Go Greener Tips

Archive for the ‘Green Holidays’ Category

Gloria Camposon of Daily Green Tips

Thanksgiving is around the corner for some of us. If you celebrate it you know how non-environmentally friendly it can be. If your are looking for ways to green it up this year, here are some quick green tips to make your Thanksgiving as eco-friendly as possible.

1. Turkey Compromise. The most obvious eco-solution is to not buy a turkey and just have a complete vegan meal, especially if you’ve recently filled you head up on all the recent news on the environmental impact of eating meat, but your family has decided to go against the idea. You want you and your family to be happy so you make a compromise (no, not a soy shaped into a turkey). To compromise you can do several things:

a. You can buy and cook the turkey give it to your family and not eat it yourself. Eat a delicious organic salad, with cherries and nuts and homemade dressing, but unless you are already vegan or vegetarian, do you really have the will power to smell the turkey and not eat it?

b. Buy an organic Free-Range Turkey. An organic free range turkey is suppose to be turkey that is not in cages and is allowed to move about the yard. Some informative sites to turn to to make sure you are getting exactly what you are looking for are Really Natural and Free Range Turkeys.

c. Yes, organic free-range turkeys can be expensive so if it doesn’t fit in your budget this year consider another alternative. Buy a regular turkey and the rest of your food organic. Local Farmers market is a good place to look for organic fruits and veggies, but if there isn’t one near your area buy organic from your local grocery store.

2. Organic. Buy everything you can buy organic, milk, meat, veggies, fruits, etc. This includes any boxed or canned items you may purchase. Remember to go online and search for Organic coupons. This will help cut down the cost of your Thanksgiving feast

3. Packaging. When you go to the store buy things that have the least amount of packaging and try to buy packaging that is environmentally friendly.

4. Don’t cook so much. Yes, “it is better to have more than not enough” but is it really necessary to count 3 servings per person? Isn’t that a bit much? Think about all the left overs you had last year and then cut down on that amount of servings if you are going to have the same amount of people over this year. . Between the turkey, the many side dishes and the desserts there is plenty of food to stuff everyone and more. If you accidentally do make too much food or someone cancels, give the leftovers away to family and friends, Don’t let them mold up in the fridge.

5. Dinnerware and silverware. It’s okay to use your good dishes or even your regular dishes for Thanksgiving. It is a celebration after all, but if the thought of washing so many dishes is terrifying look into biodegradable or bamboo disposable dishes.

6. Beautiful weather outside. A lot of bodies in one house can make the place warm so if its cool outside open up some windows to help the place cool down, instead of turning on the AC.

7. Decorations. Reuse your old decorations from last year in new way or just make some new ones. Use items from your back yard and fall fabric colors if you have any to make a nice centerpiece. As always the Internet is a great resource for creative ideas. Any bought decorations should also be environmentally friendly, that includes flowers, plants and so on.

8. 100-Mile. Participate in the 100-Mile Thanksgiving challenge from Treehugger. If you haven’t heard of it yet click on the link here.

9. Plant a tree. Winter season is a good time to plant trees and shrubs so take this time to plant a tree and keep the green growing.

10. Carbon credits. If you must fly or drive to visit family this Thanksgiving consider purchasing carbon credits to make up for it.

11. Donate your turkey fat. No, not the fat you put on from eating the turkey, but the actual fat from the cooked Turkey. Can you believe a Tucson-based company recycles Turkey fat into Biofuel? Check to see if a company in your community does too.

12. Say Thanks..

(CBS) You can have an eco-friendly Easter without too much trouble.

On The Early Show Friday, contributor and environmental lifestyle guru Danny Seo outlined simple, fun ways to turn the holiday green.

(CBS) You can have an eco-friendly Easter without too much trouble.

On The Early Show Friday, contributor and environmental lifestyle guru Danny Seo outlined simple, fun ways to turn the holiday green.

E EASTER EGGS WITH NATURAL INGREDIENTS

Boil water and add red cabbage, turmeric, and coffee beans to dye those eggs — naturally!

