For many years I have used Verizon as my cell phone service carrier. Until we moved recently they also provided my land line but now we are a cell only family. Their service has been outstanding… for the most part. A few months back I let a very crafty salesman talk me into getting a Blackberry. I liked the phone but I didn’t like that $30 Internet charge for it each month. Several times I asked for just a regular phone but once that guy knew I had a thing for the Blackberry he made sure to needle me until I walked out with one. I can only blame myself for being weak… and over the last few months that wasted $30, since I rarely use the Internet feature, has been bothering me.

Then I read about My Plastic Free Life‘s decision to cancel her cell service, despite being happy with it, and go to Credo. That planted a seed in my head and then this week I got a mailing from them and decided to try Credo myself.

So what is Credo? They are a cell service that donates 1% of your cell bill to progressive causes like the ACLU, Feeding America, Democracy Now, Defenders of Wildlife, and many others. They also showed how AT&T and Verizon are sending money to places and people I would rather NOT support…. like Bush, Cheney, McCain, and other conservatives who try to block environmental and social legislation that I agree with. Both of these carriers have been known to stifle free speech by censoring web casts that are critical of Republican campaigns and blocking pro-choice text messages. So much for a free country…

So, as long as I am spending money anyway I thought it would be a good idea to send a portion of that money to progessive, liberal causes. I will also be saving money by switching and getting a  no frills phone. AND because I did not want to get a new phone (they had some nice free phones too) I ordered a refurbished phone and I get to keep my same number. Wahoo!

Phone service with a conscience, no new phone, same number… I also get to try it for 30 days risk free with a temporary number. If I find all is well I will make the switch and they are buying me out of my old contract so I won’t be out the $175 early termination fee. I guess I will gift my pink Blackberry away on Freecycle…

I have long been a fan of Crocodile Creek products. They have so many inventive products that are safer for kids. Many of those products are awesome for sending kids back to school like their backpacks and lunchboxes.

We got some of the stainless steel water bottles for back to school here and like other Crocodile Creek products they are colorful, appealing to kids, and they make a common household product healthier for children and the planet. These would go perfectly with the CC lunchboxes or any lunchbox for that matter.

They remind me of the Sigg bottles we already have but stainless steel instead of aluminum. The different colors and graphics are more appealing to the kids then most other kids bottles and yet they are not licensed characters or other pop culture images, which I LOVE. You can get butterflies, horses, outer space, trucks, dinosaurs, flowers, etc. Also, I find they are easier for kids to open and drink out of than some other similar bottles. They are food safe stainless steel, they have a pull-up spout for drinking, and a recyclable flip open cap.

These are going to be perfect for my daughter’s school lunches and my for my youngest son to take to our play dates at the local play museum.

I have two amazing travel books to share with you. My interest in these is due in part to my plan to adopt a more vagabond family lifestyle. If all goes well we could be hitting the road in ten months… please, please, please. But I have also loved travel books since forever. Some of my favorites are Under the Tuscan Sun (way before it was a movie), A Walk in the Woods, and Eat, Pray, Love.

This week though I read two that differ slightly than what I usually read and LOVED them.

The first book is All in the Same Boat. It is about a trial lawyer and a teacher and how they decide to quit their jobs, buy a boat and sail away. They even raise two daughters from infancy on their boat. In addition to it being an awesome story I love how REAL it is. I had a very romantic notion of what it would be to live on a boat and this book really opened my eyes to the reality of what boat living is. The sheer amount of work involved in maintaining a boat is staggering!

Here I was imagining white sand beaches and sipping cocktails while the kids swim. While that may be a reality for cruising families that is certainly not ALL their life is about. The description of what it takes to do some laundry, fix your toilet, make a meal, or go grocery shopping was enough to have me wondering if a life at sea would ever be right for me.

But even still I loved reading about all their adventures and how their two girls grew up on the water. There are even a couple essays in the book written by them.

The second book had me laughing hysterically for most of the evening and it also had me up until 2:00 AM reading it straight through. The book is One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children. It is funny, it is scary, it is touching, and it is one heck of an adventure.

The author used to work with photo journalists to make coffee table books about travel. He met his wife during his travels as she backpacked though Asia. The settled down in California, had kids, and then he got a middle age itch to go traveling again. He and his wife decided to sell everything they owned and use the money to travel the world for one year.

I was beside myself laughing when he related how his toddler wipes his ice cream covered hands on the slacks of a posh woman in Paris. I was laughing equally hard when a shop keeper in Turkey ran into the street after him screaming because he wouldn’t buy a rug.

I was biting my nails when he described how his family was sleeping in tents in Africa when a pride of lions entered their camp and attacked a buffalo a few yards away from their tent. They heard the screaming, slicing, crunching, etc. all night long. I was pretty much anxious all throughout their journey in Africa!

My eyes were watering as he described how his daughter was very nearly lost at sea in Australia and I was mesmerized by his descriptions of Istanbul, Greece, and Sardinia. I was also a little alarmed by talk of crocodiles in Costa Rica since that is the front runner for places we may be looking to move to.

