Wondering what to do with those Crocs™ your kids have outgrown? 

If you watched Celebrity Apprentice last season, you’ll know that the teams battled it out to come up with a new slogan for Crocs™ to help support their program SolesUnited. The winning slogan from the women's team was --  Wear a pair, share a pair. more

When you're sitting in traffic, what's the best thing to do... turn your engine off or let the car idle?  A group called Utah Moms for Clean Air decided to put that question to the test.  According to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune, the group's study found that having 110 cars waiting in an after school pick up line for an average of 9 minutes produced about 215 pounds of car exhaust pollution each day. A spokesman for the group says that exhaust is especially harmful to the developing lungs of children and urged parents to turn off their engines while waiting for their kids.

The study showed that one hour of idling will burn about a gallon of gas and idling for more than 10 seconds will consume more gas than restarting your engine. The results showed that, even on winter mornings, the best way to warm up your car is by driving and that modern engines need only about 30 seconds before they're good to go.

It’s in the Paint.

In July 2007, About 1.5 Million Thomas and Friends wooden railway toys were recalled due to surface paints containing lead.  Then in August, Fisher Price recalled 83 types of toys also because their paint contained excessive amounts of lead.  Another 1 million toys. Made in China.   Recalls are tough on the psyche, but it’s especially hard when it comes from a reputable toy manufacturing company.  On November 8, 2007, CNN reported that “U.S. safety officials have recalled about 4.2 million Chinese-made Aqua Dots bead toys that contain a chemical that has caused some children to vomit and become comatose after swallowing them. In Toys we Trust.

Check out these non-toxic toys!

Parents Worry Baby Bottles Could Be Toxic abcnews.go

Everywhere we turn, we’re being reminded that we need to make changes to have a cleaner, greener world.  Global warming and shrinking resources threaten our environment and even our future.  But how do we, with our hands already full as single parents, make a difference?  Sometimes, we don’t realize how little it takes.  Even, baby steps count as forward motion so, if you don’t have time to reply to all of Al Gore’s emails, there are still actions you can take that will have a positive impact.

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Paper or Cloth?

Studies show that it takes more than 1,000 years for a non-recyclable plastic bag to break down in a landfill. Whole Foods, Inc, one of the largest U.S. natural food grocers, announced that its goal is to be free of the disposable plastic bags in its 270 US, Canadian and U.K. stores by Earth Day on April 22. The bags are a high risk because they do not biodegrade and produce an ever increasing pile of plastic waste. Worldwatch, an environmental research group claims that Americans throw away about 100 billion plastic bags annually.

In an effort for the consumer to embrace the reusable bag, Whole Foods gave away more than 50,000 reusable bags at their checkouts. They offer a wide selection of reusable bags for sale... the "Better Bag" is made from recycled plastic bottles and sells for 99 cents. Buy the above bags online.

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