Green Your Easter Basket with Washcloth Bunnies!

Easter is quickly approaching, and here's another fun and easy way to make your Easter baskets more eco-friendly: make sweet little bunny rabbits out of washcloths! Choose new washcloths in a festive color, and bring them to life as cute inhabitants of Easter baskets, that may then be used as washcloths for bathtime. These washcloth bunnies are also a great alternative to plastic egg holders... stuff a few candy treats inside one of these critters instead! Read on for the super simple tutorial!

Repurpose Shoe Boxes into Tiny Towns

I've always saved shoe boxes, and my full closet has never been happy about it. But I always think, "I can't throw away, or even recycle a perfectly good box!" So up high on the stack they go! Then I came across this great idea to repurpose shoe boxes into play towns! The small cities that may be built would look even cuter if created on a more diminutive scale with kid's shoe boxes. The sky's the limit with how you can turn these boxes into toys. When not in use, they can still be used as shoe storage too!

via Ohdeedoh via Happy Things for Kids

Animal Free Circuses

I was never one of those kids who wanted to "run off and join the circus." Frankly, circuses scared me a bit with the dark tents, rings of fire, giant lions, and of course, the clowns.

But as an adult, I have had the amazing opportunity to attend a couple performances of Cirque du Soleil. They offer all of the same, edge of your seat excitement, thrills and laughs, but the shows are done without animals. When I came across the ASPCA's list of animal free circuses, and it included Cirque du Soleil, I wanted to pass the info along to you!

Clearly, animal free circuses are more humane and environmentally friendly than mainstream circuses. They prevent wild animals from being held in captivity and trained to perform 'circus acts.' With spring here and summer on its way, many of us will be considering trips to the circus with the kids. Why not opt for an animal free circus instead?

Here's a worldwide list of animal free circuses, put together by The ASPCA.

Planet Dog's Orbee Tuff Cosmos Balls Offer Endless Fun for Canines

If you share your life with a ball-obsessed dog like I do, then you know how challenging it can be to find toys and balls that are indestructible and last through countless hours of “fetch” and dog park play. We actually have to put balls in drawers to hide them from our Yellow Lab, Cash, who thinks it’s his sole purpose in life to run around like a maniac chomping, snapping and barking at balls. Thank goodness there’s Planet Dog to satiate Cash’s ball obsession. We’ve been fans of Planet Dogproducts for years, and they always invent new products that are fun and challenging for our pups. Cash’s newest infatuation is the SOL™ ball, one of three awesome Orbee Tuff Cosmos™ balls from the socially responsible, sustainable company.

Recycle Your Egg Cartons into Math & Sorting Tools!

Decorating eggs for Easter? Hold on to your empty egg cartons and recycle them into math and sorting tools! I'm always trying to find ways to reuse household items -- and I love finding ways to play a learning game that both Miss O and Mr. A can enjoy, on different levels. Read on to learn how we made counting and color coding fun by using egg cartons!

How to Grow REAL Grass for Your Easter Baskets!

This week's craft requires a green thumb... we're growing real grass for our Easter baskets! I'm presenting this craft a month in advance of Easter because it may take 2-3 weeks for your grass to grow. It will be worth the wait to have beautiful real grass to line your kid's baskets -- and you'll help make the Easter Bunny's offering an eco-friendly one!

Charlie Banana 2-in-1 Cloth Diapers, Better Value, Better for the Earth

Switching from disposable to cloth diapers can be a daunting endeavor. But Charlie Banana is making the undertaking easier with their convenient (and cute and colorful!) 2-in-1 diapering system, which offers the option of reusable cloth or disposable inserts when diapering your babe. The interior design features a small front panel for tucking in a disposable insert for convenience during on-the-go occasions.