THE EASTER BASKET

Start by raiding your attic, closets and basement for inexpensive wicker baskets with handles. Many baskets can also be found at stores such as Goodwill for very little money. Then “de-petal” old silk flowers — gluing just the petals to the front of the baskets. Another option: Take a sturdy shopping bag and make it into an instant basket. All you have to do is cut off a left and right corner and tape the remaining connecting strip together as a handle.

ECO-FRIENDLY BASKET FILL

Natural materials are best. If you can’t get fresh hay or woodland moss, think office paper. Shred colorful office paper into fine pieces using an office shredder and add two or three perfume advertisements to gently “scent” the light, papery nest. Use it to pad baskets.

For inside fill, stock up on yummy organic chocolates, lollipops and other treats. While they still aren’t healthy choices, since they’re full of sugar, they’re greener choices, since they use cocoa and sugar grown without pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. Add large apothecary jars and bowls filled with colorful treats. After, Easter recycle chocolate boxes to store jewelry or office supplies.

Among the companies making organic chocolate are Dagoba, whose offerings you can buy at various stores and specialty shops, and online at dagobachocolate.com, and Theo, whose products you can also purchase at various stores and specialty shops, and online at theochocolate.com.

CENTERPIECES

Decorate empty soups cans by wrapping with newspaper or pages from a large book, allowing enough paper to protrude past the edge of the can. Then use scissors to trim strips all the way down to replicate grass. Finish by decorating with stickers and filling with flowers or candy.

RECYCLED PAPER DECOR

Use the Sunday comics to trim cake stands and your Easter table. Replicate spring grass by cutting into paper or fold and cut patterns, as if you’re making a paper snowflake, to create an intricate effect. Make rabbit cutouts and put them together with string to make banners.

PROJECT WITH MARSHMALLOW PEEPS

Pick up a pot or tray of wheatgrass from the health food store and poke long bamboo skewers in it. Skewer marshmallow Peeps on top, and display.

GIFTS FOR GROWNUPS AND KIDS!

For grownups, recycle empty Altoid tins and fill them with hay or moss from the yard. Fill each Altoid tin with “sweet” gift cards. You can also put jellybeans in the Altoid boxes for a sweet treat!
Boil water and add red cabbage, turmeric, and coffee beans to dye those eggs — naturally!

THE EASTER BASKET

Start by raiding your attic, closets and basement for inexpensive wicker baskets with handles. Many baskets can also be found at stores such as Goodwill for very little money. Then “de-petal” old silk flowers — gluing just the petals to the front of the baskets. Another option: Take a sturdy shopping bag and make it into an instant basket. All you have to do is cut off a left and right corner and tape the remaining connecting strip together as a handle.

ECO-FRIENDLY BASKET FILL

Natural materials are best. If you can’t get fresh hay or woodland moss, think office paper. Shred colorful office paper into fine pieces using an office shredder and add two or three perfume advertisements to gently “scent” the light, papery nest. Use it to pad baskets.

For inside fill, stock up on yummy organic chocolates, lollipops and other treats. While they still aren’t healthy choices, since they’re full of sugar, they’re greener choices, since they use cocoa and sugar grown without pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. Add large apothecary jars and bowls filled with colorful treats. After, Easter recycle chocolate boxes to store jewelry or office supplies.

Among the companies making organic chocolate are Dagoba, whose offerings you can buy at various stores and specialty shops, and online at dagobachocolate.com, and Theo, whose products you can also purchase at various stores and specialty shops, and online at theochocolate.com.

CENTERPIECES

Decorate empty soups cans by wrapping with newspaper or pages from a large book, allowing enough paper to protrude past the edge of the can. Then use scissors to trim strips all the way down to replicate grass. Finish by decorating with stickers and filling with flowers or candy.

RECYCLED PAPER DECOR

Use the Sunday comics to trim cake stands and your Easter table. Replicate spring grass by cutting into paper or fold and cut patterns, as if you’re making a paper snowflake, to create an intricate effect. Make rabbit cutouts and put them together with string to make banners.

