Seedling Blog

We were recently sent this video The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard and thought it was quite worthy of sharing. It explains plainly how ’stuff’ is extracted from the environment, produced, consumed, and ultimately disposed of.  Its informative and effective and quite unnerving. Touch the image above to be taken to the site where you can view the video or click here. She gives many resources on the site for how we can all get involved in saving the planet, so check it out and start doing your part today!!

We all know that kids learn best by example. At the Little Seed we believe that every LITTLE thing we do for the environment can make a difference and this is an important lesson to bestow onto our families in an effort to encourage them to go green.

If we teach through example, the little things we do in everyday practice, such as using a cloth bag at the super market or making sure to turn off the lights when we leave a room, can help our children create good habits for the future.  As a reminder, below is a brief list of some very simple and easy things to start doing that our children will most likely catch onto and start to practice as well.

1.  Shut off the water while brushing your teeth.

2. Walk or ride a bike when you can instead of taking the car out.

3. Purchase and use products that are natural and not over packaged.

4. Allow things to dry on a clothing line instead of automatically throwing them in the dryer.

5. Limit your time in the shower.

6. Utilize garbage or recyclables in arts and crafts projects to turn old trash into tomorrow’s treasures.

7. Use cloth bags instead of paper or plastic ones.

8. Start a compost.

Unplug electronics when they are not being used.

Take your children with you to Recycle.

Congratulations to Henry Scoles and Family =) for winning the Weleda give-away!! He posted some really incredible family-olutions, that we loved all the way around. Below is an image of his three children, Kaden(10), Kendric(8), and Kolton(6). We have included his entry for you again below.

Thanks for all of your contributions to the blog. It was very difficult to choose and thus we will be sending a Little Seed canvas tote bag to the following people:

Rebecca D, Kaylla and Kathy

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Henry Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:36 pm editI believe there are at least 4 things families of all ages should do every day.

1.) Breakfast
Try to start the day off with breakfast as a family. It let’s the kids know that you care and are available.

2.) Enjoy discovering food.
I couldn’t agree more with Paige about letting the kids know what is in food and let them know what food choices are available. All of my children love to cook and they all have their favorite, albeit weird, snacks. My 10 year old loves spicy stuff so he’ll often create a salsa or guacamole for snack. My 8 year old loves brussel sprouts. My 6 year old loves edamame beans. We get the ingredients together as a family at our local farmers market. We also plan and prepare our meals as a family. Kids love to cut, dice, stir and scoop.

3.) Game play.
You are never too old to play one of the express series games. One of our favorites is Sorry Express. Other games are card games like Uno, Phase10, or Set and there are also simple dice games like Farkle. All are very inexpensive and they get the family together around the table talking and sharing.

4.) Read together.
My wife being a librarian makes sure we all take time to read together. You’d be surprised what boys will sit and listen to if you take time to read.

Our major goal for this year is to hike and bike together more. We feel if we can make a habit out of this combined with all of the above activities that it will help make the children more aware of their planet and the abundance and beauty therein. We hope that as a result our kids will think about how they use resources.

Thanks for sharing your Blog.

Henry and Family =)

The talented ladies at the store worked on our window display for Valentine’s Day and we all agree its one of the cutest yet! Made with Cardboard Design’s lemonade stand, nontoxic paint and cardboard scraps. We love it!!! We have the Cardboard Designs Rocket and the TeePee available for purchase, just click here.

Yes, it’s the rainy season again here in Southern California, and we are all suffering the inconveniences that come with that. However, we were reminded of the joy that the rain brings to kids everywhere yesterday when a mom came into the store carrying her shoeless son in her arms, looking to buy a pair of socks and shoes and quickly! She explained that her toddler simply couldn’t resist the desire of jumping directly into a PUDDLE! She explained that he ran right for it and before she could stop him he was knee-deep in the rainwater splashing around. We had to laugh. We all felt a bit nostalgic for a time when a puddle was an exciting destination and not something to be avoided. We were able to help her with a cool pair of Simple shoes and all was right in the world for the duo. They headed out to get milkshakes!

Let us know what funny things about the rain your little ones enjoy - we can’t wait to hear!

“Happy New Year to all!  With fresh beginnings in mind, we’d love to be inspired by your New Year, New Family-olutions! What NEW family traditions will you be starting this year to nurture your loved ones and give your family caring time to connect?

Post your submission here by January 29th, and we’ll send our winner this beautiful FRESHEN-UP YOUR FAMILY gift basket from Weleda, with a value of $150!  It includes skin care goodies for mommy, daddy and baby and is sure to bring lots of smiles–leaving you and yours fresh-faced in the new year!”

**See what Paige from The Little Seed is doing with her family (comment below) to help inspire you!!

The basket includes the entire collection of the Weleda Calendula Baby Care Line, the Pomegranate Regenerating Body Care, Almond Facial Care Kit and their famous Skin Food!!

There is a great book called HUG TIME that we sell at THE LITTLE SEED. We sell very few books — only ones that touch us in interesting ways. HUG TIME is about a kitten names Jules who had so much love to give, that he traveled the globe to give all creatures in the world a hug. This seems like a magical event. Only in our dreams could we travel so far and wide to give love to everyone who needed it. And, just like in the book, it would certainly be fantastical for a polar bear to reach out and offer one back, right?

My friend, Jane sent this to me today. It reminds me that the world truly is a glorious place and as long as we remember that, our globe will continue to be filled with magic…
XOXO

Paige

Photography courtesy of Norbert Rosing

The amazing world of cyber space pulls me in each and every day. Connecting with moms through the incredible world of micro-blogging is something that truly inspires me. I love that together we get to talk about topics that are closest to our hearts. Our children and careers, our hopes and dreams. It is through this world of discovery that I have realized I have become a tech mama. Sharing pics and words with those who are going through the same things in daily life. Getting little ones ready for school and questioning our biggest fears. Dreaming of the future and holding on to our past. At our finger tips lies so many others just like us. What makes you a tech mama? Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Soleil