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 It's that time of year where we all reflect back on the past 12 months and make a plan for the months to come. If you're ready to really make a difference in 2008, try making a promise to go easy on the planet with one (or all) of these Green Parent New Year's Resolutions:
- Park It: Make every effort to walk, bike, or take public transit instead of driving you car. For inspiration, check out Alan Durning’s Year of Living Car-Lessly to read about his family of five’s car-free adventures.
- Eat Local Foods: According to a recent report by the Natural Resource Defense Council, the average American meal contains ingredients from at least five countries outside the U.S. These ingredients are shipped by boat, train, and plane to our dinner plates, leaving a path of pollution and resource depletion in their wake. Make an effort this year to eat foods that are grown closer to home. Check out Sustainable Table for a state-by-state list of the seasonal foods that are found near you.
- Trim Your Trash: Why put yourself on a diet when you can make a resolution to put your trash on one instead? The average American produces roughly 4.5 pounds of trash each day (that’s 17 pounds of trash thrown away each day for a family of four!) Trim that waste-line by practicing the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Check out these posts for great ways to reduce waste:
- Turn Off A Light: There’s nothing worse than heading out the door with your arms full of kids, diaper bags, sippy cups, and snacks, only to realize that every light in the house is still burning. Make it your New Year’s resolution to turn off lights as you leave a room…better yet, put your kids in charge of “light patrol.” You'll save a bundle in energy bills and light bulbs!
- Vote Green: 2008 promises to be a big year at the ballot box, both at the national and local level. So before you cast your vote, check out the League of Conservation Voters to see where you favorite (and not so favorite) candidates stand on the environment.
It’s just about time to say good-bye to 2007 and ring in 2008. Get your new year off on the right foot with these eco-friendly tips to green your New Year’s Eve celebration.
Send Evites: Paper invitations are so 2007. Send email invitations, or evites, for your New Year’s Eve celebration. Check out www.evite.com for free evites as well as party planning ideas and themes.
Green Decorations: Get creative with your party décor. Repurpose items you already own to jazz up your party in lieu of single-use paper or plastic party decorations. Pull out a fancy bowl and fill it with greenery from your yard, fruits, or leftover bows and ribbons from your holiday celebrations; drape a scarf over your book case or end table; or enlist your kids help in making handmade crafts to decorate your event.
Eco Eats: Challenge yourself and your guests to bring local and/or organic foods and dishes to your party.
Don’t Trash The Planet: Ring in the New Year with a minimal amount of waste with reusable dishes, napkins, and silverware. If you need more dishes than you own, try renting dishes or using biodegradable products that you can throw in your compost pile after the party. (Try www.plumparty.com for biodegradable plates, cups, and even straws).
Get Toasted: Check your local yellow pages under party rentals or party supplies to rent champagne flutes for your celebration so that you and your guests can toast the New Year with eco-savvy style.
Members of a family get used to sharing. Older kids share toys and clothes with their younger siblings, parents share snacks, drinks, and occasionally the clothes from their own backs with their children, and even the family dog might be required to share a place on his cozy bed from time to time. And when one member of the family brings home an illness, whether it’s a scratchy throat, a runny nose, or a full-blown flu, it’s likely they will share their germs with the rest of the clan as well. Chances are at least one (if not every) member in your family will get sick this winter. Here’s how to stay green when you’re feeling…well…green.
For Your Nose
Sure, if you live by yourself, you could skip the paper and use a cloth hanky to wipe up a drippy nose. But in a house with kids, where germs spread like wildfire, it’s best to toss those germs as soon as they hit the tissue. Here are a few great eco-friendly options: Seventh Generation: Seventh Generation facial tissues are made from 100% recycled paper, (with a minimum of 80% post-consumer recycled paper) and they’re whitened without chlorine bleach. According to their website (www.seventhgeneration.com) if every person in the U.S. purchased just one box of recycled paper tissues instead of a box made from virgin paper, we would save 299,000 trees, 772,000 cubic feet of landfill space, equal to 1,100 full garbage trucks, 108 million gallons of water, a year's supply for 850 families of four, and avoid 18,000 pounds of chlorinated pollution. Green Forest: Another great green buy, Green Forest facial tissues are also made from 100% recycled paper (40% post-consumer minimum) and processed chlorine free.
Cooling, Soothing Cough Drops
Organix Organic Cough Drops: Soothes the throat and nose with all organic herbal ingredients including peppermint oil, sage, thyme, marshmallow root, hyssop, and slippery elm and no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. Hebron Naturals Organic Cough Drops: Relieves coughs and sore throats with organic and natural ingredients. Flavors include Adventurous Tingle (Echinacea) Wild Cherry, Glacial Mint, and Lemon Honey.
