Tree-cycle

Now that Christmas is over what to do with the tree? Assuming you went the greenest route and bought a replantable tree, there are many online resources with tips to plant your tree. We personally went with live trees this year and recycled them in our curbside recycling program which turns the trees into mulch. To find out if your town recycles Christmas trees check www.earth911.org. If you used an artificial tree and aren't keeping it, donate it to a hospital, thrift store, or Freecycle it - anything to keep it out of the landfill!

Greening your Christmas Cards

If you're like me, you're torn on the whole Christmas card issue. On one hand it's a time honored tradition and on the other hand it's not very earth friendly - all the paper which rarely gets recycled, the chemicals in the photos, the gas used to transport the cards...the list goes on and on. This usually results in a yearly debate with my husband on whether or not I'm doing cards this year. In previous years I have done handmade cards with gorgeous photos of my daughter which some people still display, this does eliminate some of the waste issue but is very time consuming. Last year I rebelled and went the earth friendly route and didn't send cards - while this was better for our planet it felt like something was missing. This year I feel that I have found the perfect solution - Smilebox. Smilebox is an easy way to go green and send environmentally friendly digital photo scrapbooks with personalized messages to family & friends. There are tons of designs to choose from and customizing you scrapbook is super easy and best of all it's free. I personally upgraded our scrapbook to the premium package for just $2.99 - this allows my family & friends to watch my scrapbook free of commercials and for those who would like to have a hard copy of our scrapbook they can print the scrapbook out. To me this is the best of both worlds - no wasted paper, but for those on our Christmas list that would like to keep the photos they can. Best of all it's not to late to send your card - scrapbooks can be completed in just a few minutes and can be send via email immediately or even posted on your family's blog. www.smilebox.com

A Day Without A Bag

Heal the Bay is hosting its second annual A Day Without A Bag tomorrow December 18,2008. This is an educational grassroots event coordinated by Heal the Bay that encourages businesses and individuals throughout Los Angeles County to forgo single-use, plastic shopping bags in favor of reusable bags. A Day Without a Bag focuses on education and raising consumer awareness about personal choices.

Even though I live in Florida I plan on sharing information about this event with my friends, family, and community. I personally use reusable bags every day and have given my family & friends reusable bags as gifts to encourage them to make a change in their shopping habits. Tomorrow I plan on heading to my local grocery store and handing out reusable bags to shoppers.

Driving Log

Now that gas prices have fallen drastically, have you changed your driving habits back to your gas-guzzling ways? A lot of people reduced their driving when gas was hovering around the $4 mark, now that it has dropped continue with those changes and save money and the planet. A great way to track your driving habits is to keep a driving log. It’s a great way to track where you're driving and for what purpose. Try to keep a log for one week where you note your destination, mileage, and purpose of the trip. At the end of the week, look to see if there are any trips you can combine. By planning your routes ahead of time you can run your errands more efficiently - saving gas and time.