A Green Love

February 10, 2012 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Bag the Habbit Reusable Gift Bag image courtesy of Reuseit.com

I’ll start by saying that you don’t have to spend any money to celebrate your love. You can show how much you care by giving them your time and attention. You can also make handmade cards and gifts for those your Valentines.

For those looking for something to give that aren’t the arts and crafts type, here are some ideas with an environmental plus.

1. Vintage, estate and second-hand jewelry. This has become one of my favorite new things. Check antique stores, pawn shops or even a local jewelry store. One of my favorite jewelry stores locally has a wonderful selection of second-hand jewelry. If you live in the Chippewa Valley sneak a peak in Williams Diamond’s window or Eclectica on Grand.

2. A red, pink or purple reusable bag would be fun and in the spirit of the day of love.

3. Look for the same color theme in a reusable water bottle.

4. Buy organic flowers, or if you cannot find those, how about flowers from your favorite local shop.

5. Give the gift of chocolate, but not any chocolate, organic and Fair Trade chocolate. Another option is locally crafted chocolate. My favorite sweet spot in Eau Claire is Obsession Chocolates. The chocolates and sweet treats are often made with local and organic ingredients and love. Look around your town for a homegrown chocolatier.

6. Treat your guy to a cozy and eco-friendly fleece made with 41 percent recycled fiber from Patagonia in passionate red. Remember, Patagonia encourages you to buy its used clothing on ebay. Patagonia also recycles clothes.

7. How about a gift with a cause? Send a “Bee Mine Valentine,” as Heifer International writes on its page. Send a gift of honeybees to a family in need. The family uses the bees to start a business which then feeds, clothes and educates the family.

8. Cook those you love a beautiful, sustainable meal with local and seasonal ingredients. This is truly a way to say “I love you.”

9. The perennial favorite for Valentine’s Day is sleepwear and lingerie. Make those sweet nothings organic this year.

10. What romantic evening would be complete without some touches like massage oil and candles. You can find green versions of both of these. After all, why end your organic and eco-friendly evening with petroleum or chemical based anything? I’m certain you can find both the oil and candles locally.  In the Chippewa Valley Just Local Foods carries beeswax candles.

Filed Under: Holiday, Local, Organic, Reduce and Reuse, Uncategorized, Upcycled Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

TerraPass for the Holidays

December 23, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

I got an email from TerraPass this morning. It reminded me that it was time to purchase my yearly carbon offsets. It’s not to late for you to do the same. Now, purchasing carbon offsets is no substitute for reducing your carbon footprint or living a more sustainable life, but it does help to balance out the emission that you can’t eliminate. TerraPass works on clean energy projects from wind, energy from farm methane digesters and energy from landfill methane capture.

TerraPass also has funny e-cards that you can still send as a Christmas, Hanukkah or Holiday card. It is the ultimate green gift. So, if you’re still looking for a gift and want it to be a green gift, consider purchasing carbon offsets for someone.

Filed Under: Environment, Holiday, Sustainable Energy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Green Guide for Holiday Shopping

December 12, 2011 By greengirlinc 1 Comment

Photo courtesy of Reuseit

It’s that time of year when many of us are banging our heads against the wall trying to figure out what gifts to get for everyone on our list. Maybe this is the year to give those friends a nudge, who have yet to make the move to the green side. I hope this makes some of your Holiday shopping a little easier.

Gifts for Men:

1. Recycled Rolling Rock Tumblers

2. Made By Humans Pocket Cutlery Set

3. Lyziwraps Reusable Gift Wrap

4. Stainless Steel Pints

4. Pad Stash

5. S’well water bottles

6. A masculine Reuseit Workhouse Bag

7. Resource Revival Bike Chain Bowl

8. Mountainsmith Apex Recycled Backpack

9. Patagonia’s recycled Men’s Micro D Fleece

10. L.L. Bean Solio Gadget Charger

Gifts for Women:

1. Essential Oil Atomizer

2. Reisenthel Bottle Bag

3. S’well Water Bottles

4. Recycled precious metal jewelry by DeAnna Cochran

5. Upcycled Wool Scarf or any upcycled item on Etsy

6. Hemp Kindle cover

7. Organic Spa Box

8. Ecoist Wristlets

9. Organic Zen robe

10. Recycled Jewel-Tone Vases

Gifts for Kids:

