Earth Day is just around the corner. Across the nation, organizations are doing whatever they can to raise awareness and bring people of all ages together to save the environment. At The Ligonier Public Library in Ligonier, Ind. for example, staff members will be giving away tree saplings entirely free of charge.

Children may apply to receive a sapling as well as species and planting information. The library encourages parents to “share photos of their children planting the trees with the library” to help spread the message among the local community.

No matter where you are located, as April 22, 2021 approaches, the coming holiday is the perfect opportunity to teach your children about recycling and doing their part to lower your household’s carbon footprint. Here are the best ways to do that.

Why Should Children Learn About Sustainability?

When it comes to the environment, the stakes are incredibly high. They include the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet that we will leave to future generations. Children will play an incredibly large role in this legacy, and it is important for them to understand the effects of their actions.

Household emissions — either direct or indirect — account for over 82% of emissions nationwide. Plus, our children’s schools pay over $6 billion per year for energy costs. Schools could easily reduce these costs by 25% by making smarter choices, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reveals.

Talk to Your Kids About Sustainability and Recycling

Kids listen. Just like a well-placed YouTube advertisement or social media marketing may catch their eye and inspire them to ask you for the trendiest new toy, talking to your children openly about sustainability will get the message across.

Let your kids know the facts. For example, teach them that 90% of the items and “waste” that end up in the trash can be reused, recycled, or composted.

Research Your City’s Recycling Procedures

Recycling procedures vary by city and state. Do your research. Find out whether your city requires you to sort recyclable materials into different bins. If they do, involve your children by asking them to help design and draw labels for you. Tape these labels to the side of each bin.

Set Up Labeled Bins In Your Home Or Garage

Put your labeled bins in an easily accessible spot, like on the floor of the garage. Cities may ask you to have separate bins for paper, plastic, cans, and glass. Show your child examples of appropriate things to put in each.

Place soda cans in the cans bin, milk cartons in the plastic bin, and jars and wine bottles in the glass bin. Depending on where you live, one bin may be fuller than the others. For example, California is the fourth leading producer of wine worldwide, topped only by France, Spain, and Italy. You may have a significant amount of glass being recycled, or perhaps your family goes through more milk cartons than other families!

Show Your Kids How to Rinse Out Empty Bottles And Cans

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 30 to 40% of all food in the U.S. ends up as food waste. What’s more, in most cities, if you attempt to recycle a jar with remnants of spaghetti sauce still inside, that jar will go to the landfill instead. If the jar is in a bin with other items, the entire bin may end up being thrown away.

Teach kids to rinse out soda cans, cans of soup, and jars immediately after using them.

Be Thoughtful About Your Purchases

All across the globe, about 40% of steel comes from recycled metal. Likewise, many of the day-to-day items we purchase, including food items at the grocery store, are available in recycled packaging.

KiwiCo recommends challenging children to a game of “Grocery Store Scavenger.” The game challenges kids to look for items in packaging that they can compost, recycle, or reuse. Tell kids to keep an eye out for glass, metal, and paper packaging and to search for symbols indicating that it is either made from recycled materials or that it can be recycled.

Recycling is important. Whenever possible, it is best to instill good habits in your children when they are still young. Use the list above to get them started.

Did you know that almost 58% of homeowners plan on spending money to improve their homes this year? If you’re one of them and you’re not sure which home improvement project to start first, it’s important to work with resale value in mind. Here are a few projects that can help you increase your home’s resale value in the long run.

Minor Bathroom Remodel

One of the most important spaces in your home is the bathroom. You spend a lot of time in there and it’s imperative that everything works properly. Bonus points if it looks nice. If you’re not sure which home improvement project you want to start first, fixing up your bathroom is a great place to start. The best part? You don’t even have to undergo a major remodeling project to get a great return on investment (ROI). In fact, a minor bathroom remodel can provide a whopping ROI of almost 102%. If you’re not sure what goes into a minor bathroom remodel, here are some ideas to help you get the ball rolling:

• Replace vanity and shower fixtures.
• Refinish vanity and cabinets.
• Recaulk and reglaze your bathtub.
• Apply a fresh coat of paint to the walls.
• Replace or remove old shower doors.

As you can see, it really doesn’t take that much effort to give your bathroom a makeover. With minor changes like this, you don’t have to worry about racking up a big debt on your credit card, either. And considering that almost 35% of your credit score depends on prompt bill payments, the less you use your credit to cover expenses the better.

Landscaping Upgrades

Landscaping typically comes with an ROI of about 100%. It might be tempting to hire a designer to do all of the work for you, but there are plenty of landscaping projects that you can tackle with a few trusty gardening tools and a little bit of guidance from your local nursery. This is especially true if you just want to lay down a simple garden path or replace some of the less sightly plants that currently live in your garden. First, you’ll need to visit your local plant nursery. It’s likely that they’ll be able to offer free consulting services and help you find all the tools and plants you’ll need to achieve the curbside appeal of your dreams. If you’re not sure what constitutes a beautiful landscape, consider the following:

• Add a splash of color.
• Symmetry is everything.
• Vary plant heights in your garden.
• Add a focal point like a walkway or fountain.
• Replace tired shrubs with flowering plants.

