Small Footprint Family | Sustainability Starts at Home

Gardening & Homesteading • Green Living

100 Things You Can (and Should) Compost

299,597 Views

11 Min Read

man removing compost from compost bin

Gardening & Homesteading

20 Perennial Vegetables to Plant Once for Years of Bounty!

237,923 Views

11 Min Read

close up image of fern fiddleheads

Breakfast • Snacks • Treats

Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread (Paleo, Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

225,102 Views

3 Min Read

Here's a delicious, gluten-free, GAPS and Paleo-friendly way to enjoy the zucchini bounty. This coconut flour zucchini bread recipe also freezes well!

Gardening & Homesteading

10 Things You Should Not Put In Your Compost Pile

214,401 Views

7 Min Read

While technically you can compost anything that was living, for better compost and less hassle, here are 10 things you should not put in your compost pile.

Breakfast • Raw & Fermented • Snacks • Treats

Easy Homemade Coconut Milk Yogurt

204,116 Views

6 Min Read

Coconut milk yogurt

GREEN LIVING
Foodprints Money Savers Natural Parenting

Foodprints Money Savers Natural Parenting

beach with happy new year written in the sand

10 Green New Years REVolutions

coconut milk shampoo sticks

Coconut Milk Shampoo Sticks

Salt has earned a bad reputation, despite the fact that there is zero credible evidence that it causes harm. But not all salt is created equal. Discover the facts about salt, and the most health promoting types to use.

Why Salt is Good for You, But Some Salt is Better Than Others

Here are 5 tips on keeping yourself cool in an environmentally responsible way, no matter where you happen to be.

5 Planet-Friendly Ways to Keep Yourself Cool This Summer

Even if your company hasn't “gone green” as a whole, there are things you can do and habits you can adopt as an employee to make your workplace more eco-friendly.

4 Powerful Ways To Be Eco-Friendly At The Office

mother applying sunscreen to little girl's nose

Is Your Sunscreen Safe?

bulldog puppy with paw on a globe

8 Ways to Go Green with Your Pet

Here are some travel tips on how to have a great vacation with a smaller, more planet-friendly footprint...

Take an Eco Friendly Vacation – Low Impact Travel Tips

man removing compost from compost bin

100 Things You Can (and Should) Compost

While we can in many ways "vote with our dollars," we should not think for one minute that the way we shop is going to create the kind of change we really need in the world.

Can Shopping Change the World?

Every account we hold with a Big Bank is giving them the money they need to pillage people and the planet for their own profit—costing us our health, our stable climate and our children's sustainable future.

If You Care About the Planet, Dump Your Bank and Join a Credit Union

bride and groom on a bicycle

5 Tips for a Sustainable Wedding

The majority of cosmetics contain toxins that could harm you. Using ingredients from your kitchen, you can make and replace everything in your makeup bag!

Save Face with These DIY Organic Makeup Alternatives

flowering canola plants in a field

The Inconvenient Truth About Canola Oil

There are potential sources of air pollution in every room of your house, but don’t despair. Here are 16 ways to improve your indoor air quality.

16 Ways to Eliminate Indoor Air Pollution

These 10 tips will get you off to a healthy, green school year, save money, protect your kids from harmful toxins, and save natural resources, too.

10 Tips for a Healthy, Planet-Friendly Back-to-School

Meal planning is the single-most powerful thing you can do to save money and reduce your ecological "food-print."

Save Money and the Planet with Meal Planning

The benefits of energy efficient LED light bulbs are important for your wallet, and also for the quality of our air and water, and the protection of the nation. Click to find out why.

Why You Should Switch to LED Light Bulbs

Holiday tree with green recycling ornament

12 Ways to Have an Eco Friendly Holiday

Animal products like eggs, dairy, and meat have been blamed for cancer, heart disease and a host of other health problems. So is meat bad for you, really? Click to find out!

Why Eating Meat (or Eggs or Dairy) Won’t Kill You

little girl with nail polish on her fingers

Where to Find Non-Toxic Nail Polish

It is both unnecessary and unwise to rush to the medicine cabinet when you or your child has a fever. Fevers should be left alone in most cases. Click to find out why!

Why You Shouldn’t Treat a Fever (Most of the Time)

someone getting water from a filter on the kitchen sink

Why You REALLY Need a Water Filter (And How to Choose the Right One)

Most store-bought baby food contains yucky modified starches, corn syrup and other additives. Here's how to feed your baby healthy food on a budget.

