Eco-Friendly and Economical Holiday

While this was written 5 years ago during a tough economic times, I think there are still lessons for us to learn even as times continue to get a little better!

Holter Says Give Eco Friendly Love this Holiday

The zero emission and most-desired gift of all.

By Holter Graham
New York, NY, USA | Dec 2008 

Holter Graham offers a behind-the-scenes look at Planet Green's Wasted and shares his eco adventures and advice.
Reduce packaging, protect yourself in the recession, reduce shipping emissions, and get back in touch with the spirit of the holidays, all in one step: A present-free Holiday! Give the only truly organic, 100% recyclable gift: love.
The economy is starting to look like the planet feels. There's a sad but instructive harmony there, and there is also an opportunity to change the way we live for the better. Things are hard right now, but the American Way and the American Dream are deeply tied to hard work, self-sacrifice, and self-improvement. If we give a little, we get a little, and if we give a lot, we get a lot.
The American Dream has been discounted and bought on credit a little too much in the past couple of generations, and has lost some of its value and power. This recent economic and environmental downturn we're coming out of can be the catalyst for the kind of great and far-reaching change we will all benefit from. And you can start it at home this holiday season, regardless of what you celebrate.
If this holiday season you refrain from buying expensive and/or useless gift items, and instead spend that time and a tiny bit of that money showing each other love, respect, affection, and trust, it will, in the long run, be the best holiday season ever. I promise.
Sure, we may all want the new game platform or vampire book or SUV or half-carat ring or designer outfit. But do we need it?
Each of the items listed above: costs money few of us have lying around these days; costs fuel to ship to your house, costs trees and landfill space to package and dispose of, and costs time spent in mall-mobs or online that could be spent with family.
Try this: before the holiday happens, before expectations can get out of control, speak to your family. Explain how tight money is for all of us, explain how every item purchased has an effect on the environment. Ask each family member what they are thankful for. Tell them you are thankful for them. Talk to each other about what really makes you happy.
Then spend Christmas, Diwali, Hanukah, Kwanzaa or just good ole' Wednesday together, as a family. Spend half an hour online looking for something interesting in your neighborhood, then all go for a walk and look at it together. Have a long conversation about your favorite foods, then spend the day cooking a meal that makes everyone happy--have you ever tried marshmallow pies and humus and pork chops all in one meal? Might be nice.
I know it goes against what the TV and the ads and the banners and the billboards and the internet and the radio tend to say all the time: buy! spend! ship! order now!
But I'm telling you; once you commit to realizing that family and togetherness are better, more valuable gifts, more precious and more renewable than anything else on earth, you just may have the happiest holiday ever. And the greenest, too.
And that is what I, and the planet, wish for you. Happy Holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving that is as “green” as can be!  And Happy Hanukkah!

Check articles in this blog that are labeled “holidays” for some green ideas!  Also, remember to shop local and buy locally made if possible! 

How to Have a Green Thanksgiving

By Natalie Gailes, eHow Contributor

Think "green" this Thanksgiving. You'll feel better about yourself when you are giving back for all that you have to be thankful for. Plan an eco-friendly holiday. Big celebrations don't have to negatively impact the environment. Go organic, get creative and reduce your waste. Do your part to make this Thanksgiving holiday a little more "green." Even if you are traveling lots of miles and using up lots of gas, it isn't too difficult to help even out that carbon footprint if you are conscious of all the other choices you make along the way.

<![if !supportLists]>1.    <![endif]>Serve organic foods. Organic foods are completely chemical-free and less harmful to the environment.

<![if !supportLists]>2.    <![endif]>Keep decorations simple. It's tempting to purchase Thanksgiving decorations, but many of these plastic and paper items end up in the landfills.

<![if !supportLists]>3.    <![endif]>Celebrate your green holiday with neighbors. Many people travel great distances during the Thanksgiving Holidays. This consumes an excessive amount of energy in a short amount of time. Reduce energy waste when you invite your neighbors to Thanksgiving dinner. Use traditional silverware.

<![if !supportLists]>4.    <![endif]>Avoid using paper plates and plastic silverware.

<![if !supportLists]>5.    <![endif]>Compost your leftovers you just can’t eat. While it is better to only cook what you'll use, there are often plenty of leftovers after Thanksgiving dinner.

