Turn “I’m Bored” into “I Made it Myself!”

It finally happened. My kids, who typically are full of ideas, uttered the words that can spark dread in the heart of any busy parent. “I’m bored. What can we do?”

We thought we had planned well for this summer. We had a list! And a calendar! But then plans changed, as they tend to do, and the heat blasted day after day, which changed more plans, and we found ourselves with more time to fill than interesting projects with which to fill it. Add to that two parents with heads full of deadlines and work obligations (rather than fun ideas) and it was clear we needed some help.

Thankfully, I found the Future Craft Collective. Read more

Business Review: TerraBurger

My family’s summer just got better. This week TerraBurger opened its second location in northwest Austin at 10611 Research Blvd, right by Costco. Now we have a healthy option for a quick meal at a family-friendly restaurant – what a treat!

When we saw TerraBurger’s sign go up several months ago, we were curious but frankly more than a little skeptical. Lots of businesses have jumped on the green bandwagon for marketing and little else. We wondered how green Terra Burger’s operations would really be. We checked them out online and were impressed with what we saw.

From their website:

At TerraBurger, Rule #1 is “all natural”–we won’t serve anything that contains artificial ingredients, period. No artificial colors or flavors. No flavor enhancers. No trans fats. Nothing highly processed. No artificial additives. In fact, we have an extensive list of banned ingredients that don’t make the cut. For more detailed information on the practical meaning of “all natural”, go here: http://www.naturalingredient.org/naturalingredients.htm. Read more

Family Friday: Creating Compost

Setting up a compost area is one of our goals for this year so we were delighted to read this month’s article from Lucas Miller on composting. The tips we shared in Five Easy Steps to Reduce Food Waste (Without Going Insane) have significantly reduced the amount of food we throw away but we still toss the occasional moldy item in the trash. (I swear the back of our refrigerator is connected to a black hole.) We’ve now decided where to place our compost area; I hope this article spurs you on as well.

So you’re recycling your bottles, cans, and paper, right? I think that’s a given for our faithful readers. Hopefully, you’re not even taking the plastic bags in the first place but, if you are, you can recycle those, too.

How about composting? My wife and I have been composting off-and-on for over a decade now so I thought I’d provide some thoughts on our experiences. I’m no expert, though, so by all means feel free to contribute your own comments and tips! Read more

Packaging Repackaging

I became almost giddy after reading a recent article in The New York Times about the efforts of several companies to change the packaging of products they sell. Read more

Another Perspective on Trash

Time.com features David Chameides in one of today’s articles. Mr. Chameides is the author of Sustainable Dave, a website showcasing a variety of sustainable topics. Read more

Talking Trash

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