Part three of Recyclebank’s Green Your Back to School Challenge is all about keeping it green even after school is over for the day. It has lots of great info and more chances to earn points.

The first activity involves making a pledge to keep after school activities at school or nearby and to carpool with other parents. This isn’t much of an issue for me as I am not big on after school activities beyond playing.

After school snacks are discussed and they are just as important as what your child eats at lunch so the need is still there to make it healthy and sustainable to the best of our abilities.

There were some interesting stats on children who do homework at night versus those who do their homework while the sun is still out. We may need to make some changes in that regard. There is a quiz about how to keep it green while using a printer to print off assignments… another thing I need to look into, although for me and not for the kids! There were also some alarming stats on how much energy is consumed actually USING your computer compared to when it is just sitting idle.

This whole challenge has been fun and eye opening. Recyclebank has done a great job with it!

This post is part of a campaign sponsored by Recyclebank.

I have a small water bottle collection going on at my place. I have my water bottle that I take to the gym and another one for hiking. I have a couple glass water bottles for when I don’t have to worry so much about breakage. I have stainless steel water bottles that are perfect for the kids to take to school and now I have a nifty new bamboo water bottle from the Bamboo Bottle Company.

I have been using it in a variety of settings for a few weeks now and I like it well enough to give it a permanent home in my household. For starters the design is very sleek and beautiful as well as eco friendly. While it does have some plastic pieces, most water bottles do, even most stainless steel ones. This bottle has something that makes it uniquely different though… the outer shell is made of a silky smooth bamboo and the inner compartment that holds the water, is made of sturdy glass. Bamboo is eco friendly because it is fast growing (unlike wood) and sustainable. The glass used to make the bottle is comprised of 51% recycled glass and it remains remains 100% recyclable. The plastic pieces are BPA free. I love the fact that it looks like a wood bottle and that it is actually glass with a protective covering. One of my other glass bottles has a silicone protective cover and I prefer the look and style of the bamboo.

It works well for hiking and walking in the city park near my house, as well as drinking water around the house. I also take it to the gym occasionally but find it is a bit too hard to open and close at a fast pace. If I am in the midst of an aerobics class and I need a quick sip, this is not the bottle for me. That is really the only criticism I have about it though… it requires a bit of finesse to screw the lid back on each time. Oh and it is a bit too large for my car cup holders, but I have found that most water bottles are.

The cleaning is easy and you don’t have to worry about warping the bamboo. The bottle disassembles into 5 pieces for easy cleaning. Wipe down the bamboo cover with a damp cloth and the rest can be put in the dishwasher. I love easy it to clean because I am tremendously picky about having a clean, germ free water bottle and I wash mine 2-3 times a week.

The bamboo water bottle gets an A+ from me.

Many thanks to the Bamboo Bottle Company for sending this bottle my way.

Last week I completed the Recyclebank challenge to green my school supplies shopping and prep. This week Recyclebank is challenging us to green the first day of school.

Luckily we did not have to get up at 6:00 a.m. like the mom in the challenge. Yikes! Our day started at 7:00 a.m. I got up and showered about a few minutes before that and then woke my daughter so she could shower next. She has to have time for her waist length hair to dry. ;) My oldest boy was already up and ready by this time, dressed in his khakis and polo uniform. He ran out the door at 7:30 when the car service his school uses arrived. On a normal day his sister would be catching a bus about 15 minutes  later but today both parents had to be at the school for the first day so she drove with us. My husband had the task of getting our youngest up and dressed while I contemplated breakfast and lunch. All three kiddos will be taking buses or a carpool to get to school/therapy so definitely the greenest option, other than our own two feet. Honestly we do like that our house is outside of the walk zone. I totally admit that. When we did the walking thing the year before last it was very good most of the time but the coldest parts of winter were pretty bad, especially when neighbors and even the school itself did not regularly shovel walks. We like the bus after that experience. We get 10 points via Recyclebank for doing so…

Although it was not smooth sailing for my youngest kiddo and his speech classes. The bus never came to pick him up and when I called the transportation department so ask what was up. They were like “duh” the bus ins’t there so take him to school yourself. The guy literally told me to stop bugging him since he was busy. Oh and he would “try” to put him on a bus home. Can I take 10 points away from that heinous anus transportation director? Grrr!

