• Crush all cans carefully – waste o’ time. Nowadays you don’t need to do this step. Recycling centers take un-crushed cans happily.
• Toss greasy and food ridden cardboard into the recycling bin. Sadly, this can mess up an entire load of recyclables. Recycling center machines are fit to take on grease and grime. If you’ve got sticky, messy, greasy paper you need to toss it not recycle it.
• Don’t sort the recycling – some recycling centers will sort if you don’t but others will just toss bins full of mixed goods which does no one any good. Set up a home recycling center and sort your recyclables.
• Be a perfectionist about food in jars – the machinery at the recycling center will zap that excess mayo or peanut butter out of a jar. In fact, if a lemon is stuck in a beer bottle or you can’t remove food from inside a narrow container you can still recycle it.
• Fail to recycle glossy paper – most recycling facilities do take old magazines and other glossy paper now. Check to be sure, but don’t just assume you can’t recycle it.
• Recycle before you re-purpose – recycling actually uses a fair amount of energy. IF you can re-purpose an item first, you should.
• Toss anything into the bins – many items need to be recycled in a different manner than your recycling center can deal with. For example, toys and dishes and the like should go to the thrift store, CFLs need to go to a CFL specific center, hazardous waste is a whole other issue, and food can be composted. Don’t recycle willy nilly.

And the number one best way to recycle wrong – don’t bother at all – who cares if you trash the planet?

You can choose store bought green cleaners. You’ll pay a little more but it’s worth it to avoid the toxins. Just make sure you choose actual, not fake green store bought cleaners. Some good brands include:

Just about anything from Earth Friendly Products or Biokleen. I personally like…

• Parsley Plus Surface Cleaner
• Orange Plus Surface Cleaner
• Vaska herbatergent
• Wild Orange & Cedar Spice Kitchen Cleaner
• Bi-O-Kleen Laundry Liquid
• Clean Earth Brands Earthworm Family-Safe Drain Cleaner
• Seventh Generation Emerald Cypress & Fir Toilet Bowl Cleaner

You can adjust your cleaning routine. For example, don’t clean areas your child can get to with toxic cleaners. For surfaces your little one may touch substitute a less toxic all purpose cleaner such as one of the above or make your own easy cleaner. Mix a few drops of natural soap, 2 cups water, and 15 drops each of tea tree and lavender essential oil. You can spray this on all surfaces, like cutting boards, counters, toilets, walls, (except it will streak glass). For glass simply use straight up lemon juice or club soda or if you don’t mind the smell use 1/2 cup vinegar mixed with one gallon water.

You can clean more often. A major reason people turn to harsh cleaners is because they’re not keeping up on their cleaning and when they finally get around to it, gunk is super stuck on everything. Wiping down your home frequently means it’s cleaner obviously, but also you can use just plain old natural soap and water on a cloth vs. harsh chemicals on a scrubber.

That said, if you’ve got a surplus, recycling at a center is not your only option. There are plenty of ways to creatively use those old magazines…

With the holidays right here upon us you can make some killer recycled gift bows with magazines OR simply choose the most colorful and festive pages to wrap gifts with.

Organiz an excellent full color cookbook on the cheap.

Hand them over to your kids for a cool recycled dollhouse.

Make stylish furniture. If teens can do it so can you.

Crumple it up and use it to ship holiday gifts with.

Make the coolest garbage can ever! I love this ironic plan because you’re keeping magazines out of the trash by making a trash holder with them!

Wow right. Visit Debbie Wijskamp to see more of the finished product.

I usually look in Oregon first, being that I live there, and today I found an awesome custom built timber-framed green home and guesthouse right near Portland! This home features all natural wood for the timber frame, framing, decks, siding, hardwood Oregon white oak floors cabinets and trim is FSC certified or salvaged. Natural products were used for wood sealing and there’s low/zero VOC paints on the walls. The house also has a passive solar design, wool carpets, marmoleum kitchen floor and all the appliances are Energy Star. Plus landscaping contains all native vegetation and there is a rainwater catchment system. Nice. Personally I love all the tree views. It pretty much screams PDX.

Next up a New Mexico beauty!

