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Replacing commercial household cleaners in your home with a bottle of vinegar and water or other homemade concoction reduces your potential exposure to toxic chemicals and saves energy that would have been used in the manufacturing process. If every American household replaced one big-brand bottle with the homemade stuff, it would save millions of barrels of petroleum.
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It’s easy to save natural resources and money in the winter. To reduce your energy use and keep money in your pocket during the colder months:
For more tips, check out http://www.epa.gov/naturalevents/fightfrost.html.
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Just because you’ve switched to compact fluorescent lightbulbs in your house doesn’t mean you should leave them on all the time. It’s still important to turn them off when you leave a room. Once a week, try turning off the lights entirely for a few hours and enjoy dinner by candlelight. Romantic and efficient!
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Packing and shipping gifts can be an energy-intensive process. But if just a card won’t do, reuse old cardboard boxes, picking one that’s closest in size to what you’re sending, and use the least amount of packing materials possible. You can even find biodegradable packing peanuts that are made out of starch and disintegrate in water. If you do use Styrofoam ones, most packing and shipping stores will gladly accept your old peanuts and reuse them.
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Give the gift of good food with a fresh produce subscription from a local farm that will deliver eggs, milk, fruits, and veggies to your friends’ doors. Or, if you’re handy in the kitchen, make homemade jam, salsa, or marinara sauce, or bake loaves of bread. (People will appreciate something savory after all the sweet holiday treats.)
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Beautiful, ecofriendly gift wrapping is a snap if you use creativity rather than cash:
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For the friend who has everything, donate to a charity in their name. For example, Heifer International is a non-profit whose work includes giving farm animals to impoverished people all over the world to help lift them out of hunger and poverty.
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...O Christmas tree, Much pleasure doth thou bring me! And much consternation, if the inquiries we get about whether to buy real, fake, or none at all are any indication. Here are some things to keep in mind when decking your halls:
Cut trees generally come from tree farms. See if there's an organic one near you on this list, or ask around at your local farmers' market. Avoid buying trees with flocking (fake snow) on them, and be sure to have your tree composted or mulched after the holiday season is over. Many cities now offer this type of program; some even provide curbside pickup!
Fake trees are often made of nasty plastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and some even have lead in them. Most are also made in other countries and shipped long distances. If you do decide to go faux, be sure to buy a sturdy one and use it for many years.
Living trees are a good option since they can be kept in a pot on your deck during the rest of the year and planted in your yard once they grow too big to bring inside. Just be sure that the tree isn't an invasive species for your area (check with your state forester or a local nursery, cooperative extension, or tree-planting group) and take care of it properly. Some cities even have programs to collect your potted tree and plant it in a low-income neighborhood that needs more trees.
No matter what kind of tree you choose, string it with energy-efficient LED lights!
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