Wikis tagged with simple-living

Need some simple and frugal gift ideas? Check out these great suggestions from members of the Mothering community.    Now through Dec 19th, share your own homemade gift ideas in our 2012 Homemade Gifts Contest for a chance to win a $100 gift card from Nature's Fabrics!!   Also check out the article It's a Gift for more great, frugal suggestions.      Frugal Wrap by cyrusmama "We went to our local newspaper office and asked if they had any of their roll ends left. They usually charge the general public for them, but not educators. We are homeschoolers so they gave it to us for free....

For many small nonprofits, affording something as basic as a vehicle to carry out their work can be a near impossibility. Whether it is delivering meals to an elderly person, moving injured animals to a safe shelter, or transporting a sick child to and from a doctor’s appointment—a car is a necessity that many causes cannot live without. Toyota, who has a long history of corporate philanthropy, is recognizing the importance of filling this need with their 100 Cars for Good campaign, launched earlier this year. The 100 Cars for Good campaign is Toyota’s first philanthropic effort to...

This giveaway has ended. The randomly chosen winner is Amy, comment #331. Congrats! You will be emailed. If you didn’t win you can still grab up some great LunchBots on their website! – Win a set of 4 LunchBots stainless steel lunch containers! One each of our most popular items including: -Blue Uno – The perfect container for packing a sandwich, sushi, burrito — your favorite lunch to go. -Orange Duo – The ideal container for snacks. It has a divider for crackers and cheese, fruit and nuts, and more. -Yellow Pico – A smaller version of the Duo, and perfect for packing...

I’ve always said that I’m not a good crafty mom.  I’ll take my kids on a hike, a bike ride, or swimming all day long, but when it comes to creative indoor ideas, I’m definitely lacking.  Recently however, my kids and I have been having a ton of fun making our own body care products that we all use and love!  They get to help create something from start to finish, taking pride in the fact that what they make is equal to anything that they can buy from the store – a confidence boost in that lesson for sure!  And together, we’ve bonded indoors and have found a craft that we all...

Thanks to a freak storm bearing a name no one recognized, Washingtonians are being thrust into figuring out how to live without electricity.  The Derecho not only created a post-apocalyptic scene around town, it also led to some pre-industrial conditions.  Hundreds of thousands of people were without power.  In the middle of a heat wave.  The worst heat wave ever. I feel a little bad commenting on these circumstances since I still have power, and a gorgeous ceiling fan is whirring over my head.  But I do think that I have some experience to bring to bear for those suffering through...

 This week I did something that may sound a little crazy.  I took the Amtrak train from Washington, DC to Milwaukee, WI.  I had to make the trip for a work meeting, and I wanted to see if I could do my part to lower my carbon footprint by not flying.  The train was about 0.04 tons of carbon pollution, while a plane would have had nearly three times the emissions of the train.   Also, once we transition to renewable energy, trains will be an even better option since they can be powered by the wind and the sun.  The train was overnight, so I didn’t miss any time with my son by taking the...

Years ago before I had kids I was in Boston taking the T with my brother and the turnstile was broken. There was a long line to buy tokens and I didn’t feel like waiting. “Let’s just jump it,” I said impatiently. “Absolutely not,” my brother answered. “If everyone went through a busted turnstile, where would that leave the public transit system? You have to think about the Categorical Imperative.” That was the first time I was introduced to Kant’s concept of the Categorical Imperative. The way my brother explained it, Immanuel Kant believed that you should evaluate any individual...

1. Take a five minute shower. Set a timer and get out when it rings. You can click here to watch yours truly (yep, that’s me in a towel) talking on French TV about the importance of water conservation. 2. Skip the shower. Then you can go on European TV in a towel too. Americans bathe too often and for too long. It’s better for your skin and the planet if you don’t take a shower every day. More in this New York Times article “The Great Unwashed.” 3. Don’t bathe your kids. Children don’t need baths every day. Sponge off the places that are dirty and have them bathe once or twice a week...

Thank you to Rachel Jonat from Minimalist Mom for this guest post. This is part three of her three part series for us on minimalist living. Read post one and two. Check out her site for even more great information. Radical minimalism, counting everything you own and moving into the smallest living space you can find, isn’t for everyone. When I first approached simplifying what we own I felt intimidated by the more extreme approaches. We love where we live, I do like my espresso machine and our 1100 square foot condominium – small for North American standards of living – wasn’t...

On the drive home this evening, my three year old was feeling a little grumpy. ‘Don’t ask me about my day, Mama,’ he warned with a growl as I buckled him into his seat after I picked him up at day care. So I didn’t, and silence filled the car until the moment I rounded the corner onto our street, at which point Gabriel nearly broke out of his five-point harness for pure joy, shouting, ‘Look, Mama! It’s the MAIL TRUCK!’ Sure, he likes trucks. But the excitement that melted away his bad mood was all about the mail. If anyone happens to notice when Miss Bernadette pulls up to our mailbox...

