Because I make them.

It's as simple as that. Just like I make them turn off lights when the leave a room and make them turn off the tap water while brushing their teeth and make them place empty cereal boxes in the recycling bin.

They don't like it much. They say the bus smells (it does!) and sometimes, kids are rowdy. Often, they tell me, the bus driver is grouchy. If I drove them to school, they argue, they could sleep in a bit later (not that they would!) and would get home a bit earlier in the afternoons.

It's true. And yet, I persist in making them ride it. Why? Because we live only one mile from their school. In fact, 90% of students included in this school's zoning district live within a three-mile radius of the campus. And yet, when I used to drive them every morning and pick them up every afternoon, I'd wait in an exhaust-filled line of cars (each with one parent in it) almost a quarter-mile long.

It was ridiculous. There weren't enough spaces for these cars. Children were clogging the front entrance waiting for their rides and migrating to the (off-limits) side road to meet their vehicles. It was a long, inconvenient, and frustrating experience. As far as I know, it still is, but I refuse to be a part of it. My kids and I have made a change. Now, they walk half a block to meet their bus in the morning, and step onto it at the curb outside their classrooms in the afternoon.

And they don't much like it. (But then again, I don't much like using cloth napkins…but I'm doing it anyway!) And there's one less car on our neighborhood roads between 7:15-7:30 am and 2:15-2:30 pm.

Do your kids ride the bus? Do you car pool? What works for you? Also, what green measures have you implemented that your family rails against?

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Amy Whitley is excited to be writing bi-weekly for the 5 Minutes for Going Green team! You can read more about her attempts at eco-living at her blog The Never-True Tales and find great places to travel with children at her review site Pitstops for Kids!.

I'm a food writer and a gardener. I never thought I'd say that — even to myself, let alone out loud — and yet, here I am. Late January is blowing in with wind and ice and seed catalogs galore are gracing my mailbox — and I am itching to dig in the dirt.

I want nothing more than to get outside, feel a warm breeze on my skin and to sink my hands into the dark, heavily composted soil that will (hopefully) nourish a large part of our sustenance in the coming year. Unfortunately, I was born, raised and continue to live in The North; a frustratingly cold place where such wonderful endeavors cannot be undertaken without engaging in epic futility until well into April or May.

So, in the meantime, I am relegated to flipping the pages of seed catalogs, installing new growing lights, browsing heirloom seed listings on Etsy and dreaming of the fun, new, exciting varieties of plants I simply must try my hand at growing. Among them; the luffa (sometimes spelled 'loofah') gourd.

A prolific (read: needs a trellis or fence, stat!) vine bearing fruits that are rumored to grow up to an inch and a half per day, the luffa gourd can not only be eaten, it can exfoliate — both your skin and your baked-on kitchen messes. Organic, homegrown, multi-functional sponges/squashes here I come!

What interesting plant varieties are you coveting for your 2010 garden? Share your favorites in the comments and I'll feature them in an early spring gardening post!

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Diana Prichard, a freelance writer and wanna-be homesteader, wastes a copious number of long winter days thumbing through seed catalogs and dreaming of the green thumb she someday hopes to acquire. She sometimes chronicles that and other thoughts on life at her self-titled personal blog, her twitter stream and her facebook account.

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Photo Credit: Seven Acre Woods, who has Heirloom Luffa Gourd seeds available on Etsy.

I have concerns with markers, though. For one thing, markers are all made of plastic. This means that when we're done with them they head to the landfill where they'll spend tens of thousands of years. Not a pretty thought. It's even less pretty when you consider the rate at which my daughter can plow through them, especially with the help of her younger brother who likes to open the lids and bite the tops off. Between my two kids a new pack of markers typically lasts less than a month in my house before each and every marker is dead.

