Sustainable & Creative Living
A struggle I face on a weekly basis is trying to prevent tossing out my fruits and veggies that have either wilted or gotten moldy too soon. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be costly, especially if you’re buying organic – so I’ve started making a real effort to not just toss at first glance. Instead, I’ve been making a conscious effort to use wilted veggies like celery, spinach, and kale. But in order to prevent real waste I also needed to figure out a way to [Read more…]
In my house, the #1 way most food is wasted is from my picky 2-year-old throwing food on floor when he doesn’t like it. A challenge I face daily is finding the balance between offering new foods and foods I know he’ll eat. All in effort to reduce food waste.
The second most common way household food is wasted is [Read more…]
This year Christmas kind of snuck up on me. If you haven’t been following our social media, you may have missed that I just got married. For the past year, wedding planning has just consumed my life. Now I’m finally ready to get into the Christmas spirit, and I wanted to do something a little different this year.
Instead of buying more (expensive) wrapping paper from all over, I wanted to make my own. And what better way than to use some materials I already have at home. First of all, a roll of kraft paper from the Dollar Tree or Walmart is perfect and will go a long way! It’s so much cheaper than a roll of traditional wrapping paper that won’t last the season. Secondly, it’s just a little more heartfelt to make your own paper. You can do all kinds of variations of this design but I thought Christmas trees were a good place to start.
The holidays can be a crazy time of year. There’s so much going on – decorating, holiday parties, buying gifts, trying not to buy gifts for ourselves… it’s just a lot all at once. But it’s important to remember the bigger picture this holiday season. We are always trying to be our best selves especially with our sustainability practices and that shouldn’t take a back seat during the holidays.
So I have compiled a short list, that doesn’t end here, of eco-friendly brands and potential gifts for this holiday season!
I’ve been looking for a way to help calm my 2-year-old son when his temper gets the best of him. About 7 years ago a family member made this DIY Calming Glitter Jar for her daughter to serve the same purpose. I made a mental note to give it a try when my own child came along, you know if I needed it.
Fast forward 7 years, the terrible twos in full swing, and I’ve quickly learned that toddler tantrums are tough to deal with. When your crazed child is [Read more…]
I always do my best to recycle or reuse as much as possible, in hopes that maybe I can make a difference in the way that our society consumes and discards resources, materials, and objects. I’m a firm believer that waste doesn’t always have to be wasted. Recycling and reusing the products we consume not only helps the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also helps save money, energy, and natural resources.
My favorite things to save and reuse are [Read more…]
Thrifting is one of my all time favorite pastimes. I love shopping – probably more than most people. Even if I’m just looking around, I’m enjoying myself. But thrift shopping takes that enjoyment to a whole other level.
I love when I can go to a thrift store and just see what different or interesting pieces I can pick up. Whether it’s a cool vintage item or something that can be repurposed, I love it.
Buying anything used and reusing it is also another way to keep from contributing to more waste in the world. When you reuse something it’s one less thing in a land fill. It doesn’t seem like much but it adds up.
Hot Florida summer days call for some major cool down tactics around my house. My tiny toddler works up a major sweat running around the park and blowing bubbles in the backyard. DIY Summer Popsicles are an easy and healthy way to cool down overheated children without feeling guilty about [Read more…]
Plastic-free July is coming to an end, and I’m happy to report that I did pretty well at eliminating single-use plastic products from my life. I slipped a few times by using plastic shopping bags, and a couple of times I didn’t use my reusable cup when I went for coffee.
I’ve been wanting to try making my own DIY makeup remover wipes for a while now. Meagan has used DIY baby wipes for little J since he was a baby and I always thought that DIY Makeup remover wipes would be a great idea. Not only are they beneficial for the environment, but they also save a lot of money.
Plastic-free July finally got me motivated to make the switch to these wipes. The other day I was pulling out a makeup wipe from its packaging, and I realized I’d cut down on a lot of plastic use if I eliminated that package from my life (not to mention the wipes themselves, of course).
I came up with this easy to make DIY makeup remover wipe because, if you’ve read any of my other posts, you know I’m all about simple and easy.
My fiance and I spent a week in Colorado, our first trip out west. A trip like that makes you never want to leave. Colorado is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited and one of the few places I have thought that I could actually live.
We spent the first few days in Boulder, CO which I wrote about in Part 1 of this series. Then we spent a few more days in Copper Mountain for our friend’s wedding (Part 2). The last part of this series we packed a few more activities into the trip.
We here at From Under a Palm Tree always strive to be more eco-friendly in our personal and professional lives. We have made it our mission to decrease our footprint by living more sustainable lives, reducing waste, and conserving resources.
In efforts to improve the quality of our Earth, I have signed the Plastic Free July Challenge and committed myself to Reduce Household Plastic Waste. Single-use plastic bags and bottles can take up to 500 years to decompose in landfills, however, most don’t even reach them. A large number of throw-away plastics end up in our oceans, leaving behind chemicals and toxic particles, destroying marine life all over the world. [Read more…]
Meagan, Christina, and I decided to take the Plastic Free July Challenge. The goal of the Plastic Free July Challenge is to encourage people to stop single-use plastic product consumption and reduce plastic packaging (at least for the month of July). It’s also to help people become more aware of issues surrounding plastic use in our lives and to encourage new consumption habits moving forward.