How to Feed Your Baby Healthy Food on a Budget

buying produce at the farmers' market

Why We Should All Eat More Locally Grown Food

child holding out hands to receive hand sanitizer

DIY Natural Hand Sanitizer

kid drinking from garden hose

Is Your Garden Hose Toxic?

leaky outdoor spigot against a cloudy, blue sky

9 Easy Ways to Save a Ton of Water (and Money)

With the environment in crisis, we need to do a lot more to improve the sustainability of where we live. Here are five eco friendly home building ideas.

5 Eco Friendly Home Building Ideas

Did you know that smoke inhalation from cooking fires is the leading cause of death globally? The Wonderbag is a solution that can make a big difference.

The Wonderbag Saves Trees, Water and Lives

Being healthy and green often means saving money too! These effective, non-toxic green cleaning recipes cost just pennies to make.

6 DIY Non Toxic Cleaning Recipes

Paper is substantially more resource intensive to produce than you would think. Click to get 30 ways you can save paper (and money) at home, school and work.

30 Ways to Use Less Paper

It takes 3 liters of water to make 1 liter of bottled water, plus 17 million barrels of oil per year. It's time to stop this incredibly destructive habit.

Why You Should Finally Give Up Bottled Water for Good

woman applied weatherstripping to a window.

Sealing These 10 Home Air Leaks Can Save You Lots of Money

Many people don't realize that the concentrated fructose in agave syrup is bad for you —worse than high amounts of glucose, especially if you are diabetic. Click to learn why!

Sorry Folks, Agave Syrup is Bad for You!

A man and a woman both carrying babies on their backs using babywearing slings

5 Benefits of Babywearing (and How to Choose a Baby Carrier)

Choose from 40 simple, planet-friendly ways to save a ton of money in both the short term and long term.

40 Ways to Save Money by Going Green

No Idling Children Breathing sign on the street

The Dirty Truth About Idling Your Car

On average, Americans waste 40% of all food, which costs about $600 a household per year. Here's five ways to stop food waste in your community.

5 Ways to Stop Food Waste in Your Community

This recipe for homemade vapor rub will relieve chest congestion and coughing without the toxic petroleum products, parabens and other nasty additives.

DIY Vapor Rub for Colds (and Sore Muscles)

We really, really have to do something about our catastrophic amount of waste. Now. Here are 37 ways to reduce trash in your home, and save some money, too.

37 Ways to Reduce Trash in Your Home

Rather than buying toxic products off the shelf you can make your own non toxic cleaning recipes from inexpensive ingredients that you have in your kitchen. My favorite DIY book will show you how to make cleaning products that actually work!

Get the Nasty Chemicals Out with DIY Non Toxic Cleaning Recipes That Work

When you cure your own bacon, you get to control the quality of the meat and the ingredients it is cured with! Here's how to cure bacon at home.

How to Cure Bacon at Home

Each year, we each get nearly 600 pieces of junk mail and waste about 8 hours dealing with it. The trees, oil, water and other resources squandered on stuff that goes straight to the recycling bin is unconscionable. Here are some ways to stop this incredibly wasteful annoyance.

How to Stop Junk Mail

Is pork bad for you? Or is how healthy it is more a matter of how it is raised and prepared? This article will help you decide.

Is Pork Bad for You?

More and more states are authorizing solar panel leasing and green energy sourcing, making solar as affordable as your monthly electric bill! Click to learn how you can go solar, too!

How to Affordably Power Your Home with Solar—Whether You Rent or Own

Here are five ways to save money on your new baby, possibly saving you thousands of dollars in the first two years of parenting.

5 Green Ways to Save Thousands on Your New Baby

The systems we take for granted to deliver everything from TVs to apple pie are much more vulnerable than we think. Radical simplicity is the solution.

Can Radical Simplicity Save Us?

Can organic farming feed the world, even when we have more than 8 billion people? According to leading experts, it's the only thing that can. Click to find out why!

Can Organic Farming Feed the World?

Nothing would protect the environment and decrease our dependence on oil more than taking steps to reduce your transportation footprint. Here's how...

Reduce Your Transportation Footprint (and Save a Ton!)

GARDEN & HOMESTEAD

fresh picked beets from the garden

How to Grow Beets Organically

9 Min Read

How to Grow Peas Organically

How to Ready Your Barn for the Winter

100 Things You Can (and Should) Compost

The 10 Best Seed Companies for Heirloom and Non-GMO Seeds

WHOLE FOOD RECIPES

homemade dill pickles in a canning jar on a table with whole garlic and peppercorns.

