Blooming Wrapping Paper by Uncommon Goods $20.00 This paper is a gift in itself and creates no waste because you simply plant the paper add a little water and have yourself a wonderful bouquet of wildflowers in the spring.

Giant Santa Sack by Great Big Stuff $8.77 If you have a really big gift that you’d like to wrap this reusable red sack is the perfect fit.

Recycled Wrapping Paper from Redstamp $6.00 I love the alternative designs like skulls and pimp my sleigh. They are perfect for the teens on your list.

Peace Wrap by Zola Goods $5.99 This cloth-like paper is beautiful and made from shedding tree bark so no trees have to be cut to produce this paper.

Tis the Season Eco Bag from Sweet Organics and Naturals $4.25 This is an amazing bag that is made from post consumer, manufacturing fiber waste, and sugar cane manufacturing waste. I can’t wait to try these out myself. The site also contains other great gift ideas so make sure to shop around a bit.

So What Can I Do?

• Eco-wrapping can be a little expensive to get started so you can choose just a few pieces this year that you can keep in the family like wrapping for the kids or spouse. This way you get extra value out of your purchase. Not only do you get great eco-friendly wrapping alternatives but you also get to reuse them next year.
• If you’re anything like me you have a whole closet full of wrapping paraphernalia already so the thought of buying more sends shivers down your back. Good news though you can still think green even if your wrapping supplies are not. I just ask my family for any unclaimed gift bags, tissue paper, and good quality bows, ribbon, or wrapping paper to recycle. That way I can limit my out-of-pocket expenses and limit landfill additions by reusing cast-offs by family and friends.
• You can get cute shopping totes to package gifts for your friends that still have an addiction to the plastic bag. It serves two purposes by having a multifunction wrapping alternative while showing your friend just how practical the bags are and hopefully converting them one bag at a time. The Disney Store and Toys-R-Us have great ones for your more whimsical friends while Boarders and Barnes and Noble have some nice bags with a more classic twist. Be on the look out for my post on the best shopping totes available on the web.

This worked well for me until recently when I started looking at buying a new shower curtain and wanted to make sure my decision was more in line with my goals for living greener. So I did a bit of research looking for a shower curtain that was eco-friendly. What I found out about my current shower curtain was more than a little disturbing.

Currently the most common type of shower curtains are made with PVC (polyvinyl chloride). This particular compound can release harmful toxins into the air especially when heated. The Center for Health, Environment and Justice states that the chemicals are released in the most concentration when the product is first opened and for the following month after use. High heat conditions increase the release of the toxins. I’m not sure about all of you but some days the hotter the better is my shower preference. The other big concern is also that PVC can not be adequately recycled meaning that most products end up in the landfill or worse end up at recycling plants contaminating entire bins of recyclables. The code #3 means that it contains PVC and should have special consideration for recycling.

You can find the article by CHEJ here. You can also check out the study that CHEJ did here. The study lists all of the toxins that can be released from PVC products and what the consequences of exposure maybe.

The government does not feel that the exposure or the toxins released is anything to be concerned with that exposure is negligible and not enough to change manufacturing standards. I can agree that exposure is probably small on an individual exposure basis but what I’m more concerned with is continued small dose exposure over time. Our life is so filled with chemical attacks shouldn’t we do everything we can to limit the exposure that we can when we can?

I know for me and my family we have decided to phase out pvc where we can and we started with our shower curtain. The good news is that the major retailers are catching on and offering pvc free shower curtains at reasonable prices. You can check out the following retailers to help you make the switch:

• Wal-Mart PEVA shower curtains starting at $10.00




• Target PEVA shower curtain $15.00




• IKEA shower curtains for $4.00 (all selections are pvc free as they phased out pvc shower curtains 11 years ago)

You can also chose cotton or hemp shower curtains but need to be more cautious with mold for those options and you typically need a liner. The other option of course is glass doors or a walk-in shower that does not require a curtain.

So What Can I Do?

• Change out your shower curtain to a non-pvc style to limit your exposure. If you shower curtain is more than a month old the exposure is less of a risk so you can probably just wait until it’s time to replace before buying a new one.




• Limit your purchase of PVC products to not only limit exposure but limit waste since they don’t recycle well. Be on the look out for the number 3 on the products recycle code and make sure you don’t mix it with your standard recyclables. Check with Earth 911 to find local centers that handle #3 materials.




