☆ Green Tip: Lessen your need to Recycle! ☆

Obviously, recycling is fantastic! But recycling is only half the battle and sometimes comes as an excuse to still buy over-packaged items, etc. We think to ourselves, well I can still Recycle this, so what's the harm? While, yes, the benefits of recycling are grand, it does still take a lot of energy to recycle items into new ones. Don't let the ability to recycle items be your excuse to not reduce your impact. Choose to reuse more than you buy new. For instance, you can sometimes recycle plastic grocery store bags but you should still bring your own canvas or tote bags instead as this is far more earth-friendly. You can often recycle cardboard food boxes but that doesn't mean you shouldn't bring your own reusable bags and buy in bulk--and you can still find another use for that cardboard box before recycling it as well. 

Get creative and get savvy. Pay attention instead of just throwing something into the recycling. Pay attention to just how much you recycle and what you can do to reduce the number of things that need to be recycled.

Here are some tips to get started:

Use tote or canvas grocery bags instead of plastic. 

Reuse cardboard boxes for packaging or for art projects. 

Reuse paper to write notes on--or, again, for packaging or art projects. 

Think before you print. Reduce how much paper you use. 

Buy in Bulk! And bring your own reusable bags. 

Buy products that are minimally packaged (when not buying in bulk). 

Use your own stainless steel water bottle and never buy super wasteful plastic bottled water. 

Just because we CAN recycle, doesn't mean we shouldn't still pay attention to our global footprint. Reduce and reuse before you automatically opt for recycling. :)

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☮ Be the Change: Holiday Season Green Tips! ☮

A little late in the holiday season I know, but better late than never right? And there are still changes you can make every to be greener and kinder to mother earth and the living creatures that live here. So, without further further ado… 

Holiday Season Green Tips:

☮ Buy Handmade! Not only is buying handmade a sure way to make sure you're buying ethical fair-trade products, but you also get that special care, skill and craftsmanship that you just don't see in mega corporations and "brand" name products. And you get to support just that, an individual making a living away from the corporate society. Oh yeah, and you're not supporting those greedy corporations, child labour, and the environmental catastrophe that goes along with large-scale manufacturing that pollutes our air, soil, and waterways. 

☮ Pick a Green Tree! Your greenest option for a Christmas tree (other than not having one) is to buy a real tree from a local organic grower. Artificial ones may seem green since they can be reused year after year, but they are usually made from super harmful PVC, and you can't exactly recycle them after your done with them. Of course, if you have one already, there's no sense in tossing it out now. On the other hand, many christmas tree farmers do use harmful pesticides and chemicals (some growers use up to 40 different types of pesticides, as well as chemical colorants!) so should also be approached with a note of caution. Choose Organic and choose Local, rather than having a tree shipped miles and miles to get to you. Tree farms are sustainable by nature, all those trees turning carbon dioxide into oxygen, providing habitat for animals, and the trees are replanted every year. But, again, I emphasize the important of organic and local. Organic and Local! Got it? ;)

☮ Recycle your Christmas Tree! I think this is the part that often gets neglected, but what happens to all those trees after Christmas is over? Well, sadly 10 million trees end up in the landfill every year. 10 Million!!! Many cities now have recycling programs for trees, so be sure to call and find out. And if they don't then look to compost it yourself instead. They make great mulch for your garden once the snow melts! Or, your greenest option altogether; get a tree with roots so that you can plant it afterwards! Make sure you look into the proper care etc. of course though first. 

☮ Wrapping Presents: Most mass-produced wrapping paper is not actually recyclable so just ends up in the landfill, and then there's all the trees that get clear cut, bleached, and coloured with chemicals just to wrap a present in and look pretty for a short while. I think my favourite, and your greenest option, is to wrap your presents in whatever you have handy at home that's ready to be recycled. Newspaper and cereal boxes are a good route, and you can always spice them up a bit by colouring on them or wrapping a bow around them. Make it fun and crafty! If you're stuck on wrapping presents with that traditional look then there are recycled wrapping paper options out there too, such as Green Field Paper.  

☮ Buy Less, Enjoy More! The Holiday season is Not about presents. Or at least it shouldn't be. What's the point of stressing out over buying gifts when you don't have money? I'm sure the people who matter in your life would rather you not be a stress case and actually enjoy the holidays and your company instead of getting a present. Learn to buy less and enjoy the company of people more. That's where true joy in the holiday season is anyway. Make presents, or make cute cards, or breakfast, or something along those lines if you really want to do something but aren't sure what. Get creative and thoughtful! 