After living in New Mexico for years I’ve had enough of the desert for sure (I miss the Oregon rain) however, if I had to pick a house there, this Artist Built Adobe Home is super cute and off grid! Not too big, adobe walls that act as thermal mass for heating and cooling, natural clay paints and Bioshield, zero voc paints are just some of this green home’s many cool features. Solar panels, south facing orientation with earthen floor, woodstove, a Takagi on demand water heater, firewood on property and a 2300 gallon water harvesting system for gardens round out the features. Add to this that the home is located in Santa Fe County in the foothills of the Ortiz mountains – which is a seriously gorgeous area and it all adds up to a winning green home.

Next week we’ll look at some more green homes for sale!

GREEN HOLIDAY BASICS

• Seven Tips for A Greener Holiday Season
• Find your Greenest Christmas Tree
• Deck Your Tree With Shades of Green
• Have A Recycled Holiday Season
• Three Quick Green Holiday Packing and Wrapping Tips
• Ten easy ways to green Christmas

TREATS & GIFTS!

• Greener and Less Expensive Christmas Gifts Under the Tree
• 10 Amazing Organic Holiday Cookies
• Green Home Holiday Gift Guide: The Bamboo Kitchen
• Green Holiday Gift Idea: Green Gift for Pool Sharks
• 15 Green Home Books That Make Great Gifts!
• Green Holiday Gift Guide: Spicy Kitchen Find
• Green Holiday Gift Guide: Recycled Paper Trivets
• Tons of Green Holiday Crafts, Food, Gifts, & More!
• Nine Last Minute Green Home Holiday Gifts Ideas
• Fun Green Holiday Gift Idea – Lite2Go
• Eco-Friendly Christmas Stockings

SPICE UP YOUR HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

• Make A Holiday Ice Wreath
• Set Your Perfect Eco Holiday Table: Starting With the Table!
• Set Your Perfect Eco Holiday Table: Linen Choices
• Eco-Holiday Table Setting – Green Dishes for the Holidays
• Boiling Cinnamon for the Holidays
• Last Minute Eco-Friendly Christmas Centerpiece
• Eco-dinner party place cards and invitations

PLAN AHEAD

Also as you start thinking about the new year consider a Ban on Paper Calendars.

Luckily, although most people think green gifts cost more, they don’t have to. You can find greener holiday gifts for about the same price, sometimes even less than conventional gifts. Since December is right around the corner, below are some green gift ideas to get you started. None will break the bank but all will please the eco-conscious folks on your list.

• NRDC: Simple Steps Deck: A Healthy Home. A Healthy Planet. 50 Easy Actions - just $8 and packed full of green tips, plus it’s small size makes it the perfect green stocking stuffer.
• Dirt Candles – Handmade candles with cotton wicks, organic soy and essential oil blends free from phthalates, artificial dyes and carcinogenic ingredients. 10 ounce soy candles with recycled packaging. $15 each.
• CITIBLOCS Original Wooden Building Block Set – an awesome gift for kiddos and with sets starting at just $28 every family can afford them.
• Lavender Caramel (6-piece) – a beautiful organic gift box of lavender infused caramels with Fleur du Sel salt and made even better at just $16 a pop.
• Eco-Friendly Tea Set from Green Toys – made with recycled milk cartons and under $25!
• vedaDUDE Glide – I think this is the best organic shaving gel ever created. The gel smells amazing and is made with organic aloe leaf juice, bilberry extract and organic orange fruit extract. $20 and worth every penny!
• Rosette Journal – The cover of this $18 eco-journal is made of sustainably harvested birch wood, and it contains 75 blank pages of 100% recycled paper for jotting down memories.
• Bamboo Grow Box Gift – Chocolate Amaryllis – All components of this lovely bulb grow boxes unite to conserve the earth’s resources. Each box is hand-crafted and the lacquered lid becomes the drainage saucer for the leak-proof reusable grow box. Lacquer is hand-applied and  all-natural. Even the ribbon is sustainable, made from recycled plastic bottles. $40 but will last a good long while.
• EarthLust water bottle – only $18 for a reusable, beautiful, stainless steel water bottle – nice!

Are greener gifts on your list this holiday season?

