Week 40 - New Year Resolutions

This week’s post is short and sweet:

Resolve to make more “green” changes to your lifestyle for 2008!

It’s simple. Just go through the archives (listed on the right side of the screen; point and click), and commit to making just one or two more changes you have not yet been able to do. I know there are topics I have covered over the past 40 weeks that I have not yet implemented, so I will try to “catch-up” on the ones I have missed.

The bonus here is, unlike traditional resolutions (losing weight, quitting smoking, drinking less), even short-lived success can benefit the environment and make you feel good about yourself! Give it a try!

Have a healthy, happy and safe 2008!

Week 39 - 12 Green Ideas for Christmas

We are just one day and a wake-up from Christmas and I want to gently remind you of a few ways we can help the environment once the pandemonium is over. The following is a list of 12 simple things you can do to stay “green” this week.

1. When grocery shopping for your holiday gatherings, buy local first and then organic (nice for you, if you don’t have to choose between the two).
2. Sample some organic or bio-dynamic wine along with your old stand-bys (just in case the former tanks).
3. Don’t use disposable plates and cutlery for your holiday gatherings.
4. When you realize you’ve forgotten batteries for some of the toys and electronics, purchase rechargeable. Remember they can be charged hundreds of times and then be recycled (at Best Buy, Home Depot, and Target amongst others).
5. Save any wrapping paper, gift bags, and ribbons that have not been decimated by your family, for reuse.
6. Use your Christmas cards for crafts. For example, kids can make ornaments for next year or I’m going to use mine for next year’s gift tags (cut out a shape, punch a hole, slip some of the saved ribbon through if you like, and there you have it).
7. Recycle any cardboard boxes.
8. Have your tree mulched.
9. Assess whether it’s time to recycle your Christmas lights. If so send them out and remember after Christmas is a great time to purchase new LED Christmas lights.
10. Grind the candy canes that have been on your tree to a powdered sugar consistency and add to hot chocolate, coffee etc.
11. When you are hitting the after Christmas sales, remember to purchase gift wrap and cards made from recycled paper.
12. When family and friends ask why you save this, recycle that, buy local/organic, use china instead of paper, tell them. It’s a great opportunity to get them on board!
    

Have a wonderful Christmas!!!!

Week 38 - Green the Next Generation

We have 8 more days until Christmas and I was thinking it would be a great time to introduce the idea of green living to your kids. While you are shopping for their gifts, pick up a little something that will teach them about environmentalism. The key is to not only give them something to create awareness, but to give them something they connect with.

Gifts Which Describe the Earth

Kids may have a tough time understanding the concepts of “the earth” or “global warming”. They haven’t learned the world extends far beyond their home or neighborhood. What we have to do is show them the earth and space, to help them understand there is more than what they can actually see. There are a few ways we can do this.

Globes - They show kids what the earth looks like. Kids always think its fun when you show them where they live, where other family members live, and where people on the other side of the world live.

Atlases - Like a globe but includes detailed information. Not only detailed maps but also detailed cultural information. So for example, when you tell your child to turn the water off when brushing their teeth because water is a luxury that the majority of the people in the world do not have, you can show them the different places in the world where people don’t have access to running water. It makes ideas concrete.

Nationalgeographic.com offers:

1. An extremely detailed (and pricey) atlas at $99 - $165


2. An award winning Atlas for Kids ages 8 - 12 at $24.95


3. And a Student Atlas for $19.95

Magazine Subscription - A subscription to National Geographic Kids is a great gift. It brings the world to your child. It provides information, photos, games and ideas on ways kids can help. Ensure you teach your child to not only share the mag with friends, but to recycle it too.

Gardening

What better way to teach your child about locally grown food than to give them a book about growing vegetables? Nothing is more local than your own backyard. If you include kid sized gardening gloves, a trowel and a packet of seeds, you’re child will be chomping at the bit for spring!

One of the best kid books about gardening is Roots Shoots Buckets & Boots by Sharon Lovejoy. The book offers a lot of fun activities for kids to do in the garden. There are projects like, planting a pizza garden and making a sunflower house.