Savory Soups
Amy’s Soups: Amy’s offers a number of yummy, wholesome soups that will take the chill out of your bones and . Some favorite vegan options include No Chicken Noodle (as it’s name implies…there’s no bird in this cure-all), Organic Alphabet, and Organic Black Bean. ShariAnn’s Organic: ShariAnn’s Organic is another great source for full-flavored soups that will help you feel better fast. Vegan selections include Tomato with Roasted Garlic, Vegetarian French Onion, and Great Plains Split Pea or try the Vegetarian Vegetable Barley.
Ahh…There’s Nothing Like A Cup of Tea
Newman’s Own Organics: Look to Newman’s Own Organics for organic black or green teas that will soothe achy muscles, sore throats, and a pounding headache. Choice: Choice offers an amazing selection of Fair Trade Certified organic teas in white, green and black to tackle your wellness woes. Favorites include White Jasmine, Himalayan Green, Chamomile Herb, and Darjeeling.
Herbal Medicine DIY
If you like you medicine to come from a plant rather than a factory, you might be interested in the Herbal Medicine Kit, This kit includes all of the ingredients and instructions you need to make an echinacaea tincture, and herbal healing salve, and herbal infusions.
Looking for holiday decorations that are safe for your kids and the environment? Follow these tips to deck the halls with eco-friendly style:
1. Go Lead-Free: Watch out for ornaments and holiday decorations that are coated in lead-based paint. Instead, look for decorations that bear the 100% lead-free label.
2. Go -Au Naturale: Look to nature when decorating your home this year. Here are some great ideas for natural holiday decorations: organic popcorn, cinnamon sticks, holly, ivy an evergreens, pine cones, cranberries, homemade gingerbread, organic fruit and vegetables, and dried Indian corn.
3. DIY: Give your kids some markers, eco-friendly paints, scissors, and recycled paper and let their creativity shine. If they need some inspiration, suggest they cut out shapes of stars and snowmen from the paper and decorate with markers and/or paints. Another idea is to make a candy cane using alternating stripes of red and white recycled paper. Or they add some festive flare to pine cones with gold or silver paint and some leftover holiday ribbon.
4. Keep It Fair: Green is, at the very least, the hippest new trend. So impress your friends and family with fair-trade decorations that show off your eco-savvy style. Look for decorations that are locally made or check out Ten Thousand Villages for Fair Trade Certified options.
Whether you like lights that are white or multi-colored, make them green with LED lights that use 90% less energy and last much longer than traditional bulbs. LEDs don’t heat up like standard bulbs...so they stay cooler, are safer for kids, and pose less risk of fires. And if one bulb does break or burn out, the rest of the lights in the strand will keep glowing.
If you can't find LED Christmas lights at your local store, check out Holiday LEDs or Forever Brights from Christmas Treasures to light up your holidays while going easy on the planet. To get even more green from your outdoor Christmas lights, try Solar Illuminations for solar-powered Christmas LEDs.
Photo credit: Graham Soult
You can't celebrate Christmas without setting up a Christmas tree, but how do you know what type of tree makes the most eco-savvy choice? According to the National Christmas Tree Association, about 29 million Americans brought home a real, live Christmas tree in 2006. But that still pales in comparison to the 70% of Americans who prefer to set up an artificial tree. Whether you choose real or artificial, here's how to make sure you get the greenest tree:
The Green Parent Pick: Go get a real tree. Sure, it means cutting down a tree. But these days nearly all Christmas trees are grown on tree farms. So deforestation is not an issue and it is really no different than harvesting corn or any other crop. From a global warming perspective, sustainable tree farms actually provide a continued “sink” for carbon dioxide emissions. Just be selective about the tree farm you choose to buy from and look for one that does not use an excess of pesticides and other chemicals.
Green Parent Tip: Get the family together and head out to your local tree farm to cut your own Christmas tree. Surf over to EcoBusinessLinks to see if there is an organic tree farm in your area. When the holidays are over, toss your undecorated tree in the backyard to provide wildlife habitat or in the compost bin for next year’s mulch.
Live Trees: A live, potted Christmas trees may seem like a good option for Green Parents, however, you have to make sure that you live in an area where your tree will thrive once it is planted. In addition, live trees are truly not meant to endure the warm temperatures inside your home. So it’s best to either leave it outside or bring it in for only a few days during the season.
Green Parent Tip: If you really want a live tree, your best bet would be to find a suitable tree in your backyard, and decorate it (with eco-friendly decorations, of course) right where it stands.