I imagine many Mothering families can relate to The Healthy Home author Dave Wentz when he says that having a child made healthy living more of a priority for his family than before.  That was how the book began.  Wentz, with his father biologist Dr. Myron Wentz, “set out to prove that you don’t have to be a scientist–or even a cave-dwelling technophobe–to protect your family from the toxic influences found in modern society” in The Healthy Home. The Wentz’s focus is on health, not necessarily “green living” (though the two certainly overlap significantly), and they cover clothing,...

  Bugs, bugs, and more bugs!  Some are cute and cuddly, others outright nasty.  Then there are those sneaky ones that can devour a garden seemingly overnight.  I have a no nasty rule in my home and on my property, meaning that I will happily spend an entire day pulling weeds because I refuse to use horrible chemicals on my plants, and on the land.  Because I love to garden, and am definitely not a fan of bugs in my home (even if those daddy long legs do keep other bugs at bay, they still have to go), my arsenal of natural and safe pest control is growing, and I am happy to pass...

By Annie Berthold-Bond My friend Rachel is pregnant with her second child. Like many pregnant women, she is distilling all of society's free-floating anxiety about exposure to toxic chemicals into nine months of serious worrying. Rachel asked me to teach her how to do nontoxic cleaning, and she was pleasantly surprised to find out how easy and effective it can be. There are five basics that I use for nontoxic cleaning: baking soda, vinegar, a good soap or detergent, washing soda, and tea tree oil. I believe you can clean everything in the house with these items. Rachel liked the...

By Heather Cori Rader "Mom, why don't people love the Earf?" asks my son, Jamin. He holds a bag bulging with the trash that he and his dad have picked up from our street. "Because we don't teach our children about reverence," I reply. I smile as he tries the word out for the first time, forming his mouth carefully around the sounds. Reverence doesn't just roll off his tongue - it sounds more like wevewence - but the meaning holds true. I respect Jamin's questions by answering with genuine explanations, even if they are difficult to comprehend or pronounce. In his thought-provoking...

By Rebecca Balcarcel Web Exclusive Fifteen dollars, a trip to the local hardware store, and I was all set. One retractable clothesline, guaranteed not to break, rust, or raise the electric bill. Since I own a perfectly-running dryer, more than a few folks wondered at my new purchase. At the store, clerks passed my question back and forth like a smelly cloth diaper. "Clothesline did you say? Let me ask hardware." "A clothesline? Let me check with domestics." "Do you mean a line for hanging clothing? Stay right there; I'll find the manager." I finally scooped the single dusty package off the...

Five Ways Frugal Living Benefits Kids by Laura Grace Weldon Sophie is a single mother raising a five-year-old boy. She’s working to establish her own house cleaning business after losing her job nearly two years ago. Sophie and her son live in a small trailer home. Marissa and Jack run a thriving dental practice while raising five-year-old twin daughters. They live in a suburban home on several acres. The five-year-olds from these families are at opposite ends of the economic spectrum. But their parents are raising them in remarkably similar ways. Frugally. Although Sophie would...

Talcum powder can be irritating to a baby’s respiratory system. You can make your own powder out of any combination of these natural ingredients found at your natural foods store: Powdered oris root Finely ground oatmeal Finely ground rice flour White cosmetic clay Experiment to see which consistency and ingredients you like. You may add a small amount of finely crushed lavender flowers or rose petals for a mild scent, but make sure their texture is compatible with that of the powder. You could also keep a small lavender or rose sachet inside the powder container. Look...

By Brandy Ferner Web Exclusive - January 30, 2009 It's amazing how life can turn on a dime. One week I was rolling my eyes at all the coupon clipping my husband's great-grandma does, and the next, I was begging her to keep an eye out for deals on Newman's Own pasta sauce. My journey from riches to rags was really that quick—or at least my realization of it was. As with many mamas, before my active and wonderful two-year-old son was born, I helped bring home the bacon. You may have heard the acronym for it: DINK, dual income, no kids. Looking back, that was the good life, and we didn't...

By Jennie Englund, M.S. Ed.Web Exclusive, November 20, 2006 As I join other Americans pouring out thanks over mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, I consider this question: does money buy happiness? My answer, based on experience, is a resounding "no." In fact, I treasure my little family's state of less-than-desirable money matters—it is a unique and absolute blessing, for which I am truly grateful. In the wake of my resignation from teaching to be a stay-home mom, there has, of course, been a great sacrifice—the illustrious financial one. But our family has reaped more than the benefits of...

Corey from Celebrate Green! shows which foods make ideal dye for Easter eggs. Click here for step-by-step instructions on the Celebrate Green! blog.  Also check out Fun Upcycled Easter Baskets from the Celebrate Green! team. Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are the mother-daughter co-authors of the book, Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family. Visit Corey & Lynn at www.CelebrateGreen.net.