• Become aware! I learn more and more each day on what I’m really being exposed to on a day to day basis and it amazes me. I know some of it may just be hype but knowledge is power and I want to be powerful and help you be powerful as well. Informed consumers are a force that can help to make change possible.

So I have vowed to officially become a bag lady. This wasn’t all that hard of a stretch for me since I love bags and purses of all kinds and this gave me a reason to buy super cute recyclable tote bags all in the name of greener grocery shopping. I know that it isn’t really financially reasonable to buy all the bags you would need to get all of the groceries that you need any given week especially if you buy groceries like I do. What I did was buy one bag each week with my regular grocery shopping. Wal-Mart and Meijer both sell bags for 99 cents that work well with their bag holders (that’s so the cashier doesn’t grumble too much when you bring your bags). I have also found that most other major retailers are now selling their own branded recyclable bags. My favorites though are from the Disney Store and Toys’R'Us with bright fun prints and favorite characters I love showing them off. Their prices range from $1.99-$5.50 and are completely worth it to me. I have also washed all of my bags at least once and I have to say that they are holding up nicely although they won’t last forever they are completely recyclable.

If you prefer getting all your bags at once you can take a look at Cheap Totes and Tan’s Club both offer a variety of cotton tote and grocery bags sold in bulk or singles. You can also take a look at ebay for deals on totes.

So What Can I Do?

• You can start by changing out one plastic bag for one recyclable bag each week until you have enough bags to complete a week’s worth of shopping. You can also not have them bag the bigger items like laundry soap, milk, and tp paper to save on space and bags. It may mean a few more trips into the house from the car but I always like a bit more exercise.




• Take a large bag with you to the mall when you shop so you can simply tuck your purchase in your bag verses taking a store bag. I always put the receipts in my purse so I can make sure nothing gets lost.




• Help your friends make the switch by using cute totes to wrap presents in this holiday season instead of gift bags. It makes a simple gift that much better by giving a two for one present. I am going to be making Santa sacks this year for my kids instead of wrapping their gifts from Santa. I’ll be posting this craft possibly later this month so stay tuned.

I know there are a lot of people that for them it wouldn’t be Christmas without a real tree and I do get that and while there is a case for both sides of this debate my big motivator was always saving money. You can save money because artificial trees can be used for up to 10 years or more if you store them correctly making the cost about $17.00 a year for a good one. I only had real trees when I was married to my ex and it was at his demand. I never liked the smell, the mess, the clean-up, and for me personally I have never liked having living things in my house I prefer them in the yard. There are some really wonderful artificial trees that look very realistic on the market now the vast majority even come with fiber-optics so you don’t even have to hang lights if you don’t want. You can check out Balsam Hill (they offer a personalized tree finder) they are pretty top of the line but do offer some great deals in their clearance section. Also take a look at Tree Classics (they also offer a tree selector) these are much more reasonable priced. You can also look at Target and Wal-Mart which always offer a selection of artificial trees and offer free shipping to the store. If you do plan to get a real tree consider purchasing it from a responsible tree farm and recycling at the end of the season. You can check out Earth 911 for information on programs in your area now so you are ready after the New Year.

The other thing I always do at holiday gift giving parties is scavenge all of the unclaimed gift bags and tissue paper. I’ve always done this just to save money for next year but it really is a very basic recycling technique. There are a lot of your fellow party goers that wouldn’t mind giving up or giving back any packaging material that they don’t want. It’s pretty much a given at my family Christmas get-togethers that everyone folds up their bags and hands them to me to use for next year. It’s almost a running joke in my family but hey it works for me.

I’d love to hear what you are doing to make your Holiday more green this year? Any creative ways that you have always done things and just never thought “Hey this is helping the environment”?

So What Can I Do?

• If you celebrate Christmas have a plan on how to make your tree a little greener this year by either recycling your real tree or investing in a artificial tree. If it is time to upgrade your tree consider donating your previously loved tree to a needy family. Sometimes this is the only way some families have trees during the holiday season.
• Take stock now of your wrapping supplies so you know what you already have that can be reused. If you go to early holiday parties aquire the unused wrapping supplies to use for later parties and always recycle for next year. Think of the money you can save when each bag can cost anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00.
• Check out Celebrate Green and back here with me for more tips on Greening up your Holidays.