<![if !supportLists]>6.    <![endif]>Talk about the things that matter to you around the dinner table. When it's your turn to list what you are thankful for, talk about the environment and what being "green" means to you.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_4507213_have-green-thanksgiving.html#ixzz2lqnboT6t

Living Large - But leaving a small footprint.

By Tom Swick

Photos by Kara Starzyk

May & June 2013 | FLMag.com

Enter Carolyn Plummer’s house on Nurmi Isle and the first thing that impresses you is the spaciousness. Soaring ceilings, distant walls. “I removed

one of the barrier walls,” she says. If not for the steps down into the living area you could move the sofas, hang a backboard, invite the neighbors and have a half-court game. Easily.

There’s also the light. Even on an overcast day it streams in through the large windows, and gets magnified by the predominantly white interior.  But probably the most impressive thing about the house is something you can’t see: It is Broward County’s only LEED certified remodel. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.) Inside – as well as outside – it appears to be a brand new house, contemporary and clean and, as you discover, eco-friendly. But it is actually a renovation.

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“I wanted to live in this area,” says Plummer, who is co-owner of It’s A 10 Hair Care. She was living in Parkland, and drove up and down the isles on either side of Las Olas Boulevard looking for something that had “good bones.” What she found was a house – “very 1980s” – that had been sitting empty for over two years. Her five-year-old daughter, Kyana, called it The Cucaracha House. “We pretty much brought the house down to the cinder blocks,” she explains. And then she created a minimalist palace with “a modern Zen feel.” The front yard contains a small Japanese garden of sand and rocks, with spare, rustic wood furniture (including a bench that stretches strategically over the gas tank cover). Some of the trees that border it are recycled from the previous landscape. A three-tiered fountain provides a soothing sound and, on the front steps, three large, perfectly smoothed stones sit atop one another.

Plummer’s goal was “naturalist modern,” with “a mixing of elements: water, fire, wood.” In addition to the fountain in the front, the original pool –

now resurfaced – overlooks the canal in the back. Underneath the kitchen sink sits a Kangen water machine, which puts the tap water through an ionization process, making it more alkaline. It also frees Plummer from buying bottled water. In addition, she installed a rain barrel by the side of the house. Even the sprinkler system is conscientious, judiciously seeping water into the lawn rather than spraying onto the street. The kitchen – a high-ceilinged space that flows freely into the living area – has a hibachi grill and an energy-efficient induction stove. Ventilation fans pop up at the push of a button as do, on the counter, electrical outlets. The gas fireplace sits across the way, under a wall of humidity-absorbent tile. Plummer splashes some water onto two small squares to show how quickly the drops disappear. The wood throughout the house is walnut, including the dining table, which is “one huge slab of walnut.” The bedroom floors are American walnut.

The second master bathroom has a champagne tub, its bubbles coming up quietly from the bottom (with none of the noisy pumps of a Jacuzzi). Plummer points to two narrow parallel vents high up in the ceiling; they’re part of the cooling and heating system. The windows all have e-coating for UV protection and also reduction of the sun’s heat. Plummer says her electric bill is $400 to $500 a month, while her neighbor’s is over five times that. The lighting is also LEED certified. “It’s not symmetrical,” Plummer says. “It’s for ambiance more than for direct light.” Outside, a two-story vertical light, encased in granite tile, flanks each side of the main entrance. The lighting, like everything else – temperature, security system, blinds, cable, music – is controlled by Crestron, which Plummer can operate from her laptop anywhere in the world. Sitting in the garage, naturally, is a solar and electric car.

http://www.flmag.com/sites/default/files/issues/pdf/FLMag_May-June%20Web.pdf

http://www.flmag.com/

Recycling Mystery: Toothbrushes & Toothpaste Tubes

Recycling Mystery from Mary Mazzoni 08/30/12

Oral care products, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes, can seem nearly impossible to recycle. After all, how would a recycler remove all of that extra toothpaste from the tube or dissasemble a toothbrush for recycling? Let’s take a closer look at this recycling mystery to get the low-down on how to keep our pearly whites healthy without contributing to landfill waste.

How are oral care products recycled?

Oral care products and packaging vary greatly by material and can include different numbered plastics, along with aluminum, steel and nylon. In most cases, each of these components must be processed separately – meaning a tricky job for recyclers.
“Toothbrushes are one of the most complicated items that we collect for recycling across the board, simply because they’re made up of three different components,” said Stacey Krauss, U.S. public relations manager for Terracycle, which accepts toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, mouthwash containers and dental floss packaging through the mail-back Oral Care Brigade.

