These are not in order of importance because I feel that all environmental issue deserve our understanding and support.

• Plastic Bags: Nothing is ever really free (in the case of material things) and the cost of this one seemingly harmless item is higher than most people realize. Animals both land and more specifically marine animals treat these bags as food and most pay with their lives. Sea Turtles mistake the plastic bags as jellyfish and suffer needlessly until their inevitable death. You can read more about the issue here.




• Continuing Deforestation of the Amazon and Forests: There is a great article that was done out of the University of Michigan that describes why this is an issue that we should all be concerned with here. The obvious reason for the need for trees is to help cleanse the Earth. Trees have the ability to pull toxins out of the air and release the essential oxygen that we all need to survive. They are also home to hundreds of species of animals that are slowly vanishing from our world in our lifetime. You would think that our biggest culprit is the paper industry but in reality it is cattle farming. The Amazon has given way to it’s most significant amount of deforestation to make way for cattle farms because Brazil is the leading exporter of beef.




• Toxins in the essential products we use everyday. We are finding more and more that products made in the name of convenience and economically were done so with out proper testing. So now we are left with plastics that can cause cancers and pans that maybe easier to clean but can make us sick.




• Global Warming: National Geographic has a great fast fact article if you are interested. I don’t know if this issue is what we need to spend a lot of time with since the media has either blow it up or discounted it all together. Whatever you believe I think the fact that the weather is changing can not be argued but the cause of it may still be up for debate.




• Clean drinking water for all people. Thirst Relief International states that 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to clean drinking water. This figure to me is unbelievable because to me this is a basic necessity and is something that people should not have to worry about but because of contamination of ground water supplies and waterways this basic need is not available to people throughout the world. This can become an issue even in industrialized countries if contaminates leak into the ground water and it is not tested frequently.

I know when I sit down to my dinner and look at the bounty in front of me and my family I will be thankful that the changes that we are making and continue to make will be moving us in the direction of a more environmental conscious family. I know that we are only one family and that overall what we do makes very little impact in the larger scope of things but if thousands of families start to make similar changes to the way they live we may start to get somewhere.

I think that Margaret Mead’s quote says it best:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

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.

So what are some of the things that my family is working towards?
-Growing our own produce (or at least as much as we can) We will be documenting our raised garden beds this coming spring and summer.
-Eating locally and organically raised meat
-Cooking and eating at home for 90% of our meals. (This one is going to be difficult a we like to go out to eat)
-Increasing our outdoor activity
-Embracing Re-economy for most of our needs (I’ll post on this topic later)
-Making bi-weekly trips to recycling plant
-Buy a hybrid vehicle (This one will take awhile)
-Make as many of my own cleaning products as I can (I’ll be posting my reviews as I use these)

I’m sure there are more but I think this is a good list. Some of these we have already started doing and others are plans for the future. I’m looking forward to sharing the good the bad and the don’t bother with you as we move forward along this path. If you have green things that you are doing please feel free to share them with me. I know not everything will work for everyone but sharing ideas always helps to gain perspective. Even small steps are still steps in the right direction.