Michael Recycle/ teaching kids the importance of going green

"There once was a town called Abberdoo-Rimey, Where garbage was left to grow rotten and slimy" but not to worry Michael Recycle is here to save the day. Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel is a fabulous book for teaching your children about recycling. Michael is a recycling superhero who flies around from city to town teaching people how to and the importance of recycling. This book has been a great help in our household teaching L why and how we recycle. The story is told in rhyme which is great for drawing the kids in and holding there attention. The illustrations are beautiful large full colored pages, each page is full of excitement. At the end of the story are some going green tips for kids about recycling, turning things off when not in use like lights and water etc, composting, lessening your paper trail and more. Even preteen C enjoyed this book and has read it to L quite a few times. This is a must get book for parents wanting to introduce recycling and going green at their level.
Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel retails for @ $15 CAD and can be purchased at Amazon.com in the US and Chapters.Indigo in Canada.

Stainless Steel Bento's! yay!

I have been a huge fan of bento box's and have lusted after them for awhile. I even am a little embarrassed to admit that I stalk websites dedicated to bento box pictures. But with all the BPA warnings lately I have been trying to eliminate plastic in our house wherever possible. A lot of the bento's out there are plastic and most do not have the number on the bottom telling you if the plastic is safe or not. So I have been waiting for a stainless bento to fall into my lap. Luckily for me (and you) there is now a fabulous Canadian based online store The Tickle Trunk, don't let the name fool you, this is not Mr Dress Up's tickle trunk of costumes but a tickle trunk of stainless steel products. Oh yes it is my heaven! We have spent the past few months testing out some great products from The Tickle Trunk; food storage container (SC01), food storage container 3 (SCo3), food storage container 4 (SCo4) and food storage container 140ml (SC07). Basically the three products except for SC07 are stainless steel bento's in 3 different sizes. The SC01 and SC03 are the perfect size for a toddler lunch and the larger one is perfect for an older child with a larger appetite.

C takes the larger SC04 (the larger version of the SC03) to school and finds it perfect for his sandwich's and some snacks, his only complaint is that the top level is quite shallow. He can only put a sandwich in the bottom and the top level is limited to the items it can hold. But I find that is you cut the sandwich in half sometimes you can stack it which leaves some extra room beside the sandwich for more food.








The other bento's (SC01 and SC03) I use for L (and sometimes myself), I find them just perfect for packing him a nice sized lunch on long trips away from the house during the day. I find that you can pack a lot into these little babies especially for toddlers because their portions are so small that you can fit more of a variety of items in. Likewise I have noticed that L eats more when I pack one of his bentos that he usually would at home, I think he enjoys the novelty of them, hmmm... maybe I should start using them at home too. I bought some silicone baking cups for dividing different items inside the tin so that they don't touch and stay tight and compact with a variety of different choices packed in together. They work great and make his lunch extra cute with their fun bright colors. You could also use the cups with the larger bento but since it's for C, I don't use them b/c the amount that fits in a cup will not satisfy him. I am still searching for a better option for dividing items for him.

We also use the smaller SC07 because this has a silicone seal it's great for more than just dry items, we love to pack yogurt in it if we know it will be eaten right away. L is yogurt crazy! I love that I don't have to buy individually packaged yogurts which are a waste and so pricey and that I don't have worry about leaks in my precious JJB.

My only complaint would be that these products all need to be hand washed (except for the bottom of the SCo7), as you all know I hate hand washing anything, but it's not really that much of a task as C washes his own because he makes his own lunch and L only uses his about once or twice a week because we don't miss lunch at home very often. Often they only need a quick rinse because we don't put in very messy items and we don't leave them sitting around to long when they are dirty. I love that they are reusable and eliminate the use of plastic bags from my kids lunches. I also don't have to worry about BPA because they are stainless steel. The different latches on each container have also made for a fun new way for L to learn a new skill. As an added bonus I am teaching my children about the importance of reusable items, having less waste and doing their part to help save the planet.
All the items reviewed above retail from $7-10 CAD (wow!! talk about a good deal!) are available at The Tickle Trunk though they are based in Canada they ship to both US and Canada. While you're there check out the rest of their great products from stainless steel water bottles, ice cube trays, dish's, cups, cutlery and more.

Going green for the whole family (your new going green bible)

If you are looking at making your home and lifestyle more green but don't know where to start you need to check out the book Eco-Friendly Families (Guide your family to greener living with activities that engage and inspire... from toddlers to teens.) by Helen Coronato. We have always recycled and tried to do our part and reduce our carbon foot print but I really felt we, as a household, could be doing more. I seriously cannot stress enough how much I love this book. Eco-Friendly Families is a sort of how to book to going green and how to encourage and coach your family in making greener decisions. The book is a huge wealth of eco information loaded with tips and ideas. I really like how the author has laid out a different green activity per month, Helen encourages you to start out small and take a step at a time to not overwhelm your family as well as yourself. She also includes a lot of different techniques to get your children on board from toddlers to teens. Every chapter of this book is jam packed full of more going green ideas than you could imagine. Green ideas such as simplifing your life, composting, reusing, buying second hand, buying fair trade, making your own cleaning supplies, eating organic, meal planning, home made gifts, growing your own food and more. This book will definately become your going green bible, a book that you will be finding yourself refering to regularly. I've already finished reading every last word in the book but I still find myself going back and leafing through it quite often.
Eco-Friendly Families by Helen Coronato retails for @ $13 CAD and can be purchased in the US at Amazon.com and in Canada at Chapters.Indigo.

Happy Earth Day!!

Happy Earth Day!! Sorry for the lack of posts, we have been so caught up in planning our last minute wedding. I know that's no excuse but really it's been one problem after another and unfortunately something was bound to suffer. But here we are for Earth Day, I promise to try and not let the wedding plans take over my life. So stay tuned for some green related reviews in honor of Earth Day.

A good egg

Easter is here and if you are looking for a last minute gift or even just looking to celebrate Spring check out the book Good Egg by Barney Saltzberg. This sweet little story about an egg is exciting for little ones because it's so interactive. This is a lift the flap, pull the tab, slide the tab, velcro and pop up book keeps your little one entertained and sucked right in to the simple yet cute story line. Check out this video of the author reading the book to a group of kids. This is L's first pop up book and he is more than enamoured by this book. From the minute it arrived he has not put it down and also hasn't been very willing to share the book with friends during a few recent playdates. Though I do love and enjoy this book as much as L, I would not recomend it for children under 4 yrs as within a week this book has come into the misfortune of some rough hands due to all the flaps and tabs. L was frustrated at times when he was unable to pull some of the tabs and was a little forceful but this is purely due to age and not having experienced this type of book before. L was also a lot more gentle with the book after he damaged it. Damage done and in the past though we all loved this book and it was a big hit and it is still being loved.



Good Egg by Barney Saltzberg retails for @ $10 US/CAD and can be purchased at Amazon.com in the US and Chapters Indigo in Canada.