My friend lives in what can only be described as a “McMansion.”  I’ve heard that term applied to huge houses that have entirely too much space and impressive features, usually including two or three SUVs parked in the spacious garage.

A couple of years ago she was an avid consumer. She would pack her baby up in the stroller and walk through the mall, buying whatever caught her eye. At the grocery store, she would buy mostly prepackaged foods that would save her time even though they were more expensive than the raw foods that she could have fashioned into meals for her family. Her family had the money, so why not enjoy it?

Nowadays things are a little different. She still lives in that same McMansion, but her SUV has been traded in for a more economical and environmentally-friendly vehicle. She grows fruits and vegetables in her spacious yard and buys groceries that are in a more original state. I don’t think she has step foot in the mall for some time and when she does go shopping she’s carrying reusable cloth bags.

It’s not like her husband lost his job or anything, but I think she saw what other people were going through and heard all the alarmist news stories about the economy and she realized that she just can’t assume that everything is always going to be okay. Combine this with the growing popularity of going green, and I think my friend has had a bona fide transformation.

I know I’ve changed the way I spend money too, both because of the recession and because of the environment. I didn’t start out with a McMansion or an SUV, but there was certainly room for improvement nonetheless. For example, when the weather starts to get warm it’s not unusual for ants to start finding their way into our dining room. Usually this elicits a panicked call to the local exterminator who comes over and sprays pesticides all over the house and in the yard. After doing a little research about the effect these chemicals can have on the environment – and on the health of my kids – I found out that there are natural ways to stop the barrage of ants. When I saw the first few ants crawling around a few days ago I staved off my urge to call an exterminator and instead did what I had read: Sprinkle some paprika where you see the ants and it will repel them.  It seemed entirely too simple, but it has been effective so far.  Not only is it much more environmentally friendly, but I saved the usual $80 I give to the bug guy.

Almost all of my friends are making similar changes that happen to be concurrently good for their finances and the environment. Most of them have started bringing canvas bags to grocery stores and hardly any of them drive gas-guzzlers anymore, or at least they certainly aren’t buying new ones. Organic fare is becoming more and more common as snacks at playdates, and the same moms who always dressed their babies in the newest designer clothes are now (gasp!) buying clothes at consignment stores for their kids.

I’m assuming it isn’t just my social circle that is going green and saving money. What have you been doing?

Why is it that, right after saying “congratulations” to friends or family when you learn are expecting, the next thoughts on our minds are usually, “Great! Now I can give them all our old baby stuff!”

It happened to us when we learned that our neighbors were expecting a baby. After congratulating them and wishing them well, I immediately started racking my brain of all the things we might be able to give them. They had brought us some formula samples when they found out we were expecting, and I was anxious to return the favor. Since I was able to breast feed successfully, I had the formula samples to give back to them, as well as a collection of miscellaneous baby stuff: more blankets than we could ever use; tons of onesies and other clothes, much of which had never been worn; and bottles, bibs, and other random feeding things.

In addition, I wanted to give them the baby swing our little boy is too big for that was taking up way too much precious real estate in our small living room, and which our toddler refused to stop messing with, no matter how many times we asked her to stop. Both of our kids had used it as babies, and enjoyed peaceful hours gently swinging back and forth in it while my husband and I were able to nap or actually get something done around the house.

The swing had been a gift from friends of ours who had had a baby a few years prior, and we were grateful to receive it – as well as a wipes warmer, tons of cloth diapers, some random toys, and other baby gear that we wouldn’t have to spend our own money on. Looking back, I realize that they might have been just as grateful to us for taking all of the items from them, freeing up space in their living room for some more sophisticated items, like furniture,

We were happy to continue the chain and pass on our old baby stuff to a new set of parents. I just hope that they will pay it forward and donate or pass on all their baby stuff once they are finished with it.

My brother is moving across the country and decided not to move anything he couldn’t fit into his pick-up truck. He just gave away most of the things he isn’t taking—a big screen TV, a couch, a bed, a stereo receiver, etc. I was a little surprised at his decision, but after chatting for a while I discovered that he belongs to a group called Freecycle, dedicated to the starvation of landfills.

This coincides with an article I read last month in Sunset magazine about a group of friends that decided not to buy anything new for a year except food and healthcare items. It seems like I’ve been bombarded with this message lately, and maybe I need to soothe my conscience.

Whether or not you have enough money to buy everything you want, there is a growing number of people who don’t want to buy everything they want. In a strange way, this makes sense.

I hate throwing stuff away when it’s useful. But I am not a packrat. I’m not going to keep it around just in case I want it next year, nor am I the type to keep it around till next summer’s garage sale. So it goes into the trash most of the time. Sometimes with things like baby clothes I can give them away (but my only friend with a girl right now lives across the country). And sometimes I donate stuff if it’s too good to trash. I’ve tried selling a few things online, but it rarely seems worth the money and effort. And my local “used” mom/baby shop doesn’t pay enough to make it worth selling ($5 for a garbage sack full of excellent condition clothes and a clean booster seat?!)

