eco holiday

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Greener and Less Expensive Christmas Gifts Under the Tree

November 28, 2009 in Holiday, Holiday Gift Guide by Jennifer | 1 comment

According to the Seattle Times, “A fifth of U.S. consumers plan to buy more environmentally safe gifts this holiday season.” That’s about as many green shoppers as last year, although Seattle locals were a little more green with about 24% of consumers noting that eco-friendly gifts are on their list this year AND astoundingly 55% of Seattle respondents say they’ll pay more for greener gifts.

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?

Ten easy ways to green Christmas

November 19, 2009 in Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

Christmas is one of those holidays that’s actually pretty darn easy to green up. Simple choices can lead to a green Christmas and a more meaningful holiday celebration. Following are some ideas…

green your christmas

1. Green your Christmas tree: There are so many choices when it comes to the tree that it can seem hard not simple, but it all comes down to a few bits of info…

Reusable plastic tree = not so green.
Cut trees from a conventional farm = ok, but still not too green.
Cut tree from an organic farm = greener.
A living tree = green!
Alternatives like a wreath, small tree, plant, or other recyclable option = green.

To get an in-depth look read the most eco-friendly Christmas tree.

2. Green your lights: No matter where you like to place holiday lights, LEDS save you energy and look beautiful as well.

3. Green your wrap: Reuse last year’s Christmas wrap; use the comics; use a reusable container; use wrap made with recycled paper.

4. Green your greetings: Don’t send cards this year, call your loved ones instead or send an e-card. Make cards with recycled craft supplies. IF you really want to send a paper card, send one made of tree-free paper, plantable paper, or choose from the many recycled Christmas card options available.

5. Green your holiday baking: Use organic ingredients and eco-safe bake ware. No time to bake? Find the most Amazing Organic Holiday Cookies.

6. Green your shopping: Don’t shop like mad. Make a small list of meaningful gifts you’d like to get and stick to it. OR make crafty homemade holiday gifts. You can also give many gifts that actually give back.

7. Green the toys: If you’ve got kids, Christmas toys are likely on your list. Make sure you get safe, lead-free, non-toxic toys this year.

8. Green your Christmas stocking: This year use an eco-friendly Christmas stocking AND stuff it with safe fun green treats.

9. Green your holiday supplies: Plan on using goods for the holidays that are made with recycled materials or that can easily be recycled. You’d be surprised at how many options there are for a nice recyclable holiday season.

10. Green your Christmas mindset: The biggest challenge surrounding getting green for Christmas is simply wrapping your mind around a new way to celebrate. Read I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas and/or Celebrate Green for ideas about how you can celebrate in a fun way while keeping it green and meaningful.

How are you greening your Christmas this year?

Eco-Friendly Christmas Stockings

November 11, 2009 in Holiday by Jennifer | 4 comments

It’s never too soon to start thinking about a green Christmas. Once fall hits Christmas can sneak up on you quickly and the more prepared you are the less stressful the holidays will be. Also, if you need special gear, like stockings, it’s good to have a chance to look around. It’s not easy to just walk into any store and find eco-friendly stocking options.

Following are some great choices for eco-friendly Christmas stockings:

Use what you’ve got: If you’ve been using the same old stockings for years, that’s actually a very nice tradition. You don’t need to buy new each year. I used the same stocking from the time I was born until my teens – my mom made it. Using family stockings is one of the best ways to keep it green.

Make your own: It’s easy to find a free stocking pattern online. Then simply use an eco-friendly fabric like organic cotton, felt, or bamboo to make it. See more cute DIY stocking ideas.

Buy one: If you’re buying an eco-friendly stocking it can pay to check out local crafty Fair Trade or eco shops. If you can’t find one locally there are some good options online.

eco-friendly holiday stockings

ChunkiChilli Christmas stockings hand-knitted and hand embroidered in pure merino wool. MANY pretty styles to choose from.
Adorable Recycled Sweater Personalized Christmas Stockings!
Beautiful wool felt stockings hand made in Hungary by a womens’ cooperative that uses traditional appliqué techniques from Hable Construction – so many cool colors and designs to choose from too.
Eco-friendly felt stockings from rikrak – lots of color and design choices.
Amenity holiday stockings made with 55% hemp 45% certified organic cotton, and printed with non-toxic, water-based dyes.