Creating a beautiful front or back garden doesn’t have to cost a fortune to have a great ROI. Not only will you love coming home to the sight of your landscaping, but if you ever decide to sell your garden will do a lot of the talking for you.

Window and Door Replacements

Of all the projects we’re talking about here, this is likely the most expensive one. That being said, it still has an ROI of almost 90%. Fortunately, that means it’s a great investment for you to make. And considering that air leaks around old windows and doors can add almost 10% to your heating bills, replacing your windows could pretty immediately help you start saving money, too. Just make sure you’re investing in the right kind of windows for the climate you live in. If you live in a hotter climate, low-e glass can help reflect heat. In addition, double-pane windows are excellent for retaining your heating and cooling. Not only are you reducing your energy expenses, but you’re also investing in a more eco-friendly lifestyle by reducing the need to use so much energy on a daily basis.

When you want to increase the resale value of your home, you don’t have to spend a fortune. These simple home improvement projects can go a long way in terms of value. Often, that’s without spending an obscene amount of money, too.

Divorcing when you have kids is hard, and dealing with moving during all of that doesn’t make things any easier. The tips in this article can be helpful for making the moving process as smooth as possible.

Take New Expenses Into Account When Setting Your Budget

When you get divorced, you may have new expenses that you need to take into account before you start searching for a new home or apartment. You may have to make alimony or child support payments, which you should start taking into account while you’re figuring out your monthly budget for living expenses. 45% of attorneys that deal with divorce agree that there is a rise in women paying alimony, so make sure to take that possibility into account when you’re getting ready to move.

Involve Your Kids in Every Step

All of the change going on is one of the hardest parts of divorce and moving, and that’s why it’s so important to make sure your kids know about every change that is coming up. Obviously, you can’t predict every small change that is going to happen, but if there are any you know about, you should make sure to tell your kids.

When you’re searching for your apartment or home, try to bring your kids along with you. They will be living with or visiting the place that you’re going to live, so making sure that they have some say in where you live is important. If you’re going to a day of open houses, bring your kids with you and ask them what they think of different features and what rooms would be theirs. When you’re going to put an offer in on a house or submit a rental application, let them know about it ahead of time.

When it comes time to plan the move itself, make sure that your kids know when moving day is and what is going to happen between now and then. If you have any expectations for them to help with packing or cleaning, make sure that they know that ahead of time so they have time to complete their tasks.

Make Sure Your Home is Move-In Ready

There’s nothing worse than moving into a home only to realize that there is an issue that requires major maintenance work. While an inspection should catch this, there is always room for human error. Something like a corroded pipeline, which costs the U.S. economy over nine billion dollars every year, and you don’t want to contribute to that. Make sure that you trust the person doing your home or apartment inspection and get a second opinion if you don’t believe that their assessment is right.

Make Sure Your Old Home Is Selling

When you’re getting divorced, you and your ex-spouse will likely be selling the home you lived in together. Make sure that you’re paying attention to the market so that your home is up to snuff with comparable houses in the area so that you have a competitive sale. In someplace like the Washington DC metro area, 50% of homes don’t sell the first time they’re listed and need to be changed before being relisted and sold. Make sure that your home is ready to go before you list it to ensure that doesn’t happen to you.

Start Packing As Soon As Possible

Once you have a concrete moving date, you should start to do your more serious packing right away, especially for your kids. We all accumulate things that we probably don’t need, and it takes some time to sort through what you want to get rid of and what you want to keep. On top of that, packing up all of your belongings just takes time. The earlier you start, the easier it will be to pack everything up without getting overwhelmed.

Create Space to Deal With Emotions

Divorce is hard for kids, and moving is hard for kids, which makes moving because of a divorce even harder for them. Although it will be the right choice in the long run, it can be difficult in the present for your kids to deal with all the changes going on. Give them space to properly work through their emotions, and make sure that you’re also working through yours separately. It’s okay to tell your kids that you’re feeling sad or upset, but don’t emotionally unload on them — you’re still the parent, and they are not a therapist or a friend, they’re your children.

Try to Stick to Routine

Although moving and divorce can both cause major routine disruptions, you should try to get back to a routine as quickly as possible after the move. Things like wake up and bedtimes, meal times, and other basic things that need to be done every day should stay at least mostly consistent. If it’s not possible to salvage the old routine, try to start a new one that is at the very least consistent if not the same as the old one. Routines help a lot in times of sudden upheaval, like moving, so giving your kids a structure to function in can make a big difference in their transition back to normalcy.

