Eco-Active Family

This piece originally appeared in my Green and Simple column on the Old Town Alexandria Patch. Want to simplify and de-clutter your life? Take cues from constructions sites and kindergarten classrooms. Construction projects have always fascinated me, especially large-scale projects, like the National Harbor project or the Woodrow Wilson bridge project. I marvel at how [...]

This piece originally appeared in my Green and Simple column on the Old Town Alexandria Patch. Freecycle is a (usually) convenient way to give away your stuff for free, and pick up some things at no cost too.   Though most people do their major purge and deep cleaning in the spring, I am a couple of seasons [...]

A decrease in the amount of trash being discarded in landfills was an early indicator of the recession. ‘The trash man is the first to know …’

When I think about many of the things that our family is now doing to be more eco-active, I’m reminded of so many things that my mom did when I was growing up. She would save and reuse plastic bags and foil. We’d use jelly jars for drinking glasses and shop yard sales and flea [...]

How do you involve your kids your efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle?

… According to the Green Book, “U.S. Households dispose of nearly one hundred billion plastic bags annually, millions of which end up littering the environment and harming endangered marine animals. By reducing plastic consumption by just two bags per week, you’ll throw away at least one hundred fewer bags per year. If tied together handle to handle, these plastic bags would make a rope long enough to wrap around the earth more than 126 times.”

So, what can you do?

Today I engaged in one of my favorite fall (and spring) rituals… As much as I love nature and the great outdoors, this one’s an indoor gig. It was my bi-annual trek to the first of my favorite consignment sales. With three kids, ages six and under, clothing and other childhood gear can tally up [...]