I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…

Well, here at Yurto what we dream of is a greener Christmas for everyone.

We all know that holidays are supposed to be fun, but we encourage everyone to be more responsible so that we can indeed have more fun without sacrificing the environment. Here are some simple tips for an environmental-friendly Christmas.

• Re-use old decor – We know that part of what makes everything feel so festive during Christmas is all the new and bright shiny decor you put up all over the house, but if your old Christmas decor is still in good shape, resist the urge to replace it with new stuff and just put up the old ones. Hey, if your decor survives year after year, who knows you’ll even end up really cooler with vintage Christmas decor. If you really need some new decor though, try flea markets and antique shops. The goal is to re-use as much as you can. And if you’re really adamant about everything being new, make sure that you at least give your old decor to someone who’ll be more than happy to get perfectly good decor, although the next holiday season is still a year away.
• Do away with wrappers – I personally use newspaper and old magazines when I wrap gifts. Those who have kids can also use your kids’ artwork as Christmas wrappers, making your wrappers not just environmental friendly, but also more personal. Using pretty and durable boxes are also a good idea, since the boxes can always be re-used.
• Think quality with gifts – Instead of buying your kids many gifts that will end up broken and unused in a couple of days, buy just one quality gift that they will appreciate and surely use for a longer time. Take this time to teach your kids to the importance of being good stewards of their things and of the environment!

LED Christmas Lights

A great way to cut the cost of your holiday energy bill and go green is to use LED lights. LED Christmas lights use a fraction of the energy of traditional lights. LED lights can also be found in a variety of colors and shapes. Best of all, the prices have come down over the years making them affordable for almost any budget.

Solar Decorations

Another great way to save energy is to use solar decorations. There are a number of walkway lights, signs and other decorations that are powered by solar energy. The thing to remember when using solar decorations is to place the solar panels in a well sunned area. Some areas get less sun during the winter and you need to ensure you’ve picked a spot that sees the most sun. You also need to make sure that the panels will not get covered with snow.

Christmas Card Ornaments

Don’t you hate it when you mess up a Christmas card? Instead of throwing that card in the trash, use it to make an ornament or several. Use a Christmas cookie cutter to trace a shape onto the card on both sides and cut the shapes out. You want to make sure to get a plain spot on the back flap of the card or you can just use two shapes cut from the front. Once the shapes are cut out, use a hole punch to create a place to tie ribbon for hanging once the ornament in compete. The last step is to glue the pieces together separating them with foam board to add dimension. This is a great way to recycle cards you’ve received in the past as well.

Enter “Eco Balls”, amazing little balls which, when thrown into your wash, do all the work your regular soap does (and claim to kill bacteria too) without any chemicals, detergents and the like. When you work out what you save on soap, the savings are enormous, with something like 6 cents a load with the balls, to approx. 80 cents with detergent, more depending on what brand you buy. You can buy kits which come with refills, stain remover (it doesn’t do that great with heavy stains) as well as dryer balls for “fabric softer” role.

So does it really work? While I wait for my order to arrive, I found a good review worth checking out. The verdict? Some liked it, others were disappointed with its cleaning power. There was also one complaint about how the ball came apart and broke her washing machine. Either way, its a product I think worth trying out for yourself -because I think eliminating detergents would be a great thing.

One of the mantras in my household is “Wash your hands please”. When the kids get home from school, before mealtimes, before cooking, after playing, after touching the pets and so on. But when you’re out of the house, using water and soap obviously isn’t the most convenient thing. And the solution a lot of people have been using come in the form of antibacterial gels, which are cheap, plentiful and found just about anywhere. The problem with it though, is that terrible ingredient, triclosan, an antibacterial agent found in a lot of products nowadays, from soap to socks! But the fact remains: Triclosan is no better than plain soap.

Several months ago, I read a very disturbing article by a Mom, aptly called: “Cancer or Germs? I’ll Take the Germs!”. She took the time out to do research on the stuff (the things a Mom will do!- bravo) and it made me ban triclosan from my household forever – why? because among other nasties, it causes cancer and is bad for the environment. Enough said. If you want to know more about it, or what products contain it, please go here.

Okay. So we know antibacterial gels with triclosan are bad, but that doesn’t really solve our problem about killing germs while we are on the go. Mind you, soaps have it too, so be wary and always read labels. Well, the best solution is to buy the natural stuff (like Clean Well), or better yet, make it yourself.

Here are some ideas:

Grapefruit seed extract: diluted with distilled water, makes a great all-around germ-killing spray for hands, air, surfaces and even wounds!

Vodka and essential oil: Mixing vodka, essential oil (like lavender) and distilled water, is another easy and cheap alternative. Put it in a spray bottle and keep it handy.

Essential oils and water: Simple yet effective, take your favourite essential oil and mix it with water to create a very natural antibacterial. The most potent are: cinnamon, cloves, verbena, lavender, angelice, juniper, sandal, cedar, thyme and lemon.