PROJECT WITH MARSHMALLOW PEEPS

Pick up a pot or tray of wheatgrass from the health food store and poke long bamboo skewers in it. Skewer marshmallow Peeps on top, and display.

GIFTS FOR GROWNUPS AND KIDS!

For grownups, recycle empty Altoid tins and fill them with hay or moss from the yard. Fill each Altoid tin with “sweet” gift cards. You can also put jellybeans in the Altoid boxes for a sweet treat!

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Another St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and Irish pubs all over the world will soon be jam-packed with millions of beer lovers in their green suits, eager to make a toast to the patron saint of Ireland. And if you find yourself traveling somewhere across the globe during this fest, don’t forget to grab a green hat and start looking for a cool pub to celebrate this March 17.

But if you’re traveling with an eco conscience, considering the environmental issues involved in any trip, is beer a good choice for you? Can you really call it eco? Sure you can. Let’s take a look at some green beer options to celebrate a green St Patrick’s, both in color and spirit.

You probably already knew that beer is mostly water, but it’s also produced from several agricultural products, such as barley, wheat, and other cereal grains. And like most crops ,it can be grown in a natural and healthy way, as an organic product. Organic Beer is the result of a brewery and fermentation process which doesn’t involve synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. For beer to be considered organic, hops (the agents that give the beverage its flavor) must also be grown organically, without the use of fungicides. All these unhealthy chemicals are responsible for polluting our water and can cause soil degradation. Lots of beer lovers also maintain that barley and hops grown in healthier soil are tastier. So, with an organic beer in your hand, you’ll not only be making a positive environmental contribution by supporting organic agriculture, you’ll be enjoying your drink more.

Asking for local beers or finding homebrew shops is always a wise option when traveling. You’ll be preventing carbon emissions caused by transporting foreign beer, and you’ll probably be drinking an eco friendly beverage while your at it, as there’ll be no need for the preservatives normally used when bottles are shipped long distances. This will also help local producers, as fair trade beer boosts small farmer efforts. Local products may even entail a wider range of flavors.

If you’re willing to research deeper, you may look for sustainable initiatives by breweries. Some companies are really making efforts in recycling, carbon-dioxide recovery, or water conservation. You may find breweries powered by solar energy, or presenting a waste water treatment system, where brewing water is also used for cleaning the facilities. Other companies even compost their leftover brewing yeast or any vegetable waste, or turn the organic matter into biogas.

Pubs can also help take care of the environment by serving beer in glasses instead of plastic cups, or handing out reusable growlers. Some pubs use cellars instead of air conditioning to achieve the ideal beer temperature, spending less money on electricity. And let’s not forget that there are always eco friendly options for bottles and packages, such as paper-free bottles or boxes made from recycled materials.

Now that you are an organic beer fan, you might check out The North American Organic Brewers Festival (NAOBF), celebrating its fifth edition in June, in Portland, Oregon. Featuring organic beers from North America and Europe, the event poured over 75 different organic beers last year, and drew a crowd of about 15,000 attendees.

Each year, the green beer offer is increasing everywhere, so enjoy your eco pint on 2009 St Patrick’s, and then come back to tell us how it tasted.

from:

http://www.ecotrotters.com/eco-articles-Eco-Drinking–/64656a6b3565416859434d3d-article.html

Another St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and Irish pubs all over the world will soon be jam-packed with millions of beer lovers in their green suits, eager to make a toast to the patron saint of Ireland. And if you find yourself traveling somewhere across the globe during this fest, don’t forget to grab a green hat and start looking for a cool pub to celebrate this March 17.

But if you’re traveling with an eco conscience, considering the environmental issues involved in any trip, is beer a good choice for you? Can you really call it eco? Sure you can. Let’s take a look at some green beer options to celebrate a green St Patrick’s, both in color and spirit.

