Simple Ways to Make the Earth a Better Place

Since this week is a celebration of Earth Day, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to one of my favorite moms and bloggers, Maura Hoff! Maura is one of my role models for balancing WHAT she loves with WHO she loves. Despite living in Chicago, where the weather has been beyond unpredictable recently, Maura works to inspire her children to have a deep love of the outdoors. In April, especially, she likes to challenge herself to go above and beyond for the planet, and sometimes the things she tries are so easy, that they stick with her the rest of the year.

Here are Maura’s Simple Ways to Make the Earth a Better Place to live. 

1. Time yourself in the shower. Do you really know how long you are in there? If you know what your average shower, is can you cut it by 30 seconds?

2. Turn dry cleaner bags into garbage bags. Consider tying a knot at the bottom of the bag and using it in the bathroom trash can. Dry cleaner bags are not generally strong bags, but since most bathroom throw aways are Kleenex, dental floss and other light weight items, it should do the trick.

3. Make the most of your tooth paste. When you think you have squeezed the “last drop” from your tooth paste container, cut it open and stick your brush in for another 1-3 brushes. Why waste it?

 4. Use hand towels before paper towels (or at the very least, recycled paper towels). Use a hand towel in the kitchen rather than a paper towel for drying your hands (and anything else you can justify). If not, consider recycled paper towels, you can now get these in select a size and very absorbent.  There are many brands to choose from 7th Generation, Green Forest, or Marcal (available on Amazon!). Trader Joe’s paper towels are also recycled.

Maura Hoff is a wife and mother of two who lives in downtown Chicago in a “castle in the sky” (as her daughter calls their condo). After moving back to Chicago from northern California, she is trying to incorporate what she learned from CA moms into an urban Midwest environment. She spends her time exploring all that the city has to offer, while also inspiring her children to have a deep love of the outdoors.