Blogger and advisor Martin notes the following as a waste of money and not great energy savers to boot…

• Tyvek ThermaWrap
• Fafco plastic solar collectors
• Passive fresh air inlets
• Vinyl siding laminated to rigid foam
• Powered attic ventilators
• Programmable thermostats
• Inexpensive LED lamps
• Foil-faced bubble wrap
• Power factor correction devices
• Vent-free gas space heaters

I’m not so sure I agree with the whole programmable thermostats being useless argument. Martin notes that they’re not totally useless — “they’re just unnecessary and insufficient.” He also notes that “Study after study has shown that installing programmable thermostats makes no difference in energy use.” Mainly because homeowner behavior is far more important than the hardware. However on the flip side I’ve known people who have used them and note that they have saved money. I had one in a previous home and while I didn’t feel it saved as much money or resources as the programmable water heating thermostat I also had, it still did save money on my energy bill. It may depend on how you use the device along with your normal habits surrounding electricity use.

I also think that powered attic ventilators can work to reduce costs in a newer home. My pal installed one and his energy costs are lower than before BUT he has a newer and soundly built home. Martin notes that most aren’t as efficient because  most U.S. homes have leaky ceilings so instead of helping the ventilators commonly draw conditioned indoor air into the attic through ceiling cracks which of course will increase not decrease costs. He also notes that canned foam to seal leaks in your ceiling or additional insulation for your attic floor will be more useful.

In any case, if you disagree or not it’s a good read. He makes some excellent points and it’s lame to waste money on what won’t work for your home.

1. Lighting
2. Appliances and electronics
3. Heating & cooling
4. Water heating

You could, of course, break it down even more. Each of us has hundreds of ways we could be saving more energy, but the above four are major and a good place to start.

For lighting you can save more by incorporating day lighting into your home with energy efficient windows, skylights, and light tunnels. You can buy energy efficient bulbs and keep the lighting to a minimum or as needed basis. You can also remind family members to simply turn off the lights.

Appliances and electronic equipment makes up about 20% of your home energy usage and costs so it’s smart to purchase energy efficient versions of things like televisions, microwaves, refrigerators, washers and dryers, audio equipment and anything else you plug in. You may be able to get rebates on many of the items you buy. To further use these items efficiently, use them sparingly – i.e. hang dry many clothes instead of using the dryer each time. Plug all items in one space into one power strip then turn the whole darn strip off when you leave the room. Also, cook wisely – you don’t need the stove for everything.

For heating and cooling think ahead of time. Make sure you build or buy a home that’s got energy saving features such as good orientation, evergreen windbreaks, try passive solar design, and weatherize properly for winter. Also little adjustments such as turning the heat down a few notches adds up over time.

Heating your water can actually account for as much as 25% of your energy use. Try a solar water heater or the next time you upgrade, upgrade to the most efficient model you can. Insulate your hot water pipes and heater, install a water timer, and do the little things like taking shorter showers.

If you do all of the above it will not only save you energy but it will put money directly in your pocket – good timing with the holidays here.

Look for the USDA seal. The USDA organic seal is not foolproof, but right now it’s the best guarantee you’ve got that your food is actually organic. The Certified Organic label is regulated by the USDA and all foods wearing this label must be grown without chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and other genetically altered baddies. If a food item says stuff like “natural”, “from nature”, “chemical free” or anything else, it could be sure, but right now those labels technically mean nothing. Why shop for possible fake organics? Learn more about food labels.

Look for the code. Those little stickers affixed to fruits and veggies do actually mean something. At my store the conventional pears do sometimes roll into the organic bin, so if you want real organics look for the sticker. Real organics have a little sticker that carry a five digit code that starts with the number nine.

Look for essentials. You can buy organic cookies, cakes, chips, and other prepackaged foods, but since organic is more costly, why not spend the money on foods closer to the earth. Whole fruits and veggies, bread, milk, and so fourth vs. all the little extras.

Look for the big bads. There are some foods that are safer than others in conventional form. Personally, I think that as much organic as you can afford is a good idea, because organics are about more than personal health. It’s also about chemicals and pesticides in the atmosphere – it’s about keeping growers healthy – and it’s about showing the government that you do want your dollars going toward organics. BUT if you have to make a choice you should know that some organic foods are far more important than others.

If you’re looking for tips about how to save money on organic food for the holidays check out the Celebrate Green podcast on exploring organics for the holidays – I was a guest on the Celebrate Green radio show, and that’s just what we talked about.