Carnival of the Green #188

Welcome to issue #188 of the Carnival of the Green, a weekly blog phenomenon that originally conceived by Treehugger.com. It travels from blog to blog every Monday. For more information about the carnival and a guide about how to host and/or submit your blog please click here.

Here at KidsDiscoverNature.com we are honored to host Carnival of the Green. Thanks to everyone who sent their posts and tweets! Writing the post this week was enjoyable and interesting!

Before we begin, let’s hear a round of applause for last week’s host Plant A Tree USA and make sure you check back next week and say hi to Victoria Klein, host for the week of July 20, 2009.

First, in the spirit of summer, being green and getting kids outside, check out a few tidbits from Kids Discover Nature.

1) Interested in the nationwide effort to get kids outside? Read a story about the Children & Nature Network and all the great things they are doing. Planet Green also has an interesting story about nature deficit disorder.

2) We are having great hiking weather here in the Northeast. Here’s the first post in a series of tips for hiking with kids.

3) Looking for some outdoor activities you can do with kids. Making a worm farm, pressing flowers, making mud pies and watching inchworms are all great activities.

4) A must read is this article from Newsweek, “No summer camp…just hanging around outside!”

And now, here is what you’ve all been waiting for…

The Carnival of the Green!

Beth submitted Plastic: What is it Good For? and Plastics Debate Continues with Artist Chris Jordan Weighing In. She asks, “Have you ever wanted a chance to speak to someone from the plastics industry and let them know how you feel about plastic? Now's your chance. The debate has begun. Please leave your answers to 7 questions about plastic and then read eco-artist Chris Jordan's passionate plea to the plastics industry.

Find out about organic beauty options when it comes to perfumes and cosmetics at Bargaineering.

Divided We Stand United We Fall is monitoring the situation near San Francisco regarding the irrigation of a public golf course. If you have interest in the topic visit http://westanddivided.blogspot.com/ “It looks like the Obama stimulus package that does not stimulate found a local "shovel ready" project - irrigating a San Francisco public golf course with treated recycled water. There is just one little glitch - the city of San Francisco is hell bent on closing the course.

Check out Sustainable Halo presented by Jessica.. She submitted three posts: Liquid Fast, Locavores and Living Sustainably Can Reduce Obesity and Anxiety.

Inventor Peter Sing introduces the patented Sing honeycomb. The importance of Sing honeycomb is in its ability to help them to build stronger, lighter earthquake resistance homes. He says, “if we help the Chinese and Indians to use environmentally friendly products such as the Sing honeycomb, it will reduce energy waste and save more energy for other life-sustaining materials used in those densely populated countries. View the video and visit www.lightweightnews.com to see our newest developments with Sing honeycomb.

Guffly posted Top 5 Eco-friendly Things at Rothbury.

If you are interested in natural homemade beauty recipes you will want to see this at Free Organic News. They state “nature is the newest trend in skin and hair care. For years, we’ve been putting toxic chemicals into our bodies that build up and make us feel tired and sick, regardless of whether we eat them or if they seep though our pores. And people are finally catching on that natural is better.”

Take a gander at The Green Traveler from Edbiado@MSTlife.

Tyler at Frugally Green invites you to save $550 a year by hypermilling. If you want to green your life and save money doing it, start with the low-hanging fruit. A few simple changes to your driving habits can net you impressive fuel savings that you can apply to other areas of your life.

Consider rainwater harvesting and conserve water at home! Rebecca at Simple Green Girl says “hot dry summers really put a dent in my watering bill. Rainwater harvesting provides irrigation water on those not so rainy days.”.

Do you have trouble finding organic and local produce where you live? Sarah at Devastate Boredom has some great ideas. She can help you out with Your Toolbox for Obtaining Organic and Local Produce... AFFORDABLY!

Here is a review of Ecover products done by Marina at The Travel Expert(a).

Fine Craft Guild.com announces its newest product Handmade Business Cards in Pouch. It makes a great gift. Rose says “being green can mean being great. This great green craft project has historic roots: the art and craft of paper making. You can learn how to do it with detailed instructions on making paper mache using recycled paper.

Have you ever considered the recurring cost of a sprinkler system? Joseanes at Money And Investing says the operating costs of a lawn sprinkler system may motivate you to use it less.

Have you considered the energy saving cost of ceiling fans? According to Michael of Energy Saving Gadgets, ceiling fans can save you money in utility bills in both the winter and summer months.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wondered whether I can recycle envelopes with plastic windows. Phil for Humanity has the answer: Short answer: Sometimes. Long answer: check out his blog post to find out more.

Catherine at Crosswords for Fun makes a good point, that there is only so much paper that can be cut up to be used as jotting notes and supermarket shopping lists. She invites you to consider another use for your scrap paper at her post Crosswords: a great way to recycle your scrap paper!

Sally and Ken Kneidel at Veggie Revolution spent a month in South Africa, visiting rural villages to see how they're coping with the diminishing natural resources they depend on. Read about one village's inspiring efforts to pull themselves out of poverty and into a future of sustainability.

Most people don’t think of artificial lighting as a form of pollution. But light pollution impacts wildlife, energy use — and human health. Lighter Footstep presents Five Ways You Can Reduce Light Pollution.

What to do with the gas guzzler sitting in your driveway? Five Cent Nickel has an idea: check out Cash For Clunkers: Paying You to Junk Your Car.

And now the latest #BestGreenTweets from Twitter.com

@jamblemag

Prius solar flowers begin US tour: Giant, solar powered flower sculptures, created to promote the new generation.. http://tinyurl.com/l82r43

@maggiesorganic

Functional organics since 1992. Check out their barnyard animals http://short.to/j4ri

And, there you have it. Now go play outside! ;)

Tags: Carnival of the Green, Best Green Tweets, green, eco, lifestyle, children, kids, nature