New FB Page & I Have a Green Baby!

Just wanted to share this little ball of green that brings a smile to my face every morning. :)

Also, I've started a Green Classroom FB page. I hope you'll join it, and please let me know of any way you would like to share or collaborate here with tips you have on being a green teacher. Together we can make a difference! Teachers are super significant!

Fun Gift Idea with Clorox Containers

Today is my little brother's birthday (Happy Birthday, Nate! [Not that he'll get that message, since he doesn't even know about this blog :P]), so I decided to try my hand at a few things I've seen floating around on Pinterest.

First, I took a Clorox container, removed the paper and scrubbed it down really well.

Then, I tried some decoupage for the first time with Mod Podge and some candy wrappers from the best candy ever from Argentina (Bon Bon's and Marrocs!).

I knew it wasn't a smart idea from what I researched to use Mod Podge to attach aluminum to plastic since neither is porous, but I gave it a shot anyway. It kind of worked, kinda didn't. One wrapper never stuck well. But that's why you save these experiments for gifts for little brothers because they really won't care or notice either way!

Then I had seen this idea for tissue boxes, so I tried it with the Clorox container. I taped an undisclosed amount of $1 bills together and fed it through the mouth. The plastic lid is a little small, so it doesn't work perfectly. But I think my little bro will get a kick out of it anyway.

So, here's to recycling and gift-giving! If you have any cool ideas on gifts that involve recycling, please comment or link the post under "By Subject" or "By Material." Thanks!

Update - Nathan loved it! He's a cool brother like that. :)

Keep it green!

Recycled Designer Dresses

School's out, it's vacation time, so my hubby and I headed to Argentina to visit his family. At the Atlanta airport, in concourse E, I saw the most spectacular thing - recycled designer dresses! Apparently, an artist named Nancy Judd of Recycle Runaway, has an amazing talent of creating gorgeous clothing out of plastic bags, old tires, newspapers, magazines, cereal boxes, and other recycled materials. Here are three of the many incredible displays I found while in Atlanta:

Happy Recycling!

Bottle Caps and Foam Packaging Pot Drainage

As the school year ends, it's garden time! And I've found the uses for bottle caps still continue even outside of the classroom.

You know how you need to add pebbles or broken pottery to serve as drainage in your plant containers? Well, I've found that bottle caps and/or foam packaging work great as a substitute. They're free, eco-friendly, and so far my plants look great!

Do you have some great recycling tips in the garden to share? Please let me know! Happy Summer!

Plastic Lid Facts Game Giveaway at Hojo's Blog!

Heather from Hojo's Teaching Adventures was so kind to recently spotlight my math fact bottle caps idea and even better yet, she is doing her own giveaway of addition math fact plastic lids. Yay for green teachers!! I hope you will take a quick second to participate in her giveaway (it ends this Wednesday, June 6th, 2012). All you have to do is follow one of her social sites - super easy! Click the picture for a chance to be a lean, green, teaching machine next year with this recycling math game!