“There’s the nylon bristles, there’s a metal staple that holds the bristles in place, and then there’s the plastic handle. So, all three of those materials need to be separated before they can be processed,” she explained.

After toothbrush components are separated, metals are processed through standard recycling, while nylon and plastics are shredded, cleaned and pelletized for use in Terracycle products – including picnic tables, benches, playground equipment, bike racks and garden tools, Krauss said.

The sticky residue inevitably left inside toothpaste tubes makes these picks seem like another head-scratcher, but they’re actually much easier to recycle than you’d think, Terracycle’s lead scientist, Ernie Simpson, told Earth911.

“For bottles, toothpaste tubes or anything like that, one of the tricks for getting residuals out of these containers is to shred the material,” Simpson said. “Once the materials are shredded, the surface area that has the residuals is exposed.”

After toothpaste tubes are shredded, they pass through a washing cycle – where the pieces are cleaned with water or a simple biocide, a solution that dissolves bio-based materials. From there, shredded tubes are dried and enter a pelletizing step, where recycled materials are converted into pellets for use in new products.

Similar shredding and pelletizing processes are used for salvaging mouthwash containers and dental floss packaging for recycling, Simpson said.

Can I recycle oral care products locally?

Through the Terracycle Oral Care Brigade, consumers can fill a box with toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and other bathroom leftovers and mail it back to Terracycle for recycling. For each item mailed back, you’ll receive two Terracycle points – which can be redeemed for cash donations to the school or charity of your choice.

For more information go to:  http://earth911.com/news/2012/08/30/recycling-toothbrushes-and-toothpaste-tubes/2  

Green Toys

In honor of America Recycles Day, here’s an US company that takes milk containers and recycles them into toys.


The holidays are upon us and if you are buying toys for younger children you might want to check out Green Toys.  I have never bought from them but their green policies seem very sound. 
http://www.greentoys.com/

Made in California, USA: Less Transportation, Less Energy
All Green Toys products are 100% made in the USA. To be more specific, they are produced in California, a state known for strict toy safety and environmental laws. It's cool to buy USA, but also think about this: transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses. We all know driving less is good for Mother Nature, but did you ever think about how many miles a toy logs before it ends up in your local store?

Our toys are truly local creations. Every step in the process, from milk container recycling to toy production to final assembly, occurs in California. Our raw materials and toys aren't shipped from overseas, which saves a lot of energy and reduces greenhouse gasses. It also guarantees your toys won't get seasick before they get to your home!

Environmental Packaging
Green Toys environmental mission even extends to our packaging. We strive to minimize packaging, and all of our boxes use as little material as possible. All Green Toys products are packaged in recycled corrugated boxes with no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties, and are 100% recyclable. So, not only are they earth-friendly and ready for your recycling bin, they are really easy to open for those little fingers just itching to get at the toys!!

Not Every "Environmentally-Friendly" toy is a Green Toy™

Green Toys™ products are unique in the toy industry. Our raw material, packaging, supply chain and fulfillment are all located in the same US state, reducing transportation and therefore greenhouse gas emissions, as well as saves energy. Green Toys™ products are the only toys on the market made from 100% recycled post-consumer recycled materials, and our products are the only ones on the market packaged exclusively in 100% recyclable cardboard, with no twist ties or plastics that must be discarded into landfills.

Things You Can Recycle for Free

Friday is America Recycles Day.  Looking for different stuff to recycle?  Here’s some help –

10 Things You Didn't Know You Could Recycle for Free 

November 4, 2013

By Leah Ingram

There are a number of items we recycle on a regular basis. We put our paper, plastics, and aluminum out for curbside pickup. When our county holds a household hazardous waste day, we use it to recycle electronics, paints, and anything else that needs to be safely disposed. And when our linens become threadbare, we “recycle” those towels, sheets, and blankets by donating them to a local animal shelter.