Give Kids Time to Adjust

It’s going to be weird for both you and your kids for at least a little while. You should try to acknowledge that there have been big changes going on, and that may mean giving your children space to get used to your new home, family dynamic, and overall new normal. Eventually, your new way of life will just be your way of life, and although it may seem like things will never be steady again, they will be.

Although moving because of a divorce can be difficult, you are capable of making things as minimally stressful as possible. With proper preparation and forethought, you’ll be on your way to a relatively stress-free move and a new way of life soon.

What tips do you have for moving with your kids because of a divorce? Let everyone know in the comments below!

Being a working mom is obviously a lot harder than it may look to some. It’s not impossible for most moms to balance work with parenting, but it is rather challenging. This is why, when moms return to the workforce, they often like to focus on jobs that specifically can accommodate their families. At the same time, working mothers need to remember that if they’ve had gaps in their resumes, they need to focus on jobs that will help counterbalance those gaps. Where once it was common for mothers to stay at home with their children until it was time for them to attend college, that is no longer the case. In most American families, mothers work just as fathers do. The question for many is simply what working will look like.

That’s why we’re exploring some of the best jobs for working moms to pursue. You would be amazed by how many jobs your education and experience can be applied to; and for that matter, how many will work with your life as a mother. Remember that working isn’t just about making money for your family. It’s also about doing something that you enjoy, networking, and empowering yourself.

1. Amazon Work From Home Jobs

There have always been great benefits to working from home for moms. Working from home allows you to have a much more flexible schedule. If your children need you, you can be there for them at a moment’s notice. And if you have particularly young kids, you can actually stay at home with them rather than paying for expensive childcare, which is the bane of many mothers’ existence. A lot of women don’t work simply because their new jobs don’t pay them enough to justify childcare expenses.

An Amazon work from home job can come in many different forms, and they are hiring for a lot of different positions. There are management positions, customer service positions, technical support positions, and software development positions open to people that want them. Additionally, they pay well. You could be paid over $100,000 if you work for Amazon. Plus, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote jobs are not only much safer but more stable and reliable right now. Keep in mind that if you work from home you will need a good home office; a basic one will require about 40 to 70 square feet, while a more complete one would require 150 square feet to accommodate all of your technology.

2. Contact Tracing

Speaking of jobs that are good to work during the pandemic, have you ever thought of being a contact tracer? Contact tracers will get in touch with people who have contracted a contagious disease, with the vast majority of contact tracers working remotely. They will let people know about their risks, and additionally advise them about testing, treatment, and quarantines. They will also determine whether or not other people are at risk as well, and advise them of what to do next.

Contact tracers are not only meant to deal with COVID-19, but the job certainly is in more demand now that the pandemic has become an issue. Plus, it allows you to really make a difference while at the same time working a flexible job. Usually, medical centers, as well as state and local health departments, hire contact tracers. They are often paid $15 to $30 an hour, with many contact tracers being nonexempt employees, like 58% of the American workforce.

3. Real Estate

As you may already know, a lot of mothers love becoming real estate agents; and there are actually a lot of advantages to pursuing this particular career. Real estate agents are responsible for selling houses, and the vast majority of houses are still sold through real estate agents rather than through owners. A real estate agent can work for a firm, or work entirely independently. They need to first obtain their real estate license, which can be done through online classes if need be, and within as little as two weeks if you put your mind to it. Additionally, realtors need to be ready to work slightly unconventional hours; but as you’ll be responsible for much of your own schedule as a realtor, it’s still a great job to have as a mom. A lot of potential home buyers like to see houses in the late afternoon or evening, and if you are able to accommodate them the rewards can be great.

While it can take you some time to build up a reputation as a real estate agent, you have the ability to make a great salary as a realtor. Real estate agents are paid through commission, though firms often have a base pay that they give employees on top of that. Usually, the seller will pay about 6% of the sale price in commission to their real estate agent. If you’re selling an expensive home, that can be quite significant. You’ll have to network and dedicate yourself to your job as a real estate agent, but in the long term, it can be quite worth it.

4. Tutoring

If you were a teacher in the past but quit your job after becoming a mother, you could get back to work with a more flexible position that still utilizes your education and skills. Tutoring is a great way to work with kids on a more flexible basis, offering them support after school on subjects with which they might struggle. Right now, there’s also a huge demand for tutors that can teach English as a second language, especially for Chinese students.

Which leads to the next great thing about tutoring. It can be done remotely, over services like Zoom. Obviously, the students in China aren’t going to be able to meet you in person, and everyone needs to be careful right now regarding the pandemic. So you can tutor with flexible hours, from the comfort of your own home to a wide range of students across your area or even across the world.

Again, it can be difficult to go back to work as a mother if you’ve had time away from work. This can feel like resetting your life, and that’s intimidating. But in the long term, the gains to be had from returning to work are not just financial, but personal as well. You can do something great for the world, potentially; and you can certainly do something great for yourself.