Virtual Christmas Cards

I’m going a new direction with my Christmas Card giving this year. This is a VERY hard change for me, because I LOVE to write up a Christmas letter with pictures and mail to EVERYONE! But, even using recycled products for this project, isn’t really helping my carbon footprint reduction :-(

Therefore, I just signed up for a great online greeting card program that is done all via internet. The selection of virtual cards for Christmas, birthday’s, thank you, etc, is quite significant. Plus, they are animated and very unique. I had never heard of this company until I received a card via a LinkedIn associate this week. The website is located at www.jacquielawson.com.

I am still going to have to put together a letter of sorts and probably mail it out to those, who are not connected to the internet. But, that will be a very small number. I may still need to put out an online Christmas letter with my Virtual Christmas Card, but that will be relatively easy.

Besides the savings in paper, postage, time, etc., the bigger picture is that I’ll be creating less waste. That’s my newest gift to this beautiful planet.

What will you be able to give to Earth for Christmas this year?

Here's a winter card greeting to share with all of you: Winter Card

Show Thanks With Less Waste

I realized after creating the title to this post, that it could be written two ways: 'Waste' versus 'Waist'...LOL !! Since, this is my environmental focused blog, I do believe I'll stick with the 'household waste' issues for now ;-)

According to the folks at RecycleWorks.org, household waste increases by more than 25% from Thanksgiving to New Years Day. There is added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, etc.

Not only can you make easy choices to be less wasteful this Thanksgiving, they may even cost less than your usual holiday habits. Here's a few suggestions to think about:

Shopping
Don't forget to take those reusable bags. Not only are they better than using plastic and paper, but they're much stronger and hold a lot more.

Setting The Table
I know! I know! Paper & plastic products are sooo much easier to use with all the folks coming over for dinner. But, think of the money you'll save if you use your existing plates & silverware and run them in the dishwasher at the end of the meal?

Decorating
Don't go out and buy more "stuff". Look around the house and garage. I'm SURE there are several cool things already in your treasures, that would make great decos, with some slight modifications.

Recycle
Put the food scraps in your newly created composter. And ask your guests to sort out the paper, plastic items into your new recycling area.

By the way, that 'new recycling area' doesn't have to be anything fancy. I use old garage bins and cardboard boxes to service my family's recycling needs. Don't go crazy, just be a little more savvy.

The saying, "Waste not. Want not.", couldn't be more applicable here. Remember, baby steps is okay!

Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

Green, Cheap & It Works !

Some would try to say that a if a product is "green"; then it is probably more expensive than other like products. And those same folks may also want to say, that if it's cheap; then it probably doesn't perform as well as other like products.

I'd like to dispel those arguments by telling you that you can purchase, non-toxic, natural, biodegradable products from Shaklee and they are in fact; GREEN, CHEAP & THEY WORK !!

Over at the Fabulessly Frugal website, is a breakdown of my favorite 2 cleaning products, and they're both offered by Shaklee. Basic H2 is an all-purpose cleaning product and Basic G, handles the "germie" places.

Here's a short clip from Rachel Ray's program, talking about Shaklee's wonderful earth-friendly and people-friendly cleaning products.

Energy Conservation Equals Big Savings For Consumer

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Recycling - It All Comes Back To You

I don't think it's any secret that I have a passion for environmental stewardship. No act is too small to improve one's carbon footprint on the planet. Therefore, I am pleased to announce a local Recycling Awareness Event that will be held in my Treasure Valley, Idaho community on November 21, 2009.

Motivated by the AmericaRecyclesDay.org coalition, this grassroots Recycling Awareness event will be held at Silverhawk Realty in Fruitland, Idaho from 10 am to 2 pm. The event will focus on recycling resources in the Payette County area. There will be information available about the environmental and fiscal impacts on our community and planet, resulting from more aggressive recycling by everyone.

Silverhawk Realty has graciously offered to host the event, and Western Recycling will be there with some of their collection bins. There will be additional information about recycling options in the general area of Payette County.

America Recycles Day slogan this year is, "It all comes back to you". So, take the pledge and make a difference in our community and our future. It's a Win-Win for you and the planet!

LED Light bulb vs CFL Light bulb

Previously, I've posted about the environmental importance of phasing out the use of regular incandescent light bulbs and moving to more energy efficient CFL light bulbs. But, as progress marches on, so does the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the LED light bulb.

Initially, an LED (light emitting diode) light, was most commonly a little red light that emitted from different products. It was often the illumination of time, but as time also marches on, so does the LED light bulb.

Now that technology has figured out how to 'cluster' the LED's to improve the quality of the focused light beam, they are becoming more advanced and not so cost-prohibitive. To compare the cost of the incandescent bulb, CFL light bulb and the LED light bulb, the folks over at Eartheasy.com have posted a great comparison chart.

Anyone can start the transition from regular incandescent light or CFL lighting, over to the LED light bulb, in small steps. One way to start and get paid for doing it, is to recycle your old Christmas light strings at Home Depot and receive a coupon towards Christmas LED light bulbs. Phillips is also offering a rebate through December 31, 2009, for the purchase of LED light bulbs, as well as CFL light bulbs.

Check out the comparison chart at Eartheasy.com for excellent information on the value of CFL light bulbs vs LED light bulbs. Even at a slightly higher cost up front, LED light bulbs overall, appear to be the long-term winner.

