To raise a child who seriously loves the planet you should:

Get outside often and actively: If you’re reluctant to go hiking, swim in the lake, or even take a daily walk, then your child will be happier in front of the TV. If you don’t care, why should they? You have to not only get your kids outside but make it a positive experience. Dress for the weather so no one can complain. Take along gear to make it fun, like a bag for collecting rocks and leaves or a sled. Go to places with diverse nature – the beach, the woods, a marshland, a wide field at a farm.

Use nature for fun Get books that highlight the benefits of nature. My son always liked rock collection books, and he’d want to go hiking to find new rocks. Do art projects that use nature, such as build a solar cooker, make sun prints, make holiday decor with leaves, and so on.

Talk about nature: Getting outside is key, but when you’re outside you should also be talking about it. Discuss why leaves change color. Comment on that trash you see on the ground. Bring up why all those new buildings take away from the land.

Join community efforts: A community garden, beach clean-up, tree-planting event, and more makes for a fun and memorable day and also teaches your child that nature activities aren’t all solo. You can hang with others outside too.

Make family vacations count: You can hit a fancy spa or hotel or you can combine nature and relaxation by using your vacations to camp or hike or even join a green event.

To learn more or to gather ideas about how you can get your family active and outside more often visit the following links…

• No Child Left Inside
• The Girl Scouts
• Children & Nature
• Nature Explore
• Camp Fire USA
• Earth Scouts
• 4-H
• Nature Rocks
• American Hiking Society

[image via No Child Left Inside]

Post from: Blisstree

Raise an Earth Loving Child

Loll sustainable furniture is fashioned with superior grade recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE). This doesn’t look all recycled and blah though, this HDPE has an attractive aesthetic along with high grade stainless steel fasteners. Plus the line comes in an array of colors – enough to suit all tastes (see a line up of colors below).

The pieces, as noted are made from 100% recycled post consumer HDPE, which is a high density polyethylene, a plastic resin used in products and packaging such as milk jugs, detergent bottles, margarine tubs, and garbage containers. When your kids have used these pieces to death, the line can be recycled again.

Visit notNeutral to learn more.

Post from: Blisstree

Recycled Eco-Furniture for Kids

Other green options that Bonnie Plant Farm uses currently are more organic fertilizers and pesticides, plus they’ve got a new recycling facility at their headquarters which reuses and recycles supplies, tags, pots, and plant container trays. As time goes on they have plans to further increase their use of environmentally friendly products and methods.

One extra cool aspect of this company is that they hold an annual Third Grade Cabbage Program. Each year, the company goes into third grade classrooms in schools in all of the lower 48 states that have signed on for the program and gives away one O.S. Cross (huge heads) cabbage plant to each child. Students in each third grade classrooms get to plant their very own cabbage, take care of said plant then harvest. At the end of each annual program, Bonnie Plant Farm awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each state. One of the 2008 winners and her giant cabbage is shown above! Wow right.

Bonnie Plant Farm hopes to increase both an interest in gardening and the environment with the program and in recent years they’ve involved over 1 million kids in the program. That rocks because kids who dig into the earth learn to care for and adore it. Right now the 2009 event is closing up, but you can visit the Cabbage Program page to learn more and see how kids in your area can get involved.

Bonnie Plant Farm grows and ships all over the country, providing starter plants to some of the biggest mass merchandisers in the US, including Kmart, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, and Fred Meyer, as well as independent farm supply and hardware stores. You can visit their website to find a dealer near you.

Post from: Blisstree

Grow eco-friendly gardens and kids

Put your kid in charge: When you give them responsibility in the form of “You’re in charge” kids tend to take on a task with gusto. My son, for example, at six and seven years was in charge of lights (keep them off), reusable bags (don’t forget to take them), and checking the thermostats. He did other green stuff too – but these were his, “In charge” tasks and he kept up with them perfectly.

Water conservation: This is maybe the easiest green kid task. All kids can take shorter showers and turn off the water when brushing their teeth. Your child can make signs to help him remember if he forgets.

Recycling know-how: Recycling is complicated for kids. My son, who is eight now, gets that we recycle almost everything, but he does get confused about which bin is which, unless they’re marked. Marking bins with pictures of recyclables is a good way to teach your kids about recycling as you help them to complete the task.

For a 50 great ideas about how your child can go green and make a difference take a look at The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Super Simple Green Steps for Kids

Their new website, Teens Turning Green offers tips about safe cosmetics, healthy schools, green products for teens, and more. Right now the group has partnered with Whole Foods in order to launch Project Green Prom, a project that, as you may have guessed, can help teens to green their prom. Perfect timing too! Teens who want to make a difference can check out the Project Green Prom  Toolkit.

Some of the goodies teens will find within the toolkit include:

• Eco fashion tips for prom plus a look book.
• Tips for earth-friendly extras like jewelry and shoes.
• Planning a green prom.
• Eco-prom transport.
• Greener catering choices.
• And more…

A few of their tips include things like:

1. Use local flowers for decor first than go for certified organic flowers. Plus make sure the chosen florist “Uses no floral foam and uses vases made from natural or recycled elements that can be reused at a future event.“
2. Make plans to donate leftover snacks served at prom to local charity organizations.
3. Choose a venue within close proximity to the school – i.e. most kids live near the school, so a prom close to the school cuts out excess gas emissions.

The Project Green Prom  Toolkit is full of oodles of green tips besides the ones above though – a must read for all the green-minded teens out there.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Greening Your Prom – Green Teens

Baby Bronti Small Shelf Unit – made with earth-easy birch panels and child safe powder coated panels. From Glosto.

There’s storage and fun with the ducduc – parker Playtable – Paper Roll – this cool art table with a removable rolling drawer for storage is 100% hardwood, and created with non-toxic lacquered paint. From 2modern.

Jax Organic Storage Tower: Orange from Nest comes in other colors, but my son likes orange so there you go. This is storage made with organic cotton and a sturdy frame so it’ll last for years. From Oompa Toys.

With the above pieces, you can store toys and stay green, all at the same time. Yay.

Post from: Blisstree

Three Green Kid Storage Solutions

My co-blogger Peggy over at Tree Hugging Family scored some awesome kid on-the-go storage. Take a look:

How cute are these! Plus they’re from Envirosax – a company who specializes in artistic, eco-chic shopping bags. These are green and adorable. Your kid can store everything on-the-go in them.

At Tree Hugging Family we’re giving away three bags to 3 adorable kiddos and one of them could be your kid if you enter. To win, all you have to do is ask your little, “How should we take care of the earth?” This includes the air, the water, plants, animals and people!

Basically I’m being selfish by urging you to enter – so far we’ve had some of the most adorable, funny, and smart kid answers ever – I feel like we should be on that old show, Kids Say the Darnedest Things. Of course then we’d somehow have to get Bill Cosby lined up.

Anyhow, reading all their answers is way fun, and I’d love to hear more. So if you have a cute child or know a cute child, I’d get over to Tree Hugging Family to enter. Then I can be utterly impressed with your child too.

Click here to enter – or at least click over to read what the other kids have said.

Post from: Blisstree

Got cute kids? Then you should enter this extra cute contest!