* Buy recycled or organic items. Purchase organic clothing or other items, or items made with recycled content. Organic baby clothing and blankets can be remarkably soft – and are good for the environment.

* Buy used. Used items, such as winter coats, toys and other items, are in most cases just as good as new. Many resale stores sell baby clothes that have been gently worn and sometimes not even worn once (with tags still attached). Save yourself some green while doing something green and purchase used baby items. Note: never purchase used baby safety items, such as car seats; you never know if they have been part of a product recall or in an accident and could be less than safe.

* Make the gifts yourself. Rather than shelling out money for expensive toys, consider making them yourself. For small children, the simplest of toys can provide hours of entertainment. Put together a busy book by gathering several different colored sheets of felt and cutting out and sewing different patterns onto full sheets. Sew the “pages” together to make a book. For older kids, have them help make gifts for themselves or for other family members, such as grandparents. Make a clay mold of their hand prints using a kit (available at craft stores) or make batches of organic granola, fudge, or cookies.

* Decorate with natural elements. Instead of plastic snowmen and window clings, decorate with items found in nature. Take the kids out for a hike and gather pine cones, branches and other natural pieces to decorate with. Consider making bird feeders from pine cones to hang near windows and garlands of fresh cranberries. Place a bowl of pine cones (or shiny red or green apples, or pomegranates, or oranges) on the dining table for a centerpiece.

* Donate unwanted or unused items. Instead of letting unused items, such as outgrown clothing or toys, collect dust or take up valuable closet space, donate the items. Local charities such as the Salvation Army, churches and other organizations will most likely be happy to take the items and put them to good use.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amanda_Stock

When you hear someone say ‘green living’ or ‘go green’, are your eyes alight with curiosity? Or do you think that since you ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, you’re living green? If you’re like most people today, you do the standard ‘green’ things, almost entirely unaware that there’s a greener, cleaner world of options available to you. The truth is, opportunities to live better, cleaner and healthier abound. Cleaning green, eating organic, being kind to the environment, urban gardening and incorporating organic ingredients into your everyday life are all aspects that you can adopt in whole or in part. Even if you only chose to adopt one aspect of living greener, such as cleaning green, you’re a leap ahead of where you were before. Let’s discuss some aspects of organic living.

The biggest myth about eating organic is that, if you’re eating organic, your diet consists of sprouts, roots and berries, in that order. The fact of the matter is there are different levels of eating organic, so your diet can contain a wide variety of foods, all of which will be healthy and good for you, without sacrificing taste. For example, if you eat organic fruits and vegetables, you’re not ingesting pesticides and herbicides which commercial farms use on regular produce found in your grocery store, so you’re already eating healthier having changed one thing. Most people who eat organic enjoy free-pressed juice, almond and other nut butters, home-made wheat bread and chocolate, too!

Cleaning green is another practical aspect of organic living. So, what does ‘cleaning green’ mean? In a nutshell, you’re using natural ingredients to clean, thus eliminating harsh ingredients that require you to ‘open a window for ventilation’. Did you know that salt, sugar, vinegar and lemon juice, among other common household finds, double as cleaning products? There are many recipes online for homemade, organic cleaning solutions as well as commercially available products for everything from cleaning the windows to cleaning clothes.

What does it mean to be kind to the environment? When you are being kind to people or pets, how do you behave? Offering a shoulder to cry on, an ear for listening, an uplifting hug and advice are all acts of kindness to those you love or care about. You reach for things that are out of reach for someone else or you stoop when someone cannot bend. You cuddle and feed your pets because you love them; these, too, are acts of kindness. Since you cannot hug the earth or give it advice, how do you show the environment kindness? Eating organic, pesticide-free foods and foods, planting trees, driving environmentally friendly cars or riding bikes or walking and simply recycling, which keeps plastics, paper and cans out of landfills, are just a few things you can do to be kind to the environment.

These are just three of the many different aspects of organic, green living that the average person can adopt without doing anything terribly life-altering. There are many websites that allow you to explore urban gardening, alternative energy, creative uses for various products to keep them out of landfills and many other so-called green topics that enrich your life and the world around you at the same time.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Richardson