The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sometimes it seems like only extreme measures will be enough to help the environment. Fortunately, there are other simple things you can do to make your lifestyle more environmentally friendly.

Recycle

It's a relatively simple thing to do, but still useful, provided you have recycling facilities nearby. The easiest materials to recycle are paper (that hasn't touched food products), #1 and #2 plastics, and aluminum cans. It's also possible to recycle old electronics and office equipment.

Buy products made from recycled materials.

Not surprisingly, the easiest such products to find are made from paper, but you might want a knapsack made from old inner tubes or a purse made from license plates. Ecomall lists dozens of stores that sell products made from recyclable materials.

tor don't buy at all.

Unfortunately, any new product is going to cost energy and use up resources when it's made or shipped. One option could be to look at vintage-clothing stores and thrift stores for items whose technology hasn't changed much recently, such as clothing or lamps.Buy energy-efficient appliances

In the United States, the easiest way to do this is to get the information through the Energy Star program. An appliance with an Energy Star label will tell you how much energy it uses, on average, and whether it needs more or less energy than similar machines. The Energy Star website will also tell you, based on your ZIP code, whether you might be able to get a rebate on that new, energy-efficient dishwasher or clothes dryer.

Plant a tree

Trees provide shade, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, and provide habitats for local animals. You may not be able to plant a tree on your complex, but you might be able to volunteer with a local tree-planting group.

Don't waste energy

Turn the lights off when you leave the room and don't make the air-conditioner or heater run all day if you're not home. And if you have a leaky faucet or a broken thermostat and your complex maintenance is slow to respond, tell the managers it's not just annoying -- they're destroying the planet!

Go Green for Preschool: Using Recyclables to Teach Your Child

Professional educators agree using manipulatives to teach mathematics and reading to your Preschool child is advantageous. But buying them can be expensive and unnecessary!

Under your supervision, your child's booster seat at the kitchen table can be transformed temporarily into a "school desk", on which fun, homemade manipulatives can be sorted and formed into letters and numbers.

Recyclable items are everywhere in your home, look around at what you routinely recycle or throw out. Toilet paper rolls can be collected and turned into puppets. If you are not the artistic type, don't fret-a quick marker-drawn face on one end of a toilet paper roll and instantly you have a Superhero! Kids love to pretend, so with just some encouragement from you, and that "artistic handicap" of yours will help them exercise their imaginations. Have your little ones insert their fingers in the center-and your puppet comes alive for the cost of the ink! Gather your recyclables and do a little brainstorming! Collect lids from milk and juice bottles, disinfected them, and tossed them aside in a plastic container on your counter. Within a few weeks, you have an interesting collection that are great for learning patterns, an important pre-reading and pre-math skill. Look for plain-colored plastic lids vs. the ones with writing on them. Collect ones that match in size and color, and also collect a variety of sizes for sorting. Add a few plastic bowls and you can play endless sorting games! "Going Green" never is such fun!

Ideas will abound when you check-out your recycling bins. Margarine tubs with lids can be slit at the top, and "Presto" you have a cash register for playing money games. Egg cartons can be transformed into boxes for you child's collections. Newspaper taped together can be morphed into large sheets of drawing paper. Kids love to color to "themselves" after having their whole bodies outlined with fat markers on a large sheet of paper. Old magazines can be treasure troves for photographs to decorate your creations. We glued magazine, cut-out photos to paper plates, tied them together on one side with yarn and made instant "books". This is a fun way to allow your child to practice her "writing" skills.

Include your child in this discovery process. You can ask him, "How can we use these plastic lids for school?" You will be amazed at the suggestions you will get!

Once you start on the adventure of making your own preschool supplies you will never look at a box the same way again! Shoeboxes can be transformed into panoramas with glued-in miniature toys and crayon-colored backgrounds.

Appliance boxes decorated by your preschool artist and with windows cut-out (by an adult); can become a cozy "Reading Room". Just add a light source through the "ceiling" and throw some pillows inside. Cereal boxes can yield a harvest of colorful, cut-out letters. Cover them with clear contact paper and they last forever! Busy, little fingers love to sort them. Empty shoe boxes decorated with construction paper, convert into light-weight building blocks. Your child's architectural designs with be limitless and environmental-friendly!

Look around your home for inexpensive items that you normally stock. Dried beans and spray-painted pasta make excellent finger-friendly counters. Find numerous uses for bulk-bought plastic straws and coffee stirrers. You bound them together to show One-Tens-and-Hundreds. You form letters with them on the floor and use them as puppet arms.

Multi-shaped pasta and Fruit Loops can be used to make patterned necklaces. Tape one end of a length of yarn to a table top and let little fingers do the threading. Remove and tie in a bow and let the Artist wear her masterpiece. Paper plates can be transformed magically into masks. Coffee filters are great for mini-drawing paper, puppet hair, and mini-Art frames. Your house is full of preschool curriculum!

Keep you eyes open and let your imagination run wild! Cookie sheets can double as a surface for magnetic letters or a base for messy projects. Bowls, pans, and lids can be musical instruments, just add a plastic serving spoon and a child's energy! It might be noisy, but it is unbeatable (excuse the pun) as an introduction to rhythm for little ones. Drums made from round oatmeal boxes decorated with construction paper are easy to make. Paper towel rolls, with wax paper and a rubber band on one end, can be turned instantly into a kazoo! You and your child can make music with things that you already have in your house.

Contrary to what you think "expensive and factory-made", does not equal "educationally-successful", or for that matter, "memorable". Encourage your children and yourself to move toward the fun and simplicity of homemade toys and games. You will never regret it! It's Green and it's cheap-good for the environment and your bank account!