Getting Away From Disposable Dishes

I have long been careful to use as few disposable items as possible in my daughter’s school lunches. It’s so much cheaper to buy and use reusable bottles and containers for her food.

It also ensures that she doesn’t throw everything out at school, and I know how she’s eating. But that’s just a side benefit.

But with my son’s birthday coming up, I keep thinking about the disposable dish use for most birthday parties. Just seems kind of silly to be wasting those.

One idea I’ve read about that I really like is hitting the thrift stores for cheap, old dishes and silverware to use for parties. I like that. It’s great for the budget if you keep them, or if you don’t like them, back they can go. Donating to thrift stores is very easy.

I like the idea of keeping them, of course. That’s just the cheapest way to go.

The challenge, of course, is finding dishes that young children can handle with minimal risk of breakage. Plastic dishes are of course not that great an idea.

There are other times you should be looking at your use of disposable dishes. Some people bring their own containers to restaurants to bring home leftovers. It’s a bit more challenging in some ways for take out, as you may have called ahead, plus the restaurant has a standard way they get food ready. But if you’re nice when you ask and have your containers ready, they may cooperate with a smile.

Quitting disposable dishes is challenging, but it can be a great conversation starter, both with family and complete strangers. It’s an extra step to take a lot of the time, but really not all that inconvenient once you build the habit.

Office Store Recycling Services

Did you know that some office supply stores do recycling for you? Both Office Depot and Staples have recycling programs. You may be familiar with the various ink and toner cartridge recycling programs, but more is available.

You will sometimes have to pay for it, though. But for electronic waste recycling that’s not all that bad a thing, so long as you are certain that the recycling is done correctly.

Office Depot, for example, sells boxes in their stores for you to put your old electronics in. They do all their recycling in the USA, which takes care of one of the big concerns of tech recycling. Too often it’s done wrong. They have a PDF of acceptable products.

Also important, they carry a lot of products with recycled content.

Staples also recycles ink and toner cartridges, computers, monitors, cell phones and more. And of course recycled content products.

It’s good to see companies that are working on offering both green products and services. Most of us come up with quite a bit of electronic waste that is just not that easy to recycle other ways. Even if you have to pay to recycle them, it’s good to have a way to get rid of old electronics properly.

Thinking Baby Sling

With two other kids around, I’m thinking this time around I really need to give a baby sling a serious try. The only thing I’m not sure of is… which one?

We had a sling with my oldest, but it really didn’t work out. It was one my mother picked up, and we just couldn’t get it to work. I don’t recall which type it was, but we just couldn’t get the adjustments right.

This time around I’m thinking with two other kids a sling sounds really nice.

Something other than a stroller to push when I pick my daughter up from school.

Something to keep my hands a little freer while still holding my baby.

We had a front carrier with my daughter, and it was pretty nice too, but not always comfortable. I’m thinking about comfort as well as practicality here.

I’ve heard good things about Maya wrap and Moby wrap, but no idea what’s best.

Any opinions out there?

Are You Planning Your Garden Yet?

It’s still winter, and cold in many parts of the country, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be getting your garden ready to go. Not that you want to start planting in most areas yet, although some people do like to get an early start indoors.

This is a great time to figure out what you want to grow and figure out when you need to plant everything. Some seeds can be started earlier than others. How early you should start depends on where you live, but an early indoor start can nicely extend your growing season. It’s nice being able to avoid frost or freezes while getting your garden growing.

Check your local library for gardening books specific to your area. That will help you to figure out what you should be trying to grow and when to start. It’s pretty variable by region.

Square Foot Gardening is very popular, and a great way to keep your planning of your garden space under control. We do something similar, although much of our garden space is limited to where our landlord’s decorative plants died in a freeze a couple years back, and goes along the border. But the principle is in there.

It’s also smart to look up companion plants and plants that don’t get along so well. Tomatoes and marigolds are classic companion plants, for example. The right companion can keep pests away or fix more nitrogen in the soil for another plant. There are plenty of online companion planting resources too.

Your compost bin or pile can be used pretty much anytime. If it gets too cold for composting to happen, don’t worry. It will start up again as the weather warms. You can add some soil and/or compost starter when things warm up enough if you want to kick start things. If you’ve been neglecting it, get moving again.

It’s not too early to get things moving right now. The sooner you get things started, the sooner you can enjoy home grown produce.

Helping Your Child’s School Be Green

One of the things that pleases me about my daughter’s school is that they do endeavor to be fairly green. They started recycling last year. They have gardens. It’s pretty nice. But of course there’s always more to be done.

This has not been a year for me to participate much at my daughter’s school. I had such trouble with my last pregnancy that I am not about to push things this time. And things have gone much better this time, so with any luck next year I can actually start participating more directly.

Perhaps the simplest thing we do as a family is walk to school. We’re within a few blocks, so driving would be insane. The traffic backup at the school would probably make driving take longer than walking. Yet I know parents near me who prefer to drive that distance.

We just keep talking up the walking and the fitness advantages. The gas price advantage has of late slipped away somewhat.

We also pack lunches in reusable containers. My daughter adores her Klean Kanteen. And if it doesn’t cut back as much as I’d like on the food waste, at least she brings the excess food home so I know when she’s wasting it by not eating her lunch and we can talk about it. If she eats a school lunch, the excess just goes in the trash. What good is that?

Setting an example is one of the simplest things to do. Participating in the decision making process, of course, is far more powerful.

Joining the PTA is one of the best ways to have a voice. The one at our school is pretty active, which is nice. Lots of events to encourage parents to come over.

Of course, it helps that in southern California being green and wanting to conserve water is a sign of sanity. These aren’t so controversial as in some areas. It can be challenging some of the time, but really not so bad as other areas.

Another great thing you can do is volunteer in your child’s classroom. How better to give the teacher direct input and make suggestions?

Parent participation is required in the preschool program, and I was able to do a lot of it during my daughter’s kindergarten year too. It was fun. There’s nothing like getting to know your child’s friends and the other parents. This year, when it really hasn’t worked out due to my pregnancy, has been less fun for me because I don’t get to help out. I know a lot of the kids from last year, but it’s not the same.

Being involved means you can point out green alternatives. You can point out waste. You can help to find solutions.