i'll have a green christmas

Holy baby Jesus, Christmas is in eight days. I am happy to report that I have made progress on my shopping, but there's still lots to do. Next year, I'm setting an early deadline for all loved ones to submit Christmas lists, or I pick for them. This traffic-on-December-16 is for the birds. I have tried to shop local as much as possible, and chosen a few eco-friendly companies online and it's been great!

I can also check Christmas cards off the holiday to-do list! This year I went with Paperless Post, and spent entirely too much time customizing my cards for family and friends. I love how it's a classier alternative to sending an e-card, but you can still go green and save paper.

But at least the tree has been decorated for over a week now. I love the collection of ornaments I've built over the past few years, and I've loved incorporating my boyfriend's ornaments to the mix. Our tree has some ornaments from our childhoods (a ceramic Santa with my name on it from when I was born and a napkin Santa he made in grade school), some ornaments from local stores (that awesome Aww Yeah! lasercut wood from Red Arrow), some using recycled material (a few wine corks I picked up at the Omelette Festival last year), and a bunch picked up from travels all over. Shoot. I probably should've gotten an ornament from Hawaii this summer. Maybe I can repurpose one of our magnets??

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is spending evenings in a room lit only by the Christmas tree. There's something so serenely magical about the glow of the tiny lights. And the faint, piney aroma of a fresh tree? Oh, hold me now.

Since I'm awesome and can't find our watering can, I came up with a great way to reuse a wine bottle - Christmas tree waterer! The long, narrow bottleneck fits under the tree into our large, Milo-proof tree stand. And hey! For you brave crafty fools, if you cut the bottom off the wine glass, you have a great upcycled Christmas tree watering funnel! Just place it neck-end into the tree stand and pour your water into the bottom. (I promise, I did not get the tree drunk. It was a CLEAN, DRY bottle.)

Milo has made himself right at home under my parents' tree.

Since I live in Louisiana and we can't have appropriate seasonal weather, it hasn't been perfect bonfire weather...but it doesn't stop us from lighting the backyard pit. We collect all the sticks from the yard and burn them instead of purchasing fire wood. Cleans the yard and saves us money!

Another newer holiday tradition is the Christmas light bike ride. I can't help but decorate my bike basket with battery-operated LED lights before we set off on a ride through neighborhoods filled with houses covered in Christmas lights. It seems as if not as many people decorate their houses anymore, but it's worth riding around just to see the houses that are lit up.

And when all else may fail, I've got my overly large collection of Christmas movies and music to see me through. Walk by my cubicle at just about any given moment this month, and you'll hear one Christmas jam or another. Because I love you so, I made an early Christmas present for you, in the form of a Holiday Spotify mix! I edited down my 300-song mix (not kidding) to a delightful 20-song selection. Put a few extra marshmallows in your hot chocolate, light the fire on YouTube, press play and snuggle up with your loved ones!

   

Relax while you can, because you've probably still got some wrapping to do. Or if you're me, ALL the wrapping to do. I better get crackin' on putting some gifts under our tree. It's probably a good thing I got a new job earlier this year, because at this rate, Santa NEVER would have hired me to work in his workshop. At least I've still got plenty of recyclable wrapping paper, and new festive paper tape from Red Arrow to use!

How have you gone green so far this holiday season?

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green birthdays

It's easy to make birthdays a little greener, whether you are turning 5, 35, or 65. Parties don't have to have so much trash, and gifts can be eco-friendly and wrapped in recycled paper or bags.

This year was a good birthday for green gifts. I got a reusable shopping bag that folds into a grenade case, with the clever slogan War on Plastic. Milo has already enjoyed it more than me.

 

I also got this impossibly adorable recycled-paper notebook to attempt to keep myself organized. Spoiler alert: I may have picked it out myself, and they definitely have a variety of great covers. Made it hard to decide. The brand, Ecojot, is based out of Canada and they produce stationary items made with recycled paper and cardboard, vegetable inks and biodegradable shrink wrap. Even better, a portion of all proceeds are donated to their GIVE Program, to provide writing tools for children in need around the world to help them write their way out of poverty and violence. Now that's a birthday gift to feel good about!

(Bruno Mars also makes for a great birthday gift to yourself, just sayin'.)

 

Even got a bike ride in during my birthday weekend. A quick ride to and from brunch on a Sunday morning in New Orleans is always a happy time, even when it's 90 degrees and stupid humid outside.

Now, I'm sure most children would not be excited for grocery bags, Bruno Mars concerts and notebooks as birthday gifts, so I've got a few tips on how to green a child's birthday party while still keeping it fun!
 
