Monthly Archives: February 2010

Start Composting – Green Step By Step

A compost pile goes well with a vegetable garden, but that’s not the only reason to start one. You can use the compost anywhere in your yard as a fertilizer when it’s ready. And of course it’s a great use of your food and yard waste.

Most people prefer to have a compost bin rather than a compost pile. There are many great ones on the market that can help to speed up the process and keep the smell down.

It’s pretty amazing what you can put into a compost bin. Typical advice is to not throw any meat or cooked foods into the pile, but lots of other things can go in. Grass clippings, of course. Cardboard, although you need to tear it up some but even old pizza boxes are fine. Lint from your laundry. Hair. Paper towels and napkins, if you’re still using them. Some people even put urine in their compost. Others can’t stand the thought.

Encourage Your Kids to Do Science Experiments

One of the greatest skills I think you can give your children is the ability to explore the world around them. That means letting them play outside as well as encouraging them to experiment with science.

Experiments are a lot more fun way to learn science than what most schools teach too. Great for showing your children that science can be fun, not just equations and numbers.

I’m always on the lookout for great science books for my kids. I just came across The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists on Amazon, and it looks like loads of fun. Nature in a Nutshell for Kids: Over 100 Activities You Can Do in Ten Minutes or Less looks good too, and even comes in a Kindle edition if you prefer.

While not every science experiment is great for the environment many can be, and an understanding of science is a real benefit to children as they grow up. It will help them to understand more of the concerns about what we’ve done to our environment and to understand when you disagree with the naysayers.

Don’t forget that you can include science even in your nature walks. Pick up fallen leaves and talk about their parts and what they do for the trees. Discuss the different kinds of rocks you find. Talk about how the different animals you spot live.

Make science fun and interesting and you’ll give your children a lifelong benefit. They don’t have to become scientists, but a basic understanding of the principles is a good thing.

Keeping My Kids’ Video Gaming Green – Atari 2600!

Kids love to play video games, but new gaming systems are expensive. Then you add in the cost of buying new games, any extra controllers they want, and it gets expensive. Not to mention all the electronic waste when they want the next great system.

That’s why my kids just have an old Atari 2600, plus whatever games they can play online on the computer for free. Much, much cheaper, and the games are still incredibly fun.

The systems really aren’t that hard to find. You might luck into one at a garage sale or thrift store, but if you don’t want to hunt around town you can buy old consoles and games that still work through either Amazon or eBay.

My kids go absolutely nuts for our system. I still need to get a better joystick for them, but when you consider how old these systems are, that’s not such a bad thing.

Most will come with what you need to attach it to a modern television set. If you had one and you remember the old connections, you know it won’t work anymore. But if you need to buy something, there’s an RF TV Adapter on sale at Amazon that’s supposed to do the job quite neatly. Or you can search for one of the consoles that has been modernized with the red, yellow and white plugs.

I have no doubt the time will come when my kids will want whatever the hot gaming system is. But for now they are quite happy using a system that was made more than 30 years ago and still works well today.

Still Playing with Washing My Hair with Baking Soda and Vinegar

I’m still trying out washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar. The first day didn’t go great, but things have improved since then.

I rewashed and rinsed my hair with the baking soda and vinegar, this time using the full tablespoon of baking soda in a bit less water, and a bit heavier concentration of the vinegar too. This time my hair feels much better.

I don’t use products in my hair very often anyhow aside from shampoo and conditioner, so I can’t say that there is much excess residue to come out from anything. No old hair spray or whatnot. But I am definitely noticing that my hair feels just a little lighter. It’s soft in a slightly different way from how it feels after using shampoo and conditioner, but definitely soft.

A big difference is that it feels to me as though the natural oils are moving further down the hair shaft between washings. Maybe I’m imagining it, but that’s how it feels, and I don’t mean that my hair is looking more oily right off the bat. It does seem that using this method I may need to wash my hair a little more often than I did with shampoo and conditioner, which I had down to every 5 days or thereabouts. When I shower without washing my hair it just goes up in a knot. I don’t even use a shower cap. Long hair has its advantages!

Plan and Plant a Garden – Green Step By Step

When it comes to being green, food miles is an important consideration. The further your food comes to reach your table, the less efficient it is. Eating organic food is nice too.

Gardening is a wonderful way to be green and to encourage the entire family to appreciate what it takes to bring food to the table. You may or may not save money gardening, but you can’t beat the food quality when it all works out.

Plan by what your family will eat and what grows well in your area. If you’re in an area with water shortages, do take that into consideration as well.

Especially for younger children there is nothing like seeing a plant go from seed to the table. It can even encourage some of the pickier ones to try vegetables they thought they didn’t like.

There are many ways to keep your garden organic. Delight younger children by getting lady bugs to help with pest control. Plant marigolds near tomatoes. Get a good organic gardening book – Square Foot Gardening is a good choice for your typical, space limited yard as well as for larger properties.

Gardening also gives you a great excuse to make the most of your compost pile. Some cities do now take yard waste in special containers, which is a big help, but it’s better yet if you can use it yourself. Much better than using chemicals on your garden. There are plenty of compost bins and such that you can buy to keep the process running with a minimum of odor.