Cloth Napkin Pros – Green Home Reusable Cloth Napkins

February 19, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle by Jennifer | No comments

This week we’re taking a look at cloth napkins. So far we’ve discussed basics of why you need to use cloth napkins, and looked at some places where you can get some for your home.

Now for some pros:

Cloth napkins feel better and work better than paper napkins.
Cloth napkins are very cost efficient. Even if you buy a super nice set, cloth napkins will still save you money over paper napkins.
Cloth napkins are much healthier for the earth than paper napkins or paper towels. Paper napkins not only create waste because they’re made with paper, but they also come in wasteful packaging, take gas to ship, and are extremely hard to recycle.
Cloth napkins last forever and serve other purposes. While paper napkins are a use and toss product, cloth napkins can be used to death, then switched over to cleaning rags. I still have good cloth napkins from over five years ago. My now scrappy and unusable napkins are used for dusting and cleaning. Pretty soon they’re going to biodegrade right at my house they’re used so much.
Cloth napkins are NOT that much more work. To keep them looking good throw them in a wash when you do a load of cold delicate items. If you don’t care if they lose a little color, toss them in with any load of laundry.
Cloth napkins, contrary to popular belief are still better for the environment than paper, even though it takes water and energy to wash them. Cloth napkins are so small – even if you have a big family, cloth napkins will only run you about one load of wash per week. If you wash on cold, hang dry, and use eco-friendly laundry soap, they just don’t add up to the same eco-badness as paper napkins.

Are you still using paper napkins?

Where in the heck can you find cloth napkins?

February 18, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle by Jennifer | 3 comments

In the last post I had myself a little rant about how My family (and maybe your family) are killing trees in one fast swoop. I.E the cloth napkin vs. paper napkin rant. In any case, there are loads of cloth napkins on the market. AND they’re at all price ranges. There is no reason ever to use paper.

Where are all the cloth napkins…

Thrift stores.
Department stores.
Trendy eco-stores.
Antique sales.
Ask for them on your wedding (or other) registry.
Make some.

Some options… Read the rest of this entry »

My family (and maybe your family) are killing trees in one fast swoop

February 17, 2009 in Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle, Save Money by Jennifer | 2 comments

The other night I went to a family dinner at my dad’s house. There were maybe 15 people there. We had pizza (good), salad (good), ice cream cake (even better) and LOADS of paper napkins. Oh my.

At my own house, all we use are cloth napkins. We’ve never used paper napkins, and we don’t even use paper towels. I was a little shocked about all the paper napkin use at dinner the other night, and almost considered wiping my hands on my jeans just to cut down on the excess. On a given day, (not a family dinner night) there are still about 5-8 random people at my dad’s. If you do the lowest math that’s about 5 people x’s three meals and snacks a day. That’s possibly:

20 paper napkins a day.
140 paper napkins a week.
7,280 paper napkins a year! For ONE household. Not to mention the family dinners.

Wow right?

How many trees is that affecting? Let’s use a basic bulk pack of Bounty Quilted Napkins, 100-Napkin Packages (Pack of 20) for our calculations. If you buy in bulk, that’s about 12 pounds of paper napkins. In my family, you’d need about 3.5+ bulk packs for the year.

Semi-fuzzy math calculations: Read the rest of this entry »

Green Valentine’s Sweets, Treats, and Eco-Flowers

February 2, 2009 in Holiday, Organics by Jennifer | No comments

Looking for a nice assortment of sweets, treats, and flowers that offer traditional Valentine’s Day flavor, but also allow you to keep your green ethics in tact? You’re in luck because I’ve got a ton of goodies for you…

Ooo la la, organic flowers…

Treats! Read the rest of this entry »

Last Minute Eco-Valentine’s Gifts for Green Friends

February 2, 2009 in Holiday by Jennifer | 1 comment

We’re coming up at the end of shipping dates for Valentine’s Day – so today we better see some gifts. We’ll look at some home-minded items, being that this is a home-minded blog. The first gift idea above are charming Recycled Tin Words – actually say I love you all year round with this pretty mismatched recycled tin wall decor.

The above gift – the Green Box is not very hearts and pink but it is very earth-lovin’ which makes it the perfect Valentine for someone looking to live green. The Green Box comes with:

Bamboo Cutting Board
The Green Book
Reusable Travel Mug
Energy Saving Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb
Envirosax Reusable Bag
Sun and Earth All Natural Liquid Hand Soap
Bamboo Box

A great green starter kit.