Great Green Auction Going On Now

One of the organizations that I continually feature on this blog, is Birth Defect Research for Children. They are an excellent resource for free birth defect information, parent networking & birth defect research through the National Birth Defect Registry.

Several companies, as well as my own Shaklee Distributorship, have donated items to Birth Defect Research for Children, for their Great Green Auction. I've focused on the Shaklee Baby Products for my contribution and would love it, if some of you would go to the auction site and place bids for mine or any of the great products offerred.

So what are you waiting for?...Bid Now! Place Your Bid. Whether you're looking for something unique for yourself, searching for a gift for a special someone, or looking to add a little adventure to your life, you're sure to find something in their auction catalog. Every bid helps support Birth Defect Research for Children.

Tell Your Friends. The success of this online auction depends on spreading the word to as many people as possible. They need your help. Please Refer a Friend and encourage them to participate so they don't miss a single moment of the fun and excitement.

View All Auction Items

Green Family Market companies donate nearly 150 "green"products
Birth Defect Research for Children started the Green Family Market so that families who visited our web site could find safer, organic, natural products to take care of their families, pets, homes and garden. These companies have generously donated products for this Great Green Auction. You can try products at a starting bid of one-half the retail costs.

Birth Defect Research for Children Has Been Helping Families Since 1982
BDRC provides families with specific birth defect information, parent matching services and referrals to support and resource organizations. We also sponsor the National Birth Defect Registry, a research project that collects data that can lead to birth defect prevention.

Donate an item
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Refer Friends

Birth Defect Research for Children, Inc.
800 Celebration Ave. Suite 225 Celebration, FL 34747 Ph: 407-566-8304

Online Auctions and Fundraising
Copyright © 2003-2009. Birth Defect Research for Children, Inc. and cMarket, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

America Recycles Day on November 15th

Celebrating its 12th year, America Recycles Day (ARD), will be on November 15th. It's a day set aside to better inform people about the importance of recycling and buying recycled products.

I am a staunch supporter of recycling and do a decent job at it personally, but I know that I can do much more. So, I've taken the ARD Pledge on the America Recycles Day website to try and ramp up my recycling habits.

It's a No Brainer, that recycling keeps the landfills from filling up so quickly. But, in addition to that, it encourages people and businesses to find alternative uses to their trash. Either by reusing the products as they are, or re-purposing them into other products.

Please go to the America Recycles Day website and take the Pledge to start and/or improve your recycling habits. There are a lot more things that each of us can do, to turn our trash into treasures!

Petition To Campbell's Soup To Remove BPA

Change.org has put together an online petition, asking Campbell's Soups to remove BPA (Bisphenol A), from their products. I've signed the petition, after just learning about the recent Consumers Reports investigation.

As mentioned on Change.org's site, the food processing world is in a tailspin after a shocking new series of tests. Released just this week, Consumer Reports revealed that many leading brands of canned foods contain Bisphenol A (BPA)—a toxic chemical linked to health risks including reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.

Consumer Reports found that major canned food companies including Campbell’s Soup are using cans that leach Bisphenol A (BPA) into food. This petition to Campbell's Soup, may be a way for them to set the example for other food processing companies.

Please click on the "Take Action" widget in the right column, to let your voice be heard.

Consumer Reports Tests For BPA

In Consumer Reports upcoming December publication, they have released results of some independent studies that they completed on BPA in food products. They found that there are still some food products that contain significant trace amounts of BPA in them.

There is ongoing debate about what are safe amounts of ingested BPA. The Federal guidelines state that a "safe upper limit" of daily exposure is at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. This information is based on studies done back in the 1980s. But, there have been numerous more recent students done, that lead to more detrimental findings for living beings.

The Consumer Reports results are posted for their subscribers review. Being a long-time Consumer Reports advocate and subscriber, I am sharing a snapshot to a portion of their findings. For a complete report, please check out their site for more information at http://www.consumerreports.org/.

Here's a portion of the Consumer Reports finding on the products that they tested for BPA:

"We found that the average amounts of BPA in tested products varied widely; most items showed levels from trace amounts to about 32 parts per billion. Products in that range included canned corn, chili, tomato sauce, and corned beef.
The highest levels of BPA in our tests were found in the canned green beans and canned soup. In Progresso Vegetable Soup, the levels of BPA ranged from 67 to 134 ppb. In Campbell's Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup, the levels of BPA ranged from 54.5 to 102 ppb. Canned Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans Blue Lake had BPA levels ranging from 35.9 ppb to 191 ppb, the highest amount for a single sample in our test. Since we didn't test other canned green beans or soups, we don't know if this is typical of those products.
A 165-pound adult eating one serving of canned green beans from our sample, which averaged 123.5 ppb, could ingest about 0.2 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, about 80 times higher than our experts' recommended daily upper limit. And children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA approaching levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies.
Given the significance of BPA exposure for infants and young children, we tested samples of Similac Advance Infant Formula and Nestlé Juicy Juice All Natural 100% Apple Juice. Samples of the Similac liquid concentrate in a can averaged 9 ppb of BPA, but there was no measurable level in the powdered version. Samples of the Nestlé Juicy Juice in a can averaged 9.7 ppb BPA, but there were no measurable levels in the samples of the same product packaged in juice boxes."