Maintaining Green Motivation in the Workplace

This post is my submission to February’s APLS Blog Carnival. This month’s topic is how to stay motivated about green living. Check Going Green Mama on February 24 for the carnival round-up and lots of great ideas to keep your motivation levels high.

Recently I posted about the changes to our family’s life, which led to some changes for Greening Families. With the launch of my husband’s business, we have made the switch to complete self-employment, something we have been working toward for years. We are already reaping benefits in terms of flexible schedules (we both attended our daughters’ Valentine’s Day parties at school with zero guilt – amazing!) but the change has also meant longer-than-normal hours for me over the last few months as Rich’s business – and income – got off the ground.

When I am racing a deadline, I sometimes have a hard time maintaining my motivation for green habits, especially the ones that take a little extra time. Since I know many others are starting or growing their own businesses these days, I wanted to share some tips to maintaining green motivation in the workplace. (I also wanted to encourage myself to keep following the green path so this article itself is a form of self-motivation!) Here are my top twelve tips for greening your home office: Read more

Business Review: The Common Thread

In preparation for my first sewing class, I visited the newly opened independent fabric store The Common Thread just over a week ago. What a treat!

As I mentioned when I listed my goal of learning how to sew this year, I haven’t done any real sewing since I took a home ec class in junior high. That was a few years ago (ahem!) so I felt a little nervous preparing for my sewing class. What fabrics would be best for the various projects? I checked out organic fabric online but for my first projects, I wanted to feel the fabrics. The selection of organic fabric at the chain store in my area was nonexistent so I had to find another option. Read more

Organic Fabric Sources

This may not be news to the green crafting crowd, but finding cute organic fabric can be tough!

One of my goals for this year is to learn how to sew. I’m signed up for a class that begins shortly so I’ve started looking for fabrics for the class projects. (Exciting!) I naively walked into a nearby Hancock Fabric expecting to find an organic section and found… no organic fabrics in the store. Not one. When I asked about them, the salesperson said, “We only get a few of those and they sell out quickly.” If I were working in the fabric world, I would see this as a sign that there is a strong demand being unmet!

Rather than driving from store to store, I decided to hop on the information highway to see what I could find.

My first stop was Mod Green Pod. This Austin-based company creates the organic fabrics that started me thinking about making our curtains myself. It is fair to say that I am going to learn how to sew so I can use their fabrics. Their beautiful selections are made out of 100% organic cotton, which is grown, woven and printed in the United States. They keep the fabrics free of fire retardants, wrinkle-free agents, and other toxic chemicals so they don’t off-gas. I love the bright colors and clean designs! Both of my girls and I enjoy playing with their Room Creator. Check out the Bloom fabric to the right as curtains!

The fabrics at Mod Green Pod led me to Near Sea Naturals. This site carries organic fabric from a number of companies, including Mod Green Pod and Harmony Art, which is listed below. They carry not only organic fabric but also organic lace, organic ribbons, organic sewing thread, organic stuffing and other notions so you can find everything you need in one place. They carry several out-of-production selections from Mod Green Pod, including this one called Tickled Pink that my daughters love. ( Pink ladybugs with flowers for spots, could anything be more perfect for little girls?) Their site even shares project ideas in case you need a jumpstart.

Harmony Art is another source of lovely organic fabric choices. The prints are especially compelling and I really appreciated the fact that coordinating fabrics are listed. Details for wholesale purchases of 50-yard rolls are listed. For smaller orders, retail distributors, including Near Sea Naturals, are listed on the site. I see a possible dress option for my girls here!

I recently came across Betz White’s book Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials so thought to see if she carried any organic fabric on her site. It turns out that she has a very cute organic fabric line that just came out at the end of July. (Sounds like smart folks ARE paying attention to the strong demand!) These colorful fabrics made of 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton are available at her Etsy shop. So far the Sprigs and Sprout on the left-hand side of this pillow is my favorite but the Lawnchair on the right-side of the pillow is growing on me as well. I have a feeling the more I look, the longer that list will grow.

Etsy is also the home of Daisy Janie. Her organic fabrics are a blend of 55% organic hemp and 45% organic cotton or 100% organic cotton sateen that are printed in the United States. Her patterns are very clean and crisp looking with lots of fun colors. I think the Parkside fabric would make a cute skirt; good thing I am going to learn how to make one!