Let me start by saying, the one thing I find ridiculous about cloth diapering is that parents are expected to dole out $20+ for one pricey diaper cover -- in sizes small, medium, large -- multiple times as baby grows quickly. I think it discourages people from seeing the forest through the trees regarding the eco-friendly nature of cloth diapering because they're too busy seeing the dollar signs add up when purchasing the diaper covers. (Ironically, disposable diapers cost much more money in the long-term, but I think consumers feel better about spending 60 cents per disposable diaper than $20 for one cloth diaper).

HOW TO: Make Personalized, Eco-Friendly Wrapping Paper

Every holiday season, the gifts that we spend so much time and money wrapping in fancy store bought wrapping paper get opened in record time and the paper is quickly tossed aside. This Christmas, save money and the earth by creatively wrapping presents in items you probably already have around your house. Doing so is a unique, personalized, eco-friendly way to present your offerings to loved ones. Here are some quick and easy ideas for making your own wrapping paper!

My Experience Sending Holiday Greeting Cards Via Email

It may be sacrilege to some, but this year I decided to eschew sending a paper holiday greeting card via mail, and I opted to send our family's Christmas card via email. For years prior, I had always printed up our cards and mailed them all out. Now that I have gone the electronic route, I'll never go back... and I'll tell you why.

6 Things You Can Learn From Little Kids About Living Green

Babies enter the world with very basic needs. But over time, kids' lives get filled with superfluous stuff and convoluted ideas, largely imposed on them by parents, media and a culture obsessed with materialism. Essentially, maintaining, encouraging and protecting a child's inherent simplicity and purity would make him and the world as a whole, a much better place. There's a great deal to be learned from little kids who have not yet been programmed to desire material things, kids who are in awe of and fully appreciate nature and all it has to offer. We could all benefit from stripping away our baggage and hitting the reset button to once again attain the grace of a young child. Here are 6 things our little kids can teach us about living green, which have the capacity to transform lives both on an individual and global scale.

6 THINGS YOU CAN LEARN FROM KIDS ABOUT LIVING GREEN >

Grow Your Own Butterflies At Home

We all know that butterflies aren't bugs, right? Well, okay technically they are, but they're just too dainty, pretty and sweet to be in the same class as spiders and other insects whose name I can't even type without getting squeamish.

Anyway, when I mentioned we'd be growing butterflies from their larvae stage, those who know about my bug phobia couldn't believe it. But alas, the things we do for our kids.

Since Miss O just started kindergarten, I thought the symbolism behind watching caterpillars spin their cocoons and then emerge as butterflies would encourage my own little darling to take flight into the great wide open. Sniff sniff. It worked like a charm.

We received a little tub of rather disgusting looking larvae in the mail, then we waited for the five  little critters to create their cocoons before moving them into their netted home. I put them up on a bookcase out of reach of Mr. A, because the directions said it would take them 10-14 days to become butterflies. Which meant too many opportunities for Mr. A to play Godzilla to a vulnerable city.

Eco-Friendly Easter Crafts for Green Kids

Looking for some fun crafts to do with your kiddos on the days leading up to Easter?

Make your own eco-friendly Easter baskets from juice cartons.

Fashion a bevy of bunnies out of washcloths to populate baskets.

Skip the dye and decorate your eggs with grains, seeds and beans.

Decoupage flower pots for your Easter table centerpiece.

Reusable Felt Easter Eggs: A Green Alternative to Plastic Eggs

I was thrilled to learn about this sweet new offering from Green Planet Parties: reusable felt Easter eggs! What a great, green way to throw an Easter egg hunt, sans plastic! Not only do these beautiful eggs look exquisite when tucked into nature, just waiting to be discovered, they're also a treasure unto themselves, regardless of what's hidden inside. Green Planet Parties advises that their felted eggs are not a good option for rainy climates -- but when we lived in Portland, Miss O and I had countless indoor egg hunts, for which they would have worked perfectly.

Readers, do you have any eco alternatives to plastic eggs when it comes to having Easter egg hunts?

