Green Living Tips For Parents: How To Develop A Sustainable Lifestyle

World Earth Day is fast approaching, as citizens grow increasingly keen to commit to an eco-friendly and more sustainable way of life. It is important to remember that safeguarding our natural environment must be a long-term goal, however, and cannot be achieved over the course of a single day alone.
The current generation of new parents are increasingly keen to adopt a more eco-friendly approach, primarily because they are hopeful of setting a positive example for their children to follow. By educating their infants on the importance of recycling and utilising natural resources, they can help to create a future generous of environmentally responsible adults.

Green Living Tips For New Parents

With this in mind, what practical steps can new parents take to create an environmentally conscious lifestyle that is sustainable for a prolonged period of time? Consider the following: -

Consider The Merits Of Breastfeeding

While breastfeeding is not always an option, in instances where it is it offers considerable benefits to parents. Although it is fair to suggest that breastfeeding remains a relatively controversial topic for discussion, it does deliver environmental advantages to parents who are seeking a more sustainable way of life. In essence, it enables families to eliminate a huge amount of waste in the form of formula containers, bags and bottles, without forcing mothers to compromise on the quality and variety of the nutrients that their child receives. On an additional note, breastfeeding will also reduce the number of trips required to the local store, which in turn cuts mileage and enables families to save on transportation costs.

Focus On Making Homemade Food And Utilising Natural Produce

If you have the spare time or are able to create a window in your schedule, preparing homemade baby food for your child can serve as an excellent way of contributing towards a healthier environment. Not only does it save you considerable sums of money, but it also means that you are investing in minimal packaging while reducing the cumulative amount of food that you waste over time. Pre-packaged and ready-made food items are renowned for the amount of food miles that they carry, and by purchasing these you are contributing to practices that are harmful to the environment. If you still require convincing, you should consider the fact that preparing homemade food enables you to take charge of quality control and the nutrients that you are supplying to your child.

Use Natural Cleaning Products In The Home

Children make a considerable mess within the home, and every parent will testify to the need for a rigid and stringent cleaning regime. The use of toxic cleaning products can not only harm your child's welfare, however, but it also has a negative and detrimental effect on the natural environment. With this in mind, you should commit to using natural, organic and eco-friendly cleaning products wherever possible, while also utilising recycled materials to scour floor and wall surfaces. As a starting point, you should look to use natural products within the home that have in-built cleaning agents, such as vinegar, baking soda and lemons.

The Last Word For Eco-Friendly Parents

As a new parent, it is only natural that you should look to provide the best possible environment for your child. This goal can be at least partially achieved by adopting a more eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle, which will encourage you to invest in organic food, natural cleaning products and toxin-free skincare tools. This therefore provides an ideal set of circumstances for parents, who can optimise their child's physical welfare while also taking steps to create a healthier and more prosperous natural environment.

How To Live In An Environmentally Friendly Way

Do you sometimes reflect on the way you live and end up feeling bad about the impact your existence is having on the environment? Is so then you are like most of us but feeling bad won’t get you or the environment anywhere, decisive action is needed. You can make today the first day that you begin to live a greener life but you’ll need a guide to show you how. Well you’re in luck; let’s take a look at how you can live in a more environmentally friendly way.

Use Natural Products

Are you removing household stains and odours with bleach, vapour sprays and other mass produced cleaning agents? The answer to that question for most of us will be yes but have you considered using natural products instead? Why? Because they can do just as a good a job, they don’t contain toxins that will pollute the environment and it’s cheaper. Try removing a stain with a mixture of vinegar and water or some baking soda and you will see that they are just as good as the products you usually buy and without having to buy them you will be reducing the amount of rubbish you amass.

Eat Less Meat

The amount of land and resources which used up to sustain the demand for meat throughout the world is huge. If we all did our bit and just had 1 0r 2 days a week when we didn’t eat meat we could greatly reduce these figures freeing up more land for us to enjoy and less destruction of areas to create farm land. When was the last time you went a whole day without eating meat?

No More Plastic Bags

This is one that we will all be familiar with. You’re probably sick of being asked if you want a bag every time you go shopping but you really should consider bringing your own canvas bag which will last for years and eliminate the need for plastic bags. Think about how many plastic bags you throw out each week and then think about how long they take to decompose, the number is staggering.

Snuggle More

Do you have you heating blasting for most of the night? Try using it much less and when you’re cold put some extra layers on and snuggle up to a loved one (that includes the dog). Reducing the amount of oil or gas you use will greatly reduce your carbon footprint and as we all know these resources are on the decline.

Consider The Alternatives

Get some information on alternative energy sources and how you can utilise them. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power are going to be the ‘must haves’ of the future so why not get in their early. Many governments offer incentives to people who use solar energy and your electricity bills will be greatly reduced so find out more about your options.

Plant A Tree

This is one of the simplest solutions out there but it really does help reduce your carbon footprint. Try planting a tree in your garden which will produce more oxygen for the environment, it’s that simple. Not only will it produce oxygen but it will use the carbon that you produce which will set you well on your way to living a much more environmentally friendly life.