Small Footprint Dill Pickles

3 Min Read

Tepache – Fermented Pineapple Brew

How to Make Oat Milk

Fig Avocado Salsa
(Gluten Free, Vegan, Paleo)

Roasted Beet and Grapefruit Salad

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Even if your company hasn't “gone green” as a whole, there are things you can do and habits you can adopt as an employee to make your workplace more eco-friendly.

4 Powerful Ways To Be Eco-Friendly At The Office

6 Min Read

Take an Eco Friendly Vacation – Low Impact Travel Tips

Can Shopping Change the World?

If You Care About the Planet, Dump Your Bank and Join a Credit Union

The Time is NOW: 6 Things We Must Do About Climate Change

NATURAL HEALTH
Natural Remedies Non-Toxic Home Nutrition

Natural Remedies Non-Toxic Home Nutrition

coconut milk shampoo sticks

Coconut Milk Shampoo Sticks

Salt has earned a bad reputation, despite the fact that there is zero credible evidence that it causes harm. But not all salt is created equal. Discover the facts about salt, and the most health promoting types to use.

Why Salt is Good for You, But Some Salt is Better Than Others

Does eating nuts and seeds cause stomach upset for you? Click to learn how to optimize their nutrition and prevent tummy troubles by soaking nuts and seeds.

Why You Should Soak Your Nuts and Seeds

mother applying sunscreen to little girl's nose

Is Your Sunscreen Safe?

Because you cannot replace brain cells once they have died, preventing Alzheimer's disease is the only cure. Good thing it is preventable with diet. Click to find out how!

Is Alzheimer’s Disease Caused by Diet?

The majority of cosmetics contain toxins that could harm you. Using ingredients from your kitchen, you can make and replace everything in your makeup bag!

Save Face with These DIY Organic Makeup Alternatives

flowering canola plants in a field

The Inconvenient Truth About Canola Oil

There are potential sources of air pollution in every room of your house, but don’t despair. Here are 16 ways to improve your indoor air quality.

16 Ways to Eliminate Indoor Air Pollution

Meal planning is the single-most powerful thing you can do to save money and reduce your ecological "food-print."

Save Money and the Planet with Meal Planning

Many people discover stinging nettles the hard way, but if you can avoid their sting, nettles are a nutritious and delicious food and natural medicine. Here's how to use stinging nettles. (And a yummy pesto recipe.)

How to Use Stinging Nettles {With Nettle Pesto Recipe}

The pain-relieving properties of dandelion and the muscle relaxing effect of magnesium make this DIY cream helpful for leg cramps and other aches and pains.

Dandelion Magnesium Lotion for Muscle Cramps

Try this DIY antibacterial wound healing ointment next time you or your child gets a cut or scrape. It seems to work far better than that "Neo-antibiotic."

DIY Antibacterial Wound Healing Ointment

Animal products like eggs, dairy, and meat have been blamed for cancer, heart disease and a host of other health problems. So is meat bad for you, really? Click to find out!

Why Eating Meat (or Eggs or Dairy) Won’t Kill You

little girl with nail polish on her fingers

Where to Find Non-Toxic Nail Polish

It is both unnecessary and unwise to rush to the medicine cabinet when you or your child has a fever. Fevers should be left alone in most cases. Click to find out why!

Why You Shouldn’t Treat a Fever (Most of the Time)

little boy with tissues, honey, lemon and tea

10 Ways to Strengthen Your Immune System

someone getting water from a filter on the kitchen sink

Why You REALLY Need a Water Filter (And How to Choose the Right One)

This recipe for fennel seed tincture is from Herbal Beginnings, and will help with many digestive problems like gas, bloating, cramps and even colic.

Fresh Fennel Seed Tummy Tincture

child holding out hands to receive hand sanitizer

DIY Natural Hand Sanitizer

kid drinking from garden hose

Is Your Garden Hose Toxic?

While Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is pretty rare, there are still plenty of reasons why you should consider a less toxic, more sustainable option for your period. Click to find out why!

Are Your Feminine Hygiene Products Toxic?

With the environment in crisis, we need to do a lot more to improve the sustainability of where we live. Here are five eco friendly home building ideas.

5 Eco Friendly Home Building Ideas

Unlike secondhand smoke, radon gas or mold which we can't control, most sources of indoor air pollution come from products we willingly bring into our home. Click to discover the 8 main sources of airborne toxins in your home.

8 Hidden Sources of Indoor Air Pollution in Your Home

Jar of fire cider

Boost Your Immune System with Fire Cider Master Tonic

shoveling snow and ice

Break the Ice Without Scorching the Earth – Non Toxic De-Icers

The 4 7 8 breathing technique takes the shallow, oxygen poor, carbon dioxide rich breathing you do when you are stressed out, and turns it upside down, giving you quick relief from anxiety, panic and stress. Click to learn how to do it!

