Planet Green

Planet Green is my new favorite television network! I happened upon it one night while channel surfing. Launched in 2008, it is the first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network. The network’s primary goal is to take an active role in motivating all of us to take action when it comes to improving the environmental status of our planet.

My favorite shows on Planet Green are:

Living with Ed- This is a reality show about the life of Ed Begley, Jr., the actor, who is a renowned environmentalist. Ed is a diehard activist who uses solar power in his home and drives an electric car, among many other things, to decrease his effect on the environment. He gives many easy tips to help us learn how to be more eco-friendly.

Wa$ted- This show takes ordinary people, monitors their waste, and helps them make simple habit changes to decrease their eco footprint. They use an eco footprint calculator to tabulate their effect on the environment. The people are monitored for a few weeks, and then they recalculate the footprint. The show gives back the amount of money saved because of the decrease in the eco footprint. It is amazing how much money you can save by decreasing your eco footprint.

World’s Greenest Homes- This is a show featuring homes that are very pleasing to the eye, environmentally friendly, and easy to maintain. Many of the homes featured are made from recycled materials and use solar power or wind turbines for electricity. If you watch this show, you will definitely want a green house!

Planet Green is my favorite channel of all time. I enjoy learning how we can make a better environment for ourselves and our children. Many of the eco-friendly tips given on this network can be easily done at our homes with very little lifestyle change. I have learned a lot by watching this channel and hope that you are inspired to check it out. It may prompt you to start decreasing your eco footprint. If this network does not come with your cable package, check it out at
www.planetgreen.discovery.com . I will be sharing some of the cool things that I have learned in my upcoming posts!

Thanks for joining us for Talk About It Tuesday!

-Robin

Homemade Thin Mints

Has your Girl Scout cookie stash disappeared? Did someone find the secret hiding place? My personal favorite are the Thin Mints. Luckily, I found a recipe a few years ago that allows me to make my own Thin Mints at home!

For Menu Plan Monday, I thought I would share my secret:

1 pkg. Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1 sleeve Ritz crackers

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Stir in the peppermint extract. Dip in the crackersand coat on both sides. Place on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper and place in the fridge to set the chocolate (or put them in your garage if you're in the Midwest and its winter - which is what I do at Christmas - brrr).

They are fantastic and very addictive. Enjoy!

-Julie

Happy Sunday!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3: 16 KJV

National Safety Month

I can not let the month of June pass us by without calling our attention to National Safety Month. National Safety Month is sponsored by the National Safety Council which educates and influences people to prevent accidental injury and death.

One of the things that the National Safety Council (NSC) calls attention to is that traffic safety starts at home. They want to make us aware that it only takes a few seconds to look behind the car before backing up and that we get our kids out of the car every time we get out of the car.

According to the NSC, over 100 children die and thousands are injured from being backed over each year. Let’s all be sure that we look behind our cars before we get in the driver’s seat and then take a few seconds to look again before we put our cars in reverse.

Many children die every year from heat stroke because they were left in the car. Some of these cases are due to over-stressed parents forgetting to drop their children off at daycare. Some of the deaths are a result of parents leaving their children in the car while they get out to run an errand for a short time. Let’s make it a habit to check our backseats every time we get out of the car, it may save our child’s life on those over-stressed days.

Accidents can happen at any time. I hope this post is a reminder of what can happen. The more that we keep these things fresh in our mind, hopefully, the more accidents we can prevent.

-Robin

Low Cost Family Outings

Now that summer is in full-swing, we are always looking for low cost family outings. We have found several ideas in our area.

- We love to take advantage of programs at our local library. They often have things for the entire community such as magic shows, story times, zoo visits or opportunities to meet local artists.

- We are lucky enough to have a zoo nearby. We love to go to their special events. When more things are offered for the usual zoo admission, we get an even bigger "bang for our buck."

- We visit many area parks. We have found that they each have their own special features. Our children even love just playing on different playground equipment. We have taken our bikes to ride on trails, like to geocache in areas we know to find hidden treasures, and we can take a simple frisbee and make a wonderful day out of something so simple.

- We visit local museums and gardens. Be sure to check into their membership programs and their benefits. Often they have reciprocal memberships with other local venues. We received a great book of coupons with one membership that let us take advantage of lots of great area attractions at quite a savings.

What are your favorite low cost family outings?

-Julie

Buy Next Year's Clothes Post Season

Being the self-proclaimed “frugal” mom that I am, I live up to my name every year when I buy clothes on sale post-season. I just buy whatever size my kids will be wearing the next year. This is a little tricky for babies, so I wouldn’t recommend it for less than 2 years old. It is hard to estimate what size infants will be wearing. My daughter is 2 ½ years old, which makes buying next year’s sizes more predictable.

Last year, we scored lots of great deals the day after Christmas! My mom and I went to Belk and got great deals on Christmas dresses and winter clothes for the girls. Now, our girls have some new and affordable clothes to wear this winter.

I have always wondered why more moms don’t take advantage of post season sales and buy next year’s clothes. Many moms may not have room to store extra clothes. We have combatted this by putting the clothes on hangers and pushing them to the back of the closet until the seasons change.

I always look forward to the changing of seasons so that I can uncover last year’s purchases and remember all of the bargains that I got! If you buy a few pieces of clothes for your child at the post season sale, it will make a big difference in your clothing budget.

-Robin

Microfiber Mops

For WFMW, I wanted to discuss one of my favorite cleaning supplies. I don't like to use a lot of chemicals in our home, so we have relied on microfiber mops for years.

I like to use microfiber mops for several reasons. They do a fantastic job on our wood and tile floors. They can be reused over and over. They only need hot water to do their job well. They can also be thrown right into the washing machine (but they should not go thru the dryer -which is why I often have mine hanging from the bar in my laundry room to air dry).

Have you used microfiber mops? What works for you for floors?

-Julie