vegetables, pastas, rice, beans and other things you might put in a soup. When you've got a substantial amount - make a one of a kind soup by adding some organic chicken or vegetable broth and some seasonings. You'll end up with something interesting.
   
2. If you've got a small amount of leftover vegetables from two or three nights in a row - say peas from Monday, zucchini from Tuesday, and corn from Wednesday, on Thursday heat them up and let everyone choose which one they want with their dinner.
3. Leftover white rice from Chinese food? Here are Five Ideas for Using Up Leftover, Cooked White Rice.
4. Keep a bread bag in your freezer to put the ends of loaves of bread. When you need fresh bread crumbs, defrost a few slices and use your food processor to make the bread crumbs. 
5. When bananas get too brown to eat, put them in the freezer. Find a good banana bread recipe and when you've got enough for the recipe, defrost and make banana bread. The bananas will look thoroughly disgusting once your defrost them, but they'll make great bread. 
6. Let the kids eat leftover mac and cheese or other pastas for breakfast if they want. This drives my husband crazy for some reason, but my kids love it.
7. Share - especially after a party, you might have a large amount of something leftover. Send it home with party guests or give a whole meals worth to a neighbor.
8. Freeze small portions of leftover meat for nights when not everyone is going to be home. I use these small portions for nights I know my husband won't be home. I'll defrost the meat and split it up between the boys and me - none of us are big meat eaters. I'll add some pasta and vegetables and we're all happy, and I didn't have to cook a main dish.
9. Refrain from cooking something new until something still edible is used up. This morning my son asked me to please make granola bars. I told him that we still had plenty of zucchini bread and until it was gone, I wouldn't be making granola bars. I know if I made the bars, the bread would probably be forgotten. We're become accustomed to having a huge variety of food to choose from, but if we're going to try to eat more sustainably, we're going to have to get used to eating things until they get eaten up. 
10. Get off your butt and start a compost pile already (I'm talking to myself here). That way some food that doesn't get eaten can go back to nourish the earth to grow more food.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable With Your Kids' Homework

School starts tomorrow. My boys are ready to go back. I knew it early last week when they were walking around saying there was nothing to do to, they didn't want to go to the pool because they were bored with it, and they started fighting like, well, brothers. 

It always takes a while for us to get back into the swing of a regular schedule, and that schedule will include homework by the beginning of next week. Here are a few ways to make that time you and your kids spend over their papers and books a little more sustainable.

1. Use recycled paper whenever possible.
   
2. Buy pencils that are made from recycled wood or that are made from wood from sustainable forests. There are even colored pencils made from these options.
   
3. Reuse the backs of graded homework papers. They can be cut into quarters and used as note paper, drawn on, or put in your printer and used to print on.
4. Keep a container to put used paper to recycle right near where the kids do their homework. If they have to go to another section of the house to recycle it, it may never make it.
5. Change all the light bulbs in the room where your kids do their homework to CFL's. They need sufficient light to stay on task so make sure the source of that light is sustainable.
6. If you serve snacks during homework time, make them natural, organic and low sugar. Air popped popcorn, apples with peanut butter, cheese, carrots and dip or homemade granola bars are really great choices. Make up a small plate with a couple choices on it and  let your kids grab what they want. Be sure to save repackage leftovers.
7. Keep a box with things that would otherwise be thrown away for when the kids have projects. Shoe boxes, magazines with pictures of nature or other things that might pop up for a project, usable scraps of colored paper - anything that can be used for those projects that pop up.
8. Stay organized and help your kids stay organized. Having to run out and buy more homework supplies because the glue, stapler or markers are lost isn't sustainable.
9. Buy used books from library book sales or used book stores for book report books or have them swap books with friends.
10. For a more sustainable family, be involved in your kids' homework process. Don't do their homework for them, but check their assignment books daily and help them when they need help. Be in the vicinity, be available, and be encouraging. 

See, easy.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable During Soccer Season

It is soccer season (although this year for the first time one of my boys is playing fall baseball instead of soccer). The 6pm practices and games kill our dinner time. It's easy to fall into bad habits that lead to unsustainability when things get hectic. Here are ten easy ways to stay sustainable while you're trying to fit in soccer practice, homework and good environmentalism.

