This post is written by one of my blogger buddies, Cathy, go check out her blog Lets be Green Together for some more great hints and tips on a easy green lifestyle. Recently she did a post about fast food that would get anyone thinking, check that out here. Don’t forget I’m in Canada so I won’t be responding to any comments for a few days, but I will respond!
- Find a safe, but effective sunscreen and apply periodically. (Skin cancer is not pretty.) A wonderful website to check out the safety of products you use, especially those that you put on your skin is www.cosmeticsdatabase.com. It is a wonderful and trusted resource for all things from toothpaste to shampoo. Note: For the first 15 minutes you can go without the sunscreen and soak up some much needed Vitamin D – the sunscreen will actually block this much needed nutrient from entering your body.
- Pack reusable water bottles for everyone in the family. My family each has their own bottle, each with its own unique design. No matter where we are headed, I pack a bottle for every one of us. It saves us a lot of money and plastic makes me cringe, especially in the form of a water bottle. We actually have a couple of extra reusable water bottles that I fill and bring as well, so if someone needs a refill I don’t have to worry about buying an overly priced bottle at the store.
- Fill a cooler with healthy foods from fruit to sandwiches and veggies to nuts! Don’t have a cooler? Find a good deal and buy one! Here’s why this one is important: mainly, it saves a huge amount of money, especially if your destination is an amusement park. Have you seen the prices there lately? Expensive! Also, most of what you buy to eat at those types of places is fried and unhealthy and not exactly “green” with the wasteful styrofoam trays and plastic utensils that are both just horrible for the environment. So it may take a little time to prepare what you will pack, but believe me, when it comes time to need a quick snack or sit down for a meal, you will be so glad that you took the time to pack healthy food for you and your family.
- Pack several cloth napkins! What did you say? You don’t have any…..you only have paper napkins? Excuse me while I hyperventilate. Phew, that was a close call, but I’ll be fine. I hope at the very least, you are buying napkins made of recycled materials, but I really hope you will start to replace them with cloth napkins. I am personally on a very strict budget so I have always bought my cloth napkins on sale and often times on clearance. I have a really varied and fun collection now and will never go back to paper again.
- If you have children and will be in the car for more than an hour, allow them to pack some sort of electronic gadget to entertain them. That has nothing to do with being green or healthy, rather your insanity and keeping it intact. Side note: for this tip to be successful, remember to actually charge those devices the night before because having the battery die during the trip is actually worse than not having anything in the first place, trust me!