Children have an inherent love of art; and they enjoy expressing themselves and creating masterpieces through a variety of fun and engaging mediums. But making arts and crafts with your kids doesn’t have to equate to using piles of paper that either end up tacked to the refrigerator or crumpled up in the recycling bin. There are countless ways to encourage your child’s inner artist to blossom, that are easy on the earth and your budget. Here are several top tips for greening the art regimen around your house! Enlist Nature to Create Art An artist’s tools exist all around us, as evidenced in the potato stamps seen at the top of this post. There’s no need to buy expensive rubber stamps when you can get interesting results by using what you have on hand at home. Cut baking potatoes in half, carve shapes into them, dip them into paint, and let the kids stamp away. Bonus points for composting the potato peels and skins when you’re finished with your art project! And be sure to check out one mom’s green idea on using dandelion flowers as paint brushes . Source Art Project Paper from Home Instead of Buying Paper – And Use the End Result as Wrapping Paper My two-year old daughter is shown above painting on a long ream of butcher paper that was used as padding in a package I received. I couldn’t bear the thought of throwing the paper away, or even recycling it in its pristine condition, so I spread it across our dining room table and let her have a messy finger painting session! We then used the paper to wrap gifts. All of the recipients loved the personal touch, and we didn’t waste paper or have to purchase wrapping paper. If you look hard enough, there is a ton of scrap paper around your house that can do double duty and be used in art projects. Forgo Paper and Let Kids Draw on a Dry Erase Board or Chalkboard Another way to get crafty and save paper is to invest in a dry erase board or chalkboard and let your kids create their works of art on the reusable canvases. The easel shown above is from Melissa & Doug , and it boasts a dry erase board on one side and a chalkboard on the other. If you want to immortalize your child’s masterpieces before they get wiped away, take pictures of them and keep an art file in your computer and backed-up on disks. Buy Organic, Eco-Friendly & Non-Toxic Art Supplies Inevitably, you’ll want to purchase art supplies to open up the world of artistic possibilities for your kids. When doing so, choose supplies that are responsibly crafted, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. We love our tube of Mama K’s Play Clay , which is organic, gluten free playdough that is delightfully scented with organic essential oils. You’ll love playing with it as much as your kids do! Other favorite green art supplies include, Glob Botanical Paints , which get their vibrant hues from nature (fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices) and Clementine Art Supplies , which offer a wide range of eco art supplies for kids from soy crayons to markers to washable glue. Images: Petite Planet

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4 Top Tips on How to Green Your Child’s Art Repertoire

With the arrival of netbooks and the iPad, computers are getting smaller and smaller – but compared to what we’ll be sporting five years from now, they’re still downright clunky. The computer of the future isn’t just teeny tiny – it’s a wearable fashion accessory that gets its power from our daily movements. The HOLO 2.0 , dreamed up by a group of designers as the next-generation computer in the year 2015, looks sort of like a sporty bracelet but performs all of the same functions as your laptop. Its battery is charged by the kinetic movements of your hand, and it includes an interactive holographic display that projects photos, chat, web browsers and other computer functions. Need a bigger display? No problem, say the HOLO 2.0 designers – you can simply hook it up to the included desktop docking station. It’s streamlined, sexy and green – what’s not to love? Well, there is one catch: a lot of the technology included in this concept is still entirely theoretical. As of right now, there’s no mobile device that can project 3D holographic displays into thin air. Still, it’s intriguing enough to make us cross our fingers that it all works out and preemptively ask, “Where can we get one?” Images: tuvie

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Computer of the Future is a Wearable Fashion Accessory

Images via Piezo Shower Showers are an issue for both water use and energy use for heating the water used while bathing. But the Piezo shower aims to cut down on the energy problem. It is designed to capture the energy of the water running through it in order to heat said water. With an award-winning prototype already out, the Piezo Shower shows us what the future of bathing might be. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Piezo Shower Heats Water Without Electricity

Image via the OSTC One of the biggest hurdles to covering the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was actually getting a good look at the oil . For somewhat murky reasons (health, safety of fragile habitats), press has been repeatedly forbidden to enter impacted areas by the Coast Guard, BP, or the Fish & Wildlife Service. I was on the ground in the Gulf, and trying to get the story from one of the fishermen contracted to work with BP was like asking them if they’d like a … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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5 Reasons You Won’t See the Worst of the Gulf Oil Spill

Photo via Oil Spill Solutions One of the most alarming stories to emerge from the entire BP Gulf oil crisis has been the company’s penchant for using toxic chemical dispersants to try to break up and spread out the oil — and that the federal government had approved the tactic. As a result, thus far some 600,000 gallons of toxic, experimental chemicals have been dumped on the spill, both at the source of the leak and on the surface slick. But it looks like the EPA has… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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EPA Gives BP 24 Hours to Stop Dumping Toxic Chemical on Gulf Spill

Architect William McDonough and chemist Dr. Michael Braungart made a huge splash on the green scene in 2002 with their book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things and have since created an entire movement. Their Cradle to Cradle (C2C) framework is a paradigm shift to eliminate waste through innovative design. Originally developed in 1995, the framework posits that sustainable design, based on the laws of nature, can transform the consumer economy into a regenerative force. The C2C model provides a blueprint for redesigning products and ingredients to become nutrients, enabli… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Cradle to Cradle Institute Launch Today

Image credit: Philippe Bourseiller/Getty Images There is, perhaps, nothing more primordial than a crackling fire in an otherwise-dark cave. Before civilization, before agriculture, we are told, humans sought shelter and found it in caves . They were humankind’s first homes—and they continue to inspire our imaginations today.

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The Mysterious World of Caves and Caverns: Ancient Man’s Home Sweet Home (Slideshow)

Credit: Endangered Species Coalition Yes, a kid under the age of 10 can probably draw a polar bear better than you. This Friday is Endangered Species Day, organized by the United States Congress . To bring attention to the occasion and the plight of threatened animals in their area, students from kindergarten through 12th grade all over the U.S. submitted their best sketches, paintings, collages, and other artwork. From California foxes and Alaska polar bears to east coast piping plovers and Arizona jagua… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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These Amazing Endangered Species Drawings Are by Kids (Slideshow)

photo: J. Novak The USDA announced last week that they would be expanding funding for wetland conservation in 22 states and Puerto Rico. Nearly $175,000 million will be distributed in order to extend wetland conservation by 75,000 acres. This is great news in my home state of South Carolina where so much of our land is made up of gorgeous wetlands. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Wetland Conservation Expanding 75,000 Acres in 22 States

Photo by Brian Merchant This has to be the most inspiring story I’ve stumbled upon out of all my coverage of the Gulf spill : Last night, at a tense town hall-style meeting that gathered fishermen, federal officials, and BP reps to discuss the latest on the disaster, one participant took all of the parties by surprise. A 14-year old girl named Lauren Spaulding confidently stepped up to the mic during the Q+A — the only young person to do so — and confronted BP about its lack of initiative to educate childre… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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14 Year-old Girl Confronts BP for Lack of Oil Spill Education (Video)