1. Buy several reusable water bottles to take to practices and games.* Fill them with tap water. If you feel you must take sports drinks (I don't think it's very necessary for younger kids games) buy it in bigger containers and fill your bottles or buy the powdered mix and make it yourself.
   
2. Ride your bikes or walk to the fields if it's possible.
   
3. If you need to drive, carpool with other families in your neighborhood.
   
4. Take healthy snacks of fresh fruits and homemade granola bars to avoid buying prepackaged, preservative filled, food dyed junk at the snack bar.
5. Take home any bottles or cans you may end up using (or finding) at the fields to put in your own recycle bins if your fields don't have them.
6. Refrain from running through the fast food drive-thru before or after your practice for dinner because "there is just no time." Sandwiches packed at home and taken to the field or eaten in the car on the way home are much better for you and the planet than a burger and fries. For a quick meal when you get home, try scrambled eggs, toast and fruit. It takes a little forethought and organization to stay away from the drive-thru, but it is well worth it.
7. Buy your soccer balls and other necessary equipment from a second hand sports shop.
8. If last year's stuff fits, use it again. Kids are unlikely to outgrow shin guards and soccer socks in one year. 
9. Every once in a while, have your kids and their buddies walk around and clean up trash around the fields.
10. For a sustainable family, say "no" when needed - like when the coach calls for an extra practice that will put your family's schedule over the edge or interfere with a planned family outing. Do not allow kids' activities to take over the family.

See. Easy.

*Write your family name on your bottles and at the end of each practice/game make sure each person has remembered to take it from the field. They aren't so sustainable if you have to keep replacing them.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable in the Dining Room

Whether you have a formal dining room, a breakfast nook, or an eat-in kitchen, it's easy to get unsustainable when it comes to how you serve your meals. Here are ten easy ways to be more sustainable at your dining table.

1. Use cloth napkins (see note below).
   
2. Ditch the paper plates - use durable, washable plates.
   
3. Use real utensils - never plastic.
   
4. Candles are a beautiful touch for your table, but make sure your candles are all natural  - made ingredients like soy or beeswax.
   
5. If you're going to have flowers on the table, make sure they are local and didn't travel hundreds of miles to get to your table. If you can't buy local, opt for a different centerpiece.
6. Shop yard sales for fabulous vintage table clothes instead of buying new.
   
7. Change out all the light bulbs in the room to CFL's.
   
8. Use your chipped plates instead of going out to buy new ones. Our plates are 15 years old and very few are left unchipped. It doesn't take the enjoyment out of our meals one little bit.
9. If you've got a formal dining room that isn't used frequently, close the curtains during the warm months to keep the sun out and open them in the winter months to let the sun in. It will help conserve energy.
10. For a sustainable family, make sure you all sit around the dining table once a day for a meal. 

See, easy.

Note about cloth napkins: A lot of my friends ask about the difficulty of using cloth napkins - washing them, ironing them, getting out the stains. Honestly, I don't care about ironing or getting out stains. I have all white napkins, wash them each time I do a white load and hang them out to dry. If they are stained, oh well, we're only using them to wipe our mouths and hands. Wrinkles - who cares?

I do keep a set of 12 stashed away for when we have guests. They do get treated for stains after we use them, but unless it's Thanksgiving or Easter, I don't even iron them. 

I'm not trying to set a Martha Stewart table, I'm trying to set a sustainable one.

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10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with Your Home Organizing

In September my youngest goes to school full time. With that, I will be devoting more time to freelance writing. I plan on putting in 25 hours a week actually working instead of the 10-12 I put in now. If I want to be make those 25 very efficient hours, I need to be getting my office in order over the next three weeks. It's a disaster area. So home organization is on my mind.

I'd love to hire a professional organizer, have that person come in and put in cabinets and shelves and cute little color coordinating baskets and window treatments. But that wouldn't be sustainable or affordable. I'm going to have to get organized in a sustainable way. Here are ten easy ways I could do it.

1. The first step in organizing is always to get rid of things you don't need. Don't throw away anything usable. Donate or freecycle it.
2. Tackle the paper monster. If your home is anything like mine there are piles of paper everywhere, not just in the office. Gather it all up and put in several piles - recycle, shred (then recycle), file, reuse (if there is still a clean side to the paper and you don't need what is on the front) and perhaps another pile or two that you deem necessary. Then tackle the piles until all paper is where it should be.
   