What I didn’t know is that there are plenty of other products we use on a daily basis that can be recycled. That’s good to know in time for America Recycles Day, occurring November 15. According to Recyclebank, which offers rewards based on how much households recycle, here are 10 things you likely didn’t know you could recycle:

1. Pet Fur: In our house we usually “recycle” pet fur, along with dryer lint, in one of two ways—by making fire starters for our fireplace, or by placing the fur in our compost pile. Turns out pet fur can be reused to make the mats and containment booms that companies use after an oil spill. Matter of Trust, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, uses donations of clean pet fur to make both the mats and booms from recycled pantyhose (see tip 6 below for more on how to recycle pantyhose). These designs effectively soak up oil without requiring the use of new resources.
2. Bras: I’ve often donated bras when I bring my items to Goodwill, assuming they’re not too worn out to benefit someone else. Another way to recycle your bras is to send them to the Bosom Buddies Bra Recycling program, run by a textile recycling company. It donates bras of all shapes and sizes to local shelters, or redistributes them through exporters and organizations to women in developing nations. You can mail in your old bras or bring them to a drop-off location near you.
3. Glasses and Hearing Aids: The Lions Club often collects old glasses, and recycles the frames to make new pairs of glasses for those living in developing nations who need vision correction but can’t afford glasses. (I’ve worn glasses since I was seven. I know how expensive they can be!) Another program that takes glasses as well as hearing aids is New Eyes for the Needy.
4. Mattresses: Before buying your next mattress, see if the retailer will take your old one. Several mattress retailers will now accept used mattresses for recycling. Used mattresses are sent to a mattress recycling center, where they are turned into fiber for clothing, wood chips, foam products, and scrap metal. Check out the Earth 911 website for mattress recycling options near you.
5. Greeting Cards: I’ll often recycle last year’s holiday cards into tags for this year’s holiday gifts. But if you’re not too crafty, you can send old cards to the St. Jude’s Ranch for Children Recycled Card Program, which turns old greeting cards into new ones.
6. Pantyhose: Companies like No Nonsense recycle your old, nylon pantyhose by grinding them down and transforming them into park benches, playground equipment, carpets, and even toys. Here are two ways to reuse pantyhose at home for free: stuff them with old t-shirts to make a draft stopper that you put in front of drafty doors in winter, or fill them with ice melt, and put them in your gutters to keep any water that might collect there from freezing up.
7. Compact Discs: Even though most music these days is downloaded, there are still plenty of CDs out in the world. You can send your discs to The CD Recycling Center, which will shred them into a fine powder that’s later melted down, and used for plastic in automotive and building materials.
8. Tennis Balls: There are a few ways to recycle tennis balls. You can use them in the dryer, to help move clothes around and dry faster. Dogs also like old tennis balls as toys. And teachers who don’t like the sound of scraping desks and chairs will gladly take tennis balls off your hands so they can use them on furniture legs.
9. Wine corks: Ever wonder where cork flooring comes from? Well, an organization called reCork turns wine corks into flooring tiles, along with building insulation, automotive gaskets, craft materials, soil conditioner, and sports equipment.
10. Running Shoes: Even the most worn-out shoes can be recycled into building materials! Check out Recycled Runners for shoe recycling facilities and organizations near you. This is good to know, because I’ve always wanted to donate my daughters’ sneakers, but since they were too stinky, I felt bad handing them down to someone else.

Of course, this list just scratches the surface of where you can go to recycle things you use in your everyday life. One “service” I continue to rely on to get rid of things I no longer need is Freecycle, where one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. It’s the ultimate way to recycle household items you no longer want or need—by giving them away for free to others.
Leah Ingram is the author of 14 books, including two on frugal living: Suddenly Frugal: How to Live Happier and Healthier on Less (Adams Media, 2010) and Toss, Keep, Sell: The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Getting Organized and Making Money from Your Stuff (Adams Media, 2010). She is also the founder of the popular frugal-living blog called Suddenly Frugal. Right now if you subscribe to Suddenly Frugal, Leah will send you an exclusive freebie. Each week here on Parade.com she’ll be covering different money-saving ideas as well as profiling frugal celebrities. If you have an idea, let her know. In the meantime, follow her on Twitter @suddenlyfrugal and “Like” Suddenly Frugal on Facebook.
http://www.parade.com/224333/leahingram/10-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-recycle-for-free/#.UnloNSm41DQ.twitter

Friday Funny

  

An “idea” for all you “greenies” traveling this holiday weekend.  :)

Have a green Veteran’s Day weekend!  Take time to remember those who served!

Long-Range Plug-In Electric Car

We offer a battery of green 'toons/comics here; this cartoons is from The Other Coast, by Adrian Raeside; Embed source: comics.com