Start with your invitations. Add some science and nature fun to your child's birthday invitations by mailing out seed paper invitations, such as these from Eco Party Time. Or choose invitations made from recycled paper. Or you could get creative and make your own recycled paper party invitations. It can be a fun activity with your child...until someone throws a crayon! If you truly don't want to use paper, use an online invitation such as Paperless Post, or go more low-key with a private Facebook event invite or mass message. (You know you've sent at least one at some point!)

Gifts, especially at children's birthday parties, always come with a ton of unnecessary trash. If you're determined to reduce your trash impact, include a line on the party invitation requesting that gifts be bagged, wrapped in plain paper, or even unwrapped. Gift bags have a longer lifespan than wrapping paper, and they are reusable (covering yourself for the next child's party your child has to attend!) Save all good tissue paper to use again. Another idea if you are the one giving a gift, whether to a child or another adult, is to use reusable shopping bags as the gift bag. This way, the gift bag is part of the gift itself! The bags can be used to hold toys in the car, and they come in amazingly handy on road trip vacations.

When planning the party decorations, skip the PVC and vinyl dollar store kind that won't last three hours. Use items you have already, or decorate with other eco-friendly decorations. Tables can be covered with brown kraft paper, which also gives children a coloring surface. The paper can be recycled once the party is over (unless it's covered in food or drink spills, then that will have to be thrown away). Recycled tissue paper formed into poofy flowers can be used for festive decorations. Save anything that's still in good shape once the party is over, and use again for future parties.

Kids and dishes are a bad combination, so I'm not even going to dare suggest using real plates for a party, no matter how green it is (and if you're an adult and having a party for yourself, use real plates! You're a grown-up, after all!) Melamine plates seem to be a good, inexpensive solution, but be careful not to microwave them! Look for sustainable or biodegradable disposable dinnerware, made from bamboo or other plant-based materials. Susty Party is my jam for eco-friendly party supplies, so check them out. They sell everything separately, but they also have really cute party packs that make your shopping go much faster.

Place clearly marked recycling bins throughout the party area, and especially next to the food. To make it a simple teaching experience for children, create picture signs of what's appropriate to throw in the recycling bin.

If you're a little older and more low-key, you've still got eco-friendly alternatives! Ask for eco-friendly, locally made or sold, or recycled material gifts from your loved ones. If you're looking for a gift to give, remember that many websites sell gift cards online, and they can be delivered paperlessly! Choose a locally owned restaurant, or a farm-to-table restaurant, and enjoy a delicious birthday dinner.

If you're having a get-together, class it up with real dinnerware and drinkware. Place recycling bins out for wine or beer bottles. Get creative with making wine glass markers, and use recycled cardboard or damaged gift wrap, with a marker to write guests' names. Broken or solo earrings can be taken off the hook, strung on some picture frame wire, and tied around wine glass stems for a creative way to use otherwise trash-bound items.

Birthdays shouldn't have to be a drain on resources and the environment. With a few adjustments, your birthday celebration can be both fun and eco-friendly!

For more green children's party ideas, visit Parents, PBS and Green Planet Parties!

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bike to work day

Happy Bike to Work Day!

Milo wanted to show off his own speed bike skills for y'all!

We've got thunderstorm threats and wind advisories all day, so biking was not a very good option for today, but maybe I can make my own Bike to Work Day another time!

Were you able to bike to work today? How is it going so far?

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louisiana snow day!

Excuse me, "sneaux day".

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changing seasons

It's been overcast and rainy for the past day or so, and I have to say, I'm kind of enjoying it. I stayed in and just relaxed for the first time in a very long time, and the pairing of that downtime with the cloudy weather and autumn officially starting tomorrow is putting me in a great mood. My apartment is now adorned with the amazing colors and smells of autumn, my favorite season. Milo is also enjoying the leaves that land on my patio.

This week I saw that the Lafayette Public Library has some great energy efficiency devices available for checkout, and wanted to share with y'all. The Kill A Watt EZ Meter is a handy little device that you plug in to the wall, then you plug any appliance into it. From there it is able to study and tell you how much energy that appliance is using. Then you can know how to adjust your use of that appliance, or if it's simply using too much energy, you can consider finding a more efficient version!

What I love most about this is that the library has a bunch of these meters available for people to check out. It's like a double whammy of greenness - not only do you get to test your appliances' energy usage, but you can do it without having to BUY another appliance. You can simply rent it and then return it for others to use. It looks like just about all of the meters at all of the library branches are currently checked out, but I would love to check one out in the future to give all of my appliances a quick test!

But even if you're not in the Lafayette Public Library area, you can still find these meters online and get one for your own home. 

And now, back to my quiet, rainy day. The blinds are open, the rain is hitting the roof and Milo is taking a cat nap by the window. Happy last day of summer, y'all! Bring on the fall weather!

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