ECOSiZE Me

My Frugal Valentine

Since the success of last year's Green Valentine Party, our family has been looking for ways to personally reduce the carbon footprint of each and every holiday. This Valentine's Day was no exception. 

It started with the kids and I reaching a fun compromise for this sweet-nothing filled February 14th. It was a lesson that paired frugality with eco-friendliness. We would forego purchasing the traditional paper valentines in exhange for their choice of treats to share with classmates. We soon realized, however, that the candied treats would be missing the affectionate "to/from" messaging without the accompanying paper valentines. Scouring the house, we soon found that the paperboard packaging, from 12-pack cans of diet coke/coca-cola, when cut into colorful heart-shaped cards, was a fun, reusable and recyclable solution. The kids enjoyed personalizing each unique coca-cola paperboard heart and attaching to it a special treat. Once finished, they placed all the Valentines in their own upcycled target treat bags. (Read on for more details.)

 

 

 

 

Tell you more about the upcycled target treat bags? Being the room parent for my youngest's 1st grade class, I took on the task of creating treat bags for each of 24 students. Putting a slightly different twist on one parent's clever idea from last school year's green valentine party challenge, I fused 2 target bags together, using parchment paper and a hot (dry) iron. After trimming to size, I sewed 2 sets of the fused bags together to form a bag or pouch. The bags are complete with handles (either using ribbon or simply cutting an oblong hole in both sides of the bag). The result is a super-cute, easy, reused, upcycled bag in a red and white bullseye pattern.

 

 

 

 

Start by straightening out plastic shopping bags, and lay them flat, back to back, with patterned sides facing out. Trim off handles. Place the 2 bags between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Fusing 2 bags together gives each side of the bag enough strength. Move a hot, dry iron over one side of the parchment paper, in a back and forth motion. Flip entire stack over, and iron the other side. Remove parchment paper and you will have a fused plastic sheet. Trim plastic sheets to desired size. Stitch together 2 sheets, along 3 sides using a serger or sewing machine, leaving one side "open" as the top of the bag.

 

 

 

 

Each of the finished target treat bags, required a total of 4 reused Target plastic shopping bags. Our project, 24 finished bags, reused and upcycled 96 plastic shopping bags. If you cannot collect enough bags from friends and neighbors, Target stores have a bin where shoppers can deposit used plastic shopping bags for recycling. We used Target store bags because of the design and color. These bags are a good weight and thickness (in mils) for a fused plastic project. You can layer more than 2 bags before fusing for a thicker finished plastic, depending on the type of end product you are creating.

We took plastic shopping bags, most destined for a landfill, and upcycled them into usable treat bags. The project cost nothing more than our time and creativity (with the exception of some ribbon and thread).

The Shelf Life of Fast Food

As I watched one of my favorite shows last night, The Biggest Loser, one phrase stuck with me. It was Bob telling some contestants that the food he keeps in his fridge has a shelf life of no more than 2 weeks. This food, then, is healthy, fresh and natural.

Ironically today, I came across an article online that talks about the "shelf-life" of a McDonald's happy meal. You can read the article here for yourself.

It was a very unscientific study that started out as a bet to see how long the happy meal would last. Scientific or not, after 6 months of the burger and fries sitting on a plate, untouched, there was NOT much change in its appearance. What is more disgusting, and signficant, is the lack of mold growth on the "food" after 180 days.

Think about the fresh, natural food that you have in your home for comparison. How long do these items last before they become unedible?

What would be the result if we conducted this experiment with the school cafeteria "food" that is served to our children? And, similarly, what would the result be with much of the "food" found in a grocery store? Maybe we need to find out.

 

Terracycle Back2School Giveaway

There are lots of easy ways to get your green on this back-to-school season.

Reuse what's leftover from last school year first. Check out resale shops and yard sales. Do a clothing and school supply swap with friends, neighbors and relatives. Refurbish used backpacks and personalize them with patches and fabric markers for a creative, unique style. Look for and purchase recycled content school supplies. Look for and purchase upcycled school supplies (such as those supplied by Terracycle for our giveaway). Plan on and pack waste-free lunches. Avoid overpackaged products.

What are you going to do to get your green on? Leave a comment below telling us how you and your kids are going green this back to school season for a chance to win a Terracycle back2school kit that includes the following: 

An Honest Kids Messenger Bag 
A Capri Sun Lunch Box
3 - 2-pocket folders
2 - Capri Sun pencil cases

(*disclaimer: the picture shows a pack of paper pens. These are no longer avaiable and are not included in the giveaway pack).

One winner will be chosen at random on Wed. August 25th

Bag the Box: Terracycle & Malt-o-Meal Provide Opportunity for Zero Waste

Cereal bags, without the box, create 75% less packaging to dispose of (compared to cereal packaging that includes both boxes and bags).

Terracycle, an upstart up-cycling company that turns packaging material into affordable and high quality items, has teamed up with Malt-O-Meal, the largest family owned cereal company in the U.S. By recycling Malt-O-Meal brand cereal bags through Terracycle's Recycling Brigades, consumers have the opportunity to create zero (cereal packaging) waste.

The Recycling Brigades provide charitable organizations, including schools, an opportunity to help reduce our impact on the environment while earning some extra cash for the charity in exchange for the effort.

If recycling brigades are lacking in your community, be the change you want to see...sign up your organization or elementary school for one or more of Terracycle's Brigades and begin providing new opportunities for recycling items not otherwise available.

Encouraging Disposable Lunches: How Not to Be Green

My daughter brought home instructions for the last day of school field trip. Plans have been made for a combo park-bowling outing. Since there are several classrooms joining in on this field trip, groups will be rotating between the park and the bowling alley. During the "park" time, kids will be having fun playing, enjoying the out-of-doors and having lunch (that they pack and bring from home).

