Sure, it’d be great if we could all convert our cars to biodiesel and go off-the-grid, but let’s be real—those kinds of eco-friendly overtures are too much work for the average person. Happily, making a positive impact on the Earth begins with small steps! In honor of Earth Day, we gathered a list of five easy eco-friendly ideas for greening your life that, even if your pockets aren’t flush with Franklins or your time is tied up, you’ll find easy to embrace.

Cup O’ No

Image via Amazon

If you use just one disposable coffee cup a day, you’ll generate 23 pounds of waste each year. And, that doesn’t even include the 500 plastic cups used and tossed by the average American office worker each year. These stats become all the more staggering when you think about how simply this waste can be avoided. Start bringing your own mug to the office and your local coffee shop in lieu of using the paper and styrofoam cups. Some coffee shops offer you a discount for bringing your own drinkware, and that minute you spend washing out your cup each day makes for a great, super socially acceptable excuse to take a break from that nagging spreadsheet.

Bright Idea

Image via Graphics Keeper

You’ve probably heard compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs have a lighter impact on the Earth than their incandescent counterparts, but did you know that they can be good for your budget, too? Unlike incandescents, CFLs efficiently convert the bulk of the energy they use into light (instead of heat). This means they use 75% less electricity, last up to 10 times longer, and save you a surprisingly high average of $83 over the course of each bulb’s life!

To really up your ante, switch to LED light bulbs. True, they’re a more expensive option, but if LEDs were to duke it out with CFLs over efficiency, they’d win best in class.

Say ‘Nah’ to Napkins

Image via Georgia Pacific

When was the last time you ate out and grabbed a handful of napkins to neaten yourself with? Could you have made do with fewer? Maybe these facts will help you definitively say yes: Over the course of a year, the average American uses a staggering 2,200 napkins. That’s about six per day. If each of us used one less napkin per day, we’d prevent a BILLION pounds of napkins from going to the trash.

Pull the Plug

Image via Freeport Press

Did you know that gadgets use energy when they’re plugged in even if they’re not being used or are turned off? This ‘phantom energy’ amounts to about 10% of the average person’s electricity use (and bill!). Unplug items—toasters, computers, lamps, etc.—you don’t expect to use every day, or invest in a few good powerstrips whose switch you can flick off whenever its resident electronic aren’t in use.

Green Kid Care Tips

Image via German American International School

Talk to neighborhood parents and organize a school carpool. Not only will you get a break several times a week from dropping the kids off, but you’ll save on gas costs and cut down on emissions. Carpools also work great for your ride to work. You’ll get to chat with coworkers and zip into the office using the super-speedy HOV lanes that exist on your route.

If you have an infant, cut out those plastic-y, chemically produced nappies and switch to cloth diapers. Why? Well, throughout a kid’s diaper wearing days, parents send about 8,000 diapers to the dump if using conventional diapers. That equates to 3.5 million tons of waste each year in the U.S. alone! Sure, it may seem a bit icky at first, but you’ll adjust quickly — and save tons of cash in the process.

There are tons more ideas for small eco-friendly habit changes that can make a big difference online, so poke around once you’ve mastered these 5 habits! And, if you have any Earth-saving habits of your own that you think folks would fall for, share them below!

Sources: Carry Your Cup, Better Homes and Gardens, How Stuff Works, and Environmental Protection Agency

The post 5 Easy Eco-Friendly Ideas for Greener Living appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

You already know grilling is a healthful, flavorful and fun way to cook while enjoying the great outdoors. But did you know it can also be a “green” activity?

By choosing earth-friendly fuel options, better ingredients and sustainably sourced seasonings, you can satisfy your family’s taste buds and Mother Nature with these greener grilling tips:

• Grilling with charcoal briquettes imparts a wonderful flavor to foods, but many cooks resort to a squirt (or several) of lighter fluid to get the coals burning faster. Forego the lighter fluid and invest in a charcoal chimney – a metal cylinder that makes it easy to get charcoal started. Briquettes go on the grate atop the chimney and newspaper goes at the bottom. When you light the paper, the chimney effect of the tube lights the charcoal from the bottom quickly and easily.

• Many people use disposable dinnerware for outdoor dining. While it may be convenient to not have to wash those dishes, reusable dinnerware and table linens are better for the environment and cheaper in the long term. Plus, cloth napkins and real plates impart a special charm to dining al fresco.

• This summer, why not try meat and poultry from free-range or grass-fed animals, rather than factory farmed? Better yet, select meat from a local farmer, buy organic or go vegan or vegetarian. Firm tofu, Portobello mushrooms and even polenta are healthy and trendy alternatives to meat. Such options reduce the environmental impact of your meal, and they often taste much better!

• Seasonings are a great way to add flavor without fat to your grilled meats and vegetables. When you choose sustainably sourced spices and herbs from purveyors like Frontier Natural Co-op, you’re not only getting outstanding flavor, but you can be assured the seasonings have been produced using practices that are better for the environment, too.

• When purchasing produce, look for local options. Locally grown veggies and fruits travel a shorter distance to make it to your grill, meaning less fossil fuel is consumed overall. 

• You can conserve resources without skimping on flavor if you make marinades using whole spices that you’ve pan roasted and freshly cracked before blending. Flavored and artisan black pepper corns, salts and sugars are trendy right now. You can also incorporate artisan vinegars, fine drinking wines and unusual beers into your marinades to create unique and pleasing flavors.

Do you love adding smoke to your grilling? Rather than buying pre-soaked planks or pre-processed briquettes, try smoking by soaking whole herbs, spices and tea leaves in water then throwing them on the hot coals to create unusually flavored smoke blends that go far beyond basic mesquite and hickory.

To get you started, try this blackening spice recipe from Frontier Natural Co-op:

Paprika, Garlic and Thyme Barbecue Rub

Rubs are key to a flavorful barbecue. Season your meat one hour before cooking for grilled items, and a day ahead for smoked meats. This recipe works especially well for ribs, but it’s good on almost anything you’d want to barbecue or grill, such as chicken, turkey, steaks, burgers, firm fish or shrimp. For fish dishes, consider adding a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Frontier paprika
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Frontier sea salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Frontier ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Frontier garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Frontier thyme
• 1 teaspoon Frontier cayenne (or to taste, may be omitted)

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients. Rub into chosen cut of meat. For best results, allow to marinate one hour to overnight before grilling.

*BPT

The post Greener grilling: Good for you and for Mother Nature, too appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

We all know it’s important to teach your kids to eat their leafy greens but now there is another way for your kid to take a “green” lunch! We have heard them many of times; the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, and recycle). Some of our kids point them out more than we do. You do your part. You buy green products, recycle, conserve water, and even save for a hybrid car. Let’s face it: our children are going to inherit a less-than-perfect world. We must educate, motivate and of course, demonstrate. The average school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year and the average sized elementary school generates 18,760 pounds of lunch waste per year, you can make a big difference by packing waste free lunches and snacks. Learn more on how you can go waste free and raise money for your school with Kids Konserve. Make Lunch Time GREEN! It may be the grownups who make the decisions, but it is the kids who will one day inherit the planet! Teaching kids about sustainability will better prepare them for the choices they will make in the future.

All the Ways I LOVE the Food Kozy™!

A non-toxic solution that can help you eliminate your plastic baggie, Saran Wrap, and foil addiction

Decreases lunchtime trash that can average between 45-90 pounds per elementary school student per year

Great for wrapping up a sandwich, hot dog, slices of cheese and meats, cookies, bagels, tortilla rollups and more! Doubles as a placemat

Plastic #4 – safe and recyclable Eco-friendly, reusable, and will save you money Easy to use, clean, and reuse

Did you know…

An average plastic bag takes over 1,000 years to decompose.

Approximately 20 million baggies are discarded per school day and now over 40% of working Americans pack a lunch.

Families spend $85 a year on disposable plastic baggies (Sierra Club).

So many ways to wrap it up! www.kidskonserve.com That’s a Wrap!

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