Eco 101

Encourage Fun and Activity with the CLIF Kid Annual Backyard Game of the Year Contest

We’re big fans of CLIF Kids here at Growing a Green Family. Not only does this company promote healthy snacking and organic food, but each year they encourage outdoor play and activity with many outdoor initiatives, including their amazing Backyard Games Contest. Backyard Games is entering its 3rd year and there’s some new cool stuff to [...]

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50 reusable goods that easily replace disposable goods

You have hundreds of choices when it comes to reusable products vs. disposable products. Even if you just choose just five or ten of these choices, and use them year-round, it’ll cut down on your disposable footprint, save you money and make a big difference for the planet. *NOTE: All estimates below are based on [...]

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Easy eco-action: refillable soap dispensers

Refillable reusable soap dispenser are a super easy eco-step that every family can take. It may seem like a small step, but if you think about, this practice can really help reduce a ton of plastic waste. Consider all the soap containers you have laying around the house: The typical family has two bathrooms, each with a [...]

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How a zombie apocalypse can make you more eco-savvy

At my house we’re kind of into zombies. Zombieland is a house favorite and we also like zombie books and The Walking Dead. Zombies aren’t great if you have a houseful of young kids but they are spooky fun for older kids and adults. What’s weird is that the more zombie stuff I watch, the [...]

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Green Product Review: Tolovo Popsicle Molds

Review summary: Though I talk about them all the time, I’ve never done a dedicated Tolovo ice pop mold review even though I’ve made well over 1,000 ice pops with them. So, it’s high time. These popsicle molds are, for the most part, excellent molds with very few cons. This review has been updated and [...]

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Create Car-Pool Rules for Your Neighborhood Car-Pool

In a previous post we looked at how to start organizing a car-pool. If you are organizing a car-pool, your group will need some rules. Car-pool rules are easier to implement right from the start – if you just skip merrily along, making up rules as you go, your car-pool won’t be as useful or [...]

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Organize a school car-pool in your neighborhood

According to Safe Routes to School, “In 1969, approximately 50% of children walked or bicycled to school, with approximately 87% of children living within one mile of school walking or bicycling. Today, fewer than 15% of schoolchildren walk or bicycle to school.” Not only does this promote a country full of overweight, inactive kids, but nowadays, [...]

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Solutions to Pizza Box Waste

We tend to make homemade pizza more than we order out, but we have been known to partake in Sizzle Pie – an awesome local pizza joint with seriously addictive salads, regular pizza and vegan pizza, and when we do order from them, the pizza boxes pose a problem. We do attempt to recycle them, [...]

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Quick Green Tip: Natural Car Deodorizers

If your car is full of icky smells you don’t need to buy some chemical laden tree freshener. Try the following instead: Start with a clean car. When you let dirt build up, it gets dusty and gross. For quick cleaning use non-toxic natural cleaning wipes and a more natural car fabric care cleaner. You [...]

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To heck with global warming – why not go green anyhow?

I don’t often talk about global warming here much. That may seem odd for an environmental blog, but here’s the thing… it doesn’t matter. That’s right – it really doesn’t matter. As I see it, when it comes to global warming there are four ways it could go. Camp 1 - We DO NOT believe in [...]