You probably already knew that beer is mostly water, but it’s also produced from several agricultural products, such as barley, wheat, and other cereal grains. And like most crops ,it can be grown in a natural and healthy way, as an organic product. Organic Beer is the result of a brewery and fermentation process which doesn’t involve synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. For beer to be considered organic, hops (the agents that give the beverage its flavor) must also be grown organically, without the use of fungicides. All these unhealthy chemicals are responsible for polluting our water and can cause soil degradation. Lots of beer lovers also maintain that barley and hops grown in healthier soil are tastier. So, with an organic beer in your hand, you’ll not only be making a positive environmental contribution by supporting organic agriculture, you’ll be enjoying your drink more.

Asking for local beers or finding homebrew shops is always a wise option when traveling. You’ll be preventing carbon emissions caused by transporting foreign beer, and you’ll probably be drinking an eco friendly beverage while your at it, as there’ll be no need for the preservatives normally used when bottles are shipped long distances. This will also help local producers, as fair trade beer boosts small farmer efforts. Local products may even entail a wider range of flavors.

If you’re willing to research deeper, you may look for sustainable initiatives by breweries. Some companies are really making efforts in recycling, carbon-dioxide recovery, or water conservation. You may find breweries powered by solar energy, or presenting a waste water treatment system, where brewing water is also used for cleaning the facilities. Other companies even compost their leftover brewing yeast or any vegetable waste, or turn the organic matter into biogas.

Pubs can also help take care of the environment by serving beer in glasses instead of plastic cups, or handing out reusable growlers. Some pubs use cellars instead of air conditioning to achieve the ideal beer temperature, spending less money on electricity. And let’s not forget that there are always eco friendly options for bottles and packages, such as paper-free bottles or boxes made from recycled materials.

Now that you are an organic beer fan, you might check out The North American Organic Brewers Festival (NAOBF), celebrating its fifth edition in June, in Portland, Oregon. Featuring organic beers from North America and Europe, the event poured over 75 different organic beers last year, and drew a crowd of about 15,000 attendees.

Each year, the green beer offer is increasing everywhere, so enjoy your eco pint on 2009 St Patrick’s, and then come back to tell us how it tasted.

from:

http://www.ecotrotters.com/eco-articles-Eco-Drinking–/64656a6b3565416859434d3d-article.html

Posted by Green Life Staff

St. Patty’s Day is the perfect time for everyone to drag out their most vibrant green togs and joyfully pinch and kiss their way through the day. And on this day, which honors the death of Ireland’s patron saint, Patricius Daorbae, who was reputed to have driven the snakes from Ireland, abstinence from Irish alcoholic beverage is almost considered sacrilege amongst the holiday’s most devoted keepers. Truth told, since the Irish celebrate the event for a full five days, one day of imbibing is tame by comparison.

As is the way of modern times, the celebration that began as a religious observance of the death of one of Ireland’s most beloved patron saints has become commercialized beyond recognition. Today we honor the venerated saint by marching gigantic helium filled leprechauns down the street, lighting up electrified shamrocks and pouring gallons of green die on anything that doesn’t move. Irish bloggers, musicians, public servants and business persons proudly command center stage in some of the most raucous parade demonstrations seen.

We’d like to suggest a few activities that green revelers might like to incorporate into their celebrations. A few simple alterations to the modern tradition and one can trade in their hard-soled clogs for much gentler Ghillies and diminish their carbon footprint.

Main dishes: Corned beef and cabbage paired with carrots, potatoes and onions is considered by many to be a must-have for every St. Paddy’s day table, but it is more correctly an adulteration of the more traditional Irish boiled dinner. Instead, try a true Irish tradition: Irish stew, Coddle, or for the vegetarians out there, Colcannon. Tuck in to a hearty portion of Bangers and boxty for lunch.

Breakfast and dessert: You needn’t limit your celebration to the main meal of the day. Instead, observe every meal as an opportunity to immerse yourself in the Irish culture. Break your fast with warm Irish soda bread or, better yet, buttermilk scones. And don’t forget the biscuits (cookies) to cleanse the palate after those hearty meals!