I am not the only parent who has this concern. Some readers of the blog Fake Plastic Fish wrote letters to Crayola to encourage the company to accept used markers for recycling. Another reader started a Facebook group petitioning Crayola to recycle markers. And another blogger over at Recycle Your Day has written about the campaign to recycle markers as well.

If you're also concerned about plastic markers, what can you do?

As consumers, our opinions matter. If enough of us have the same concerns then we can be certain that companies will take notice. After all, they depend on us to survive. By working together, we can raise awareness and help to make a better world for our children to color in.

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Amber writes more about her life with kids at her blog, Strocel.com. Check her out!

At the time, I thought it sounded like a convenient idea–even an ingenious idea–but I didn’t consider it to be necessarily a ‘green’ idea. I realize now I was wrong: dinner co-ops are a great way to be environmentally responsible while enjoying the awesome benefit of cooking only once or twice a week.

Instead of four ovens preheating, four stove-tops operating, etc., per night, there’s only one. Of course, this is not only energy-efficient, but very convenient as more and more families are kept out late at sport practices and other weekday evening commitments.

It’s easier to eat locally and seasonally. I don’t know about any of you, but if I only have to plan and shop for one major meal per week, I’d be willing to put more planning, effort, time, and expense into it. Plus your co-op can share the wealth of your backyard gardens and bulk foods. When we invest more into our meal preparation, we end up eating more whole and seasonal foods. At least I do! And with a co-op, you receive back the efforts of your labor three-fold.

Eat fewer convenience foods. If you know you can expect four whole-food, homemade dinners per week, you’ll be buying fewer convenience foods at the grocery store to make up for those nights you just don’t get around to cooking. In our house, that would mean significantly fewer boxes of processed bean burritos and veggie dogs.

Eat out less. Save not only money, but reduce the number of fast food containers, take-out boxes, and bags end up in your trash.

I have no idea whether my acquaintance’s co-op is still going strong or not, but as my family’s weekday commitments build with each passing year, and as I make new commitments to a ‘greener’ and healthier lifestyle for my household, I find myself more and more intrigued with the idea of starting my own dinner co-op. If you are, too, Dinner at Your Door goes through the process of starting a co-op step-by-step (there’s a website and a book). The site Saving with Shellie also contains information on starting several kinds of neighborhood co-ops, including a babysitting one!

Are you already a member of a dinner co-op? I’d love to hear about your experience! What works, and what doesn’t? What’s your best tip for me as I start out? What’s your favorite benefit of being part of a co-op?

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Amy Whitley is excited to be writing bi-weekly for the 5 Minutes for Going Green team! You can read more about her attempts at eco-living at her blog The Never-True Tales and find great places to travel with children at her review site Pitstops for Kids!.

How well am I doing? I don't think there's an easy answer to that question, but I decided I would look to the internet to see if I could find any clues. I came across an Ecological Footprint Quiz, which calculates the impact that your choices have on the earth. Overall, my results were pretty good. I have a much lower carbon footprint than the average Canadian, and my goods and services footprint is less than 25% of the national average. My housing footprint is lower than the average as well, and my food footprint is only a little higher. But even still, if everyone lived as I do we would need 3.43 Earths to sustain us all.

Where am I falling down in my efforts to live sustainably? Our single family home in the suburbs is not the most environmentally-friendly option, but I'm not planning on moving. Plus, in some ways living where I do actually helps since I have a garden, and I have excellent access to composting and recycling unlike my apartment-dwelling days. But the other big area is my choice to eat animal products. I eat meat and seafood and lots and lots of dairy. There are few foods that are not improved by a generous topping of cheese, in my opinion.

After I finished my quiz I read the suggestions for reducing my carbon footprint. And in the spirit of making a fresh start for 2010 I resolved to make a few changes.

1. Reduce my consumption of animal products. I will not cut these out completely, but I could certainly get by on a little less. Baby steps, right? I will start by doing one meatless day a week - I'm thinking that 'Meatless Monday' has a nice ring to it. I will also strive to find ways to cut back on dairy while I'm at it.

