Green your Events - Holidays - Season

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 ...

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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 ...

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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, ...

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Greener Holiday Greeting Cards

Christmas is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year.  It is the season of giving and sharing.  Besides the tradition of gift giving, many people enjoy sending and receiving holiday greeting cards through the mail.  This makes greeting card business a very lucrative and successful business.  However, many people are getting more aware of the impact of buying and sending holiday greeting cards to the environment, especially if the greeting cards are made of paper direct from trees. There are a number of ways to eliminate or lessen the usage of paper greeting cards.  If you must send paper greeting cards, opt for those printed on recycled papers.  Nowadays, greeting cards printed on recycled paper are growing in popularity.  The recycled papers are typically made of at least 30 percent of post-consumer products.  There are also more recycled papers that are made of higher post-consumer products, which are even better.  You can also opt for your cards to be printed with soy or vegetable-based inks.  Ask your recycled paper manufacturer for recommendations of green printers, if you prefer personalizing your recycled holiday greetings.  Recycled greeting cards are as pretty and classy as the traditional paper greeting cards, if not ...

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How To Have A Green Christmas

Working towards a green Christmas is not difficult, but it requires some thinking.  With careful planning and some common sense, you can celebrate a green Christmas this year too. Try to avoid sending paper greeting cards.  Send e-cards or direct people to your blog.  Compile family photos of previous Christmas in a video, add some Christmas tunes and you have a fun way of sending your best wishes.  It is also a way to remind old friends and families of how much fun you had last Christmas. When shopping, bring your own tote bag and refuse paper or plastic bags from your store.  Make sure you listed down everything you need, such as gifts, groceries and so forth, so as to avoid making returns to the store and wasting both time and gas.  You can opt for online shopping too.  This way, you can avoid driving and getting caught in traffic. When giving gifts, consider gifts that do not turn into waste, such as concert or theater tickets.  Suggest family and friends create wish lists to exchange, so no gifts given are wasted or left to sit on a shelf collecting dust (or worse, in a landfill). Consider making gifts, many handmade and homemade ...

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