Clothes: Rather than contribute to conspicuous consumption, consider dying one of your less favorite (natural fabric) items from your closet an appropriate hue of green for the day. Green vegetable dyes can be extracted by boiling, pulverizing then straining dark, leafy greens (such as kale orchard). You’ll need a pretty intense pigment, so start with a couple of bunches of greens. Put your togs into the hot liquid and let soak (at least a few hours and preferably overnight). Air-dry and enjoy!

Alcohol free drinks: One needn’t partake of alcohol to enjoy St. Paddy’s day. Ireland offers a wide range of alcohol-free beverages that pair well with the traditional foods of the day. First of all there’s tea. Fine Irish tea is a fitting match for your breakfast meal or after your lunch or dinner. If anyone is put off by a well-steeped pot of tea, offer a bit of cream and sugar to soften its tannic bite. Ice-cold apple cider echoes traditional Irish cider, which is fermented and offers one heck of a morning-after kick! Tea flavored with honey, lemon and cinnamon mimics the popular “hot toddy” and can help slow the house down at the end of a long day. And there’s always soda (sparkling water), tonic (bitter sparkling water) and still water.

Alcoholic beverages: Ireland offers a host of traditional beer and whiskey to tempt the most discerning palate. Try your Guinness Stout the traditional way – at room temperature. Or enjoy a tempting Irish Coffee with a cube of sugar, a jigger of fine peat whiskey, an ounce of heavy cream and six ounces of strong black coffee. Stir gently while enjoying the company of friends and sip in front of a roaring fire.

Cooking: If kids, family, friends or significant others want to try their hand at something new in the kitchen, invite them to help prepare your traditional Irish fare. The recipes are not exacting, and with “Riverdance” playing in the background, things will be done in no time.

Baking: Shamrock-shaped cookies and Irish soda bread are a great way to get the kids involved in your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Environmental: Bring a little beauty and luck to the world by spreading some clover seed or planting sorrel, which has the distinct look of the leprechaun’s lucky 4-leaf clover.

Music: Pick up or download a selection of Irish reels and ballads to entertain your guests at your feast. Inexpensive CDs are available at discount stores and online from resellers. And don’t miss out on the rich selection of music available on the internet. Or, reduce waste by visiting a local used music store and keep those old tapes and CDs from making their way to the landfill.

Dance: Once the reels get underway it’s almost impossible not to want to get up and move, and kids are great at going with the flow. Don’t worry about whether you know the steps … on this day you’re Irish. The steps will find their way to your feet unbidden. This is the day to toss your reservations into the fire and flow with the pulse of the people, so grab your kids, form a circle and dance!

Shopping doesn’t have to be an entirely selfish pursuit, contrary to the rather clichéd belief widely expressed in the media. Of course it’s nice to spoil yourself every once in a while (but not every day, or it stops being a treat and becomes an addiction), but in this day and age shopping also offers many opportunities to have a positive impact on the environment. This begins with the obvious – purchasing environmentally-friendly products which have been produced ethically, organic food or energy-saving items, but includes other aspects in terms of packaging, transport and lifestyle.

If you have shopped in a supermarket recently, then it is likely that you have encountered the concept of a “bagless checkout” – where once you have put your items through the checkout you do not put them into readily supplied plastic bags, but into a “Bag For Life” (something which has been around for some time now) or into a bag that you yourself have brought. It is now fashionable to take with you a fabric bag, lessening the need for a handful of plastic bags which don’t biodegrade when disposed of, causing a real problem in the environment. For the shopper a bag like this has the added convenience of being easier to carry – it can be slung over your shoulder, ending the problem of heavily-filled, thin-strapped plastic bags which cut into your hands.

Many people now are doing their shopping on the Internet. This is helpful to the environment in a number of ways, from something as simple as grocery shopping – multiple deliveries in a single van is much better than several individual cars sitting in traffic jams en route for the supermarket – to one-click shopping at online stores which saves the customer a potential wild goose chase to find a single item and may well necessitate them starting and stopping their car several times in a few hours. This also allows the customer time to consider their purchase, being a much less rushed process. While many people complain about the expense of green products, being able to shop around on the Internet allows them to find a better deal – better for them and better for the world.