1. Fairy Insulated Lunch Bag

2. Homemade Popsicle Molds

3. Reusable Water Bottle

4. Posh Pouches snack or sandwich bag

5. Eco-Friendly Wooden Push Toy

6. Green Toys Tea Set

7. Soy Wax Crayon Rocks

8. Lyra Colored Pencils in Wood Box

9. Basic Black Record Cuff Bracelet

10. Converse Chuck Taylor Hemp Shoes

Gifts for Pets:

1. Orbee-Tuff Bone

2. Skinny Mayday Pet First Aid Kit

3. Nature Nap for Cat by West Paw

4. Sojos Organic Cat Nip

5. Hemp Dog Collar

6. Silly Kitty Breakaway Hemp Cat Collar

7. Organic Bumper Dog Bed by West Paw

8. All Natural Paw Rub for Dogs

9. The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook

10. Organic Cat Grass

Of course, always check in your locally owned stores for handmade gifts and goodies made by local artists and crafters from recycled, upcycled and repurposed materials.

Filed Under: Animals, Environment, Holiday, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Upcycled Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Giving Thanks

November 24, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is able to celebrate in a more sustainable way with organic, local and BPA-free food. I am thankful for all the people and bounty in my life. We need to strive to live more sustainably so that others have more to be thankful for in their lives. That is a main goal of sustainability. Celebrate and give thanks!

Filed Under: Holiday, Local, Organic, Sustainability Tagged With: , , , ,

Small is Big

November 17, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Hey! The shopping is great in here! Where have you all been?

I’ve been seeing the adds for Shop Small on Small Business Saturday. I’ve been shopping small and local for years. I’m not saying I never go to a national chain store, but I make an effort and take the time to go to my local stores on a weekly basis. This campaign is nice, but I do not believe it goes far enough. Shopping small and local has to become a way of life. I truly believe in supporting Main Street and keeping profits and economies local. As the phrase goes “think globally and act locally.”

Yes, by all means, shop small on Saturday, November 26, but don’t let that be your only day to shop small and local. Make it part of your weekly, if not daily, routine to shop small and local. I know and love my locally owned stores. These people are my friends and neighbors. Shopping with them and knowing them makes my life richer and our community better.

Go ahead, head downtown and to other less traveled parts of your community. You’re going to love who and what you find.

Filed Under: Holiday, Local, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Incandescent Christmas Light Swap

November 7, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

If you have some old incandescent Christmas lights and want to upgrade to efficient LED Christmas lights, now is the time to do it.  Home Depot is running a Christmas light trade-in special. If you trade-in your old broken or used incandescent lights, you will receive $5 off a new string of LED Christmas lights. There is a limit of 5 discounts per customer. This special is going until Sunday, November 13.

If you have a Home Depot near you, take advantage of this. Switching to LED lights is a great way to make the holidays a little greener. If you do not have a Home Depot near by, check with the other retailers and ask if they are running a recycling program like this. Maybe if enough people ask, everyone will get on the the Christmas light recycling bandwagon.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Holiday, Recycling Tagged With: , , ,

Turkey Time

November 5, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Now is the time to start thinking about your Thanksgiving turkey. I can hear some of the replies now.

“What?! But, Green Girl, that seems way to soon!”

It’s not too soon if you want to get a local, free-range, organic turkey, especially a fresh one. Small, local produces do not operate like huge factory farms. I’m already talking to my local meat guy about which farm has the best product and selection for what I want.

If you want a turkey that’s humanly raised and organic, or as close to organic as you can get, then you need to start checking with your local grocery or meat stores. Plan ahead, I know that can be challenging. As I’ve mentioned before, I am not blessed with the plan ahead gene, so I have to work at it too.

The rest of the meal I find pretty easy to get locally and organically. This time of year my favorite stores carry root vegetables and squash that spent little time traveling to me.  Most all of my ingredients can be found within 100 miles of my home and are produced organically.

Life is sweet. I am always grateful for my wonderful, local, caring producers. That is what the Thanksgiving season is about, counting our blessings.

Filed Under: Food, Holiday, Local, Organic, Sustainability, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Halloween on the Green Side

October 25, 2011 By greengirlinc 1 Comment

HFCS-free brain lolipop and single origin, fair trade chocolate

Halloween can be as green as any other day. By making some simple changes in your holiday traditions you can reduce waste, plastic and damage to the environment.

