Wow! You are *varsity* and your ideas are awesome.

Thank you for the inspiration and details. I checked out Haba toys and the tree hugger website–both are very cool.

I must admit, I’m now on a mission to find the corn starch compostable paper plates you mentioned.

And, finally, DUH! It didn’t occur to me to quite buying those pens and pencils that get tossed away. That is a great tip for someone like me who helps people set up their offices and kid’s homework centers.

Again, thank you for taking time to post; your tips are very helpful.

1. I recycle and reuse shipping materials.
2. Non-disposable pens. (they are softer on the hands). Keep records digital too.

3. I buy antique desks/tables, and eco friendly chairs and shelves. I keep them chic and basic so redecorating is not necessary. (I rather spend my time at the cafe)

4. I use treehugger (an eco-chic site) as a guide
http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

5. Low flow shower heads, duel flush toilets, cloth towels, corn starch compostable eating ware when needed, but metal forks/spoons and mugs kept in the office.

6. I reclaimed an almost demolished building for my world headquarters. I started a renewable energy technology development company, & production plants that have no waste. No water consumption either.

7. extreme energy saver appliances, and power strips. We also turn our computers off. (my husband owns a video game development company- all the servers are low energy consumers)

8. pay employees higher salaries and benefits to keep them healthy and that means less wasteful too.

9. I only buy European made toys like Haba. They have zero tolerance for toxic chemicals. Where the U.S. often doesn’t even have laws for things like lead in plastic toys, only for lead in paint. Lead can cause a child to loss up to 7 IQ points and 50 points on an SAT. (My sister is a leading Pediatric Nerotoxicity MD, PHd, DO in the US.)

10. paper products and binders that have post consumer waste or recycled materials.

11. We live near all the cafes, boutiques, art galleries and science center, etc. So we don’t need a car. We put that saved money in the kid’s college, travel & retirement fund. And I love free tele-conferencing available on line.

12. I like Chanel but second hand stores kick butt too.

13. I own a Victorian house that is a registered Green building and we live in one of the flats. The house is green and pays for itself.

Well that is a start…I love Green, whether it is trees or capital.

Thank you for stopping in and posting! What a great surprise.

Your ideas are very clever and I especially like that you are keeping usable items out of the landfills!

One way I organize “greener” is to reuse product packaging instead of purchasing organizing containers as often as possible. I have a shelf in my closet and in my garage that holds all my reusable packaging and I take them with me to client jobs as well as use them in my own home. My clients love the way I get them organized repurposing and reusing everything we can find around their house, too. Empty jewelry boxes, tissue boxes, stationary boxes, shoe boxes, even tea boxes make great drawer organizers.

Shoe boxes (without the lids) are wonderful drawer dividers for kids clothing or for underwear or separating socks by color, for example. I always tell them this is temporary and they can buy prettier containers later if they want and they never do! They become repurposers too! It’s amazing how pretty a lot of packaging is these days.

When we do have to buy containers, I always try to get natural materials such as sustainably harvested wood, bamboo, woven baskets, cardboard etc. It’s not always possible but we try.

Love your column here! Can’t wait to read more!

Thank you for posting. I love the fact that you are reminding your grandchildren to be conscientious about our resources.

Your post reminded me of something I started doing recently. I’m trying to buy things grown locally and seasonally. After checking the ingredients on a cereal box it dawned on me that most of the ingredients were flown in/shipped in/grown half way around the world, assembled, boxed and shipped to a grocery store in my neighborhood. What a waste of energy–all for a bowl of cereal.

A SFO Bay Area colleague, Amanda Kovattana puts it best. Kovattana suggested the following categories for those of us trying to be green. She suggests:
A. beginner, veteran, hardcore
B. “low hanging fruit”, “needs a stepladder”, “high climber” and finally
C. “green”, “greener”, “greenest”

Isn’t that clever?

I’m putting myself in the “low hanging fruit” category for now; how about you?

Thank you for reading and posting.

I am convinced that people your age are going to continue growing and become increasingly motivated to change the way we consume things.

If you are interested, have your family tune into National Public Radio’s show, Marketplace, this week. Here is a link: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/ The segment is called, “Consumerism” and if nothing else, it will make us more aware of how alarming our wasteful trends are.

Regarding Water Pressure and Quickly Showering:
Students @ UNC & NC State (here in NC) are holding a water conservation contest to see who can reduce their water consumption the most. Isn’t that a great idea?

Another tip is to quit buying everything in plastic containers. Young Americans are wasteful; why not go back to bars of soap and laundry detergent in boxes? Bottled water/soft drinks/fruit juices and milk containers add up quickly. All that plastic is wasteful.

Keep making small changes!

Thanks a bunch for reading, commenting and leading us to a gorgeous website, The Little Seed. I like the fact that the store even uses eco-friendly paint in the store!

The photography is beautiful too.

Please post any other clever ideas that you have.

I saw this (below) and thought it was interesting and inspirational: http://www.thegreenparent.co.uk/ecoliving.htm

Enjoy!

I also came across a little feature on julib.com (Los Angeles edition)about an eco-friendly new baby/kid store called The Little Seed. It’s online as well, so it’s ok that we’re not in LA. There are sure to be more ideas and products for the “clever” families out there.

First let me say, thanks for reading my column and posting. You must have “Google Alert” activated; I’m impressed with your quick response.

To answer your question: I do not unplug the power strip I only flip the “off” switch. Your question is making me wonder…is it better to unplug?

If anyone can answer that question, please post.

Also, don’t be shy; please post any tips you have for being a little cleaner, leaner and greener.

Hey, thanks for the mention. Yeah, I like the idea of the powerstrips. Do you turn off the powerstrip or unplug the powerstrip.