Celebrate Every Day

I love the stories of words. The fact that the etymology of the word holiday comes from the Old English halig dæg or holy day makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. (I just pegged myself as a word geek, didn’t I?) I believe holidays should be sacred times, occasions for people to come together and celebrate.

But sometimes the craziness around a holiday can overshadow its intended message. The examples that come most quickly to my mind are Valentine’s Day, Earth Day, and Veterans Day. The cacophony that surrounds Valentine’s Day is enough to drown out the message, “Tell the special people in your life that you love and appreciate them,” while Earth Day often involves a flurry of advertising for so-called green products rather than acknowledgement of the unique and wonderful nature of our planet. Veterans Day includes parades and brass bands while the idea that those who have given their all for our country should be honored stands shyly on the sidelines. Read more

Organic Linen Sale at Gaiam

I just received an email from Gaiam highlighting their current sale on selected organic cotton sheets and towels. The sale is for 20% off their (already good) prices on organic cotton items. To access the sale, visit their website at Gaiam and type “organic cotton” into their search bar. The items on sale have their sales prices marked. This sale ends November 24, 2008 so check it out now if interested.

In case you are in the midst of your holiday shopping, these would make good gifts! Gaiam is an earth-friendly company so even your greenest friends and family members would be excited to see a package from them. Gaiam was the first company to use a carbon-neutral shipping program, which they developed with The Conservation Fund. The program, called Go Zero, allows customers to add a small, tax-deductible donation at checkout. Each donation is used to plant trees, which offset the carbon dioxide emissions that result from shipping the order. Their mailing supplies are comprised of 100% recycled materials. Gaiam can also provide gift wrapping for your package. Read more

Packaging Repackaging

I became almost giddy after reading a recent article in The New York Times about the efforts of several companies to change the packaging of products they sell. Read more

Airing Our Not-Quite-Dirty Laundry

I remember, before becoming a parent, reading articles about large families and being amazed at the amount of laundry they always talked about doing. At that point in my life, laundry was a weekend affair and I simply couldn’t imagine it spilling over into the rest of the week. Then I had kids. Read more

Less Junk Mail = Less Stress and Less Pollution

Getting the mail is a favorite activity of both my children. I think it is the possibility that something interesting may be waiting for them inside the mailbox that makes them so excited. (Kat and Alex – thanks for your letters!)

The excitement over mail time had long faded for me. Getting the mail had simply become a pain in the neck, in large part due to the amount of junk mail we received. It was annoying on several levels. It took time to sort through the mail and it had to be sorted through carefully to make sure nothing important was hidden in the stack. It was also such a waste. We recycled the paper but knew that was only addressing a small portion of the problem. Something had to be done.

I started with Catalogue Choice. This free service provides an easy way to let companies know you no longer want to receive their catalogues. It proved to be especially helpful for us because additional names can be included in your profile. The previous owners of our home apparently loved catalogue shopping so we had been inundated with their many, many favorites.

Then I moved on to canceling offers from credit cards and insurance companies, the next big chunk of our junk mail. OptOutPrescreen.com, a site authorized by Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion, allows individuals to opt out of firm offers of credit or insurance. You can opt out online for a five year period or opt out permanently by mail.

Then I started making calls. Not all of the merchants honor requests made through Catalogue Choice so I followed up on those few with requests to really, I mean it, please take us off your mailing list. And I began asking the nonprofits we support to email us instead.

A year later our junk mail has been reduced by at least 90%. When I began, I thought it would be easy to get people to stop sending us things we did not want but if I had known how time consuming it would be, I would have signed up for Green Dimes. For $20 per year they will remove your name from junk mail lists, monitor those lists to make sure your name does not reappear, and let you pick the catalogues you want to receive. They recently added a free basic service as well in case your budget is tight.

Since the average American receives 11 pieces of unsolicited junk mail each week – almost 600 pieces every year, according to the Center for a New American Dream – this is one of those areas where small individual changes can really add up.

Help yourself and the environment at the same time by reducing your junk mail today. Who knows, maybe mail time will regain its sparkle for you, too!

Love Your Local Library

We’ve been on the birthday party circuit lately and now more than ever conversations are turning to ways to save money. I’ve had several great discussions about how much we love our local library so wanted to bring the dialogue online.

We are true fans of public libraries. Our first trip out after our eldest was born was to our local library. (Really – we have pictures and everything!) Our eldest has a library card in her name and our youngest has been practicing writing her full name so she can obtain her own card. I cannot overstate how excited she is about this prospect!

Why are we such fans? Here is what our local library, which is quite small, has for us to checkout and enjoy at home:
•    Books for both children and grownups
•    Magazines
•    Audio books
•    Videos
•    CDs
•    Computer games and programs

Our family loves books. We like being able to enjoy stacks of new-to-us books every week without paying for them even more. Since the pulp and paper industry is the third largest industrial emitter of global warming pollution, we also love knowing that our reading habits aren’t harming the planet. (Check out the National Resources Defense Council’s page on the paper industry to learn more.)

As an added bonus, our library also hosts:
•    Story times
•    Puppet shows
•    Other children-friendly events such as children’s musicians
•    Book groups
•    Craft and hobby group meetings
•    Computers with online access

Visit your local library today to discover all the ways it can help your family go green while saving green.

Have you discovered other ways to save green while going green?  Please share your success stories here!

Exercise Your Right to Vote

Today is Election Day in the United States – finally! After months and months of political ads and debates, the pre-election campaigning is now over.

If you are a registered voter but have not voted yet, please do so today. If don’t know where to vote, visit Vote411.org for an online polling place finder sponsored by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters. If you are trying to vote but are having problems, call one of their hotlines for help. The numbers are 1-866-MYVOTE1, 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español).

As a woman, the right to vote is one I especially treasure. Every time I go to the polls, I think about all the women who yearned for and fought for the right to vote. They made it possible for me to have opportunities they did not have themselves. I also think about all the sacrifices made by members of our military and their families. Every day they work to defend our right to vote.

The best way to honor their dedication and commitment is to exercise your right to vote. Today.