My friend Jill is big on respecting the turkey (so no Christmas talk until after Thanksgiving). Our Thanksgiving is in early October but that just seems way to early to start focusing on Christmas. Usually I start after Halloween but IHO Jill I held off until after the US Thanksgiving.

So lets talk about having a Green Holiday. What are some simple things you can do to have less of an impact this holiday season?

Christmas Tree

I will fully admit that I am guilty of having a fake tree (I will wait while you throw stuff at me.....are you done yet? Good.). When we first got it we were living in a condo. Condo rules = no real trees. It doesn't make sense environmentally or financially to get rid of our fake tree to get a real one now. But once we finish our basement we will most likely have 2 trees. One downstairs and one upstairs in the front window. We can have that second one be real.

When purchasing a real tree look for something that can be planted after the holiday season is over. If that doesn't work for you then look for a tree that is grown locally. This will cut down on the emissions from transporting it.

Gobble Gobble

Christmas isn't Christmas without turkey. Go for an organic turkey from a local farmer. It will cost you more than the 99 cent/lb from the grocery store but it will be worth it.

Wrapping Presents

Does everyone have a kajillion gift bags stashed away in a closet somewhere? I make sure I use these for the adults and then wrap the gifts for the kids. I don't want them to miss out on the excitement of ripping into their presents!  Right now we are using up the old wrapping paper we bought years and years ago but once it is gone we will be looking for new ways to wrap gifts. I am going to look into recycled wrapping paper and also maybe making our own. There are lots of natural ways to wrap your gifts and lets face it they look pretty spectacular!

What are some ways that you plan on reducing your impact this holiday season?

Related Posts - Check them out

Greening the Holidays - Decorating

Greening the Holidays - Gift Giving

There is a great giveaway going on at Happy Green Babies. These products look awesome....but I am also a sucker for anything natural that smells good.  And come on.....they have bear safety playing cards. Every Canadian needs these!

My friend Sam is an artist. Her inspiration for her artwork comes from nature so you will see that she focuses on capturing the beauty of brightly coloured flowers, frogs, butterflies and other insects (sometimes spiders eeeekkkk - do.not.want). She is trying to showcase the beauty in the ordinary parts of nature to make people appreciate it more. Our ecosystems are so interconnected that one small change in one insect can lead to major disruptions in an entire food chain.

What I really like about Sam's artwork is that she is bringing nature to life in an environmentally responsible manner. Her canvases and backing boards are made from recycled materials, her prints are on sugar-cane paper and she uses biodegradable plastic sleeves. If the client wants the art framed Sam tries to find used frames that will showcase her work but if she can't find something that is used she will try to buy a frame that is made from FSC certified wood from replenished forests or bamboo. Her mousepads are even made from recycled tire rubber!

If you buy art from Sam don't be surprised if it arrives in an old cereal or cracker box. She also reuses common items from around her home instead of having to buy new art supplies. These are both cheap and easy way to reuse material and reduce her impact on the environment.

I asked Sam what questions people can ask to ensure that the artwork they are puchasing from any artist is as green as possible. Here are her suggestions:

For original paintings most paints won't be made from eco-friendly materials but you can look for canvas made from organic cotton or FSC certified wooden stretcher bars and frames. For a drawing look for paper made from recycled content and pencils made from scrap wood or wood from managed forests.

When you checkout Sam's website you will notice that it is about more than just art. These topics range from bee's (::hides under bed::) to how she is reducing her own impact on the environment. What is Sam doing to Go Green?  She is walking instead of driving her car, keeps shopping to a minimum to reduce her consumerism and is trying to buy more used items. She also uses eco-friendly cleaning supplies, drinks tap water, uses a reuseable water bottle, makes her own tea/coffee at home to avoid waste and use of paper cups and she joined a CSA this year.

http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/

Was this cool when you were in elementary school? It was for me. Everyone stopped using backpacks and started to bring all their school supplies to school in plastic grocery bags. The environmentalist in me cringes at the thought of doing that now.