Eliminate Stress, Anxiety and Panic in 57 Seconds

Being healthy and green often means saving money too! These effective, non-toxic green cleaning recipes cost just pennies to make.

6 DIY Non Toxic Cleaning Recipes

Many people are concerned about whether borax is safe to use. There are many sites on the internet claiming borax is toxic. But there is a lot of better evidence that it is safe. Click to learn why...

Is Borax Toxic?

Why are so many scientists, parents and others worried about water fluoridation? Based on the facts, the dangers of water fluoridation are vast and grave.

The Dangers of Water Fluoridation {And How to Protect Yourself}

Many people don't realize that the concentrated fructose in agave syrup is bad for you —worse than high amounts of glucose, especially if you are diabetic. Click to learn why!

Sorry Folks, Agave Syrup is Bad for You!

This recipe for homemade vapor rub will relieve chest congestion and coughing without the toxic petroleum products, parabens and other nasty additives.

DIY Vapor Rub for Colds (and Sore Muscles)

Rather than buying toxic products off the shelf you can make your own non toxic cleaning recipes from inexpensive ingredients that you have in your kitchen. My favorite DIY book will show you how to make cleaning products that actually work!

Get the Nasty Chemicals Out with DIY Non Toxic Cleaning Recipes That Work

Is pork bad for you? Or is how healthy it is more a matter of how it is raised and prepared? This article will help you decide.

Is Pork Bad for You?

Because the toxins in plastic can cause health problems, it is important to avoid containers that leach chemicals like BPA, phthalates, lead and antimony into your food, water and the environment.

20 Ways to Give Up Plastic (And the Toxins in It)

With cold and flu season in full swing, everyone should keep this DIY Thieves oil recipe in their natural first aid kit to kill germs and prevent illness.

DIY Thieves^®* Oil Blend: A Safe, Natural Disinfectant & Health Aid

It’s estimated that up to 90% of doctor’s visits are for conditions in which stress plays a role. Here's how stress makes you sick.

How Stress Makes You Sick (and What You Can Do About It)

Are "Cage Free" Eggs a Scam?

Are “Cage Free” Eggs a Scam?

Americans each eat about 130 pounds of sugar per person, per year! This infographic called Nursing Your Sweet Tooth, puts it all in perspective.

The Cost of Nursing Your Sweet Tooth

fruit flies on an orange peel

How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies Naturally

Too often we reach for the toxic stuff to get the job done, when there are easy, safe and natural ways to unclog a drain without chemicals.

How to Unclog a Drain Without Toxic Chemicals

Unless you know what is a GMO and how to avoid them, you will inevitably become a guinea pig in the vast health experiment being perpetuated on us all.

What is a GMO and Why Should You Care?

If you're trying to prevent osteoporosis, you may be taking a prescription or loading up on calcium. If so, there are much better ways to protect your bones.

How to Prevent Osteoporosis with Nutrition

colorful cloth diapers

Why Disposable Diapers are Dirty and Dangerous

little girl brushing her teeth

Homemade Non-Toxic Toothpaste

Before you spend your paycheck on the latest fashionable food with a name you can't pronounce, try these ten affordable, eco friendly, domestic superfoods.

10 Homegrown Superfoods Without Super Hype or Super Cost

America's insatiable hunger for superfoods like acai and quinoa is pillaging the planet. The choice to be a "green" consumer is still to be a consumer. Click to learn why most superfoods are more hype than help.

The Environmental Cost of Superfoods

Here is the lowdown on over 25 different kinds of sugar and sweeteners on the market today, how they are produced and how they effect your health.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About (25 Types of) Sugar

The recipe for getting better in our house is homemade, pasture-raised chicken soup, Netflix, and one or two of these favorite homemade cough remedies.

Stopping the Cough, Naturally {3 Homemade Cough Remedies}

aisle of laundry detergents in supermarket

Homemade Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent

The health benefits of homemade chicken broth are long renowned and well-deserved. Here's why and how to make perfect chicken broth easily.

