Tag archive for ‘Recycle’
A Mom’s Guide to Greener Holidays
Tis the season to consume. The holidays are all about stuff. Why is it that this time of year brings out the worst in spending? People go crazy with trend and forget all about tradition. The season is supposed to be about joy, gratitude, family and friends. But this appears to be lacking, at least [...]
Green Learning – Reinvent by Reusing
Editor’s Note: Good afternoon. If you missed us this morning, you can check out Pauline Rae’s informative story on Montessori education HERE. Now we have Gayle Bates with some highly creative tips on reinventing old household items. Here she is:
Aaaah November – the month between the crazy consumption potential of Halloween and the even crazier [...]
The Green Kid Party In Action
Editor’s Note: Bevin Clempson is here today letting us take a peek into her son’s very cool green birthday bash and her adventures in planning. This whole green thing is complicated some days. Have a great Friday!
Last month my wee dude turned 3. It was the first ever kiddo-centric party I had ever thrown. The [...]
Product Review – Local Cloth Sandwich Bags
Editor’s Note: If you are in some serious need of inspiration to leave the house today after a fabulously hot weekend jamming at MusicFest (I was so tired I went to bed at 8 p.m. last night), I have one – cheese, of the French kind.
Natural Pastures Cheese Co. is having its second cheese tour [...]
Bambu Disposable Plates
Editor’s Note: Oh, Summer rains. They are so refreshing. While Mother Nature is giving us little cool down today, it’s the perfect time to hit two of the hottest event on the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge.
Natural Pastures Cheese Company kicks off its Featured Producer events with the first of its Taste The [...]
Summer Crafts – DIY Canada Day Magnets
Ah, Canada Day.
I love this country and give it a solid go every year when it comes to busting out the patriotic gear. But, getting the tiny person plugged in to something more than the candy from the Canada parade is, well, challenging.
She’s at the age of dis-interest – too young for a bigger history [...]
Green-e-ology – Thrifting is the New Pink
Some say junk collecting. Some say thrifting. Whatever it may be, I say bring it on. Bring on the super finds and the price tags that leave you feeling like a thief. Bring on the history and the uniqueness. Bring on the craftsmanship and the savings. Bring on the eco-goodness.
The whole wide world of thrift [...]
Eco Crafts – Egg Carton Shadow Boxes & Rock Gardens
So, I have to say that it’s a good thing that the only people who have been subjected to the condition of our house lately are my sweet friend Kathy and her family. While she might think “Oh my God, don’t touch anything!” and her lovely little girl did actually ask if she could help [...]
Crafts for Boys – Recycled Space Robot
Need I say more? The Dad in our house is here to share. He’s all imagination, goofiness, a love of recess and the reality that Star Wars will never die.
Have fun with our first project…
…and take the Craftizmos ROBOT CHALLENGE! Make your own version of this creature from the Planet Recycle and win the Clone [...]
Paper or Plastic? Cloth Bags are the Only Eco Option
Editor’s Note: 2009 in the Comox Valley is, when it comes to basic steps for greening your daily lives, poised to be the year of the reusable bag.
As the Comox Valley Chamber continues to gear up with its bag-less Comox Valley initiative (local businesses are being asked to only offer reusable bag options starting this [...]
Holiday Craft Tutorial – Homemade Wrapping Paper
It wasn’t an uncommon site – back in the day – for the moms in our lives to lock themselves in a back bedroom one December afternoon. I thought it was some sort of magic, how they went in and came out a few hours later rather refreshed (6 hours of peace and quiet will [...]
Farewell Disposable Drink Containers
This girl’s hooked on coffee. My love-affair with the drink started back in high school with study sessions at the local Husky, stretching into the early morning hours and during last minute essay writing, pushing the limits to mere hours before submission.
Slinging lattes and mochas as a barista further strengthened my bond with the bean. [...]
Presenting Our 2008 Holiday Green Guide
Good morning. As we are just about to head off to a very soggy Santa Claus Parade today I am getting more and more into the holiday spirit.
There’s lots of creating going on around our house – our first batch of almond toffee appeared a few days ago, sparkling walnut ornaments, homemade pompom bows made [...]