Gorgeous *Free* Digital Invitations and Cards on Cocodot

I recently learned about Cocodot when we received an exquisite online birthday invitation (I never thought I'd type that phrase) via the elegant online stationer. I perused the site with my jaw slightly agape and I just kept saying to myself with each e-card I adored, "these are free?"

Obviously, sending correspondence electronically as opposed to snail mail is a much greener choice. No use of paper, no carbon emissions from said paper traveling to and fro -- and now that the price of postage has gone up to nearly 50 cents per letter folks, I'm looking for eco-friendly, more economical ways to communicate indeed.

I am in no way affiliated with Cocodot... I'm just now a huge fan of their gorgeous selection of cards commemorating every occasion you can think of, which you can deliver to anyone's inbox with style and grace, free of charge.

So the next time you need to send out birthday party invites, a birth announcement, or even just a "quickie" card to touch base with someone, head straight to Cocodot!

The Honest Company Delivers Integrity and Style with Baby & Home Care Products

You've probably heard of The Honest Company by now. If you haven't, be sure to read my post over at Inhabitots to get you up to speed on this eco-friendly and thoughtfully designed new company that is the brainchild of Christopher Gavigan and Jessica Alba.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Christopher Gavigan about The Honest Company, his latest endeavor to green baby's home environment. As a huge fan of his work with Healthy Child, Healthy World, and his book of the same title, (which I call the Parent's Bible), our conversation didn't disappoint. He is so knowledgeable and humble, and he truly cares about making the world a safer, less toxic place for this generation and the next.

That said, I have also had the chance to try several of The Honest Company's products in our home, and each and every one has yielded a delightful experience. First off, I should mention that their collection of products is only available via a subscription delivery service. They offer a Diapers Bundle and a Family Essentials Bundle, and you may choose to have either or both sent straight to your doorstep on a monthly basis. The subscription service details are outlined on their gorgeous website, so here I will be relaying what I liked best about their products, which are all completely chemical-free and made with the highest integrity ingredients.

That starts with my current dirty little secret. Cloth diapers have all but stopped working at containing Mr. A's pees and poops... so I am back on the market for the greenest disposable diaper I can find, and The Honest Company's diapers fit the bill and then some. Not only are they the *most* biodegradable diaper available, and made of plant-based materials including wheat and corn starch, they are totally non-toxic and chlorine free. They also feature adorable designs ranging from anchors to ice cream cones, so in addition to being soft and absorbent, they are super stylish to boot. I also love their biodegradable baby wipes, which are also plant-based and chlorine-free because they are both soft and effective -- the two most important attributes of a wipe in my opinion.

Other products I have tried: Honest Hand Soap, which leaves hands smelling simply divine and fresh due to its inherent essential organic lemongrass oil and grapefruit seed botanical extracts.

Honest Healing Balm is a perfect salve for everything from baby's diaper rash to chapped skin.

Honest Shampoo and Body Wash boasts my favorite scent for any product: sweet orange vanilla. However it is subtle and refreshing, not overbearing. I love washing Mr. A's hair with this, so when he falls asleep on my chest I can whiff away shamelessly at his sweet, lovely locks.

Lastly, Honest Laundry detergent left our load of dirty clothes perfectly clean and fresh sans chemicals.

Another noteworthy green attribute of The Honest Company: all of their products are made within 90 miles of the company's home base in Santa Monica. 

These products are cheery on the outside, featuring vibrant graphics reminiscent of an ocean breeze on a sunny day, but it's what's inside that makes me happiest. It's wonderful to know that two parents (Gavigan and Alba) who are in a position to make a difference when it comes to baby and household products, are doing so with such style and grace -- helping us all make a difference.

Around the Web

 Here are a few recent stories of mine from across the web...

Read my review of soon to be released film, More Business of Being Born, then enter to win your own copy of the film.

This post is one of my favorites I have ever written. You must see these kids swimsuits featuring prints by a young artist and cancer survivor.