One thing you can do is start a costume swap. Talk to your friends and your children’s friends. This weekend would be a great time to do a last minute costume exchange, especially for all those procrastinators like me. While you’re doing a costume swap, maybe do a decoration swap as well. You might be sick of some of your older decorations, but someone else may love them.

Instead of the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) candy, how about candy made from real, cane sugar. Along those same lines look for candy and chocolate with organic ingredients. If you’re investing in good chocolate you can also seek out single origin and fair trade. All those things make for a more eco-friendly and socially conscious way to treat.

Make decorations from things that might otherwise wind up in the landfull. This kind of decor is called upcycled or recycled. These decorations reduce waste and plastic use. Plus, reusing something takes less energy than recycling an item due to the energy use involved in recycling. Although recycling still takes less energy than making something from a virgin, mined source.

If you use candles, swap out the petroleum-based candles for soy or beeswax candles. Beeswax candles burn cleaner and slower  than the petroleum-based candles. The soy and beeswax candles also produce less indoor air pollution.

If you do even a few of these suggestions you’ll be on your way to having a more sustainable Halloween. I’m sure you can think of other ways to green your Halloween. Feel free to post those ideas here or on my Facebook page.

Have a Happy Halloween.

Filed Under: Environment, Holiday, Organic, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse, Sustainability, Upcycled Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Independence Day!

July 4, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe day celebrating the independence of our nation. Remember, keep those fingers. You need them to open your beverage.

While you are holding onto your digits, remember to keep your celebrations as green as possible. Look for wonderful organic berries, like the strawberries that are in season here.

For your burgers, hunt down organic, grass-fed beef, bison or other wild game, or veggie burgers. You can also find hot dogs and brats made from organic or wild game or vegetarian ingredients.

If you feel you have to grab for disposables, find ones that have recycled content. Recycled paper plates and cups are out there, along with plates, cups and utensils made from corn or sugar. All those are not quite as green as using reusable plates, cups or utensils, but it’s better than using stuff made from chlorine bleached, virgin stock.

I am completely in love with my cloth napkins. The napkins do not have to be expensive or linen. Make the small investment. The napkins can get washed with any of your usual loads, so it’s really not any more work. No, you do not need to iron, unless that’s your thing. It is definitely not my thing.

You can arm yourself with cheap reusables by hitting Good Will, Salvation Army, Savers or garage sales. Look for melamine plates or old Corning Ware. Do the same for glassware. Then seek out old mismatched silverware. If anything happens to any of it, you won’t be gnashing your teeth or yelling at small children. A dishwasher is easy to load and run, and there won’t be huge piles of garbage sitting at your curb.

Celebrate, be safe and be green!

Filed Under: Food, Holiday, Organic, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Green Dads are Great Dads

June 2, 2011 By greengirlinc Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Reuseit

With Father’s Day approaching it is time to find a gift for that favorite man in your life, your dad. Why not look for a present that says how much you love your dad, and how great he is. A dad that cares about going green is a truly great dad. Why? It means he cares about his children’s and grandchildren’s future, and what kind of environment he is leaving for them.

There are some very cool and manly green gifts out there; everything from techy items to sleek reuseables. There are some surprising green gifts such as eco-friendly sporting goods. Here is a short list, but I’m sure with some digging on your own, you can find more.

Courtesy of Thinksound

1. Thinksport Thermal Bottle- sleek and cool or hot.

2. AT&T’s Zero Charger- only uses electricity when it’s charging, no vampire power consumption.

3. Bedol Water Powered Clock- a funky little clock that runs on water.

4. Thinksound ts02 Wood Headphones- an elegant headphone with a rich sound.

5. Mountainsmith Recycled Backpacks and Bags- from small biking packs to serious hiking packs.

6. Recycled Content Golf Balls- make that next golf outing a little greener.

7. Respect Footballs, Basketballs and Soccer Balls- eco and fair trade.

8. Reuseit Workhorse Recycled Bag in Charcoal Gray- compact and in cool colors like gray, black and silver.

9. Battery BOS from Roller Gen- charge a battery while riding a bike and then charge a phone or iPod.

10. EcoBike Electric Bike- people powered with battery backup for extra long trips.

Filed Under: Environment, Holiday, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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