Or maybe you want something more traditional Valentine… Read the rest of this entry »

Green Valentine’s Day Decor Ideas

January 19, 2009 in Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

Yesterday we looked at Green Home Ideas for Valentine’s Day today we’re going to see some specifics…

If you’re having a party, if you have kids, or if the thought of fun cupid style decor simply appeals to you, take a look at these green Valentine’s Day decor ideas:

Heart Garland (shown above) – very nice heart garlands made from eco-friendly felt.

Read the rest of this entry »

Green Valentine’s Day Tips – Green Home Ideas for Valentine’s Day

January 19, 2009 in Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

Sweetheart Rose Bouquet from Organic Bouquet

There are so many ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day that are not only fun, but clean and green. Ok, maybe not so clean (melty organic chocolates) but definitely green.

Two words: organic flowers! With so many lovely organic flower choices nowadays, it’s seriously a crime to buy conventional. Organic flowers are grown under safer conditions for both humans and the planet, and don’t have icky chemicals. All you want to smell is that lovely rose scent.
Make your own Valentine’s Day cards out of recycled materials you have laying around the house. Collage cards are especially cool (and vintage looking) and allow you to use up bits and pieces of stuff. If you must go with new Valentine’s Day cards, choose cards made with recycled and eco-friendly materials.
When choosing decor, pick items that are sustainable and recyclable. Such as recycled paper decor or wool decor. Soon, in an upcoming post, I’ll bring in some specific decor ideas (I’ve got some cute ones!).
For your party use real dishes and cloth napkins. It’s gentler on the earth than disposables. If you go the disposable route choose recycled or sustainable materials made with soy inks and non-toxic coatings. Two good choices include, Amy Butler tableware or Bambu.
Look for organic and fair trade Valentine’s Day goodies. Chocolates, lollies, cupcakes, cookies, punch, wine, and more are all available in nice earth-friendly versions. Later we’ll look at some good specific options.
If you’re looking to spread some romance (more than fun) light candles, just make sure they’re organic soy or beeswax.

More Valentine’s Day green tips to come…

Now tell me, how do you plan to spend the big day?

Three Quick Green Holiday Packing and Wrapping Tips

December 16, 2008 in Holiday, Organic Gardening by Jennifer | No comments

Save all your old newspapers, magazines, and tissue paper, and send them through the shredder to make instant thin packing strips. If you have colorful strips, say from magazines, you can use them in holiday gift bags or baskets even.
Skip gift tags and try simply jotting down who a gift is for on the package itself. You can also write on the gift’s bow or ribbon. Or use old gift tags (save them each year).
Make a gift super reusable by packing it in a nice reusable bag or lunch sack. It’s a two for one gift!

For more green gift wrapping tips visit: Eco-Wrap Your Holiday Gifts

Have A Recycled Holiday Season

December 10, 2008 in Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

The holidays are the perfect time to put reuse to good use. Try the following…

Reuse holiday cards. Cut the fronts off and re-glue them to blank paper (recycled of course). Embellish as you like, and send.

Reuse holiday wrap. Each year save your holiday wrap for the next. You can also save holiday gift tags, bows, tissue paper, and packing materials for mailing gifts.

If you have to buy new wrapping paper, purchase recycled gift wrap.

Use oddball wrap. Wrap a gift in newspaper, old art projects, found vintage or thrift tins, a reusable bag, or an old box.

Use recycled table items for holiday parties and events.

Recycle holiday meal leftovers into your compost bin and turn it into great garden matter.

You can recycle your Christmas tree by buying a live tree, that you can then re-plant (not totally recycling, but you get the idea). You can even go extreme green, and decorate a tree outside instead of buying new.

Purchase recycled gifts and toys. All sorts of gifts can be bought used, and many companies make new items out of recycled goods. See gift ideas (many recycled) from Best Green Home Tips.

What other holiday reuse ideas can you come up with?

Eco-Holiday Table Setting – Green Dishes for the Holidays

December 8, 2008 in Food & Drink, Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

We’ve been looking lately at setting your holiday table, using green techniques. So far we’ve seen;Set Your Perfect Eco Holiday Table – choosing a table and Linen Choices.

Today, let’s look at some eco-dishes and serving items that go on top of your table…

Clear Glass Wine Decanter and Set of 4 Goblets – lovely recycled glass decanter with 4 recycled goblets.