But since my brother told me about freecycle.org, I can hardly wait to have something to give away. You post a message about what you have, and someone local who needs it comes and gets it. Or you can send a message looking for an item you want. There are few rules: nothing for sale, trade or barter—just free!

So my brother got rid of his things in San Francisco. Then when he sets up his home in Columbus, OH, he’ll just ask for what he needs there. What an idea!

Since babies go through a LOT of stuff in their first year, it seems like a fantastic way to get a lot of use out of something that isn’t worn out. Unless you have a lot of children, swings, bouncers, boppies, exercises and other things just don’t get used up. If you don’t have a friend who can use them, and you aren’t planning on having another little one in the next couple of years, why not give it away? Or maybe you need a highchair? You can find a local freecycle group online. Have fun!

I have to admit that I never thought too much about this before.  Today, I read an article that made me pause to consider the possibilities.

In the past, we lived in a very rural area.  Whatever we couldn’t compost, we burned in a burning barrel to reduce the amount of trash we had for curbside pickup.  Trash removal was so expensive!  I burned a lot of wrapping paper over the years.  I’ve also recycled wrapping paper by using it for other gifts, or I’ve used it to line bureau drawers.  I have to admit that I’ve probably thrown away a lot of wrapping paper too.

Gary Jones is the director of a company called Printing Industries of America.  He says that today’s inks contain safe pigments.  However, when those pigments are burned, that can change.  He advises consumers to not burn wrapping paper for that reason.

I’ve never tried burning wrapping paper in a fireplace, although we did heat our home with a wood stove for many years.  My concern there would be that the bits of paper wouldn’t totally disintegrate and could cause a chimney fire.

Surprisingly, the experts say that the best and safest thing to do with wrapping paper is to recycle it or simply throw it away.

A new eco-friendly book series for children was launched in September. The goal of the creators of the Little Green Books series is to educate kids and their parents about the environment and how they can protect it.

Each book in the series focuses on improving the environment and preserving habitats. The books themselves are eco-friendly and are made from recycled materials. They are also printed with soy ink.

Currently, four titles are available in the series:

• Can Save the Earth: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This story is about a monster named Max, and how he changes from a wasteful monster to an environmentally responsible monster.
• The Polar Bears? Home: A Story about Global Warming. A parent and child learn about polar bears and how they can reduce the effects of global warming.
• Little Panda & Little Monkey. These two books in the series were created for young children and their caregivers to read together. They tell the story of Panda, his best friend Monkey, and their adventures. The books are super soft and perfect for cuddling! Both books are machine washable and are made from cotton and recycled fleece. I love baby products that are machine washable!

If your family enjoys living an eco-friendly life, or if you just want to teach your children about the environment, you may want to check out this new series. More books will be added in January 2009.

It might be hard to resist purchasing that darling little dress or frilly onesie when a new arrival joins your family or brightens your friends? lives, but do they really need it?

That was the question my husband and I faced when we learned the news that a friend was expecting. Parents of two boys, they found out that their third will be a girl. Not wanting to miss out on all the fun that can be bestowed upon parents of boys who suddenly find themselves with a daughter, we wanted to give them something suitably ?girly.?

The parents of a daughter ourselves, we?ve been inundated with frilly dresses, fancy shoes and even a couple of bonnets for our girl, very few of which we?ve actually dressed her in. What?s more, when we do shop for outfits for her, we find ourselves being very anti-girly, perhaps in defiance of all that pink that fills her drawer and closet space. Instead we lean toward neutrals ? greens and yellows and the occasional purple (although my husband insists that purple is still girly). Subsequently, we find ourselves correcting people in public who assume that she must be a boy.

So when we found ourselves at our local chain baby store amidst the aisles of pink and lace, we came to a conclusion: why not give them some of the stuff that we weren?t using for our own daughter? Why buy something new when we have nearly brand-new items collecting dust at home? The more we thought about it, the more it made sense. Not only did it reduce some of our clutter of unworn or outgrown baby clothes, but it also went with our whole ?green,? ?reduce, re-use, recycle? philosophy that we began before we had our daughter and that has become all the more important to us since. So we packed up the pink (in various sizes, naturally) and shipped it off to the happy new parents, hoping that they would find good use for the items that we ourselves hadn?t been able to use. And just to make sure, we enclosed a note explaining that if they couldn?t use the items, to please pass them along or donate them so that someone else might be able to benefit from them.

A feel-good gift if there?s ever been one.

Macy’s department store is going green for Earth Week. They are hoping to lead by example by lessening their impact on the environment and by offering products that are organic or more recycle-friendly.

