Eco Tip - Winter 2011
10 tips for a green Christmas
Celebrate the season without adding unnecessarily to the waste and excess that tend to prevail at this time of year. Check out these suggestions for caring for the environment while you enjoy the holidays:
1. Consider the environmental-friendliness of all gift ideas before choosing.
2. Take reusable bags with you to the store when you are gift shopping.
3. Consider wrapping your gifts in reusable fabric, baskets, bags or newspaper. Avoid using foil wrapping paper or tissue paper, since they are not yet recyclable. Look for recycled or recyclable wrapping paper. Better yet, give gifts that don’t need wrapping. After the holidays, recycle any wrapping paper you can.
4. Use rechargeable batteries in all your electronics and gifts.
5. Use only LED holiday lighting solutions.
6. Turn outdoor lights off before you go to bed – or sooner.
7. Decorate with natural ornaments like holly, evergreen boughs, pine cones, cranberries, popcorn and fruit - all compostable.
8. Recycle your Christmas tree.
9. Save your gift wrap, decorations and cards to reuse next year.
10. Coordinate car trips for shopping and errands to make the most of each one, thereby reducing
What is Organic, Anyway?
Organic farming and a demand for the produce grown by organic farming methods is increasing at a rapid pace. But just what exactly is organic farming?
Organic farming can be defined as farming with a respect for nature and the environment. It recognizes the natural balances between the earth, plants and animals, steers clear of synthetic chemicals and, in the case of livestock, allows for free-ranging and more humane treatment of animals in general.
The specific benefits of organic farming are many, but the end result of this focus and discipline is improved health of people, our co-inhabitants on this earth, and the earth itself.
Check out that ever-expanding organic section of your local grocery store or one of the many specialty food shops that have opened up to handle the demand for organically-farmed produce and meat to see for yourself what’s available.
Did you Know...?
Somewhere between 500 billion & a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.
- Less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled. It costs more to recycle a bag than to produce a new one.
- Most plastic bags end up in an ocean fill.
- Bags get blown around, into our seas, lakes & rivers. They also find their way into the sea via drains and sewage pipes.
- The effect on wildlife can be catastrophic:
- Birds become terminally entangled.
- Nearly 200 different species of sea life including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles die due to plastic bags (after ingesting plastic bags which they mistake for food).
IF WE USE A CLOTH BAG... We can save 6 bags a week.
THAT’S: 24 bags a month, 288 bags a year, 22,176 bags in an average lifetime!
If 1 out of every 5 people in our country did this..... we would save 1,330,560,000,000 bags over our lifetime!!!!!!
Please say NO to plastic bags....
