Tracey Bianchi blogs about finding a saner, greener life from the heart of the Chicago suburbs. She wrote Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet(Zondervan 2009) and blogs at traceybianchi.com.

Posts By This Author

Christmas is Supposed to Be Crusty

by Tracey Bianchi 12-02-2009
It's time to haul out the Christmas lights and stockings, Advent calendars, and odd-shaped Santa pillows from grandparents. Every year I sort of dread dragging all the chaos out of the basement.

I've Heard It All Before: Consume less. Love more. Give more.

by Tracey Bianchi 11-18-2009
Ever heard this one? "Tis better to give than to receive?" Or how about this: "Friends are more important than money"?

Hark! Halloween Haters and Holiday Hype

by Tracey Bianchi 11-02-2009

Halloween is over. I was standing in the kitchen tonight pilfering through the bowl of chewy, crinkly wrapped treats that my children acquired last night. Poor things. They do all the work of running up and down the sidewalks, climbing stairs, ringing bells and then I dole them out a piece or two a day and confiscate anything with caramel for myself. Hardly seems fair.

In Defense of the Suburbs

by Tracey Bianchi 10-20-2009
This past week I was walking home from the school drop-off with a newish friend. Swapping stories about the basics of our lives. Marital status, where we grew up, favorite pastimes.

Recycling Rumors

by Tracey Bianchi 10-01-2009
Nowadays if you slap the word "green" across any event, industry, or article of clothing it is rumored this will boost sales and recognition.

Meat: The Other Greenhouse Gas

by Tracey Bianchi 09-24-2009
I had a phase in college when I thought that perhaps I would become a vegetarian.

Labor Day Weekend Ironies: What Do Child Labor and S'mores Have in Common?

by Tracey Bianchi 09-11-2009
Last Monday, our family, like millions of other Americans, sat in holiday weekend traffic to get back home after an extra day away.

Shopping Green Without Spending in the Red

by Tracey Bianchi 09-02-2009

Organic strawberries were $5.99 the other day at our local grocer. $5.99! Their more toxic twins, the non-organic variety, were on sale for $3. Darn this pesticide-free living. I stood staring at that clamshell of bruised strawberries and fought with myself. The farmers market was still three days away. I really wanted those berries.

Hope from the Next Generation: Hey, There's Recycling on the Floor

by Tracey Bianchi 08-25-2009

There's this place near our home called Kiddie Land. It's sort of this epic little corner nearish to the city that, for 80 some years, has boasted good times for kiddos. Think wooden roller coasters from the '30s, a wooden carousel, and rides that make you feel somehow like you are on a boardwalk in Atlantic City or someplace like that in the '20s.

Wal-Mart's Big Green Claim, Part 2

by Tracey Bianchi 07-22-2009

[continued from part 1] ... Here is why I am not about to toss my kids into the car and dash out for cheap juice boxes:

Wal-Mart's Big Green Claim

by Tracey Bianchi 07-21-2009

Well color me happy (as the saying goes): Wal-Mart just released a big claim to be greening up its act. But what does their claim really mean and how do we define what corporate green looks like anyway? Especially since lately, corporate green seems to grow everywhere, at times fertilized by a healthy dose of corporate greed.

Taking the Prairie Path: Seeking Sustainability in the Suburbs

by Tracey Bianchi 07-16-2009

Just a half-mile or so south of our home is the Illinois Prairie Path. It's an old rail line that was converted to a walking and biking path in the early 1960s. An electric line actually, that once hauled commuters back and forth from the western suburbs to the city.