Let me preface the kicker of the story by reminding you that the elementary school in which my children attend has achieved the Michigan Green School status three years and running. Now back to the story...

The important reminders that came home regarding the field trip include this: children need to bring their own entirely disposable lunch. Yes, entirely disposable. But we are a Michigan Green School and we encourage recycling and waste reduction. We gave out hand-made reusable fabric snack bags to each and every student on Earth Day. If we can GET the lunches TO the location, why is it that we then cannot get those same containers BACK to where we started? If anything, the times that our students are out of the building are precisely the times to showcase the fact that we are a designated Michigan Green School and we care about our environment. Instead, we are encouraging some 100 students to needlessly dispose of garbage at a city park when we could have encouraged reusable containers and left little trace of ourselves at that park. 

By encouraging a disposable lunch for the field trip, we have just taught our children that when the going gets tough, it's okay to throw it away.

Being a Michigan Green School doesn't mean that you are such only when it's convenient. At least it shouldn't mean that. And, I do not believe that is the premise of the institution. Instead, the Michigan Green School program is about building a foundation of understanding and apathy for the world around us. It's about learning to appreciate and respect our environment. It's about being a leader in the conservation of our natural resources and an environmental superhero.

Let's ask ourselves this...are we green only when it's convenient or are we green because that's what we value, despite a little extra effort?

The green committe at my children's elementary school plans to tackle the issue of disposable lunches on field trips when school resumes in September.

Zipping Up Recycling: Terracycle Adds A New Brigade

Terracycle is a revolutionary company with a mission of creating eco-friendly and affordable products from materials that would otherwise go to a landfill. Chip bags, glue sticks, juice pouches and candy wrappers for example, are "not fit" for collection by municipal recycling programs. Yet, Terracycle sees these (and many other items) as valuable raw materials waiting for a second chance at being upcycled into folders, binders, trash cans, kites and much more.

Terracycle is zipping up recycling even further with the introduction of their newest collection brigade--plastic storage baggies and containers! Accepting any brand baggies and storage containers, in any condition, Terracycle's storage brigade is exclusively being offered to schools. Schools now have another unique opportunity to reduce waste, earn money and obtain a "green school point" (if you are participating in the Michigan Green Schools Program).

Check out Terracycle's brigade page to find out how you can start collecting recyclables and earn money for your non-profit organization. This is one step in the loop of taking trash to treasure. Remember it's important to close that loop when you are out shopping by purchasing items made from recycled content materials.

If you aren't familiar with Terracycle, take time to acquaint yourself with them and all the good that they do.

What Can You Do...Poster Soon Available

We are very excited to announce that our poster "What Can You Do?" will be available for sale on our site very soon in a full color 12x18 size. You'll definitely want one of these for your school, home or office.

Fabric Snack Bags: Earth Day Gifts

The Green School committee at my children's elementary school has been in "existence" for the last three years. Each year, we've recognized Earth Day by giving the students and staff a "green gift". The intent of these gifts is always to promote the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle.

Earth Day 2008, we distributed nearly 400 reusable plastic water bottles (#2 HDPE plastic, made in the USA). In 2009, it was nearly 450 reusable fabric bags. The focus of 2010 was to further encourage waste reduction while promoting the concept of reuse. This was successfully accomplished by distributing 500 (hand-made) fabric snack bags.

Yes...hand-made, fabric snack bags. Our initial plan was to purchase the bags from a supplier. We found suppliers that offered a wonderful and generous discount on the quantity needed. But with such a large student population, we still could not fund the plus $1500 it would have cost.

Luckily, one of our green school committee members knows her way around a sewing machine and serger quite well. It was somewhat of a group effort, I will admit. There were a few parents cutting out fabric, a couple of us sewing on velcro and our master seamstress (and her sister) turning out the final product...all 500+ of them.

We've given our students the "tool" they need to eliminate disposable plastic baggies and begin packing a waste-free lunch. It's now their choice to use them. It's hard to imagine that someone would not use them...they were made in a variety of colors and fabric patterns. Extremely adorable!

The best part of this project? Watching the students on Thursday April 22, walk out of school happily holding their new Earth Day gifts..hand-made fabric snack bags.

Our green school committee is made up of about 8 dedicated individuals. Each one takes on a project and does such an amazing job. The stewardship they feel for our environment is inspiring. Today however, special kudos goes to JR for truly believing in what this committe can accomplish and being the driving force behind the snack-bag project in particular.

Here's a picture, if you'd like to see just what these fabulous little things are all about. Contact us for additional information about purchasing these for yourself.

 

Earth Month Bingo

Fun little thing my children's elementary school is doing to celebrate and recognize the 40th anniversary of Earth Day...playing Earth Month Bingo. The premise is that instead of celebrating for just one day, students and their families will have a full month to try out as many environmentally-friendly activities as possible. It's a nice reminder that although April 22 is the official "Earth Day", it's important to be kind to the Earth and our environment every day.

Styrofoam: Trying to Say No

Styrofoam...trying to say no to styrofoam in our school cafeterias. I joined forces with a couple of other very eco-friendly moms in an effort to get our school district to eliminate styrofoam trays. We met with our district's Wellness Committe and food service provider to find a (cost-effective) alternative to styrofoam trays.

Their concern: cost in dollars. Our concern: the environment and our children's health. You can see the disparity. It will most likely be a long journey before the switch is made. But that's okay because we are in it for the long-haul. Eliminating styrofoam from our school cafeterias is more than possible, it's probable and there are nearby school districts that have already accomplished it.

Stay tuned for more on this journey.