Green Parenting with Keri Greenwald brings you into the world of parenting while trying to live and teach through green living. Keri dives into how moms can shop smartly, both for the environment and for the environment. Learn some scary stats that this responsible mommy shares, and learn howt o keep your plastic footprint down to a minimum.

How do you feed your toddler the best food for their growing bodies? Dr. David Hill, M.D. from the Internal Medicine & Pediatrics center at Cape Fear Pediatrics discusses the best practices for feeding your toddler. Learn the faux-pas and how-tos with feeding your child by watching the video below.

Rich Massingham, community manager and spokesman for Reliance Home Comfort, dives into some lesser known eco tips for parents to teach their kids. This video focuses on 5 key ways a parent can open up their kids eyes to green living and keep them living a healthy lifestyle. To learn more about what those 5 key factors are, watch the video below.

Did you know that the average American lifestyle is kept afloat by nearly 2,000 gallons of water a day? This is double the global average. Most of your daily water consumption is consumed without you even realizing it – 95% is hidden in the food you eat, energy you use, products you buy and services you rely on. How can you decrease this huge waste of water? Pledge to decrease your water footprint! The National Geographic came up with a water consumption calculator for people to take, then pledge at the end to decrease their water consumption by specific amounts. How does it work? The calculator asks a number of questions pertaining to your home and lifestyle. Some of the questions include:

• What year was your home built?
• How many showers do you take a week, and for how long?
• How much pork, chicken, milk and coffee do you consume per day?
• What is the fuel efficiency of the car you drive, in miles per gallon?
• How much do you spend on clothes and shoes, including jeans, T-shirts and running shoes, suits and dress shoes?

How many times have you seen on a travel website some hotel, flight or excursion claiming to be healthy and good for the environment with absolutely nothing substantial backing that up? The problem that many “eco” hotels have is they advertise green living and green travel but in reality don’t have any sort of eco-friendly programs, were built decades ago (before flower power popularized) and produce tons of waste per week. How do you pick through the greenwash posers and ensure your travels are in fact green? Read our checklist, and then pack your suitcase and head on to that green adventure!

1. Check out the organizations/hotels environmental policy. A key indicator that what you’re looking at is greenwashing? No environmental policy. The policy will generally be posted on an organization’s website, but are usually available in person in writing as well. These policies should cover the organization’s environmental impact, employment and cultural policies.
2. Ask questions! This is the key ingredient to finding out if a place is really green and not just putting the sign in the front window. Ask important environmental questions that a place that cares about the environment should be able to answer, even those who work the front desk. Some questions to ask include:
   1. How do they recycle?
   2. Do they employ local guides and leaders?
   3. Do they have a “green” purchasing policy?
   4. How do they minimize the effect on the environment by their walking tours in local towns and wilderness areas?
   5. What are their energy sources?
   6. What proportion of their revenue goes into helping the local communities or local environmental charities?
3. Lastly, get the goods! Generally, a company or organization that makes efforts to help the community takes great pride in it, and likes to brag. Ask the customer service reps what milestones they’ve recently reached, or what environmental programs they’ve recently initiated. Hearing the pride behind employees voices should be a clear indicator they are really there trying to make a difference.

Earth Day is a great time to instill the importance of keeping the Earth clean and making green kids out of your youngsters. Heck, it’s even a good time for parents to learn about new ways to reduce waste, recycle and live greener lives. Here are five easy ways to get started:

1. Have a picnic with your kids. The Nature Conservancy is encouraging families to get outside on Earth Day and are holding picnics throughout the United States.
2. Play the Earth Day Game
3. Bring your reusable bag grocery shopping
4. Lowe’s is giving away 1 million free trees tomorrow, on Saturday, April 23! Get one and plant it in your backyard and watch it grow for years to come.
5. Swap out your traditional light bulbs for CFLs

With the recession leaving ever-so-slowly, and the increasing concerns about the environment, many families are turning to living an eco-lifestyle.  A large number of families want to turn to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, but don’t know how to. Well, from the comfort of your own home there are plenty of things that are just waiting to be reused for multiple purposes! Start your green living lifestyle today by taking our green tips and try reusing the following items.

• Tin cans – Wash them thoroughly and they can easily become pencil holders or containers for all sorts of little things.
• Egg cartons – Fill sections with some soil and a seed or two creating the perfect seed sprouter!
• Coffee grounds – Sprinkle them in the garden for rich fertilizer, or toss them in the compost. As for the brave souls, try and re-brew them.
• Plastic food containers – Send them through the dish washer and butter/cool whip containers can become storage for left-overs.
• Greeting cards – Save all types of cards, and simply cut out the picture. Glue it to some colored paper and write your own message inside. Way better than the generic greeting card!
• Plastic soda or water bottles – Fill with water and toss in the freezer for an easy ice pack. Or, after poking several holes, fill with bird seed. Ta-da! An excellent bird feeder.
• Old T-shirts – Cut up into squares and sew a patchwork blanket. Or simply use them as cleaning rags.
• Toothbrushes – Clean the bathroom in those hard to reach places, or use as clothing stain scrubbers.

Can you feel it? Spring has finally arrived! Take out those light-weight sweaters and hose off your garden supplies – it’s time to start your vegetable garden! Veggie gardens are not only great for a green living lifestyle (growing your own food prevents pesticides and other harmful chemicals from entering your body) but is a great money saver. The work outside also provides a healthy yet calming physical activity to stay healthy with your family. This early spring time is when you want to make sure to do a couple of things:

• Dig
• Weed
• Seed
• Prepare

Dig

Weed

Seed

Prepare

President Obama recently talked to the union on Libya, Japan, education, and how America gets our oil and energy. During his speech, held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., he set up some items he thought the American public should address, or at least keep in mind.

1. American oil imports will be reduced by 30%
2. America does not have the oil supplies to fuel our country without outside help
3. Natural gas holds extreme potential… if used right
4. Battery production is key to promoting electric cars
5. Nuclear power is still a very real part of America

Scientists at São Paulo State University in Brazil and their colleagues wanted to see if banana peels could also act as water purifiers. Scientists at São Paulo State University in Brazil and their colleagues wanted to see if banana peels could also act as water purifiers to help maintain green living. This material already has a surprising number of potential uses, including polishing items like silver and leather shoes. The researchers found that minced banana peel performed as well or better at removing copper and lead than many other filtering materials, quickly removing both from water in the Paraná River in Brazil. They noted that a purifier made of layers of minced banana peel could be used up to 11 times without losing its metal-snagging properties. Synthetic materials can be reused more times, but natural materials are dramatically cheaper and do not require chemical processing to work. The scientists detailed their findings online Feb. 16 in the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. This story originally published in: LiveScience.com