I’m sure you have at least one (if not all) of Eric Carle’s books.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar or The Very Busy Spider ring a bell?  I had no idea that his collection has over 70 books- we are missing quite a few of these wonderful books in our library! These days, you can find Eric Carle involved with a lot of different children’s products like flash cards and toys, as well.

This week, we got a box of the Eric Carle Eco Series art pads to try out and as soon as we opened the book, we were thrilled!   The covers are beautiful illustrations from his children’s books and the quality of these art pads are top notch.  These are definitely the best art pads we’ve used and will be making great gifts for the birthday parties coming this year.  They are even affordable, from $2.50 – $5.50. 

The art pads are made by Canson on acid free paper made from sustainably managed forests.  90% of the Eco Series line is made from recycled material.   The company even has a “pledge to the environment” which encompasses:

1. Made from sustainably managed forestry
2. Reduced Energy Consumption
3. Low emissions to air and water
4. limited use of harmful chemicals
5. Recycling of waste material

I’m super impressed by these art pads, they will definitely be my first pick when choosing art pads for our kids and their friends!  Environmentally friendly, high quality and affordably priced.

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Buying produce at the grocery store often requires those awful plastic produce bags that are hard to clean and reuse because they are so flimsy. There are many options to reduce your use – find one that works for you:

1.  Choose paper produce bags.

2.  Take a large basket, bag, or wagon to the farmer’s market and store produce there until you get home.

3.  Encourage your local grocery store to carry the BioBag– a biodegradable, compostable produce bag. Compared with plastic, they have a greenhouse effect reduction by up to 49%.

4.  One of choices I’ve made to get rid of plastic produce bags is to use reusable bags. I’ve been using Bag the Habit bags, courtesy of Abe’s Market, for several months now. They are heavy duty – they’ll hold several potatoes – without breaking or stretching. They have a wide opening for bigger items like a head of lettuce and a draw string to keep everything inside. Not only are they great for putting your produce in, but you can also use them for your bulk purchases like beans, raisins or pretzels. My only complaint is that I don’t have more of them!

5.  If you’re crafty, make your own reusable bags with these instructions from Mother Earth News or Instructables.

If you do use plastic produce bags, here are some options to reuse them:

• Packing material
• Pick up doggy doodoo
• Put in the diaper bag for dirty diapers
• Line garbage cans

If you don’t want to reuse them, make sure you dispose of them properly by recycling them. If your curbside recycler doesn’t take these bags, many grocery stores take them back like Fred Meyer, Walmart, and Whole Foods – search for local locations here. Every couple months, I drop off any plastic bags I have ( shopping, produce or packaging ). The collection bin is usually near the entrance.

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Stubby Pencil Studio is one of our favorite resources for unique, eco-friendly gifts for children.  It’s also a great place to pick up quality choices for your Easter baskets.  Here are a few fun finds:

Washable Markers – I know Kate, the owner of Stubby Pencil Studio, has searched high and low for eco-friendly markers.  So far, these are the best she’s found.  They are non-toxic, made in the USA, and manufactured with 25% recycled plastic.

Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops – we tried these out months ago and totally agree, they are YUMMY!

Sparkle Star Crayons – These multi-colored, star shaped crayons are made from 100% recycled crayons. 

Wooden Bead Necklace – I’m always leary of buying cheap jewelry for my daughter as it’s often found to be tainted with lead.  This wooden necklace relieves my fears as it’s painted with non-toxic nitro-cellulose paint tested and found to be safe for children and non-polluting in natural water sources.

Envirosax Animal Planet Bird – I love Envirosax and this bird bag for kids is adorable!  It would make a great reusable Easter basket.

Wooden Harmonica – every child loves playing the harmonica.  This wooden one is painted with non-toxic nitro-cellulose paint tested and found to be safe for children and non-polluting in natural water sources.

WIN IT!

CONTEST CLOSED – Congratulations to the winner, Lori from Massachusetts!

1 lucky winner will get an Eco Easter Basket from Stubby Pencil Studio with over $60 worth of fun finds:

• Reusable rattan basket
• 6×9 Frogs Ecojot Sketchbook
• E-color-gy Washable markers
• Forest Choice Color Pencils
• 4 recycled cedar Pencils
• Soy Crayons
• Mary’s Softdough Rainbow Tub
• Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops
• Wooden Wind-up Bunny
• Wooden Dragonfly Spinner
• Pack of Color ‘n Kids Easter cards

You can enter to win in any of the following ways:

• Leave a comment telling us what your favorite Stubby Pencil Studio product is!
• Follow us on twitter @mommygoesgreen.
• Retweet this contest.
• Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link.

Leave your comment by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Contest open to all U.S. and Canadian residents, ages 18+. We will choose 1 winner, at random, and notify them by email. Privacy Policy.

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Reusable gift bags are a great eco-friendly and cost saving alternative to gift wrapping and paper gift bags.  They are made of cloth so they don’t get bent up and out of shape like paper gift bags and don’t require extra packaging supplies like scissors, tape, tissue paper or ribbon.

Lucky Crow stocks 24 fabrics, including several organic cotton and children’s prints.  Save money by purchasing a collection of bags.  The gift bags come in 4 different sizes with prices ranging from $4-$12 and are manufactured in the USA.

Living Ethos has a huge collection of fabric choices for gifts from baby showers to birthdays. The bags are cotton and the attached grosgrain ribbon and care labels are made from 100% recycled PET (soda bottles).   While the fabric is imported, the bags are assembled and sewn in the USA. A set of 4 different sizes is $28.

Gratitude Gift Bags come in 4 different sizes and prices range from $4-$8.  The gift bags are manufactured in the USA and a portion of all proceeds are donated to select charities focusing on cancer research and environmental concerns.  Use code ‘PRESS’ for a 10% online discount.