Oceana Wave Plate – Pearl (set of 4) or Oceana Square Plate – Pewter (set of 4) – great place settings in recycled seaglass. Perfect as a set for formal holiday meals.
Read the rest of this entry »

Set Your Perfect Eco Holiday Table: Linen Choices

November 26, 2008 in Green Your Home, Holiday by Jennifer | No comments

Hey folks. I took the day off for my birthday, got a little R&R, and now I’m back and raring to go. The other day we started looking at ways to Set Your Perfect Eco Holiday Table. We started with bare basics, a decent earth-friendly table. Today we’ll be looking at what goes right on top of said table.

Linen table items are best because they’re reusable, and of course last longer than paper products. Plus, they just look nicer. Some good linen fabric choices include hemp, organic cotton, and bamboo. Although, I’m more of the mindset that if you use linen over paper, paying extra for organic is cool, because you limit chemicals, but honestly, any linens are better than paper. Here are some good choices for the holidays:

Amenity Cove Organic Placemats via Velocity – I like the cocoa and silver above, but these come in a great gray and espresso color as well.
Read the rest of this entry »

Set Your Perfect Eco Holiday Table: Starting With the Table!

November 23, 2008 in Furniture & Appliances, Holiday by Jennifer | 1 comment

If you’re looking to set your perfect eco-holiday, I’ve got you covered. I’m going to be running a table series covering everything from eco-friendly dishes to cloth napkins, to flowers. Starting with…

The table.

Of course you’ll need a table to dress up. Being that I happen to be heavily addicted to ogling eco-furnishings I see an untold amount of tables. I have lots of favorites. I picked a nice variety to share here. Hopefully you’ll find something to love.

The Lapis: A table I’ve always loved; well, not since birth, so always is inaccurate. However, I have loved it for a good long while. It’s lovely and light, modern and fresh, and simply glows. This piece is finished with an organic milk paint finish. Comes in various colors, but I’m sticking with linen, my fave.

+ Fernwalla

Read the rest of this entry »

Green Holiday Gift Guide: Recycled Paper Trivets

November 17, 2008 in Holiday Gift Guide by Jennifer | No comments

These Recycled Paper Trivets would make a great eco-friendly gift for the holidays. They’d be especially nice as a host gift.

Unique, colorful, useful, and under $20 – you can’t beat that!

$19.99 Set of Four Recycled Paper Trivets

+ Are Naturals

Green Holiday Gift Guide: Spicy Kitchen Find

November 7, 2008 in Holiday Gift Guide by Jennifer | No comments

This beautiful spice block is made with 100% reclaimed mahogany and food-safe walnut oil/beeswax finish. I think it’d look great on any holiday table; such as you can use it for salt and pepper during a holiday meal, or fill it with cinnamon sticks and cloves for tea. A perfect gift for a tree hugger who likes things a little spicy!

$56 – Spice Block
+ Branch

Happy Green November!

November 2, 2008 in News by Jennifer | 1 comment

Well, it’s November folks – this year is flying by. I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. Now it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving, winter home prep, and winter holiday home decor.

Here’s what’s going to be happening in November at Best Green Home Tips:

The holiday gift guide: With the holidays coming up, it’s best to start thinking about which eco-friendly holiday gifts you’d like to buy (or make) for friends and family. Because this blog is about greening your home, all the gifts featured in the gift guide will be home-based, with maybe a few oddballs thrown in for fun.

Winter prep: If you haven’t started already, it really is time to outfit your home with options that will keep your family warm and save energy. We’ll be looking at more of those options during the month.

Green holiday prep: Thanksgiving and the winter holidays are almost here. I’ll have tips about greening them all, starting this month.

Green product reviews: I’ll be posting at least three green product reviews in November…

Eco-Touch – conscious car care (which means I’ll have to wash my car finally). I know, it’s not exactly a home item, but your car does live at your house, no?
A new green magazine; Positively Green
And a second book by Lori Ryker; Off the Grid. You can read a review of her book Off the Grid Homes here.

The usual: Of course I’ll be posting plenty of green home tips all month long. You might want to Subscribe to the Best Green Home Tips feed so you don’t miss a post (it’s free and will keep you up to date).

If there’s anything else you’d like to see posted here during November, let me know in the comments.