Supporting Wildlife

If your child loves birds, butterflies, bats and toads what would be a better gift than something that will help them provide a habitat for those animals, bringing them closer to home for better observation.

Buy a bird house, seed and a book about the birds in your area. Purchase a butterfly or bat house and again include books about local species. Same goes for a toad house; your child will be excited to place it in the new garden they will make this spring.

Support Their Cause

If your child has a favorite animal, “adopt” that animal in their name. You can do this by visiting worldwildlife.org or your local zoo’s website. In most cases you get a stuffed animal as a thank you for your support. Wrap the stuffed animal with a book or DVD about that animal and explain to your child that you have adopted it. Go online together to see pictures and what the adoption means. Your child will feel very proud they are helping something they care about.

All About Recycling

Kids typically enjoy recycling because kids like collecting things. When they get older the novelty sometimes wears off. One way to continue encouraging recycling is to move the focus from collecting to utilizing. Crafts are the way to do this; here the focus now becomes the “reuse” aspect of the 3Rs.

There are many good books out there, but one particularly good book is entitled, Good Earth Art, Environmental Art for Kids by MaryAnn Kohl and Cindy Gainer. This book features more than two hundred projects, and includes ideas for painting and drawing, sculpture and mobiles, collage and printing, weaving and crafts, and handmade art supplies all emphasizing the use of found objects. So if you have a budding artist, this is the way to go!

DVDs

There are a ton of DVDs about the earth, the environment, animal life etc., but if there is one gift you get for your family this holiday season, it should be: The Planet Earth Series (I know I've said it a lot). It truly brings the world home!

With a little thought we can educate our kids in a fun way without being preachy or making them feel they got “ripped off” (present wise). When you give your child a gift that not only informs them but gives them the power to change something, you truly give a gift to the earth!

Week 37 - Take Out, Again?!

So here we are in the midst of all the seasonal craziness. We have so much to get done, and feel there is so little time. While we are tearing through our to-do lists, we realize we have forgotten to take something out for dinner! No problem, we’ll pick something up. But wait! Remember what I wrote about a few weeks ago? You know, the fact that the amount of waste we produce at this time of year skyrockets? Well here is an area where we can make less of an impact on the environment by COOKING AT HOME!

I know what you’re thinking. You’re stressed to the max; you’ve got to stay focused if the family wants a “nice” Christmas; something’s gotta give! But I don’t think it should be cooking meals at home and here’s why.

1. According to idealbite.com more than 15 million tons of polystyrene plastic is produced each year, but less than 1% is recycled.
2. Styrofoam is made using cancer-causing benzene and the brain toxin styrene.
3. Most of the take out consumed by Americans is horrible for the body. You need energy. Quality food and a decent night’s sleep is the only way to get it!
4. You know that holiday weight we hear about and/or experience each year? It’s not just because of the sweets and alcohol. It’s also the continual eating on the go.
5. Making a home cooked meal will slow you down. You will spend time talking with your family. It will help you relax and remember what’s important.

Here are some ideas to make home cooked meals easier:

1. Keep it simple. They don’t have to be big productions. A bowl of pasta or soup with salad and bread is enough.
2. When you are cooking, make enough for at least one more meal.
3. If you are making a big batch of something, freeze some and than offer a portion to a friend. That would be a much appreciated gift!
4. Freeze meals so they are ready to go.
5. Make the crock pot your best friend; nothing could be simpler than putting all the meal ingredients in one pot and letting it cook itself. This Christmas would be a great time to ask for slow cooker recipe books.
6. Organize friends and have each one make a large quantity of a dish to share.
7. Plan ahead. You know you and your family have to eat; meals should be at the top of your list.

So what can you do if you decide you can’t cook at home?

1. BYOContainer. It will reduce waste.
2. Don’t forget your reusable bag for the food to be packed in.
3. Ask the business if they have anything other than Styrofoam and suggest they change to something more environmentally friendly.
4. Say "no" to the extras: plastic cutlery, napkins, salt and pepper packets, condiments.
5. Say “no” do the umpteenth menu.
6. Recycle the containers the food comes in.
7. Recycle cardboard pizza boxes.
8. Dine in. Enjoy a sit down meal at the restaurant, instead of carting the food home.