Production Materials For Truly Eco-friendly Coffee

"Eco-friendly", when applied to coffee, has become something of a marketing asset. For a retailer chasing the 'Green Pound' it's important to come across as a responsible, caring company. For the consumer there are a number of factors that may lead them to make the purchase - does they feel good that the produce is from a sustainable source? Is it that they care for the welfare of those individuals working to bring them the coffee?
However, that applies to the coffee itself. If you want a truly enjoyable drink then it's important not only to consider the coffee, but also the espresso cups you're using to drink out of. For if the coffee has been produced to high green standards but the cup is made by a toxic, harmful process then it diminishes the value of your efforts.

It's not necessarily easy to understand the processes of how a cup is made when considering the environment, so it's perhaps useful to start with the materials themselves - porcelain, clay and glass.
Porcelain is arguably the material used in most coffee and espresso cups because of its versatility. It's easy to mould into unique, interesting shapes and has the capacity for application of colour making it aesthetically pleasing. Porcelain is also good for heat retention, meaning the drink will stay warm or hot for a reasonable amount of time.

Porcelain is made by firing a combination of natural base materials in a kiln, including clay, flint and silica. Kiln-firing can be eco-friendly depending on the kiln. Newer kilns are specifically designed with emission-reduction and energy efficiency in mind, which can be increased by using carbonaceous waste materials. Porcelain manufacture doesn't produce any by-products that can't be recycled back into the manufacturing process.

Clay is a natural material that has been used as in building everything from structures to smaller items for thousands of years. Clay, as mentioned above, is used during the manufacturing of other building materials due to its useful attributes. Clay is used in coffee or espresso cup production but is not as versatile as porcelain for colour application, and not as good at retaining heat as glass. Clay is considered to be fairly eco-friendly.

Glass is considered, at least by many consumers, to be one of the most environmentally-friendly materials, especially when used in packaging. Glass has the benefit of not adding anything to the taste of the food or drink it can contain. Combine that with its ability to be sculptured into any shape and its great heat-retention qualities and glass appears to be an excellent material for coffee cup manufacture. Glass can be recycled, making it comparatively sustainable as a building material. However glass is created at high temperature meaning whether it is eco-friendly or not depends on the type of fuel used to create those temperatures within a glass factory. When compared to plastic, glass is certainly more eco-friendly.
Next time you consider buying eco-friendly coffee spare a small thought for your coffee cup - does it meet your high standards?

This article is a post from Espresso Deco (http://espressodeco.com/), a UK coffeeware retailer.

4 Great Reasons to Recycle

When you finish a can of soda or a bottle of water, where do you throw the remains? Does the container go in the trash can with the rest of your garbage, or in its own separate container for recycling?
The answer should be the latter, and if it's not, then you should really reconsider your disposal methods. Recycling can never do any harm, and in fact, here are 6 reasons why it's a great idea to separate out those plastic, aluminum and glass containers from the rest of your trash.

It's Good for the Environment

Probably the most obvious benefit, recycling is the best thing you can do for the environment. Studies show that nearly 60% of your garbage that you throw away on a daily basis can actually be recycled, otherwise it ends up in landfills where it's left to decompose to nothing. Problem is, it takes forever for recyclable materials to decompose, so all they do in the landfills is take up space where other garbage should be going.
By keeping your recycling products out of the landfills, you're leaving more space for your actual garbage, keeping extra garbage off streets and sidewalks. It will also take less energy to recycle an old product and use it for another purpose than it would to create a new product for the same purpose, so recycling saves energy.

It Saves Money

Think about if you were to use every container you're done with over and over again for different purposes. It makes sense, right? Maybe you finish a jam jar one day, and you need to store some leftover soup the next day. If you saved your jam jar, you can save yourself a trip to the store for some Tupperware by just using the jar you already have.
If you buy bottled water, think of other things you can use the bottles for before you throw them away. Maybe you drink 1 case of bottled water, then purchase a filter for your faucet or a filter pitcher and continue to refill your empty water bottles for several months following their purchase dates.
You can also do all kinds of fun arts and crafts with kids using recycled products. Kids can figure out some of the most creative things to do with recycled bottles, so instead of having to go out and buy extra arts and crafts products, use what's already in your recycling bin next time your kids have an itch to craft.

It Makes Money

We've all seen the little 5 cent deposit for can return messages on the sides of our bottles and cans, but how many of us actually collect up our containers and take them to a recycling center to redeem our change? A few cans or bottles can really add up to a good payout!
Start collecting now! Create bins to store all of your recycled containers in, and twice a year take the contents of the bins down to your nearest recycling center to deposit them. You'll be surprised how quickly the change adds up - depending on how many recyclables you collect, you could end up walking away with up to a couple hundred dollars!

It's Easy

Recycling is probably one of the easiest things on the planet to do. All you have to do is be conscious of what you are throwing away. Before you toss something in the trash, think to yourself, "Could I actually recycle this?" If the answer is yes, sort it into a recycling pile. Recycling trucks come back just as frequently as garbage trucks, so it's really no hassle for you to collect your recyclables and bring them down to the curb every week just like you would your trash.
The next time you go to throw an empty container away, think of all of the other things you or someone else could be doing with it, and seriously consider starting a strict recycling routine.