Fly economy instead of first class. The latter may be more comfortable but since there are fewer people in first class (more space is given per person), it technically uses up more fuel. More than this, however, you should also consider taking the most direct route. It is common sense, as it will get you to your destination faster, but flying directly also lessens your carbon emissions contribution.

Better yet, take the bus. Yeah I know, the bus is not your first choice. If you have time to spare, however, and you do not have that much luggage on you, why not take the bus instead of driving or flying? You will save a LOT on fares and your carbon footprint will benefit from it as well.

Avoid holiday traffic jams. We all want this, but probably for a different reason – who likes getting stuck in traffic anyway? Another reason for avoiding traffic jams, however, is the fact that your car uses up much more fuel when sitting idly. This means higher emissions. As such, plan your trip so that you won’t have to battle it out on the roads with other travelers.

Any tips of your own?

Photo courtesy of Boeing

Bring your own bag

Reusable shopping bags are the rave these days, and I think they are one of those trends that should just never end. Instead of relying on plastic or paper bags that shops give out with your purchases, why don’t you lug along a reusable bag or two?

Share transportation

Carpooling is such an old idea, but it has never been more relevant than it is today. Plan your shopping activities so that you can share a ride with family members and friends instead of everyone taking separate cars. Use the money you save on gas to buy more stuff!

Don’t go too far

Yeah, some deals might better in places farther from your home, but do you really have to go that far? For sure, you will also find great Black Friday deals closer to home. More so, you might even have a grand time shopping online. This will save on time and fuel consumption!

Skip shopping!

Sure, Black Friday is fun. Shopping is fun. However, no one is obliged to actually go out and do Black Friday. If you can, why not choose other ways to spend your Black Friday? It doesn’t have to be shopping, doesn’t it?

For sure, you will be able to find a get up that will suit you, and you do not have to spend a single dime. Swapping costumes for Halloween may not be the first thing that comes to mind, especially if you are all gung ho about coming as the most unique, most stunning creature to a party. Then again, costume swapping brings another benefit on top of saving money: you get to conserve other resources (read: raw materials being used to create those costumes!).

There is actually a “holiday” dubbed Costume Swap Day, which is celebrated on the 9th of October every year. This gives you pretty much a whole month to figure out who/what you are going to go as for so and so number of Halloween parties. Take a look at this video for more information.

The Day might be over now, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do your own swap several hours before that last Halloween party you are going to attend. And, if you are tearing your hair out and beating yourself up for leaving things to the last minute – remember to start your swap early next year!

For your Easter egg hunt, if you can afford it, why not go organic? Organic eggs will definitely be more expensive than “ordinary” ones but if you really want to make every little bit of difference, then going organic is great. You can also choose to use free-range or free-farmed eggs. Of course, the dying of the eggs is quite important as well. Instead of buying chemical dying materials, just use dyes that are vegetable and fruit based. You can even create your own dyes by boiling vegetables and fruits! Think cranberry for red or pink. Think blueberries for blue. Grape juice can work, but the shade will be more light purple.

As for the baskets, don’t even think of buying new ones! Dig into your trunks or the attic – you are sure to find old ones that you can reuse.

Also, don’t use plastic or cellophane. It might look pretty but you can always use art paper or real grass and weeds to decorate Easter baskets. These materials are definitely better for the earth than cellophane or other non-biodegradable material.

As usual, use your imagination and the sky’s the limit!

Looking at the tree got me thinking about the “real” trees – countless trees! – that were used over the holidays. Where do people put them after the festivities are over? If you use real trees for decoration, what do you do when the month of January comes around?

It’s comforting to know that there are groups that help the average person to dispose of their trees with the environment in mind. One such group is the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. What the group does is to go around recycling centers in the state and gather used trees. They then sink these trees into fresh water bodies – making sure they’re upright. This is because the trees attract fish and provide an conducive environment for them to live in.

There are other groups which rent out Christmas trees. This is also great for the environment as they have options such as maintaining the tree for you for the rest of the year. There are groups like that offer this service in the UK, in Canada, and some states in the US.

At the end of the day, what matters is that you recycle that tree.

Mountains of the Moon
From dresses to shirts and tops to baby clothes, you can find these in this web site. Their products are made in the U.S.A. – sweatshop free! The materials used range from cotton to hemp and the designs are actually quite beautiful. I took a look at some dresses, and prices range from $80++ to hundreds of dollars.

Eco-artware
This site offers all sorts of things made from recycled, reused, and natural materials. Some things that you can buy are bags, baskets, bath products, furniture, kitchen tools, and jewelry. Prices vary depending on the item but you can find things for less than $50.

Eco Express
If it’s food that you want to buy and give as a gift, then this is the site for you. Fruits, wines, and other products are on sale especially for the holidays. You can also buy wreaths and gift baskets.

Have fun shopping!