This book also had one of the most beautiful paragraphs I have ever read and I will share part of it here. It shows why taking the risk to travel with your family can be so worth it! He and his family were in a cave up the Mekong River. They were lighting matches to see thousands of carved Buddhas in the cave. They were lighting match after match and remembering all the places they had been…

Then it struck me that life was like that too. You light a match, and you’re just a child. Light another, and you’re married with children of your own. A few more brief, bright flares, and your babies have left home. A few more after that and your pack is used up. That might be why, at the end of our journey, we found ourselves standing in the Buddha caves of Pak Ou. To learn that we only have one pack of matches. To understand that we have to be in the best possible place when we light each one. To know that we must make each brief combustion a bright, shining moment that pierces the darkness and illuminates a thousand gods.

Like the passage above this book was fantastic and really brought home the point for me. I may very well only have this one pack of matches. Where do I want to light them?

The middle of July is when we start to see back to school sales and we typically start to make our supply lists if we have kids attending school outside the home. Even if you homeschool you will still likely take advantage of this time of year to get good deals on supplies. How much do you typically spend for back to school supplies?

Well, according to the National Retail Foundation, the average family with students in grades Kindergarten through 12 is expected to spend $548.72 on school merchandise.

Here is the breakdown:

Electronics or computer-related equipment: $167.84
Clothing and accessories: $204.67
Shoes $93.59
School supplies $82.62

Is this more or less than what you spend each year? Will it cost more or less to use greener and more eco friendly school supplies? How can we avoid falling into the consumer traps designed to get parents to spend a ton of money this time of the year?

Here are some of the ways we are tackling the back to school supplies scene this year.

School Clothes – We are buying nothing new except underwear and socks. Every other item will be second hand from thrift stores and I started shopping for items in early June. I made a list of what I think they will need and worked from that… I didn’t rely on guesswork that would ensure I buy more than they need. I kept in mind that there is only two months of shorts weather here after school begins so I made sure to think Fall/Winter. I think clothes for most of the school year for both of my older kids will be less than $75.

Shoes – School shoes I usually don’t buy second hand, it just depends. I tend to buy each child one pair of good quality shoes that are pricier initially but last the whole year. The cheap $20 shoes at WalMart… they don’t last more than a few months for my active kids so we don’t buy them. Since instituting a policy that my son reserve a pair of shoes for school ONLY I have been buying fewer new pairs. He can use worn or used shoes for play until they fall apart and the school ones stay nice. The $93.59 price estimation for shoes sounds realistic to me. You can buy “green” shoes for two kids for less than that.

Lunch – School is in session for around 180 days. Buying a school lunch is about $2 per day on average and that is without extra drinks or snacks from vending machines. You can expect to pay around $360 for a year’s worth of lunches. They are also not the most nutritious in my estimation and I can think of several other things I would rather put that $360 towards, including nifty lunchboxes. Check out my Bento Lunchbox site for some lunch inspiration! This year I plan on packing lunches for the most part but also allowing them to eat the school lunch when they want to. Because we invested in some good quality lunchboxes last year and the year before I have no need to buy more. We have 5 Laptop Lunchbox systems in various colors, a couple Tiffins, and various other bento boxes. They make packing a low cost, nutritious meal a snap, and the stylish boxes help with the “cool” factor.

Supplies – These can get pricey IMO. I remember two years ago I worked straight off the list the school sent to me and spent around $50. Plus I had to pay a supplies fee to the school of $150 so I wasn’t too happy. Most schools have a supplies sale about a week or so before school starts and you can usually get everything they need for their grade for around $20. Call and ask your school about this. Homeschoolers can also shop these sales. There are some really not-so green items that the schools request like petroleum, crayons, anti-bacterial soaps, and plastic bags. I have a sample letter you can send to the school with your supplies to explain why you didn’t follow their list to the letter if you made some changes. We stick to their list for some things and others we don’t.

I like to shop for school supplies ALONE. If I take my kids with me I will inevitable get pressured into buying a Hello Kitty folder instead of a plain one or the glitter glue instead of the regular glue. I can make savvier decisions when they are not around. ;)

Also make sure to scope of thrift stores for supplies. They often have folders and backpacks as well as clothes and household stuff.

Backpacks – These are relatively cheap at a place like Walmart where you can get one for $10-25 dollars. But I find that they are also CHEAPLY constructed most times and you may end up having to buy another one mid year. The zippers always go first in my experience. That is no savings. I would rather buy a handmade one on Etsy or make my own. Here is an awesome tutorial for making your own. Girls especially won’t mind a simple but pretty sack style backpack. Washable and no zippers!

Electronics – At 5 and 9 I don’t think any electronics are required for them to function in school although it would be nice for them to have their own computer! That is on our budgetary wish list.

What are you doing to keep the back to school season and cheaper and greener? I would love to hear!

It still amazes me that I have gone the whole summer without buying ANY Popsicles and yet my kids have been eating them all summer long. While the kids across the street run around with sugary Otter Pops my kids have been eating Popsicles that are just as tasty but have no added sugars or food dyes. This week we juiced a 20 pound box of oranges and made frozen OJ pops… we just poured the juice in the molds as it came out of the juicer. They are a hit, just like the pops made from homemade apple juice.

And while they may not be technicolor blue like what the kids across the street have, these are shaped like rockets and MOM made them. That makes them infinitely cooler. Oh and waste free… which is important since the street is littered with Popsicle sticks and plastic wrappers.

Mr. Blue Eyes below LOVES them and will help himself until they are all gone and I have to make more…

Pictured: Tovolo Blue Rocket Pop Molds. We also have the Tovolo Green Shooting Star Pop Molds.