Anyway… more points were to be had for considering what you can do to green your child’s classroom, study habits, and their lunch experience. I pledged to serve some leftovers in school lunches so that less resources are used. That is easy enough for me since I already do that. During the school year dinners are planned specifically to make leftover lunches easy.

Most of the challenge in greening your school year is done in the planning and shopping phase but there is still much to be done on the first day to. I came home with a bunch of useless paper so I am off to see how much can go in my printer and how much can be used as scrap paper for my little artists. How did your first day of school go?

If you take a look at most any interior decorating book, magazine, or website you usually come away rather discouraged at the amount of money that it takes to achieve the look you want your home to have. It seems that anything resembling that glossy magazine photo is going to cost some serious green. But quite frankly there is a simple and effective method for attaining the look that you want without spending a fortune; all it takes is a solid knowledge of the style you have in mind, an empty car trunk, and a free Saturday morning for yard sales, thrifting, and time to pick up some Craigslist booty.

I do not happen to have the desire to turn my house into a magazine photo. There is nothing wrong with that but it just isn’t my thing. I like simple decor that screams “a family lives here” not “I have an interior decorator”. Plus my tastes are eclectic… I like farmhouse decor, modern, retro, bohemian, and new age and I am not afraid to mix, LOL. Either way you decide to go though… second hand shopping can get the job done. Garage and yard sales particularly are a great source for second hand items, but don’t overlook second hand shops and thrift stores as well as moving or estate sales or auctions that you can find advertised in your local newspaper. In fact, you never know where you are going to find awesome second hand objects and sometimes friends, neighbors and family will be more than willing to give you items they are looking to get rid of or that have been taking up much-needed storage space for years.

Avoidance Issues - There are plenty of people who shy away from decorating their homes with second hand furnishings or decorations because they somehow feel that purchasing something second hand will somehow give them a negative reputation; that somehow people looking at an object will know that it was purchased second hand. Success means having the money to buy the best and buy it brand new right? Whatever…

There are still others who won’t consider second hand decorating for reasons that range from quality to safety, but for those who can get past their aversion to having something in their home that once belonged to (or was used by) someone else, the benefits of decorating your home with second hand items is fairly self-explanatory.

The Benefits of Second Hand Decorating

The primary reason to purchase second hand furnishings and decorations is fairly obvious; price. Buying second hand items almost always costs less than it would to purchase the item new (unless you’re dealing with an antique – in which case all bets are off). Not only can you save yourself a great deal of money, you can also find high quality, even unique, one-of-a-kind items at a fraction of the cost they would cost you in a regular store. Items that would normally cost you hundreds of dollars can be had for a bargain; especially if the individual selling them is anxious to be rid of them. When we moved into our current house almost a year ago we had no kitchen table. Our previous one (which we had since we got married) bit the dust in the move. Anyway I knew I wanted either a farmhouse table or a vintage table from the 50s/60s. The farmhouse tables were over $800 used and the vintage ones were hard to find. I saw new vintage-style tables like I wanted for around $500 but I had serious doubts if the quality would be the same. So I waited almost a year but eventually I got what I wanted at an estate auction and the cost could not be beat… ready for it… $1.00. Yes, I said one dollar! It is a retro/vintage kitchen table set from the 60s I would say. I LOVE it!!!

This baby is metal and sturdy as heck. The color combo is brown/beige/mustard which also pleases me. But the table will match many different cushion colors so someday I might redo the cushions to mint and butter yellow. Some of the chair fabric is ripped or otherwise I wouldn’t even bother. It also fits the space better. Who was I trying to fool thinking a  farmhouse table would even fit there or look good? I am not Martha Stewart and I don’t have a farmhouse near a vineyard. I live in a rented duplex that kisses the outskirts of a large city. This table is me… simple, practical, no frills.

