Lifestyle

Books from childhood (some read by teachers) have the power to stay etched in our memories forever. For me it's books like Where the Wild Things Are, the Amelia Bedelia series and Little Women to name a few that I can still quote lines from to this day. The Greenzys by the reputable children's author Danielle Mentzer just hit shelves on Earth day 2010 and is a story with a message worth remembering. Greenzys is an "eco-friendly, literary-based brand" that parents and teachers alike should be happy to promote. When GreenPhillyBlog was given an advanced copy of Greenzys to review I was pretty stoked. I love reading - kids book included! My take on the Greenzys book?

I loved school. I can still distinctly remember a song from elementary with the mantra "Reduce, Reuse & Recycle... (which may explain a few things.)Teachers are dedicated individuals who mold our future through their lessons. In honor of our teacher friends & Teacher Appreciation Week (May2-8), we're sharing ways & resources to help our school's teachers educate students about being green:

I love the Ginger & Liz colur collection! Their eco-friendly, vegan nail polish collection is full of pretty hues just in time for spring. It feels good to treat yourself to these products that don’t use the standard toxic chemical fare found in...

Happy Earth Day everyone! On this celebratory day I thought I’d recap some of the simplest things you can do year-round to help the earth. Longevity and health are key – and there are choices we can make each day to do our part. Here’s four easy areas to greenify:

Philly's 3rd Annual Spring Cleanup had its biggest cleanup ever thanks to greenies like you with its UnLitter Us Campaign! Over 11,000 volunteers worked at 231 official project sites to collect over 1.3 million lbs of trash, 140K lbs of recycling, 50 parks & recreation centers cleaned and 763 neighborhood blocks cleaned! Incredible numbers, Philly! But how can you keep it up for this Earth week (and always...) Here's some suggestions:

The NBA (National Basketball Association) dubbed April 1-9 the league’s official 2010 Green Week. This week marks the second annual green week for the NBA. I can be a bit of a skeptic when it comes to determining if a major association is simply using the green movement as a marketing tool. However, the NBA is putting some a-c-t-i-o-n behind their Green Week. Here’s some examples of what NBA teams are doing to support the environment:

Looks like karma does come around – Thank you random.org for choosing our EcoSmart Bug Killer Giveaway: Congrats to EcoBro2000 & his friend – good luck in Africa! Best, Julie & Beth

When I spotted "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" at the local library, I was wary of a green-washing book However, I skimmed the brief summary and gave this book a read - I'm quite glad I did! Although my friends & family may be sick of me continuously spouting things I learned, I can't get enough. Fred Pearce is a British author who decided to track down where various items he uses originate, how they're created and what the impact is on both the local inhabits & environment. For example, he follows the birth of his wedding band into the gold mines of Witwatersrand, Africa (by Johannesburg). He checks to see if his 'Fair Trade" Coffee and cotton are actually "fair trade" - (which is quite complex). Here are just a few fascinating takeaways I learned:

Bottled water tastes SO much  better than tap. It’s cleaner, comes from mountains (aka the heavens) and is bottled up by major manufactures (such as Coca-cola, Fiji and many others – even supermarket brands) delivered to you, tasting better than water you...