If you have a fruit tree, organic garden, or a local farmers market that you like to frequent, now is the time to preserve your fruits to make them last throughout the winter. Freezing, canning or making jams out of fruits that are available now, are great ways of saving money, reducing waste and making the most out of your garden and local shops.
FreezingFreezing is the simplest way of keeping excess fruit from going to waste and there are many different ways to freeze them! Some fruits freeze more effectively than others, but the best way to eat them after freezing is to make a frozen fruit smoothie!
PreservesJams and preserves can be made with the help of pectin, sugar and glass jars. While the process takes a lot of work, the pay-off is great when you're able to stuff your friends' and families' stockings with a homemade eco-friendly gift.
Canning
Canning is a bit more complex, but can help you keep fruit (and even some vegetables) for up to 1 year, if this method of food storage safety is done correctly. Some fruits and vegetables must be pre-cooked for best results and others are okay to be canned raw with syrup. When you're done, use food storage labels to indicate the date of preparation or expiration.
For additional green tips, ideas for green baby gifts, natural baby care and improving the environment, please visit:
http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Going green at school isn’t just about student involvement. This October for Children's Health month, teachers can learn how to make eco-conscious choices in the teacher’s lounge and when designing lesson plans by following these simple tips.
Share your mini-fridge: Consider sharing a mini-fridge with the teachers down the hall instead of having your own private refrigerator that soaks up extra electricity. Use food storage labels on your items to avoid waste and for added food storage safety
Keep your grades online: Online grade books save paper and invite parents to take a more active role in evaluating student performance
Drink Fair Trade Coffee: Introduce Fair Trade Coffee to the teachers’ lounge for an eco-conscious, humanitarian pick-me-up
Bring a mug or glass to school: Instead of pouring coffee or water into a styrofoam cup, bring your own mug or glass to school which can be washed and reused over and over again
Use recycled paper: All teachers go through a ton of notebooks and papers each year, so using recycled paper and then recycling all your files after the year is over will positively impact the environment
Insulate doors: At the end of the day, slide draft guards under your door to insulate the room and keep energy consumption down
For additional green tips, ideas for green baby gifts, natural baby care and improving the environment, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
October is Children’s Health Month and kids across the country are settled back into school and are learning to make a difference in the quality of the environment within their schools. Here are a few easy suggestions you can make to your child’s school for additional environmental improvements inside and outside of the classroom.
Improving School Buses
School buses are the safest way for children to get to school. However, pollution from older diesel vehicles may cause respiratory problems, and worsen allergies and asthma in children. Encourage schools to follow the EPA's Clean School Bus initiative which helps school districts by providing resources for affordable clean fuels and technologies for older buses.
Improving the Classroom
Encourage schools to stock classrooms with green school supplies like recycled notebook binders, biodegradable corn starch pens and #2 recycled pencils. Teachers can also teach lessons on environmental awareness by showing videos and having their students engage in interactive activities that will help them learn more about the ecology of our planet.
Improving Recycling and Waste Reduction
Children learn best when they can see tangible results from the lesson they’re being taught. Encourage schools to continue environmental education in the classroom by having teachers assign fun arts and crafts projects that will teach students hands-on lessons about recycling, reducing waste, food storage labels and food storage safety.
For additional green tips, ideas for green baby gifts, natural baby care and improving the environment, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Rain barrels have many benefits such as recharging groundwater and saving your faucet water. If you already know the advantages, now it’s time to setup a rain harvesting system for your home. Even if you don’t need to use the water for your garden or landscaping, you can store the rainwater so you have it on hand in case of an emergency.
Choose the right barrel for your needs
First, you need to determine what size of barrel will be sufficient. If you are planning to use the water for your plants and crops, a 65- to 85-gallon rain barrel is enough. However, for storage purposes, a 150-gallon barrel is best. Keep in mind that larger barrels can be 35 feet or taller, so it’s important to consider the barrel’s capacity and height.
For the barrel to work effectively, it will need to have two holes. One hole should be near the bottom for the water spigot, and the other should be in the barrel’s lid. The hole in the lid will provide an entrance for the water to run off of your home’s downspout and into this opening. To prevent insects and debris from contaminating your water, you can place a piece of fine mesh netting over the hole in the lid.
The next time a storm knocks out the power and you’re unable to use your well water, you will appreciate your supply of backup water. This extra water will enable you to cook and keep up on basic hygiene.
For additional green tips, food storage labels, food storage safety ideas, baby safe products and other environmentally safe baby products please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
We are absolutely thrilled to be offering
Count On It food storage labels on the
Bottoms Up site! So thrilled, in fact, that we're GIVING THEM AWAY!
Count On It food storage labels feature easy scratch-off panels that display the date your baby's food containers were first opened and put in the fridge. I know when my kids were little (a long, long time ago) and I couldn't remember when I'd put that half eaten jar of beets in the fridge, I'd just throw it out rather than risk giving one of the little darlings a tummy ache. That adds up!
With Count On It food storage labels, you'll keep your baby safe, reduce waste and save money by not throwing away food needlessly! No Worries, No Waste with Count On It® Food Freshness Labels – another outstanding eco friendly baby product brought to you by Bottoms Up!
And here's the best part - be among the next 50 people to pre-order a Bottoms Up Reusable Baby Wipe Kit and you'll get a FREE box of Count On It labels to try for yourself! Not only will you save 20% by pre-ordering the kit, you'll get the labels to boot!
* Oh, and PS - you can actually use Count On It labels for ALL your perishable foods, not just the baby food!
It's been almost exactly nine months since the decision to bring another company into the world was made. And we are darn proud of our brand spankin' new venture!
The name for the company came easily, as did the (if I do say so myself) adorable logo! We're trying to get approval to put the logo on the door of our offices on the first floor of an otherwise residential condominium building, but the HOA is for some reason unsure about the cute "m" in "bottoms". Really? In San Francisco this is an issue?
Two of the first three products we're offering are making their North American debut - our very own Bottoms Up chemical free reuseable
baby wipes and
Count On It food storage labels which are all the rage in the UK. The third product is a line of non toxic
baby bottles. And we'll be adding more, so stay tuned!
I'd personally like to welcome you to the Bottoms Up community and invite your comments on our site, our blog and our products. Oh, and if you want to buy something while you're in the neighborhood, please do!
