Green your Events - Holidays - Season

Create Your First Sustainable Holiday

When the holidays come around, they bring with them some very unique challenges if you want to go green.  We focus on entertaining others and giving gifts, and it's easy to throw out the choice we have made to live in a sustainable way.  The thing is, it doesn't have to be this way.  Here is a look at some great tips that can help you make the right choices so you can have a sustainable holiday that keeps our environment safe. Tips for Giving Gifts There are actually quite a few ways you can give gifts while still making sure you have a sustainable holiday.  Here are some great tips to help you keep gift giving green this year. - Buy fewer gifts for each person - Purchase gifts that are second hand - Go with gift certificates you make yourself - Hand make your gifts - Give to charity in the name of someone for a gift - Come up with a system that allows everyone in your family to buy a gift for one other person.  Set a price limit.  You'll be surprised on how much it cuts down on extra gifts. Just remember, if you want to make some gift giving changes, make sure you ...

Going Green in the New Year

Your New Year’s resolutions should include at least one green features for the coming year.  2010 is the year to go green -- It's never been easier.  With more and more people improving their habits, it's become more appealing than ever to implement an environmentally friendly lifestyle.  Green solutions don't have to mean expensive alternatives.  With the popularity of going green on the rise, it's become cheaper and easier to improve your living habits.  For instance, you should try and unplug all the electronics when they aren't in use.  Similarly, try turning off lights you are not using.  Try reducing your heater use, and wear extra layers of clothes to keep warm.  You should also try and switch from toxic and chemical cleaners to the eco-friendly and homemade alternatives to improve the quality of your indoor air. Try taking an adventure with your local transportation.  This is not only a great way of supporting your communities green public transportation efforts, this can also save you money.  Another fun and easy way to go green in the year is to invest in energy efficient light bulbs.  Purchase some energy monitors and programmable thermostats in order to avoid wasting energy in your home.  ...

Going Green in the Winter

The leaves may have changed color and fallen from the trees, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be any green in your wintertime.  Check out these tips for going green in the wintertime. Defeating the Cold Air Draft Temperatures vary during the winter but one way or another; nobody likes to live in a cold house.  Stepping out of a hot shower or bath into the cold air of a bathroom can be one of the worst experiences.  Most people end up taking longer showers in the winter because the sudden rush of cold air outside of the shower is very unappealing.   The cold air we all fear surrounding the outside of the shower, the fearful draft, comes from the crack under the door or perhaps a window.  Put an end to this waste of hot air and roll a towel to fit under the crack in the door or window.  Your bathroom window may fog up, but your transition from hot shower to cold bathroom is sure to be a smoother one.  Take this trick from the bathroom and use it in other rooms that may be draft prone, perhaps a door to a backyard patio or the doggie door, both ...

Green De-Icing Tips

For many of us in Northern climates, snow and ice buildup on roads, driveways, and walkways during the winter is inevitable.  There are many options out there for de-icing, but not all of them are safe for the environment.  Before you run down to the home store to pick up a bag of de-icer, consider these factors: The most common de-icing compound is rock salt, or sodium chloride.  Rock salt is widely available and effective, but as it dissolves releases a high amount of chloride into the environment.  This chloride pollutes streams, rivers and lakes, kills vegetation, and corrodes metal (such as bridges and cars). Another de-icing salt is calcium chloride.  Calcium chloride is also readily available and effective, working even at lower temperatures than rock salt, but still releases high levels of chloride into the environment and can cause skin irritation when using it.  Calcium chloride can also break down the chemical composition of concrete driveways and walkways. Two de-icing salts that are less detrimental to the environment are potassium chloride and magnesium chloride.  They are said to release about 40% less chlorides that calcium chloride and sodium chloride, and as a result are less toxic to plants, trees, and waterways. A greener ...

Greener Holiday Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags

Gift giving is a tradition that has been practiced for years, especially during Christmas season.  Thousands of dollars are spent each year on wrapping paper, gift bags, and ribbons.  Unfortunately, all these wrapping materials become wastes within minutes on Christmas day itself.  However, we can do our part on preserving the environment by planning our gift-giving tradition and using greener wrapping materials. Many manufacturers produce handmade wrapping papers that are tree-free.  These sheets of wrapping paper are obtainable in various natural materials, such as woven grass, tree bark, spun silk, banana fiber, hemp, and lokta.  Lokta paper is made from the inner bark of lokta bush, which grow plentiful in Nepal.  The lokta bushes grow very quickly, which makes them as great papermaking sources.  On the other hand, banana paper is made from the fiber off banana tree barks, commonly found in Asian countries.  Other materials used to make green wrapping paper are recycled office paper and recycled rags.  When purchasing recycled wrapping paper, watch for products with 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW) content and processed chlorine-free (PCF) paper products.  This means that no additional chlorine was used to bleach the recycled paper product. Besides using recycled wrapping paper and gift bags, ...