2. Wear a sweater. We keep our house really warm. Last year I considered lowering the thermostat, but with a small baby I was hesitant to go that route. This year, though, I have a robust and active toddler who never stops moving. Reducing the temperature by a couple of degrees would not hurt us, and it will save money, too.

3. Expand my garden. I would like to put in a new raised bed so that I can grow more of my own food. I also think that with a little more effort in the planning I could get a better yield of produce that we actually want. I like cucumbers, but we really will not eat more than 70 of them over their short growing period, you know?

These are not huge, earth-shattering changes by any means. But smaller changes are more likely to stick, I think. And then maybe next year I can grow on these changes even more. What about you? Do you have any plans to implement a more sustainable lifestyle in 2010? If so, please share!

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These resolutions were cross-posted from Amber's blog at Strocel.com, where you can keep up with her regular adventures.

There was a time when I wouldn't dream of drinking tap water. I'm not even really sure why that was anymore, but I think it had to do with my perception that it was somehow less than. Bottled water just seemed more appealing to me. However, over the past 12-18 months my perception on water has changed significantly.

What caused the change? I became concerned about some of the chemicals that are found in plastic water bottles when the Canadian government decided to prohibit the use of bisphenol A in baby bottles due to possible health concerns. I am not a baby, but at the time that these announcements were happening I was pregnant and then breastfeeding. The chemicals that enter my body, therefore, may be passed to my baby. And if bisphenol A was a concern, then what other chemicals might be lurking in a plastic water bottle?

The concerns over bottled water do not end with possible chemical contaminants. Bottling water is an energy-intensive process. It takes 3 times as much water to produce a bottle than the bottle itself contains, and 17 million barrels of oil are used to produce water bottles each year. That's enough to fuel 1 million cars. And then the bottles full of water are shipped from the factory to destinations which can be on the other side of the globe, using even more energy.

When you're finished with the water, what happens to the bottle? When you consider that almost all bottled water is sold in single-size bottles, you realize that is a lot of waste. It's estimated at 28 billion bottles in the US alone, and only 1 in 5 are recycled. That means that tens of billions of plastic bottles end up in the landfill, where they will remain for tens of thousands of years before they decompose.

Tap water is clearly a much greener choice. It is also far, far cheaper. Where I live, I pay an annual utilities bill regardless of how much water I use. For me, tap water is essentially free, whereas bottled water is definitely not. In my hometown, and across North America, tap water is also subjected to far stricter regulations and monitoring than bottled water. You know what you are getting when you drink water from the tap, and you know where it is coming from.

How did I make the switch? I've opted to just drink my tap water straight up. At first I didn't like the taste, but within a week or so I adapted and now I actually prefer it. My husband wasn't so keen, so he started making ice cubes. By always having fresh ice on hand he can keep his water at the temperature that he likes straight from the tap, and he enjoys it more that way. And our whole family invested in some quality, durable re-usable water bottles, so that we can always have fresh water on the go.

What about you? Do you opt for tap or bottled, or do you use a filter? I'd love to know!

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You can catch up with Amber's daily adventures on her blog at Strocel.com.

*Photo Credit: "H2O" by Diana Prichard

The air is crisp, and there are (almost) daily visits of "Jack" frost.  The trees are just about completely barren and in town there's the buzz of holiday excitement.  This past weekend we had our first local indoor Winter Farmer's Market. All the signs indicate the holidays are around the corner!

The end of this week marks the beginning of the Christmas "consumer" season, the holiday parties, cookie baking, travel, decorating…. and the to-do list gets longer and longer. So, here I am to offer a gentle reminder on the importance of simplicity… even in December!

I recently started re-reading Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and am deeply moved by the words of a fifth grader interview for the book.