3. Anything that is behind closet doors doesn't need to look pretty, it just needs to be organized. There's no need to buy matching boxes or baskets. Shoe boxes and other make shift organizing supplies are fine.
4. Pens and pencils can go in mugs. You don't need a fancy desk top pencil holder.
5. Use well washed glass jars and plastic jars to hold items.
   
6. Buy used. If you need shelves or containers, hit the thrift store or yard sales.
   
7. Repurpose things you already have. Do you have any unused furniture sitting in an attic or basement. Could an old chest of drawers be used to organize kids papers and craft supplies? Sometimes a fresh coat of paint and some new drawer pulls can do wonders.
8. Use old dresser drawers underneath beds to store items. If you are worried about dust, place a beach towel over the drawer that can be easily washed. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't see someone put an old dresser out at the curb.
9. Ask your friends, neighbors and family members for things that they aren't using. Let them know you're trying to get organized and e-mail them a list of things you'd like to have. You might be surprised at what people have stored away that they are happy to part with.
   
10. Once you're organized, stay organized. If you know what you have and where it is, you'll eliminate making the mistake of buying duplicate items.
    

What are your sustainable home organization tips?

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with a Kid's Birthday Party

Today is my oldest son's 9th birthday. In honor of his special day, today's 10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable... is about kid's birthday parties.

1. Send e-vites instead of paper invitations.
2. Make your own cake and save a trip to the bakery and the box the cake comes in. Extra sustainability points if you make the cake organic.
3. Forgo the balloons.
4. Do not buy favor bags and cheap little favors that will be thrown away as soon as your guest's get home. Send them out the door with a simple big thank you.
5. Use durable, reusable cups, plates and utensils for cake and ice cream.
6. If you have a theme, buy only a few items of the theme. You don't need Scooby Doo plates and napkins and a tablecloth and a wall hanging and ... Buy just the tablecloth to add a touch of the theme. Use any items your child already has, like a Scooby Doo stuffed animal, to add to the decorations
   
7. Borrow things from friends for the party. Send out an e-mail a week or so before the party that says, "I need four chairs" or "I want to do a bean bag toss" and ask if anyone can you lend you the items.
8. Recycle all wrapping paper and carefully fold gift bags and boxes to be used again.
9. Make your own pinata out of recycled materials. (okay, maybe this one isn't that easy, but if you're crafty, it might be.)
   
10. Send thank you e-cards instead of paper thank you notes.

See - easy (mostly!).

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with Your Back to School Shopping (Going Back to School in Green Style: Part 2)

In yesterday's post about assessing what you already have before going out shopping for school supplies, I encouraged you all to buy only what you really need. Here are tips for doing that in an eco-friendly way.

1. Buy recycled paper products whenever possible. Kids are going to need things like notebooks, composition books, printer paper, and homework organizers. Save a few trees and buy recycled. It may cost you a little bit more, but if you watch the sales, you may get some bargains.
2. Earth friendly pens and pencils are getting easier to find. Paper Mate makes a good #2 pencil called Earthwrite that can be bought at most office supply stores or online. Pilot makes a line of pens called BeGreen that are made from 86% recycled content.
3. Shop at second hand stores and consignment shops for clothes, backpacks and other items. You can find a lot of great stuff for your kids and you'll save a lot of money.
4. If you are going to buy new clothes for the kids, buy them made from sustainable materials such as organic cotton, bamboo, or hemp.
5. Schools often ask for donations of boxes of tissues or antibacterial wipes. Buy tissues from recycled paper or wipes from Method.
6. Purchase durable, reusable lunch boxes, food and beverage containers to send to school.
7. If you need to buy textbooks for a college student (or any other student), buy used. Way back when, used textbooks were only available in the campus bookstore. But now, they are available all over the Internet and you can shop around for the best price while saving a few trees.
8. If you're going to buy the kids new back to school shoes (and I suggest that you don't unless their old shoes don't fit or are in deplorable shape), check out Simple Shoes. They are made from things like organic cotton, hemp and recycled tire inner tubes.
   
9. Don't take the kids with you when you go shopping if it's possible. Take your lists and nothing else. Stick to your lists. If you take the kids, they might talk you into buying more than you need or a Hannah Montanna notebook instead of one made of recycled paper.
10. Plan your shopping to do it all at once and at stores that are within close proximity to one another. Driving all over your region to purchase green back to school items kind of negates buying them, doesn't it?