You may feel you just can’t think about one more thing; but this is pretty simple. More importantly, making this small change gives us several things to feel good about.

• You help the environment by reducing waste,
• You have a better chance at maintaining your weight,
• You will have more energy to get things done, and
• You will spend more time engaging with your family, which is what the holiday season is supposed to be about.

Just think of what it will mean to the people that love you when they see how relaxed and happy you look, as opposed to frazzled and grumpy. You will not only be doing a good thing for the earth, but you may actually give the impression you ENJOY creating a “nice” Christmas for your family!

Week 36 - GIVING GREEN

Ti's the season of giving and receiving, so I thought I should discuss the various ways we can be kinder to the environment while doing so. Let’s begin with ‘receiving’.

RECEIVING

The most obvious way to help the environment is to ask for nothing. Consider if you really need more stuff. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds if you focus on the true meaning of the season. When my family asks me what I want for Christmas, I always say nothing. Although there have been years when my husband and I have stuck to that ‘deal‘, I usually do get something. Nevertheless, the truth is, I mean what I say. Maybe in time my family will believe I really just want them to enjoy the day.

If you do want gifts, ask for things like:

1. Tickets to the theatre, the movies or a sporting event. This limits packaging and gives you something you will use.
2. Ask that a donation be made to your favorite charity. This has zero packaging and helps others.
3. Alcohol. A nice bottle of wine or liquor is perfect. It definitely won’t go to waste and the packaging is recyclable.

GIVING

‘Giving’ is the area we need to work on. Most of us are generous and feel we are showing our love for our families and friends when we go overboard with the gift giving. This is especially easy to do with kids. On our eldest child’s first Christmas (when she was aware something special was happening), I bought so much stuff she was overwhelmed; she just wanted to play with the first thing she opened. Her glazed look made it clear I had gone crazy. So now, my kids receive three gifts each and things feel just right. We need to show restraint and realize we can show our love in other ways. Here are some ideas to keep in mind this holiday season:

1. Ask the person what they want and then GET it (it's not important if you like it or think it's a good gift). No fuss, no muss, no waste!
2. Again, as with 'receiving', give gifts like tickets to an event.
3. Make a donation in someone’s name.
4. Give gift cards. They allow a person to choose what they want, again reducing waste.
5. You may think it tacky, but give money. Kids love it (and adults do too)! If you can't go the cash route, buy bonds or contribute to a college fund.
6. Buy memberships to organizations like a local zoo, aquarium, museum, gallery or national park.
7. Adopt an animal through a zoo or the World Wildlife Fund for the kids on your list.
8. Give the gift of a housekeeping service.
9. Give edible items.
10. Give alcohol.
11. Give the gift of knowledge by giving books, movies or documentaries about the environment (or any other topic they may be interested in).
12. Buy gifts with minimal packaging.
13. Shop from your computer.
14. When making on-line purchases, have items shipped directly to the gift recipient. This reduces 'double shipping'.
15. Do not ask for boxes. Wrap gifts in reusable containers.
16. Try to support businesses that:

• Are local
• Offer sustainable products
• Are organic
• Don’t test on animals
• Give a portion of their profits to charities

Last and certainly not least (in fact, I think it's the most important), give the gift of your time.

• Try coupons for babysitting.
• A home cooked meal.
• If someone has just moved into a new home - help him or her paint or decorate.
• Offer to walk their dog.
• House sit during their next trip.
• Commit to have sit down meals with your kids.
• Commit to monthly meals with your extended family.
  

We are always rushing around. The days blend into each other and we wonder where has time gone? This holiday season, stop! Look at what you have on your to do list and ask, is it really necessary. When the kids are grown-ups, will they remember a particular ‘item’ you bought them, or will they remember the time you spent baking cookies, playing or just ‘being’ together? By keeping it simple, we not only work wonders for the environment, but for our sanity and families too!