Review, remove and recycle

'Tis the season to start looking through all those broken toys, unstuffed stuffed animals, torn books and limbless dolls and decide what to do with them after receiving more toys and dolls from Santa. It is this time of year that I do my "winter cleaning" and start to throw away those broken and unrepairable toys. I give away those repairable toys, dolls and books as well as those games that have one piece missing that could be substituted or any toys that are past the age of my children. I also go through clothes to see which ones can become official play clothes and which ones should become rags. Or even, some can be given away. I always find it a nice way to start the New Year with an organized house. And, even if the holidays are over, there are still families and children in need of things that we are fortunate enough to replace. Think about it and review, remove and recycle!

Monthly Tip is Back! Lunch Box Ideas

Although the school year is almost over, it is never too early to think about the next school year. Besides, lunch boxes are still needed for summer camps and picnics! So far this year, I have replaced lunchboxes twice and often find food coming back. So, I am on a constant quest not only for the freshest, healthiest, tastiest food but also the best lunch boxes. And, I am also realizing that I am using a lot of ziplock sandwich bags for my lunches...is it possible to be more eco-friendly with the food containers? So, looking for the perfect lunch, basically! So, this is what I found:

LUNCH BOXES -

Laptop lunch boxes: A couple of moms in Santa Cruz started this company to provide sturdy, eco friendly and fun lunch boxes for their kids. There are a variety of products to choose from including lunchboxes, bento box style - that come with reuseable containers which allows a nice display of the food in a way that doesn't crush it and gives your child an easy way to eat it. They also have stainless steel water bottles and bags to keep the lunch boxes refrigerated.

Fresh Snack Pack: This site has great alternatives to ziplock bags - in two great lunchbox ready sizes! One of my favs.

Fit Fresh: This site has easy reuseable containers, filtered water bottles and shakers and have new products such as sandwich and fruit salad pods coming soon.

Traditional Lunch Boxes at lunchboxes.com: This site has lead free traditional metal lunch boxes in your favorite characters, along with Sigg drinking bottles and canteens, insulated lunch boxes and even bento box style lunch boxes.

LUNCH BOX FOOD IDEAS-

Laptop Lunch Boxes site actually has food ideas too on their site for fresh, somewhat unique and interesting variety. I know from my kids that there has to be some variety...they tire of pb&j and apples every day!

Love to Know Recipes has great ideas for school lunches or lunches for kids on the go.

Healthy Eating Made Easy has great ideas for lunches for the whole family. Mixing it up with different kids of breads, tips on not packing sandwiches with cucumber (too slimey) and even a lunch box shopping list for easy lunches.

More News on BPA

Most of us are quite conscious of green products and those that may have health concerns. And, we are very aware about BPA or Bisphenol A these days - the additive used in many plastic products to make them shatterproof - and the health concerns related to it. But there is a new study that not only shows it gets stored in the body, but stays stored for longer than first believed. The researchers now say that we are either getting BPA from many more sources than anticipated and/or our body is storing the BPA and therefore, cannot get rid of it as quickly as first thought. We now have alternative products available for us without BPA as well as some affirmation from the FDA on the potential dangers of BPA which are both huge steps. It is still amazing to me that the FDA errs on the side of conservatism when it comes to their reputation but not when it comes to the safety of our population and especially small babies. But, it has taught me not to assume the FDA knows all, but that I need to read and research on my own for the health of my family. For a great site on BPA free products, see the earlier post: Concern of BPAs.

Green Mom Finds on GE Foods

GE (or genetically engineered) foods, also called GMOs, are addressed on the green mom finds web site - http://greenmomfinds.com/. There hasn't been much written or reported on GE food, but it is really a huge industry. The top four items that are genetically engineered: corn, soy, canola and cotton. There are a few good DVDs and books on this subject. I have seen a powerful DVD called The Future of Food which was fascinating and scary all at once. The EU doesn't allow any GE foods nor does Japan. They are watching the US to see what the outcome of this GE will produce in a decade or more down the road....not such a good feeling to be the guinnea pig of the franken-foods! So, beware! And, more pesticides are used for GE foods. There is a good snapshot guide to GE foods on the green mom finds site which reminds you that organic foods are never GE foods so that once again, organics are the way to go if you want to stay away from GE foods. These days, we are all more educated and aware of the food we eat and the eco friendly way to grow and eat that food. Information is key. Keep researching and reading. That is the only way you can make the best decisions for yoru family.

Go Green!

Yes, everyone is jumping on the eco friendly and green bandwagon these days. I was just at Borders Bookstore and there were about 15 new books on the subject! And, this is a great thing! The awareness has grown and people start thinking more about how they use the earth's resources, what they use in their house and how they can help minimize their carbon footprint. There are a few sites I have found that are quite informative and interesting that I thought I would share.

If you haven't already seen the movie, read the book and/or visited the web site, the first site to visit is: http://www.climatecrisis.net/. This is Al Gore's site and although it is a promotional vehicle for the book and movie, it provides interesting info, data and shows you what your carbon footprint is and how to help reduce it.

Another great site to help with your environmental awareness that I just happened upon lately that is more practical: http://www.lowimpactliving.com/. This site covers the impact, green projects you can tackle and even some of the products to use that are more eco-friendly. It is very user-friendly and visually appealing too.

A site that is good for household eco friendly products: http://www.seventhgeneration.com/. These products seem great and can be bought online.

Top 5 Tips to Go Green:

Recycle grocery bags - Trader Joes is a great example of a company that makes it easy for you to do this.

Put in energy saving light bulbs - Easy and now can be found everywhere.

Turn off your power strip - a matter of habit!

Use reuseable water bottles (BPA free, of course!) and use filtered tap water to eliminate bottled water waste.

Compost your food scraps. In Fremont, they make it easy with the green bin and small container to gather them in. But, otherwise, just grab a box and line it with newspaper and gather your scraps....