"When I am in the woods, I feel like I am in my mother's shoes. It's so peaceful out there and the air smells so good. I mean, it's polluted, but not as much as the city air. For me, it's completely different there. It's like you're free when you go out there. It's your own time. Sometimes I go there when I'm mad- and then, just with the peacefulness, I'm better. I can come back home happy, and my mom doesn't even know why."

For this holiday season, maybe we can forgo some of the craziness of our to-do lists and just retreat into the cool, crisp, soft, woods or any little nature alcove available. Instead of feeling a frenzy and being caught up in the excitement and energy, maybe for a few minutes we can take the time to reconnect with our own inner stillness, just as this wise young lady said… we can have some of our own time.

This season, perhaps the most wonderful gift to give is some time out of time… time to reconnect to nature and the infinite possibilities of a natural experience…. after this is the kind of gift that comes for free!

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Shannon Baer lives in semi-rural Rhode Island with her husband, son and a flock of chickens.  She is excited to be a new member of the Green Team here at 5 Minutes for Going Green. Shannon shares her joy of (re)connecting children and nature at her blog Backyard Mama. 

Buying the largest size I can reasonably use isn't just economical, it is also a more sustainable choice in the long run. Far less packaging goes into producing a single very large jar as compared to 4 or 5 smaller jars that add up to the same amount. And, of course, this isn't just true for mayonnaise. It's true for pet food or pasta or shampoo, as well. Steering clear of single-serving sizes is one great way to reduce the amount of waste that you're producing.

Now that I'm making much more of an effort to shop consciously, I spend more time in the natural food section of the grocery store. And while I peruse organic salsa, phosphate-free dishwasher detergent and fair-trade chocolate, I can't help but notice how pretty much every product in those aisles comes in teeny-tiny packages. Some of the size difference can be explained by increased concentrations, especially in cleaning products, but that does not account for the entire difference. The organic spaghetti, for instance, is half the size of the conventional spaghetti. And it is not wonder spaghetti that somehow requires half as much pasta for the same meal. (Although wonder spaghetti would be very cool.)

The small package sizes in the natural food section have become a pet peeve of mine. I am feeding a family of 4, and we eat a lot of food. While I like the idea of buying organic food, I wonder if the much smaller unit sizes negate the environmental benefit of buying organic on the first place. I would really rather not have a mountain of non-recyclable plastic packaging on my hands every time I opt to steer clear of pesticide residue, you know?

At the moment, I often head to the bulk bins to reduce my packaging. In the bulk aisle I can get the same products as the natural food aisle more cheaply, and I can buy as much as I want. If you bring your own re-usable bags you can do some completely waste-free shopping that way. It's great for dry goods especially. But I buy things that they don't carry in the bulk aisle, so it doesn't completely solve my quandary. And so you can still find me in the natural food section, holding a small jar of organic peanut butter and shaking my fist at the universe in frustration.

What about you? Have you also noticed that natural and organic products come in smaller packages, and how do you feel about that? And, do you have any tips to reduce the amount of product packaging you bring home from the grocery store?

When Amber isn't fuming in aisles of the grocery store, she's chronicling her daily adventures at Strocel.com.

Why not work to change that with your family this year? Instead of so much stuff do fun activities together.  Even better give back to those in need. Bake cookies for your neighbors, volunteer at a soup kitchen, sponsor a family for Christmas, there are endless ideas.

For the gifts you give why not give the gift of your time? Make homemade gifts, do something together, remember it’s the thought and meaning behind the gift, not the gift. Many Christmas gifts are returned or trashed each year so don’t just buy another useless gift.

The things I look forward to each year are the traditions. Going to look at Christmas lights with my husband, watching It’s A Wonderful Life with my family, getting up early Christmas morning to go to my parents to eat breakfast and open gifts, Christmas dinner with my in-laws, and all the great memories that come with it.

Here is a great video to remind us what is important.

So what are your family’s traditions? Do you plan to make new ones this year?

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Read more about Lisa's quest to be more sustainable at Retro Housewife Goes Green.