Go Green and Save Green in Family Friendly Ways with Cast Iron Cookware

Cast Iron Cookware has been green before green was cool. It heats quickly, retains the heat, does not require food to be re-heated, and therefore uses less energy. Also it comes in enameled cast iron colors, including emerald green.

Cast Iron Cookware, when seasoned correctly, is the truly non-stick cookware that requires no non-stick toxic coatings that can flake off in your food.

Cast Iron Cookware requires no harsh chemicals for cleaning, strong soaps, or dish washer detergents (do not wash cast iron cookware in your dishwasher).

Ten family-friendly ways to go green

The best way to teach kids about the natural world is to get
them interested in preserving it. And if you treat eco-friendly
activities as fun rather than a chore, says Deborah Snoonian,
managing editor of Plenty, an environmentally conscious lifestyle
magazine (www.plentymag.com), your kids will follow suit. Here
are a few of Snoonian’s ideas on going green, family style:
1

Before shopping for new clothes for the school year, invite your
children’s friends over for clothing swap party. One kid’s too-small
shirts are another’s must-have duds, and you’ll save on new purchases
and shopping trips. Bag up the leftovers and donate them to a local charity.
2

Treat recycling like an art project: Have your kids decorate your
recycling bins using stickers, non-toxic paint, or other materials.
Arrange the bins so that it’s easy for your kids to help you collect recyclables.
3

Once a month, have an “unplugged” evening at home: no video games,
no movies, no e-mail. Instead, dine by candlelight and play board games
or cards together — or tell ghost stories, or sing songs. Kids love
the intimacy and grown-up feel of candles.
4

Go car-free for one day a month, and plan an activity in your neighborhood:
a picnic, a scavenger hunt, a visit with neighbors. Visit www.fueleconomy.gov
with your kids to calculate how much pollution you avoid by nixing the wheels.
5

Set a family goal to reduce your home electricity use by 10 percent by the
end of the year. Have your kids take ownership of tasks — one can be in
charge of turning off lights at night, while another can shut off TVs, radios,
and idle computers. Track the money you’re saving on a chart that everyone
can see (older children can help with this.) When you’ve met your goal, use
the savings for a family treat, like a movie or dinner out.
6

Instead of buying storage bins to hold papers and photos, have your kids
decorate shoeboxes using old magazines, wrapping paper, stickers, buttons
– anything they like.
7

Give your kids a chemistry lesson by teaching them how to make natural
cleaning products from vinegar, baking soda, and other stuff you have in
your kitchen. We recommend the recipes in Green Clean, by Linda Mason Hunter
and Mikki Halpin (Melcher Media, 2005).
8

Nothing helps kids learn about the environment more than growing something
– so give each child a plant to take care for. Let her pick out her own at
the nursery. (Older kids can help plant a garden.) Explain that plants help
people live because they exhale oxygen and breathe in carbon dioxide.
9

Next time you head to the park with your kids, have them bring a box of crayons
and encourage them to find items in nature that match those colors. This will
help them understand how diverse the natural world is — not all plants are green,
after all.
10

Visit www.epa.gov/kids for a wide variety of games, puzzles, and activities that
will help kids learn how to protect the planet.

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