A few weeks back we got a white leather recliner from a sale for $5. We got it home and quickly realized why it had been sold so cheap. The cushion from inside was disintegrating and throwing up everywhere. Every morning it looked like someone had thrown popcorn all over the place. So, we freecycled that one and found another the same day via Craigslist for $15. It is even better suited to us and our brown couch… olive green, cushy, and cloth covered. The lady who sold it to us also gave us a nice metal filing cabinet and sold us two large dressers for $5. An older find is this old time school desk that was only $3 and serves as a homeschool nook for us:

I LOVE second hand stuff!

One of the least recognized benefits of purchasing items second hand is in knowing that what you are purchasing has already ‘proved’ itself. If the item is still usable and looks good after having been used for a length of time, chances are that it will serve you will and not wear out or fall apart as so many ‘new’ things tend to do fairly quickly after being purchased.

For art work we have purchased second hand of course but since I take pictures I like to hang my own art. To make that cheaper I use Group deal sites like Groupon and MamaSource and get them half price. When you refer friends you get credit too and all three of the canvas photos on my family room wall were FREE. I like that price!

It really isn’t hard to decorate your home, even if you are on a shoestring budget, it just takes a little creativity and a willingness to consider purchasing items from places you normally might not consider buying them, but by thinking outside of the box you can make your home into a truly original work of art.

For many families antibacterial cleaners are a fixture in the home, whether they are in the form of hand soap or cleaners for your kitchen and bathroom. We are bombarded by marketing hype about the need for these products in sterilizing our homes and protecting them from harmful germs. But are these cleaners actually doing more harm than good?

Why Do We Need to Kill Bacteria?

No one likes the idea of bacteria and germs laying in wait around our homes. We’ve been conditioned to think they are bad and that we must get rid of them to maintain health. It is true that some bacteria can cause disease, illness and food poisoning. And with that in mind it is easy to see why we gravitate towards a product, like antibacterial cleaners, that promise to kill around 99% of bacteria. After all, we all want to protect ourselves and our family from getting sick.

So Why Are Antibacterial Cleaners Bad for Our Health?

Many bad things happen when we try to get around nature’s design. Just look at how whole foods become unhealthy when we process and fragment them. Look at how a natural substance found in the earth can wreak havoc on the planet when processed as fuels and used to the extreme by the population. Antibacterial cleaners are not as good for us as they may initially seem. In the short term, their ingredients are known to irritate or even damage the skin (this is more of a problem with those that have been developed for cleaning purposes).

The FDA is currently looking into one of the major ingredients of antibacterial soaps: triclosan. Although the evidence isn’t cut and dry yet, it suggests it may have a harmful effect on humans  and especially children. In the past, the FDA has also stated that there are no extra health benefits to using antibacterial soaps over regular soap and water. If there is no added benefit and the ingredients are even slightly suspect then why the use them?

A long term result of using antibacterial products is that they make bacteria more resistant. This means that, over time, these antibacterial products will no longer be able to kill the germs they set out to kill in the first place. We are essentially taking normal strains of bacteria and and giving the the means to get more powerful and potentially more harmful.

You simply don’t need to make your home sterile to protect yourself and your family. Bacteria is all around us, and being exposed to small amounts of it is what our body needs in order to build up its defenses against stronger bacteria. Studies have shown that sterile environments in childhood can actually lead to more allergies and other problems later in life.

The American Medical Associated (AMA) has warned against extensive use of such antibacterial cleaners for these reasons. When it comes to killing germs, simple measures like washing your hands often with traditional soap, is the best way to protect against germs… and the safest.

Instead of having a bottle of antibacterial soap next to the sink try a bar of Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap. For cleaning household surfaces the liquid version is amazingly effective. Combine that with a homemade disinfectant with vinegar, water, and tea tree oil mix in a spray bottle and you will be set. If you need a quirt bottle for meeting the demands of school supplies lists try Clean Well All Natural Antibacterial soaps. They have no triclosan.

Easy, safe, and green.