☮ Buy Energy Saving Holiday Lights!  Long answer short; it'll save you money and it will save the environment a heavy toll. LED lights are now pretty easily available and use 90% less energy and can save your family up to $50 on your energy bills during the holiday season! Win!

☮ Choose Organic, Local, and Vegan for your Holiday Feast! Or at least try your hardest to incorporate these ideals into your feast. Support local farmers for your produce. If you absolutely have to have turkey then at least choose a local organic free-range and visit the farm yourself to know it's legit--and thank the turkey for being your dinner. But really you should be choosing the Vegan option. Remember, Meat is Not Green! The industry has a huge whopping toll on the environment, as well as wildlife, and of course the poor suffering animals being farmed. If your stuck for what to make, don't be! There are TONS of amazing Vegan dishes you can make! I will be sharing some this week and in the mean time this blog has tons of delicious options to choose from: http://www.findingvegan.com/.   

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☆ Santa's Carbon Footprint ☆

This is kind of funny and interesting at the same time. I stumbled across this article on the Care2 daily newsletter with the lovely illustrated graph by Ethical Ocean. It makes us take a closer look at the impact of this annual holiday and makes suggestions for reducing our own footprint at this time of year. Let's make the Holiday Season jolly and environmentally sound for everyone! 

Infographic courtesy ethicalocean.com

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☆ What's Going On: Renewable Energy Stats! ☆

Another tid bit I'm grabbing to share with you lovelies ;) For those with some doubts about it being economically possible to go green and get away from our dependency on the oil industry and non-renewable resources. I found this interesting and felt it was worth sharing. :)

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☮ Be the Change: Idiot's Guide to Being Green #1 ☮

After observing other's horribly ungreen habits, I must admit it makes me want a reality TV show on teaching people easy steps to being green. I am always striving for new ways to be as eco-friendly as I can, and I enjoy sharing those ways with all of you, however, somehow it never occurred to me to start with some basic obvious ones, things that make me cringe because they are so awful for the planet yet sooo easy to fix. 

So here is list... 

p.s. you know I love you and the "idiot's" is really just light-hearted fun...but seriously, these are easy things you should be doing already ;)

#1 of Being Green for Idiots 

☮ 1. Recycle! No matter where you are, it's easier than people make it out to be. Either the super easy blue-bag system that is in effect for most cities these days, go to a depot at the end of the month or so. 

☮ 2. Don't Idle!!! Turn off your damn car! Not only is it illegal (thankfully) now in more and more places but it's an easy two-second move. Idling longer than 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more CO2 compared to restarting the engine. 

☮ 3. Turn off your lights! If you're not in the room, turn off the light. The worst is those who leave their lights on when they're not even home!!! Why do you do this???!!! It literally takes two seconds to flick off a light switch. Who are you leaving those lights on for anyways??

☮ 4. Turn off the TV! Do you need to leave it on all day? Really, seriously? There's nothing good on anyways. It amazes me that people can leave their TVs on all day long, again, even when they're not home. It's not good for the planet but it's also not good for YOU! All of those electronics send out positive ions (those are the bad ones), sucking away your energy and making you feel "blah."

☮ 5. ReUsable Bags--USe them!! Ditch the plastic IMMEDIATELY! Keep a reusable bag with you at ALL times, never ever opt for using a plastic bag. Ever. All that plastic is ending up in our oceans and wildlife, killing it all. Plus the stuff never decomposes. 

☮ 6. Disposable Plates and Utensils. More plastic waste to go around, for what? A one time use? Biggest waste EVER! Ditch em. Use your own plates and utensils, there is no reason for disposables. And if you absolutely can't go without them (I don't see why you wouldn't :p) then go with eco-friendly ones! 

☮ 7. Have Shorter Showers. Ten minutes should be the longest, if you're spending longer in there it is time to re-evaluate. So much water is wasted, baths especially. Pay attention to your water use! 

☮ 8. Don't leave Water Running! When you're brushing your teeth, washing dishes, or whatever else, please turn off the tap. Start paying attention to how much water you're wasting when you really don't need to be doing so. If you're not immediately using it, turn it off, and don't run it on full-blast either. 

☮ 9. Don't Waste Food! Far too many people throw out food instead of saving left-overs or reusing the left-overs into something else. You should neverrrrr be throwing out food (unless something has gone moldy of course). We forget the true value and environmental effects of that food. Be smart, don't waste it! 

☮ 10. Don't Litter! Just don't do it. It takes no time at all to put trash where it belongs there is NO reason whatsoever to be dumping it anywhere else. Ever! 

More Lists to come soon ;) 

Peace & Love,

xo

~Bianca

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