I’m continuing my search for organic fabric so please share any sources you have found.

Save Money, and the Earth, with Homemade Cleaners

Last week we discussed how toxic many household products are (so toxic that they are routinely referred to as hazardous household waste) and how to safely remove them from your home. This week we want to share some inexpensive and simple recipes so you can make earth-friendly replacements for those items.

We’ll start with cleaning supplies.

Conventional cleaning supplies: Homemade cleaning products can get your home just as clean as conventional products for far less money and with far less toxic exposure. They also smell better! Here are recipes for a few multi-tasking items. Read more

Greening Your Home, Frugally

Many people associate going green with expensive purchases scattered throughout their living space, but living a greener lifestyle is more often about what you don’t buy and don’t have in your home.

A quick, and frugal way to improve the health of your home is to remove the toxic items. You may be thinking, “Who lives with toxic items? What, do people have piles of radioactive waste in their living rooms? If so, I’m a better housekeeper than I thought!” With toys and books currently littering way too many surfaces in our home, I’m clearly not qualified to judge anyone’s housekeeping abilities, but I can tell you the odds are high that items you have in your home today are toxic. Read more

Check Out the Austin EcoNetwork!

The Austin EcoNetwork has officially launched its new website and Greening Families is proud to be one of the featured bloggers!

The Austin EcoNetwork or AEN is “a network of people interested in information, events, and resources related to Austin and the environment.” For those of you in the Austin area, AEN has a great calendar that lists local happenings as well as updates on news affecting the Austin area. For those who live in other parts of the world, Austin has a vibrant eco-community so it can be heartening to read about all the people who are thinking and acting to protect the environment. (We live outside of Austin so I browse it myself when feeling blue about going green.)

Please come visit to check out Greening Families’ weekly posts and to see all the other great offerings!

Family Friday: How to Strengthen Your Family’s Immune Systems

All the media coverage of swine flu, or influenza A H1N1, is causing some people to panic. As I listened to the news on my way home from dropping my youngest at preschool, I could feel my own worries growing. So I started thinking about what action I could take. Action is a great antidote to panic!

Once I took a deep breath (OK, a couple of deep breaths), I realized one of the best things would be to make sure my kids, Rich, and I have strong immune systems. Our time at preschool, elementary school, and work gives us exposure to plenty of local germs. I wanted to make sure all our defenses were in tip-top fighting shape for whatever we encountered.

Here are some of the best ways to bolster immune systems. As I wrote this, I was struck by how many of these items have multiple benefits. If we did these things all the time, my family would be leaner, happier, and healthier. Read more

Green Chores

Today when we left my youngest daughter’s preschool, we discovered some styrofoam peanuts in the front plantings. My kids were very upset since they have heard that plastic is not good for animals. After some discussion, we picked them up to make sure no birds or rabbits, the animals we see most frequently there, would be harmed.

As we walked to the car, my oldest asked if she could have some green chores. She went on to explain that she wanted to do work that was good for the earth but wanted her dad and me to treat them like her other chores and pay her for them. I said I thought this was a great idea and that I would talk it over with her dad. Read more

Protect Your Child, Your Wallet, and Your World with One Spin of the Dial

When I was pregnant with my first child, a colleague gave me a great piece of advice about labor: “Remember that you only have one contraction at a time.” I’ve since discovered that this advice has broad applications; I often remind myself of it when I become overwhelmed with parenting or fighting global warming. The end results I want in both arenas are really the culmination of many small actions, just as the birth of my daughter was the result of many (many!) contractions.

Global warming sounds so big (ginormous, as my youngest would say) that it is easy to feel overwhelmed or inconsequential. However, we can all make small changes, many of which benefit us directly. Collectively we can make a positive difference for the environment. As I remind my kids when we’re faced with a messy room, many hands make light work. None of us has to assume the mantle of responsibility for the entire world but we can all help to clean up the mess! Read more

What To Do with an Old TV

With the upcoming recent switch from analog to digital television signals, many families have bought or are planning to buy a new TV. That means numerous families are faced with the decision of what to do with their old television. What a perfect opportunity to help protect the environment! Read more

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