Before we stopped getting plastic bags when grocery shopping I would reuse them by putting my lunch in them. I saw it as a way to get multiple uses out of them. When we switched to fabric grocery bags I made the switch for my lunch bag as well.

My friend Rex is over in Nepal with VSO.  He recently wrote an article on an green initative that the offices there have implemented. The VSO Nepal office has banned all plastic bags. That is right...not only will they not use them as part of their operation but employees, volunteers and visitors can not even bring them onsite.

What a fantastic idea! I started to think about what my work uses plastic bags for. Garbage and recycling are the top one's. There are bags (biodegradable) at every desk, in every conference room, in the washrooms, first aid rooms and in the kitchens. There are even more uses in the other buildings onsite. Would we ever be able to cut them out like the VSO Nepal office did? I honestly don't see why not. Seems like such a small change that could have a huge impact overall.

Would your work be able to ban all plastic bags?

Would you be able to do it at your home?

It takes a lot of time, money and research to be green.

Waste - do you think it is fun to take the composting out in the middle of the winter? Heck no. In fact we both let it go as long as possible in hopes that the other person will finally give in and take it out. I rarely win this game. I try to entice Joe by pulling out the bin and putting it by the back door. I know he sees it there, but one look at the snow outside and he can just forget that it is there. How much easier would it be to just toss our compostables in with the rest of the garbage that is stored in the semi-warm garage.

Transportation - remember when hybrids were hella ugly? You had to be really crunchy to want to be seen in one. You don't buy a hybrid for the savings on fuel costs as it would take many years to get a payback on the cost of buying one in the first place. You buy one because it is reducing the amount of toxins being emitted. You buy one because you care more about the environment then you do about the fact that you could have had a BMW for the same price.

Energy - have you ever walked into someones house in the dead of winter and it is like walking off the plane in South America? I could have the heat cranked right now but what is the point? I have a hoodie on and a blanket over my legs (the laptop is keeping the rest of me warm). I am comfortable the way I am and I am saving both money and energy usage. Note - I also now have a cat sprawled out over the part of me that isn't covered by the blanket or laptop. He's a free space heater folks!

So why do people do it? Why is it important that we all do something daily to reduce our impact on the environment? I believe it is the morally responsible thing to do. One must consider there own personal economics when making environmental decisions but we all should do what we can to make this world a better place.

I do it for Joe, for Ben, for you.

Why do you do it?

I first learned about Ecotraction last year from one of my colleagues. He saw it on the TV show Dragons Den and decided to check it out. What is it exactly? It is a green alternative to sand, salt and de-icer. That means you have all the benefits of a slip free walkway/driveway this winter and you don't have to worry about your impact on the environment.

Sand is not a great option because it gets into the waterways and degrades the water quality thereby preventing sunlight from getting to the plant and marine life.

Salt also gets into our waterways and adds to the salinity of the water. This can lead to loss of plant and marine life. And lets face it no one likes walking on the large salt bits or the lovely white ring it leaves on the bottom of your pants.

Ecotraction works by absorbing the layer of water that is on top of the ice and providing traction by creating a sandpaper like texture. It acts as a de-icer by attacting an increased amount of sunlight and allowing the snow/ice to melt at a fast rate. For more information check this out. All this and it doesn't have a negative impact on our waterways (or our pants).

Come springtime all you have to do is sweep Ecotraction up and you can reuse it on your lawn or in your garden or in your catbox. That's right...it is reuseable. I guess you could do that with salt too. One day on your driveway, the next on the rim of you margarita glass.

We will be using Ecotraction this winter and I look forward to seeing this product in action (from the comfort of my living room :) ).

So where can you find this cool product? Find a retailer near you and help green your winter snow removal practices.

I came across this article on using bubble wrap to insulate your windows for winter. It looks like it could be a really great way to keep your home warm over the bitter cold winters. As you may have read we are currently working on winterizing our home and I think I am going to try bubble wrapping a few of our windows to see what it is like.

Now how do I keep myself from popping the bubbles????

Related Posts - Check them out
Weekly Eco-Challenge - Preparing for Winter
Winterizing your Home