Sarah Newman
December 11, 2008 | 8:16 pm EST
Sarah has been doing a great job keeping us updated on how to have a sustainable holiday - but I thought I’d go ahead and post this video from The Sierra Club about how to have a greener Christmas this time around. Some of his suggestion mirror Sarah’s and a few others are new - so while you’re scrambling to finish your holiday prep keep these things in mind (and if it is too late, keep them in mind for next year!)
Also be sure to takepart with the National Sierra Club this holiday season!
Lutz-R. Frank, Creative Commons
The average American generates over four pounds of trash daily. This amount skyrockets, though during the holiday season with the US population generated an extra million tons of trash from wrapping paper, cards, ribbons, utensils, paper plates and Christmas trees.
Here are some tips to make your holiday season more eco-friendly and sustainable.
1. Purchase a potted tree. Once the holiday is over, plant it in your yard or donate it to a friend, community center, religious institution or a local park. This tree will absorb at least one ton of CO2, a global warming-causing greenhouse gas.
2. Use LED lights rather than incandescent ones to reduce your carbon footprint and save money on your utility bill.
3. Make ornaments out of recycled materials. There’s plenty of materials at your fingertips, such as paper, cardboard, pinecones, ribbon and fruit to make beautiful ornaments.
4. Skip paper plates and use bamboo instead. It’s more sustainable because you can reuse it and it will biodegrade within months.
5. Use beeswax Hannukah candles which are free of toxins and paraffin. These will naturally burn beautifully.
6. Purchase produce for your holiday meals from a local farmer.
The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. This week we celebrated some of our own favorite top 10 bloggers who work night and day to provide us up-to-date info on films, literature, and feminist news. Don’t miss these exciting and informative blogs, as well as some of our most popular stories of the week.
Katie:
“La Misma Luna Under the Same Moon,” Not the Same Old Movie
Top 5 Eco-Friendly Gadgets for Under $50
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Nicole:
Top 10 Literary and Book Blogs
NBC11 First Wind Powered TV Station
Horton: The New Mascot for Pro-Life
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Gina:
Top 10 Films I Would See If I Was At SXSW
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Kerry:
Last week I blogged about the Top 5 Eco-Friendly Gadgets For Under $100 so you could be good to the planet and your wallet. But in case you want to be extra good to your wallet, here are the top 5 eco friendly gadgets for under $50.
1.The HYmini ($49.99) is a wind powered charger for your iPods and mp3 players, cell phones, PDAs and digital cameras. It’s light enough to take with you and you can even strap it to your bike or hold it while you job. If you want, add solar panels for even more renewable energy.
2. The Energy Saving Smart Strip Surge Protector ($40.99) by BITS Limited has ten outlets and autoswitches your devices on/off automatically, so you save money and electricity.
3. The Freeplay Indigo Self-Sufficient LED Lantern ($39.99) uses LED and is powered by reusable batteries or yourself, all you have to do is wind it.
4. The SideWinder Cell Phone Charger ($29.00), at 2.5 oz., is the smallest, lightest and most powerful portable cell phone charger made. And you’ve got “the power” because all you have to do to “charge” the charger is crank it, so it doesn’t waste any electricity or energy. What could be better?
5. The Rechargeable TykeLight Buddy ($29.00) is perfect for the kid in your life, or the kid in you. This night light is safe and easy: it doesn’t have any open electrical contacts and turns on automatically when lifted from the charger base.
Giulia:
