We are definitely not a green as I’d like to be. Although we do a good job on some fronts, there are still so many ways we can be more conscious on a day to day basis. Now that Liv is getting older, I am excited to learn more about going green through her eyes. I normally like to get cool green tips from my favorite bloggers but in Liv’s world, books and outings are a great way for us to learn and discuss.

The following eco books are a great addition to the family library. All three of these books are sure to spark discussion about what kids of all ages – and their families – can do to help the environment.

Earth in the Hot Seat:  Bulletins from a Warming World by Marfe Ferguson Delano (National Geographic Children’s Books, March 2009, $16.95, ages 10+)

Laid out with a magazine-like format, this visually beautiful book clearly explains the dangers and challenges of global warming.  Unlike many “doomsday” books regarding global warming, Earth in the Hot Seat is an uplifting and positive book that explores both global and local approaches to climate change, with personal accounts and real-life stories.  The book also includes a quiz and tips on how to calculate and reduce your personal carbon footprint.

Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo (Worthwhile Books, March 2009, $15.99, ages 4+)

Michael Recycle tells the adventures of a young superhero whose power allows him to teach people about recycling. This is a very easy to read, fun adventure that is not at all preachy or full of facts and figures. The illustrations and rhyming will keep your kids interested while learning what we can all do to keep the town clean and beautiful. After cleaning up a town, the people declare: “To Michael Recycle! The green-caped crusader, our super-green hero, the planet’s new savior!” This book is a perfect pick for the Pre-K through Elementary school crowd.  Helpful tips and resources about recycling can be found in the back of the book.

True Green Kids:  100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet by Kim McKay (National Geographic Children’s Books, September 2008, $17.95, ages 10-14)

True Green Kids is an innovative collection of fun and practical ways to help kids become agents for environmental change in their world.  The fresh ideas for environmental stewardship can be applied everywhere from the living room to the local park – and encourages the involvement of parents, teachers, friends and neighbors. I love the way it is laid out, colorful and like a design book of ideas!

WIN IT: One lucky reader will win all three books – compliments of yours truly!

There are 3 ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post, answering this question: What is your child’s favorite book right now?

2. To get a second entry. Subscribe to the HealthyGreenMoms feed and then email me the “code” at the bottom of any article either in your feed reader or HGM email feed.

Email the code to healthygreenmoms (at) gmail (dot) com. Put the entire “code” directly in the subject line. (The subject line is all I need!)

(There is only one secret code and email required for all the “babymoon giveaways.” If you emailed me on this or the previous giveaway  – you automatically have a second entry for the rest of the “babymoon giveaways” There’s no need to email me again)

3. To get a third entry. Blog, tell your Facebook friends or tweet about this giveaway and leave me another comment telling me what you did!

Winner selected randomly. This contest ends next Monday, May 11th at midnight. Good luck!

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Giveaway: 3 Eco Books For the Whole Family

Image: Niffty

I like to think that Earth Day is every day. Learning how to conserve energy, stay healthy and pass green values down to our children is certainly not an annual event. There will never be a day where we can’t improve on the last when it comes to living green as it is certainly a work in progress (that I should write about more often!) This year I am more excited about earth day than I have ever been. Dare I say that the Earth Day principles have reached the masses and… gasp, become more mainstream?

For years, people concerned about the state of the earth were considered “on the fringe” or having merely pagan values instead of a God (or Creator, Universe etc) centered belief system. In some of my circles at least, this silly assumption has held back many discussions about what we can do to protect the earth  because expressing a deep love for both God and Earth in the same breath has been considered by some as being “confused.”

Now more than ever, it is clear to scholars of multiple disciplines that the wisdom of the earth, science and spirituality are essentially the same. Never before in our history has there been a greater opportunity for people with various belief systems to walk through the doorway of these integrated philosophies to accept responsibility for their own lives and the health of the Earth. It’s a transformation on a much more spiritual level! This Earth Day, it is exciting to see the whole world join together to celebrate our world home and share ideas on how we can prevent future destruction.

I remember when I set out on my own healing journey. I began to care about what I put into and on my body. My body became a temple for clean energy and I worked hard (and still do) to clean the old programming and garbage out of my mind. Funny enough, I also began to care more for my external environment. People and places became important to me in ways they never had before. I began to see myself again as a citizen of the world destined to leave an impact of my choosing. The more I healed, the more I became more integrated with the world around me. Restoring my health has been as much a scientific discovery as it has been spiritual and earth based. Nature was as much a part of restoring my health as prayer and intention.

This Earth Day, it is clear to me more than ever that there need not be a separation between love of God and the Earth. The Earth is a powerful source for health and healing. One only needs to be still with nature to experience Truth.

As more families become healthy and healed, we will have strong healthy communities. And when our communities are healthy, we will see lasting change in our world. There is much work to do, but this Earth Day 2009 is a significant step towards a healthy future for future generations.

Happy Earth Day to you and your family, wishing you much health and happiness!

Have a look at these great posts to celebrate Earth Day 2009

Green & Clean Mom – Earth Day 2009 plus Giveaways

Mom Grind – 54 Tips For Green Living

Jenny Mannion – 10 Ways To Celebrate and Enjoy Nature

Gaiam – Earth Day Around The World

Remodeling This Life – On Purpose – not an earth day post but beautifully fitting just the same

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Earth Day 2009.

I cannot lie, there are a couple luxuries I have grown very accustomed to. One of them is my organic grocery delivery each Thursday that is set on autopilot. I’m not much of a shopper. I tend to be a little too frugal when I’m the one buying the food. We always seem to run out. My husband does a much better job but he’s too busy so the organic home delivery has been a life saver for both of us.

I’m not doing many reviews these days but since we have had so much success with home grocery delivery I wanted to give a nod to a great company and cause. A local grocery delivery company is one great way for families to support the local economy while getting healthier food. In a nutshell, home delivery is like a ride-share for your groceries.

If you live in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver or Calgary, this may be a great time to consider making a switch.

Spud! is one service that specializes in 100% organic produce and natural groceries.  All of the food they sell has real ingredients and is made by real people, much of it grown locally.

We get our bins dropped outside our front door each week. Because they are  temperature controlled/insulated, I don’t worry if I’m running behind and don’t grab it right away. The prices are comparable or lower than what you would find at Whole Foods/Capers/Choices and like a regular store they offer weekly specials, caselot deals, multi-buy offers etc.

A couple of cool things about Spud:

• Spud! is carbon neutral. Greenhouse gas emissions are reduced where possible and carbon credits are purchased through offset providers to offset remaining emissions. Also, for every deliver van carrying an average of 60 orders, that’s up to 120 cars off the road!

• All produce and products are sourced from responsible suppliers including fair trade cooperatives and like-minded businesses.

• Products sourced locally – more than 60% (compared to about 20% at an average grocery store)

• Spud! buys fresh every day, 95% of the produce leaves the warehouse within 24 hours.

• Being green is easy. From each order, Spud! gives 22 cents to a carbon offset provider to support alternative energy projects.

If you are considering home grocery delivery and saving money is also a concern, you don’t have to do it 100% or nothing! I started out buying only our dairy, fruit and vegetables for example, and continued to grab the staples from our local store. Now I add more grocery items to the list if it falls into my “must be organic” category. For store items, we buy in larger quantities so we don’t have to run small errands for single items we run out of (usually when the pot is on the stove and everyone is starving!)

To get started, all you do is place your order online and they deliver your order to your home/office in a reusable rubber bins. You can set your preferences, shop when you want, order on a regular basis or just order as you need. If your order isn’t perfect, they will refund your money!

Spud has a limited time offer for all their new customers:

Use promo code GREENMOMS when you sign up at www.spud.com or www.spud.ca (for Canada) and receive $25 OFF over your first 4 deliveries ($5 off the first 3, and $10 off your 4th). Offer expires May 30, 2009.

I’m always curious, do you use a grocery delivery service? Do you another great food option in your area?

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Do You Use a Grocery Delivery Service?

How great would it be to have someone come over and show you exactly what you need to do to create a green and healthy home for your family? I also couldn’t think of a more beneficial time to save on energy costs, especially with what seems to be a record winter so far across USA and Canada. But having your very own Eco-consultant sounds like it would cost a lot, right?

Think again. One of the more interesting business ideas I’ve come across lately is a company called Green Irene. Green Irene trains local people in your area to become Eco-consultants. This direct sales model allows people with a passion for green living to make extra money spreading the green goodness around by helping people make the energy efficient changes they want in their home.

Green Irene has a few super products to choose from:

• $99 will get you a Green Home Makeover Kit. This is where a local Green Irene consultant comes over and shows you step by step how to save energy and water, improve your air quality, reduce waste, reduce harmful chemicals in the home and yard and even more. After the consultation, your local Green Irene recommends specific researched products to help you implement the changes to your home immediately so you can begin saving energy cost over the long term.
• The $133 Energy & Water Conservation Kit is also a fantastic buy that could end up saving you over $4,200 in the next seven years! This is certainly something to look at in these economic times.
• Did you know that simple light bulb changes in your home could end up saving you around $7000 over several years? An EZ Bulb SwapOut Service will get your home suited up with new CFL’s and LED’s but you get to see what they look like first, before you commit to the switch. See how much you could save in energy costs by visiting the Green Irene Bulb Savings Calculator

Interested in finding out more? See if there are local consultants in your area. Going green these days has never made more financial sense and with Green Irene, you can save energy costs or even earn an extra income by becoming a Eco-consultant. Either way, you’re doing something great for our planet!

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Do You Know a Green Irene?

The following article is from from Jennifer, TheSmartMama.  See more tips on green parenting and non toxic living at her personal blog: TheSmartMama.

You may love all the creatures of this world, but you probably don’t want to share your home with moths, ants, fleas, roaches, termites, mice or rats. Finding evidence of any of these pests can have you considering ant sprays, moth balls and rat poison. But, we all know the pesticides are some of the most toxic products we use in our homes.

All pesticides have some risk of harm. The broad term “pesticides” includes those products that kill, repel, or block insects (insecticides), weeds (herbicides), fungus (fungicides), and even bacteria, viruses, molds, and other micro-organisms (antibacterials and antimicrobials). “By their very nature, most pesticides create some risk of harm,” the EPA says. “Pesticides can cause harm to humans, animals or the environment because they are designed to kill or otherwise adversely affect living organisms.” And, the government doesn’t keep us safe from pesticides. In the United States, pesticide law is not a health-based safety law. It balances health and environmental risks against economic benefit.

Apparently unconcerned about the possibility of harm (or perhaps too confident in our government’s ability to keep us safe), 80% to 90% of Americans use pesticides in and around the home. Kids, particularly fetuses, face the biggest risk from exposure to household use of pesticides. According to one study, lifelong hyperactivity in laboratory animals resulted from a single dose of organophosphate pesticides on a critical day of fetal brain development. Other research has linked exposure to household pesticides to an elevated risk of childhood leukemia by as much as 3 to 9 times. Exposures to insecticides early in life are more significant than later exposures in terms of increased cancer risk, and the highest risk associated with exposure to insecticides during pregnancy.

Keep in mind that when we use indoor pesticides, they leave residues on those areas where children play and sit. As a result, the National Academy of Sciences estimates that 50% of our lifetime exposure to pesticides occurs during the first five years of life. The National Research Council concludes at least with respect to pesticides that absent data to the contrary, “there should be a presumption of greater toxicity to infants and children.”

So what can a green parent do?

• Know your pest. Do some research and knowing exactly what pest is bothering you. Knowing your pest will let you choose a non-toxic solution that really works.
• Keep pests out. Mom was right – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep pests from coming into your home. Block their entrances by caulking holes, using door sweeps, and keeping door and window screens in good condition.
• Let them starve. If you don’t feed them, they won’t come. So, take away what may be attracting them in the first place. Use sealed containers for sugar, flour, cereal, and pet food. Remove water sources by, for instance, fixing leaky pipes and removing standing water. My favorite tip for pet food left outdoors is to put it in a bowl and then put that bowl in a bowl of water to prevent ants. Of course, this will not deter raccoons.
• Use a fan. A breeze will keep mosquitoes and some other flying insects at bay.
• Go non-toxic. See what non-toxic options are available for your particular pest. Here are some of my favorite non-toxic options for common pests: (1) For ants, I use soap with peppermint essential oil and water. Soap has been used as an insecticide and antibacterial substance for many years. Just add about 2 teaspoons of liquid castile (vegetable-based) soap to a gallon of water, 10 to 15 drops of peppermint essential oil, and put in a spray bottle.  If you don’t have peppermint essential oil, use Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint castile soap.  (2)  For fruit flies, figure out what moist or wet decaying organic matter is attracting them and get rid of it. If you suspect your drain, tape a piece of waxed paper over your drain. If the fruit flies accumulate on the paper in a day or two, remove the paper and pour boiling water down the drain. If that doesn’t work, try ½ cup of baking soda, followed by ½ cup to a cup of vinegar down the drain.  Let the drain fizz for 5 minutes, then pour some boiling water down. For a garbage disposal, run ice cubes made from vinegar through it to clear off any gunk that may be allowing fruit flies to breed. (3) For moths, I skip mothballs made of naphthalene, a possible carcinogen, and use sachets of cedar chips or lavender to deter them.

Sometimes none of these solutions work.  So, if you must use a chemical pesticide, pick the least-toxic chemical option.  Never choose a broad spectrum pesticide.  Instead, pick one geared to address the particular pest.  And, read the label and look for the hazard “signal” words. Those “signal” words can give you a good indication of how toxic a particular product is. For example, the term “caution” is milder than “warning,” which is milder than “danger.”

Another option is some of the organic, non-toxic pesticides on the market.  These pesticides generally come from natural sources. You can use plant-based natural pesticides with pyrethins, rotenone, or essential oils or you can try boric acid or diatomaceous earth, which are also natural products. But, natural doesn’t mean the product is safe. Pyrethins, which are derived from flowers such as chrysanthemums, have been linked with autism.  Don’t put your faith in claims of “environmentally safe,” “environmentally friendly,” “eco-safe,” or “eco-friendly.”  These are NOT regulated terms.  I’ve seen an “environmentally friendly” pesticide on the market (and widely promoted in the blogosphere as green) that contains mineral oil – a petroleum substance that isn’t really environmentally friendly.

Another thing to keep in mind is the method of delivery. Spray pesticides cover wide areas of your home, so reduce exposure by using a gel or solid over a fogger or spray. If you use a chemical pesticide, ventilate the area and clean all surfaces after you’re finished. And be kid safe! Always secure pesticides in a secure location to prevent accidental poisonings.

Hey, come visit the me and leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you. If you enjoyed this article, thank you for giving it a boost on social media. © All rights reserved. This post is from HealthyGreenMoms and cannot be republished without express written permission.

Non Toxic Pest Control for The Home