Earth Day as you all know was this past Friday. Even though the day is over now, we need to continue to keep our Earth clean. I posted ideas last week of how your family could celebrate Earth Day everyday, hopefully the tips will help you change the ways things are done in your family.

Thanks to B Kind 2 Earth Day, the girls and I celebrated Friday even though the rain moved in and took over the biggest part of the day.

We started out the morning at Starbucks. My husband always takes his own reusable cup to Dunkin Donuts each morning, but I never do take a reusable cup to Starbucks. I finally did this past Friday.

The only thing, I think I need another cup besides stainless steel as my herbal tea was way too hot to drink even after a hour! So I need to find a plastic one, but it is definitely something that I need to change my ways with so I am not trashing so many cups away.

The girls enjoyed their drinks too, and it made me think, the girls need their own Starbucks reusable mugs. We use reusable mugs in their lunch everyday at school.

After that, we headed over to Goodwill to donate clothes that the girls would not wear anymore. It amazes me how many people will trash clothes when we can just easily donate them to almost any organization. The Goodwill people are always so helpful and will even come out and pick up your donation. M wanted to deliver the clothes herself for Earth Day.

So… how did you celebrate Earth Day?

As many of you know, my youngest daughter is allergic to many environmental things and unfortunately has asthma. We will be putting reviews here of how how we are changing our household to a better environment for her. Check out our first review of the Dyson Animal DC25.

Everyone knows that children need projects to keep their little minds occupied. Sitting in front of a TV all day will do little to help your child grow as a person. It’s important to find projects that you can participate in with your child on a regular basis to help nurture their growing minds. With that in mind, it can sometimes be difficult to find activities that the whole family can enjoy that aren’t expensive or hurtful to the environment. Not to worry, there are plenty of activities that the whole family can benefit from that are cost effective as well as eco friendly.

No matter what the age, no one likes cleaning up after themselves and others. Chances are your child isn’t above leaving his or her toys scattered around the house. Why not help make organization fun? Build storage bins and toy boxes out of recycled and found materials such as cardboard and wood. Even if you’re not particularly handy, there are hosts of tutorials online to help teach you how to construct eco friendly furniture. You can even use arts and crafts books to create eco friendly toys to store in your new toy boxes.

Consider growing a garden. Tilling soil, planting seeds, and maintaining a family garden is a great way to spend time with your family while also helping the environment. Your child will also learn the value of patience as they watch their seedlings blossom into flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Seeds are usually inexpensive and dirt is free! A garden is a wonderful opportunity to help teach your child the importance of nature as well as the benefit of a hard day’s work.

Now that you’ve grown vegetables and herbs with your family, why not put these items to use? Teach your son or daughter how the fine art of cooking, while supervising them of course. Knowing your way around a kitchen is an invaluable lesson for any person to learn and the sooner the better. Share your family recipes with your child and they will relish the chance to participate in a grown up activity such as cooking with their parents.