Some of the green back to school products may cost a little more than their conventional counterparts. Before you go out shopping, reconcile with the fact that you might have to spend a little bit more. If you're shopping for clothes at thrift and consignment stores, however, you just might end up spending less overall.

10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable in the Bathroom

You've probably seen this on a t-shirt or a bumper sticker somewhere - "Conserve Water - Shower Together." While the idea is appealing, let's face it - showering together usually leads to an extra long, hot and steamy shower, right? There may be a lot going on it that shower, but water conservation ain't gonna be one of them.

There are however, plenty of easy ways you can be more sustainable in the bathroom. Here are ten of them:

1. Take navy showers. Turn the water off when you're soaping up, shampooing your hair or shaving your legs and turn it back on to rinse off.
2. Install a low flow shower head.
3. If you've got an older toilet, put an old milk container filled with water in the tank to displace some of the water that would go in there. It saves water every time you flush.
4. Speaking of saving water when you flush - flush less. You've heard the phrase, "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" right? If you're family can handle that, go for it.
5. When you use a towel, hang it right up to dry. If towels are dried properly they won't need to be washed as often.
6. Use toilet paper made from recycled paper (which is different from recycled toilet paper - ew!). I use the Marcal brand - $.80 for a 1000 sheet roll.
   
7. Use only the amount of toilet paper necessary to get the job done and teach kids to do the same.
8. Got boys? Then you've probably got a canister of wipes in your bathroom to clean up "misses." Method offers an eco-friendlier version of those Clorox or Lysol wipes.
9. Turn the water off in the sink while you are brushing your teeth.
10. Make sure that the things that can be recycled from the bathroom such as toilet paper tubes, shampoo bottles, and the boxes toothpaste or soap do get recycled. Sometimes, it's easy just to throw them in the bathroom trashcan. Make the extra effort to ensure that these things get recycled, too.

See - easy.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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10 Easy Ways to Be More Sustainable with Your Music Habit

Three out of four of us in our house have serious music habits, and I'm sure it won't be long before my six-year-old develops one, too. You should hear my eight-year-old hold a conversation with someone about that person's cd collection. He can get a little snooty at times.

As far as its environmental effects, music has a fairly low impact as long as you're not traveling around in a Hummer following your favorite band from city to city. But, every little bit helps and even a music habit can be greened.

Here are ten easy ways to be more sustainable, even with your music habit.

1. Buy used. Used cd's already exist (there's your no duh statement for the week). No new materials are used in the making of them. You can buy used music in used music stores, on eBay and other Internet resellers or at yard sales. It's also much less expensive.
   
2. Donate your unwanted music to charity or sell it to a used music store instead of letting it take up space in your house or worse, throw it away.
   
3. Buy a lot of your music in mp3 format. Since there are no physical cd's, mp3's are very green.
   
4. Take good care of your burned cd's. Sometimes I buy an album in mp3 format, but I end up burning it onto a disk so I can listen to it in my car. My husband often does the same. In the past, we haven't taken very good care of these burned cd's because they are inexpensive. We can burn a new one easily if need be, but that's wasteful. I'll take better care of them from now on.
   
5. Have a cd swap. Have your friends all bring their unwanted cd's and swap the with each other. You'll all get some new music without leaving an impact.
   
6. Turn off your stereo equipment completely when not in use and unplug it. When you leave stereo equipment plugged in, the parts that still light up draw energy. By unplugging it, you'll save some electricity.
7. Don't trash your old electronic equipment. Electronic waste (E-waste) is a huge problem in landfills. Donate, give to a friend, or sell your old stereo's, speakers, mp3 players and other electronics.
8. Purchase a solar mp3 charger if you charge your player every day.
9. Borrow music from the library to see if you like it before you purchase it. It's not always possible to get a feel for an entire cd from the 30 second snippets you get on iTunes. By borrowing the entire cd, you can tell if you like it, and then you can purchase it if you find it's a keeper.
10. Attend local outdoor concerts. Enjoy music in the wonderful nature you're working so hard to save. Our county freeholders sponser fantastic free concerts in the park. This summer I've seen Dar Williams and Chuck Prophet - both fabulous. Take your own trashless drinks and snacks, too, and you'll have a great green night.

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