Saturday, January 23, 2010

Being Green is Being Responsible...just ask your kids.

I hope my kids are even greener than their parents. I try my best to teach them about recycling, not being wasteful and about conserving energy. All of those concepts are actually a part of our daily lives...almost habit.

It is pretty amazing how things have changed over the past 10 years. I don't remember hearing much about "being green" when I was at Stanford or any time before college. I did learn about conserving water when I was super young because we lived in a constant drought in Northern California in the late 70's and early 80's. And, because my dad was a stickler, we were constantly reminded to turn off the lights.

But things have changed. Everyone knows what the word GREEN means. Even our school kids are learning more about on the subject than we will ever know. I cannot wait until my kids come home from school to tell me how they are using old paper clips to build a new school bus. Ok...maybe that is a stretch but the idea is not.

Kids will continue to learn about being green and I was lucky enough to announce a contest that celebrates a kids' greeness! Go on www.americasgreenestschool.com and learn all about how your kid can nominate their school to be "The Greenest School in America" and win a IC Hybrid Bus worth $150,000, a $20,000 green make-over for their school and an individual $3,000 scholarship. Yes...absolutely amazing, huh?!!

I was so excited to work on the campaign and I am even more excited to check out all the nominations. See, kids can nominate their school through essay, video or song. So fun! My mom and I flew into NYC for the event and were up at the crack of dawn both Thrusday and Friday last week to chat with TV stations all around the country. I was exhausted by the end and my mom was such a trooper. Both of us got done with our role on Friday and felt energized and enthused about going home and being even more green. Here are a few of the things that I try to do to be green at home...

1. Bring my own grocery bags.
2. Use a reusable coffee mug and water bottle.(and for my kids as well)
3. Drive a hybrid (prius) even in the winter.
4. Use "Snack Taxi's"...awesome reusable plastic bags...invented by a really cool mom!
5. Keep our heat set at 67.
6. Turn water off when brushing teeth.
7. Turn lights off when not in room. (this is a big one!!!)
8. Litterless lunch for my kids....no trash...everything is reusable.
9. Use eco-friendly cleaning supplies.
10. RECYCLE as much as I can.
11. Take the bus

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