Category: Family

Are you interested in living a greener life as a mom? Do you want to find ways for your family to help pitch in towards a greener life? Living a green life doesn’t have to be hard! In fact, it can be fun when you work together as a family to find ways to create a healthier environment. Follow these steps below and you’ll be on your way to a greener life before you know it!

Green Living Tips for Families

1. Invest in a reusable water bottle for each member of your family.

In the past, I was guilty of purchasing cases of water that I found on sale at the store each week. I would bring up to 8 cases of water home each month, about two per week. If you do the math, that means we were throwing away 192 plastic bottles a month, or 2,304 bottles per year. That’s a lot of water bottles and a lot of waste. Earlier this year, we decided we were going to stop wasting and start reusing. We invested in reusable water bottles for each member of our family, including our girls. We purchased a new water filter pitcher for our refrigerator and we refill our water bottles every day as needed. My girls love their water bottles. They fill up their water bottles before we head out on road trips so that we don’t have to stop and purchase bottled drinks along the way!

2. Clean with natural cleaning products.

Make the switch to natural cleaning products that are non-toxic and multi-purpose.  If you have young children in the home, you may be concerned about dangerous chemicals in cleaning products and worried that your loved one may get into those toxic products. Natural cleaning products such as vinegar and baking soda are perfect to have on hand for your cleaning needs and they are great for the environment. These products are also very affordable and can go a long way saving you money, too!

3.  Switch to eco-friendly batteries.

How many kids toys do you have around your home that require batteries? I know we have several. Replace the batteries in toys with the new Energizer EcoAdvanced Batteries available at Walmart! We just replaced the batteries in this walking horse.

4. Reuse containers.

I’m not a fan of tossing out perfectly good containers that can be used for other things. We go through a lot of containers around here. My kids love to eat foods like yogurt, pudding, macaroni and cheese, applesauce, and other snacks that come in handy little containers. Instead of tossing these containers, reuse them for art projects such as painting or for snacks, especially for on the go. If you don’t plan to use them, consider recycling the plastic or donating clean containers to teachers at school that may be able to use them (art teachers, preschool teachers to use for snacks, etc.)

5. Visit your local recycling center as a family.

Once a week we load up our plastic containers, glass bottles, cardboard boxes, and other recyclables and head down to our local recycling center to dispose of these items in the appropriate bins. There’s even a bin at the end of the loop that allows us to donate any clothes or shoes! Our children come with us so that they can learn the importance of recycling at a young age.  Get the kids involved and allow them to place contents in the appropriate bins so that they can feel like they are contributing to a greener environment!

Follow these five simple steps and you will be on your way to greener living in no time!

Do you have any green living tips for families to add?

When your to-do list gets long and your responsibilities begin to pile up, one of the first things that often gets shoved off of your plate is rest. You wake up early, you stay up late, and you try to cram tasks and efficiency into every corner of your day. While being efficient and making good use of your time is a great way to get things done, it only helps so much. As counter-productive as it sounds, you also need rest if you want to get caught up. Here are five reasons you need to make rest a priority no matter how busy you are.

1. It Increases Your Productivity

Our bodies aren’t meant to be in “go” mode from sun up to sun down. Both our brains and our bodies need periodic breaks to recharge. While this downtime can seem like wasted time, resting actually improves our productivity, allowing us to get more down than we would have otherwise!

2. It Improves Your Memory

Our brains process our learning and information when we sleep, clearing out the information we don’t need to remember and storing the information that we do. When we go too long without sleeping or if we try to work on too little sleep, our memory suffers as a result. Taking a nap after studying is actually a great way to improve your ability to recall what you’ve learned.

Related: Ways to Pamper Yourself as a Busy Mom

3. It Improves Your Mood

Your toddler isn’t the only one who gets cranky when he’s overtired. Moms get cranky when they are tired too. Try to do too much and work too hard without a break, and it won’t be long until you are snapping at your family or until you are just generally unpleasant to be around. Take a quick nap when needed, and your day will go much smoother, allowing you to get more done.

4. It Improves Your Abilities

Whether you are driving, writing, sewing, cleaning, paying bills or reading, it is difficult to do a good job when you are overly tired. Try to push too hard for too long, and the quality of your work will inevitably suffer, both in terms of efficiency and in terms of quality. If you notice that you’re having difficult producing your best work and you think tiredness may be to blame, a quick nap may be just what you need.

5. It Improves Your Health

Lastly, sleep is absolutely essential for health. According to WebMD, not getting enough sleep has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and obesity. A lack of sleep can even increase your chances of coming down with a cold or the flu, both of which can drastically reduce your ability to be productive. Save your health and your time by getting the rest you need now.

Related: How to Deal With Being Sick as a Mom

Resting doesn’t mean that you have to set everything aside and sleep for three hours. Instead, it can mean a 10-15 minute power nap or walk outside in the fresh air. Even something as simple as taking your lunch break to actually eat lunch instead of to work at your desk can make a big difference.

Do you get enough rest? How can you make rest more of a priority in your busy schedule?