They have a few different Eco-friendly giveaway’s and specials running this week so head over to Macy’s for more information.

Most (hopefully, all!) of us are in the habit of recycling paper, plastic, cans and glass containers. Now we take another step towards reducing waste by registering with TerraCycle, a company which has paired up with a few green retailers in their quest to recycle even more empty packaging which usually ends up in the garbage.

Sign up with TerraCycle to send in your yogurt containers, empty juice/drink pouches, energy bar wrappers and soda bottles. The company will supply you with large bags for the wrappers and boxes for the yogurt containers and bottles. When you?ve filled the provided containers, just send the prepaid packages back to TerraCycle and they will donate money to various causes for each returned wrapper and container.

And even better, they will recycle your garbage to make new products. Yogurt cups will become planting pots, juice pouches and energy-bar wrappers will be turned into tote bags, pencil cases and other accessories and soda bottles will be used for several other TerraCycle products.

Make every day Earth Day! Sign up for this great program at www.terracycle.net.

Jump on the bandwagon and stop using disposable bags. Many major food chains are doing away with them entirely. Not only do they clutter our homes and often line our streets as trash, but they also occupy a lot of our already over-used landfill space. Entire U.S. states are beginning to ban disposable bags state-wide. A tremendous first step!

Read More about disposable bags and why you should consider other alternatives.

Every household accumulates old, raggedy towels that typically end up in the trash bin. Why not donate those old, useless towels to your local animal shelter? They have all sorts of uses for them from bathing towels to cage linings that act as bedding for the homeless animals.

The ASPCA’s Web site makes it easy to find local animal shelters close to home. Most of these shelters have a wish list that they encourage kind hearted people to donate from, and towels are usually on the list. If they aren’t, you will find all sorts of things they do require, and most of these items can be found around your home.

So help your community’s animal shelter today by donating items you would otherwise throw away, and you are also making the GREEN choice by recycling and reducing your impact on the environment.

The Recycling List: Things you may not have known.

We produce more and more waste every year and landfills in the U.S are growing out of control. Recycling is certainly having a positive impact by reducing the amount of deposited waste, but did you know that there are more things you can do to aid in this up hill battle against landfill overloading?

Most of us think nothing of throwing away items such as old videos, batteries, ink cartridges, shoes or various other things we no longer use or need. These items can not only be recycled or donated for reuse, but some companies will even offer replacements for certain items. Swap your old video for one you haven’t seen before, or even receive money for your recycling contribution.

Click here to see a list of 21 thing you didn’t know you could recycle!

Daily we see or read about how our earth is constantly struggling to survive through the damage that we all have placed on her; throwing away trash that could easily be recycled, using her natural resources without thought, and choking her air as we drive to and from our day to day activates.There are many of us that want to rethink how we currently use our earth?s resources and to become a more consciences user. Recycling what can be recycled, changing how we use water and energy, and to help reduce our carbon emissions for a cleaner, healthier earth.

Carbonfund.org is an organization that can do just that. Carbonfund.org is a devoted organization to helping change our climate and educate consumers. Offering online resources, Carbonfund.org, teaches consumers how they can reduce their carbon emissions at various points within their life, like at home, at work, and while traveling.

By using Carbonfund?s calculators, you can see exactly how much emissions you generate and place into our air. Taking into consideration the damage that is done, you can reduce and offset those emissions by using the suggestions on Carbonfund.org and by also making a contribution based on the amount of emission that you create.

The service that Carbonfund.org offers, allows you to contribute to them the dollar amount of the carbon emissions that you have created, or any other dollar amount to help offset your emissions. That money is then placed into various projects like reforestation and energy efficiency to mend damage caused to our Earth.

Get your children involved. Children hear about the damage as much as parents do with current events in school. Children are great promoters and can rally neighbors together to help repair damage that has been caused. They can offer neighborhood recycling tips, how to reduce and offset, and even organize a drive to have your street donate as one group to recognize there involvement in the damage.

Source: Carbonfund.org

Now that Christmas is over it is time to think about recycling what you don’t want.

One big issue is Christmas trees. Many people have opted for an alternative, or a rooted version, but for those who have not (over 30,000 million in North America), what is the best thing to do with a Christmas tree when it is finished with?

The main uses for recycled Christmas trees are

for chippings, for cycle paths and similar places
to prevent beachfront erosion
to stabilize lake and river banks
for fish and animal habitats
to manage river sedimentation
for making a flu vaccination by removing the shikimic acid from the needles
for compost
for fuel.

What you will need to do is to track down your local Christmas tree recycling depot. If there is not one in your area why not consider setting up one of your own, it is probably too late for this year, but it would be good for next year, there are guidelines at Earth 911.

For further information

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

Search for recycling centers in your town at Earth911

Real Versus Artificial

What Happens to It After the Holidays

From the Farm to Your Home