Ottawa's Greening With Green Bins

I have always been proud that my neighborhood of Park Slope Brooklyn, is considered the greenest neighborhood in New York City. But one thing it lacks, and all of NYC in general, is municipal composting. Many cities across the country and world have starting composting city wide. Compost is picked up along with the regular trash by the city. Composting is a powerful tool in fighting global warming, as it prevents the creation of methane in landfills. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent than CO2 and is responsible for almost half the global warming impacting our climate today. Click here to read about more ways you can prevent methane from hurting the planet and here to learn more about composting.

When I learned that Ottowa, Canada is launching a municipal composting this winter, I have to admit, I was jealous! The city is handing out green bins for composting organic matter. Not only are they doing a great thing to reduce trash, prevent methane, and create wonderful nutrient rich soil, they are also trying to make it fun for residents to learn about how to compost correctly. Take the Green Bin challenge and see how you score against other composters in this fun game. Then learn how to make a liner for your recycling bin out of old newspapers!

Eco-Jeopardy!

Easy Going Green Playing Cards

Remembering to be green doesn't have to be a chore. By learning a few basic green tips at a time and making changes in your daily life, you can make a real difference in the struggle to protect our planet. One way to learn green tips the fun way is to play with Going Green Playing Cards. Each deck has 52 cards with poems on environmentally-friendly activities and tips on how to make green changes right away. And they eco-friendly to boot! The cards are made from recycled materials with vegetable based ink and include a reusable muslin bag rather than a box.

New Exhibit on Climate Change

If you happen to live in the New York City area, or are planning to visit anytime between now and August, be sure to check out the new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History on Climate Change. And if you won't have the opportunity to check it out in person there is still a lot to see and learn on the exhibit's website. They even have a cool section for kids where you can learn how to build your own terrarium, quiz yourself to see how much you know about climate change, play games and puzzles and do many other fun activities.

The Green Squad

Did you know that the average kid will spend over 14,000 hours in school by the time they graduate? Knowing this, you would hope your school was a healthy green place for you to learn and play. But just like our homes, our schools need Green Warriors like you, making sure they are healthy for your body and for the planet. The Green Squad over at the Natural Resources Defense Council are doing just that. Join them as they investigate how green their school really is, and learn how to make your school and the planet a greener place.

Happy Birthday=Happy Environment

Birthday parties come and go in a whirlwind of shrieking kids, inflated balloons, sugar highs, and greasy pizza. Left in their wakes are piles of plastic cups, forks, and plates topped with barely eaten birthday cake. A dozen new toys means mounds of packaging and wrapping paper will end up in the trash, along with the old toys now being tossed to make room for the new. Why is it that kids birthday parties too often turn into a frenzy of waste? Having a green party can be as easy as pie. Just incorporate all the eco-friendly changes you have made in your home while planning your party.

Here's some tips to keep it green:

-Send out evites instead of regular paper invitations.
-Use real silverware, or reuse plastic ones.
-Use real or biodegradeable plates and cups.
-Use cloth napkins.
-Instead of giving cheap plastic party favors, be more creative and give something that you made, like these homemade crayons, or that will be useful, like pencils.
-Host a party outside and enjoy the day without depending on store–bought games. Go to the beach, the park, the pool or play games like tag and wiffle ball.
-Prevent all the waste involved in receiving gifts. Here's a guide to turning the usually wasteful and over done gift giving aspect of a birthday party into an opportunity to help out one's community.

Here's a video with some more earth–friendly party tips:


How To Host A Green Event

EcoKids

I just found this really cool site called EcoKids. It is filled with information about the environment and has a ton of games to play. You can also find out what other kids around the world are doing to help protect the environment. Their stories are very inspirational and might give you some ideas of you own. Check it out!

Lick global warming...the fun way

Check out this great website created by our favorite ice cream guys, Ben & Jerry's. Lick Global Warming is a colorful and animated website with an easy to understand guide to the climate crisis, along with an interactive map that explains the effects of global warming on glaciers, oceans, weather patterns, plants and animals, along with other difficult to comprehend topics such as how global warming is impacting people around the world. For a fun way to learn more about what you can do to reduce carbon emissions, play the Lick Global Warming Memory Game. It's almost as fun as eating a whole pint of cookie dough ice cream all by yourself!