Looking for some great, green wall decor for your kids' rooms? Read my post: This is a Stick Up! for plenty of inspiration.

You've probably heard of Jessica Alba and Christopher Gavigan's new baby product company by now. But if not, here's the scoop.

A Faery Hunt: A Local LA Adventure

Looking for a fun way to spend a Sunday morning in Los Angeles? A Faery Hunt is a theatrical children's production that takes place in parks across LA. Miss O and I had the joy of attending this morning's show and it was so enchanting! All the kids dress-up as fairies and trek through the park to find personable fairies, and all the while a charming and funny story unfolds, with quite a surprise ending!

I'll be writing at length about our "hunt" on Red Tricycle LA. So locals, be sure to check that site next week!

Last Minute Green Gift Wrapping Tip

The countdown is on! No doubt we're all busy wrapping up holiday shopping and gifts, and I just came across this charming idea to top presents: evergreen and holly. What a beautiful, organic way to put an eco spin on your wrapping endeavors! See all of the details here at stephmodo.

Image via stephmodo

Put Down That Fork and Knife and ADOPT a Turkey for Thanksgiving

Adopting a turkey for Thanksgiving doesn't mean you have to set one more place at the table and agree to hear "gobble gobble" in your living room for years to come until your new feathered friend meets a natural demise.

Put yourself in a turkey's position: imagine the horror if there was one day a year where millions of people marked their calendars and gathered round to cook and eat you!

So, this year, dine sans bird and adopt a turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving instead. Farm Sanctuary enables you to have a compassionate holiday by sponsoring sweet birds the likes of Antoinette and Amelinda. It only costs $30 to adopt a turkey... about the same price as you'd pay to roast and serve one up at your holiday feast.

But this way, you won't get sleepy after your meal, and you can instead rest easy knowing that you saved a turkey and gave him or her a chance to live a long and peaceful life in a happy home.

Eco Halloween Decor & Goods from Green Planet Parties

I have to admit, I liked Halloween as a kid, but when I 'grew up,' I just wasn't feeling it anymore. But once I started celebrating Halloween with Miss O, her over-the-top enthusiasm was downright contagious, and I am back on the Halloween bandwagon. I am however, committed to making sure the occasion isn't an excuse to go on a buying spree -- purchasing items that are plastic, frivolous or wasteful.

That said, I think thoughtful decor that may be used year after year is really fun for kids. I remember a spooky, silly cardboard witch we had when I was growing up, and my mom hung her up every October in our playroom. I want to create those types of lasting memories with my family.

Enter Green Planet Parties. Their adorable, handmade felt Halloween garlands, which come in pumpkin or bat varieties, include ten appliques that are hand stitched and attached to hemp string. Given their heirloom quality and classic designs, they may be used again and again to evoke the holiday spirit. We just hung our jack-o-lantern garland in our abode, and they look so very sweet... I mean spooky!

Next up is the adorable cat mask that I'll be pairing with an all black outfit so I am not a party pooper who doesn't wear a costume to my daughter's multiple costume parties! I know this kitty mask is made for kids, but it's so cute that I want to wear it myself. And hey, if the mask fits...

Just like the garland, these masks (Green Planet Parties also offers an awesome wolf mask) are handcrafted, and they are made from two layers of eco felt and a layer of interfacing. The stretchy elastic band which secures the mask to your face allows for many years of wear. And there's no need to put the masks away once Halloween is over, as they're great items for everyday dress-up play. Meow!

As for parties, they so often go hand in hand with disposable tableware. But now there are so many options available that are easier on the earth, so if you have to use disposables, opt for biodegradable varieties. Green Planet Parties founder Suzanne just wrote a great, informative post on eco disposable tableware, and she even shares how to decorate plates and make them super creepy by stamping them with beet juice! Check out her post on the topic here.

Keep Green Planet Parties in your bag of tricks to put an eco spin on all of your holiday celebrations!