Stained Glass Twinkle Lights
Has pregnancy ever sent you into the cave of solitary confinement? It’s like I know I won’t be capable of making it through more than two or three hours in any given day without some narcoleptic moment so I don’t even try to plan to do anything more than the basics any more.
The tiny person [...]
Story Boxes for Kid Storytelling
Storytelling is big around our house. The tiny person is totally into making up her own universe filled with adventures, conversations, friends and a bit of drama to keep it interesting.
I’ve always been excited about her penchant for telling tales. But, there are definitely times when the stories veer off into the “We’ve obviously been [...]
Shadow Lanterns with Repurposed Jars
The tiny person totally digs shadows these days.
She follows hers around, has lengthy conversations with them on the walk to library, thinks that our bedtime routine is nowhere near complete until a round of shadow making commences.
She’s also right into the whole spooky Halloween tale universe – insisting that Eve Bunting’s “Scary, Scary Halloween” and [...]
Green Your School Gear with Consignment
Let’s face it, the bill for back-to-school shopping is beginning to equal a rent check.
Clothes, gear, all of those special touches that makes hitting the classroom again totally cool don’t leave much room for things like, say, dinner after a long day of shopping.
Even the preschool crowd can rack up one heck of a bill [...]
Recycling Project, Homemade Crayons
Crayons have long been a tough sell in our house.
While art is way up on the daily to-do list, crayons often linger at the bottom of the barrel in terms of preferred mediums.
Emerging motor skills and the quite possibly a bit of peer pressure from the crayon-loving crowd have made crayons at least usable for [...]
Recycle Your Christmas Tree
I have decided that the most depressing day of Winter is the day that the family takes the Christmas tree down. It’s no wonder some folks leave their lights up until February. Once the twinkle of the holidays gets packed away, waiting for the weather to warm up and the sun to come out makes [...]
Toilet Paper Roll Penguins
Ah, the Thursday after Christmas.
We are still very slow to get going around here, enjoying the leisure of snoozing at will, snacking on leftover turkey and trying out all of the new gear that Santa brought.
It seems like that should be plenty to do. But, there’s still a whiff of boredom in the air that [...]
Homemade Wrapping Paper
I am not going to try today, in any way, to lead us all down the path of making our own paper in a by-hand, from-scratch sort of way. If I had infinite hours in the day and unholy amounts of patience, I might personally go that route of fiber, water and binding agents. But, [...]
Bottle-cap Christmas Trees
Welcome to the first installment of Homespun Holidays!
Once a week for the next six weeks we’ll be offering up ways for you to build in family time, have some fun and personalize your holiday season with family-friendly crafts, eats and adventures.
Today, we start it all off with a craft favourite that I am personally quite [...]
Top 10 North Vancouver Island Family Movie Adventures
Gray and me have a cozy relationship. When it’s really gray out, like this weekend, I want to wrap up in a big fuzzy blanket, get all warm and cozy, and throw in a great family movie.
Family TV watching is one of those things that has become a bit of a taboo topic in parenting [...]
Time to Ditch the Plastic Sports Bottle/Sippy Cup
I’m about to scare you.
Plastic may be useful, but it is also potentially irreparably harming our children by disrupting their endocrine, immune and reproductive systems by leaching toxins into their water, milk and food.
That’s even the plastic in baby bottles, sippy cups and sports drink bottles.
If you are like me, you have to read it [...]
Eco-Friendly Green School Supplies
Did I say it?
Is it possible?
Could it be that back to school is back on the brain?
OK, so getting your kiddos ready to hit the books hasn’t reached an emergency pitch right yet. But, if you are thinking about “greening” their school gear this year (a lot of this can apply to pre-schoolers and toddlers [...]
Egg Carton Tulips and, well, Bats
Egg cartons are one of those things that I never know what to do with.
The styrofoam ones are just plain landfill rubbish, the cardboard ones just beg to be reused. But, no matter what, I always end up with a stack of them cluttering up a corner of the kitchen (we are major egg gobblers [...]
Grocery Sack Bunnies
I love this craft project – mostly because you are almost guaranteed to have everything you need already in your house, or can easily substitute something to make it all work.
It’s also fast, fun and a bit silly, offering all sorts of options for decorating, having fun and being creative with something as simple – [...]
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