WrapSackscome in 6 sizes and prices range from $4 – $11.  They are ethically sourced in Indonesia where the batik fabrics are made.  You can follow the journey of your wrapsack goes by using their ‘track a sack’ feature.

Bring It In A Bag reusable gift bags are made from natural jute and come in 3 sizes ranging from $3 – $15.  They are lined with a laminate coating to make them easy to keep clean and have a cane handle.

DIY – If you’re crafty, you can sew your own custom gift bags with this pattern from Better Homes and Gardens.

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

If you’re at all crafty, you should pick up the latest copy of Green Craft Magazine. There are over 100 projects for taking your trash to treasures, from books made out of coffee sleeves to vintage paper decor . To complete the package, the entire publication is printed on recycled paper.

WHERE TO BUY: Find a local store here.

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

I’ve been toying with the idea of wallpapering the wall behind my bed and was curious about what my wallpaper options are.   Frankly, I’ve never wallpapered anything but I’m always up for trying something new!

What I didn’t know was that most stock wallpaper is made with or coated with vinyl (PVC) - a product I stay away from.   The stinky smell from products made with PVC ( new cars, plastic shower curtains, etc. ) emits hazardous VOCs in your house contributing to indoor air pollution.  Our indoor air is already 5x more polluted than the outdoor air, let’s not add to it with PVC wallpaper!  As I often find, there are better alternatives – vinyl FREE wallpaper.

Mod Green Pod vinyl-free wallpapers use water-based inks on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper and finish the product with a water-based glaze that can tolerate light wiping.  They’ve got some fun prints, check out the photo above!

For more prints, Graham & Brown has 46 wallpaper prints that are VOC-free and printed on paper from managed resources.

I love this Juicy Jute grasscloth wallpaper – it’s got great texture and is made with jute, a natural fiber.  It also comes in 29 different vegetable dyed hues.  For other natural fiber wallpapers, check out raffia or hemp.

Traditional wallpaper paste has a bunch of chemicals, too, so try this great DIY recipe from Annie B. Bond.

• •1 cup flour (wheat, corn, or rice)
• •3 teaspoons alum
• •water
• •10 drops oil of cloves (natural preservative)

Combine the flour and alum in a double boiler. (If you don’t have a double boiler, set a smaller pan inside a bigger one that contains enough water that can be brought to a boil without overflowing). Add enough water to make a consistency of heavy cream; stir until blended. Heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened to a gravy texture. Let cool. Stir in the clove oil. Pour into a glass jar with a screw top. Apply with a glue brush. Makes 1 cup. Shelf life: 2 weeks refrigerated.

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Craft Express’ cork stamps are all $1 – $2 apiece and come in great designs like flowers and leaves, fleur de lis and scrolls.

They can be used on any porous surface like paper, wood or fabric and make sure to wash them immediately after using so the paint doesn’t seep into the cracks of the cork.

For those of you do-it-yourselfers, you can make your own cork stamps with a tutorial from Craft Chi.

A great Christmas gift for the crafty mama, the Donna Dewberry Cork Stamps with Paint and Idea Book, comes with 9 stamps, 8 paints, a stencil decor spouncer and a book of ideas for using cork stamps.  $40

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 3/8 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• natural dye ( see options below )

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl.  Add oil and natural dye and stir all together well.  Knead the dough on a floured surfaces for a few minutes and if it’s too soft – add a bit more flour.  You can store the clay in the refrigerator.

Dye options:

• YELLOW – 3/8 cup hot water and 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ORANGE – 3/8 cup hot water and 1 tablespoon paprika
• FUSCHIA – 3/8 cup hot beet juice ( try using the juice from a can of beets )
• BROWN – 3/8 cup + 1 tablespoon of hot water and 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder

Any other natural dye ideas?

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Image Courtesy eHow.com

Today you can’t go anywhere without seeing an all-in-one Halloween costume for all ages ( and at all price ranges ).  I can’t recall EVER buying a new Halloween costume when I was a kid.  In fact, most of the pieces in my dress-up box ( yes, I still have one! ) have come from Goodwill or a garage sale collected over many years.  

If you can’t fathom paying $40 for a costume (worn 1x ) or just want to keep the clutter out of your house – get your creative juices flowing and make one.  How easy would it be to pull together a ghost, pirate or princess costume – all from stuff you probably have hiding in the closets in your house.

For lots of ideas, check out these sites:

100 Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas submitted by readers of The Daily Green

Homemade Costumes Gallery by About.com

1Halloween.Net Costume Gallery

Unique Halloween Costumes from Disney Family

Another way to avoid buying a new costume – borrow one!  This year, I lent out 2 of my daughter’s costumes from previous holidays and I’ll be borrowing one from a friend.  With a trip to Goodwill for one additional piece for my husband, our family will be ready for Halloween for a couple dollars!

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

I recently had some time to get crafty and made a crayon cozy for my daughter.  A cozy for crayons of all things.  But this is brilliant. I don’t know what mom originally designed the crayon cozy but it’s genius. It’s a take anywhere, crayon holder to toss in your purse. The thing I love best about it is that it’s adorable in my purse it’s so green! Instead of wasting those boxes of crayons at restaurants ( you know the ones with 4 cheap crayons that break the first time you use them ), you have your own set in a reusable container. You can make it greener by using one made with organic cotton fabric or filling it with soy crayons. 

For a great pattern to make your own crayon cozy, check out ‘Skip to My Lou‘ .  Alternatively, if you want to buy a crayon cozy, check out Etsy, there are lots of moms selling crayon cozies – you can customize the colors, patterns or add a monogram.

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.