How to Make Perfect Chicken Broth

NEW IN THE SUSTAINABILITY SHOP

Water Heater Blanket

Energy Conservation

ESP Low-E® “Non Fiberglass” Water Heater Insulation Kit

Organic Gardening • Water Conservation

Cascata 65-Gallon Rain Water Collection and Storage System

Water Purification

Radiant Life 14-Stage Biocompatible Water Purification System

thrive lantern

THRIVE Solar Lantern – Support a Cause

solar security light

Litom Weatherproof LED Solar Motion-Detecting Security Lights

Gift Ideas • Zero Waste Home

Envirosax Reusable Shopping Bags (Set of 5)

Vita Fresh Shower Filter

Water Purification

Vita-Fresh Shower Filter with 5 Vitamin C Cartridges

eneloop Rechargeable Battieries

Energy Conservation • Zero Waste Home

Eneloop AA/AAA Rechargeable Batteries

Water Conservation

Niagara Water Saving Toilet Tank Bank

Water Purification

Big Berkey Water Filter with 4 Filters

Redmond Real Salt

Healthy Ingredients

Redmond Real Salt – 10oz.

Water Conservation

Niagara 0.5 GPM Faucet Aerator

Organic Gardening

Stainless Steel Kitchen Compost Can with Charcoal Filter

Gullwing Drying Rack

Energy Conservation

Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Clothes Drying Rack

Organic Gardening • Yard & Garden

Camco 50-Foot Premium Drinking Water Hose

Water Purification

AquaCera Countertop Filter

Food Preservation • Gift Ideas

Excalibur Stainless Steel Dehydrator

Gift Ideas • Zero Waste Home

Two LifeFactory 22 oz. Reusable Glass Bottles

Organic Gardening • Yard & Garden

Water Right 50-Foot Garden Hose, Lead Free & Drinking Water Safe

Healthy Ingredients

AROY-D 100% Pure Coconut Cream, 33.8 Oz package (3-pack)

Healthy Ingredients

Aroy-D 100% Coconut Milk – 33.8 oz packages (3-pack)

Energy Conservation

Honeywell 5-1-1-Day Programmable Thermostat

Organic Gardening • Water Conservation

Treegator 15-Gallon Slow Release Watering Bag for Trees

Rodelle Gluten Free Vanilla Extract

Healthy Ingredients

Rodelle Organics Gluten-Free Vanilla Extract

POPULAR THIS WEEK

Coconut milk yogurt

Easy Homemade Coconut Milk Yogurt

Here's a delicious, gluten-free, GAPS and Paleo-friendly way to enjoy the zucchini bounty. This coconut flour zucchini bread recipe also freezes well!

Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread (Paleo, Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

colorful cloth diapers

Why Disposable Diapers are Dirty and Dangerous

man removing compost from compost bin

100 Things You Can (and Should) Compost

Monsanto is a company no gardener should want to support, even accidentally. Here is how to find seeds that aren't affiliated with GMOs or Monsanto in any way, and why it is so important.

How to Keep Monsanto Out of Your Garden

rack of seed packets for sale

The 10 Best Seed Companies for Heirloom and Non-GMO Seeds

Fungus gnats and damping-off can seriously harm growing seedlings. But the solution to controlling fungus gnats is safer and cheaper than you would expect.

How to Control Fungus Gnats and Damping Off Organically

aisle of laundry detergents in supermarket

Homemade Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent

LATEST ARTICLES

homemade dill pickles in a canning jar on a table with whole garlic and peppercorns.

Raw & Fermented • Side Dishes • Snacks

Small Footprint Dill Pickles

26,338 Views

3 Min Read

Here is my easy recipe for lacto-fermented, homemade dill pickles that can also be made with vinegar, so they can be ready to eat almost right after making...

class of tepache on a cutting board next to a bottles of fermenting pineapple

Beverages • Raw & Fermented

Tepache – Fermented Pineapple Brew

17,739 Views

3 Min Read

Sweet, light, refreshing, Tepache is a mild, fermented pineapple brew made using pineapple peels. Tepache originated in Pre-Columbian central Mexico as a...

bowl of oat milk on table with spoons full of oats

Beverages • Breakfast • Condiments

How to Make Oat Milk

18,677 Views

3 Min Read

Many people are choosing non-dairy milks like soy, almond and coconut milk these days either because they are sensitive to dairy products or they are concerned...

figs on a branch

Condiments • Raw & Fermented • Side Dishes

Fig Avocado Salsa
(Gluten Free, Vegan, Paleo)

18,348 Views

2 Min Read

Figs are coming into season here in Southern California, and trees all over the neighborhood are absolutely loaded with them. Aren’t fresh figs just...

fresh picked beets from the garden

Gardening & Homesteading

How to Grow Beets Organically

23,593 Views

9 Min Read

Growing beets in your garden can give you access to the many beautiful, tasty varieties of heirloom and specialty beets that you just can’t get from the...