Artificial Trees: Artificial trees require the use of a significant amount of energy and petroleum-based (PVC) resources in their manufacture. In addition, most artificial trees today are manufactured in China, and are literally shipped halfway around the world to their destinations. And there are also some new concerns about residues of lead and other chemicals on artificial trees. However, if you are going to buy one tree that you are sure you will use and reuse year after year for the next few decades, the environmental damage caused by producing and shipping your tree would be minimal when averaged out over the lifespan of the tree. And just think of all the gas and energy you will save from year to year by not having to head out to the local Christmas tree farm.
Green Parent Tip: Purchase an artificial tree that is made in the U.S.A to minimize the pollution and resource consumption caused by shipping. (Check out ChristmasDepot and USChristmastree for artificial trees that are 100% lead free and made in the U.S.A.) Reuse the same tree from year to year.
Photo credit: Marcelo Terraza
 The holidays just wouldn't be the same without a visit with friends and family. So for many of us who have wandered a little from the proverbial family roots, that means a trip by sky, rail, or road. Here's how to green your holiday travel.
1. Leave The Flying To Santa: Traveling by airplane releases significantly more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (and therefore causes more global warming) than traveling by car or by train.
2. Tune Up Your Sleigh: If your holiday travel includes a road trip, make sure your car is in tip-top condition so that you can maximize gas mileage, curb air pollution, and save a few bucks at the pump. Get an oil change, check your car's fluid levels, belts, and spark plugs, and make sure your tires are properly inflated. Click here and here for more info about driving green.
3. Lighten Your Load: Go easy on yourself and the environment by pairing down your holiday luggage. Whether you travel by car, train, or plane, the more baggage you have, the more pollution will be emitted to get it to your location.
4. Offset It: Offset your holiday carbon emissions with companies such as GreenTags or Green-e that invest in projects to absorb or prevent the release of carbon dioxide. (Green Parent Tip: Carbon offsets also make a great gift! Click here for more eco-friendly gift ideas.)
Green thinking is everywhere these days, in your appliances, in your favorite movies, in your kid's school, and yes, now in your menorah. There is a movement underway, launched by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) called Let There Be (Renewable) Light: A New Look At Hanukkah that offers eco-savvy tips to help Green Hanukkah.
Sure, you could argue that Hanukkah, even at it's most elaborately festive, does not even come close to eliciting the same commercial over-consumption and environmental damage as Christmas. But the fact remains that there are a number of things that you can do to celebrate Hanukkah with your family while minimizing your impact on the environment. Here's a few ideas:
- Raid your recycling bin to make your own "green" menorah
- Check out The Green Parent Holiday Gift Guide for low-impact, eco-friendly gift ideas.
- Save paper by sending your holiday cheer via ecards and slideshows instead of by mail.
- Surf over the COEJL website for blessings, energy saving tips, games, and kid-friendly craft ideas to help you celebrate an eco-savvy Festival of Lights.
Materials
8 Toilet Paper Roll Tubes
1 Paper Towel Roll Tube
1 long board or box
Recycled Aluminum Foil
Recycled Paper (I used scrap pieces of red, orange, and yellow recycled construction paper)
Non Toxic Paints (I used blue and white)
Non-Toxic Glue
This craft is eco-friendly because it recycles items that you probably already have before they hit the trash bin. So take a look around and see what you can scrounge together while assembling your materials. If you don't have non-toxic paints, you could use leftover wrapping paper, markers, or the back side of scratch paper instead. No tin foil in the recycle box? Use muffin cups, extra garland, or a silver marker instead. If you don't have enough toilet paper or paper towel roll tubes laying around, ask friends to give you theirs (yes, they will laugh). You should have plenty within a few days. You get the idea.
Putting It Together
Here's how I put this craft together, but feel free to get creative and change it up to suit your materials and your kids.
- Using your non-toxic paints, paint each toilet paper roll tube and the long board blue. Paint the paper towel tube white. Let everything dry and decorate however you'd like.
- Cut out nine squares (about 2-3 inches in size) from the aluminum foil.
- Glue aluminum foil to the long board. Then glue each tube to the foil as shown in picture, making sure to place the paper towel roll in the middle of the board.
- Cut out the flame shapes from your recycled paper.
- Using tape, adhere the "flames" to the "candles." Light the middle candle (the paper towel roll) first, and then one additional toilet paper candle on each night of Hanukkah.
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It's that time of year where we all reflect back on the past 12 months and make a plan for the months to come. If you're ready to really make a difference in 2008, try making a promise to go easy on the planet with one (or all) of these Green Parent New Year's Resolutions:
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