As part of Fabricwrapper.com’s commitment to being a responsible company, we joined 1% for the Planet when we began our company in 2008.  As part of our pledge to 1% for the Planet, we have been donating to New American Dream for the past three years. 

New American Dream just launched a new website, and I want to pass on some information from them in hopes that many of my readers will take a look at their site.  There are some great ideas for making simple changes in your lifestyle!

Message from New American Dream:

“If you are like us, you may find yourself strung out at times. Long work hours, money pressures, not enough time for loved ones, lost connection to the outdoors—is this the American Dream? Maybe it’s time for a “new dream,” one with a better work/life balance and more value on nature and sustainable living.

At the Center for a New American Dream, we believe it’s important to focus on more of what matters—and less on what doesn’t. That’s why we’re excited to announce the launch of our new website, www.newdream.org, designed to inspire and show how you can create a meaningful life for you, your family, and your community.”

Check them out!

By the cash register in most big box stores, there are lots of cute labels for all of your Christmas gifts.  Their colorful variations on “To” and “From” scream “Buy me!  You need me to make your gift look special!”  But before you buy, think to yourself… what do I already have at home?

Every year we save our Christmas cards and store them with the holiday decorations.  I’m not ready to throw them out right away because I enjoy getting them so much and most hold pictures of dear friends and family. 

Christmas cards, as a side note, are something I struggle with.  Most are not recyclable and the amount of paper and transportation energy used to carry on this tradition are staggering.  And yet, I really enjoy receiving them.  Our family has sent a Christmas email for the last two years.   I put more time and energy into the email than I ever did on my cards, carefully constructing a full letter, a collage of pictures showing our year, and even a link to my kids on video.  It is something I would enjoy receiving from friends, especially those whom I don’t see as often as I would wish.  And yet this act has inspired friends and family to be apologetic for sending us a card… as though by our choice, we are signaling a guilt trip over their choice to send a card!  Oh no!  I would love comments on how to overcome this.

When I get out the cards the following year I can enjoy them all over again before I cut them up.  Yes, I said cut them up!  I reuse them as that year’s gift labels.  Each card is colorful and has a holiday salutation that I make into a label and hole punch for attaching to our Fabricwrappers.  They look fabulous and much more personal than the store bought kind.  If you see your family’s card being “reused” in the attached picture, thanks for the card and the label!

I walked into a small store in Costa Rica to buy a coke.  It came in a banged up glass bottle, and when I paid for it I had to drink it on the spot or leave a deposit on the bottle.  This is a nation that values its resources. 

Whether you are a seasoned recycler who wants to influence your neighbors or a rookie who has been making excuses for years, it is time to get serious about our consumption and recycling of resources.   “America Recycles Day” was formed in 1997 and even has it’s own website with a good links page for how to find recycling centers in your area.

Reusing items  or finding plastic-free alternatives should be our first thought, but if it can not find another use, then try to recycle it.

Throwing plastic, glass and newspaper in the bin is usually convenient, but what about other items?  I get confused about what can be recycled or even what is dangerous to throw away (what to do with all those batteries?!). 

  Recycling Revolution has some great stats:

Pass the message on… let’s all get serious about protecting our limited resources!

October 9th a few green sponsors have put together a national “Costume Swap” day.  What a wonderful idea! 

You know from our past post about “Putting Re-use before Recycle” that this is an issue close to our heart.  Check out these cool facts from Kiwi magazine:  ”A costume swap not only means that fewer resources are used to make new product, it also equals less packaging, less transportation for the clothing, and less waste (costumes often are trashed as soon as Halloween is over). In fact, swapping the costumes of only half of the children who celebrate Halloween would reduce annual landfill waste by 6,250 tons, equivalent to the weight of 2,500 midsize cars. And that doesn’t even address adult costumes!”

Check this post for more tips on how to green your Halloween.

Picking fruit can be fun for all ages

You’ve heard that tune, “Summertime, when the living is easy”?  Well this is one season when it is also easy to eat local. 

I really look forward to summer meals… everything is so, well, FRESH!  Whether you are picking from your own backyard garden, or you have joined a CSA (the video in the link will tell you all about CSAs and how to join), or just frequent a farmer’s market on Saturday mornings, you can be eating food that is day(s) from the dirt. 

Not only does eating local food save fuel useage and help your local economy, but it usually tastes better since it is picked when ripe.  Getting the experience of picking on a farm yourself is priceless, and a really great way to entice kids outside.   If you have not already read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, check out our previous post.  The advantages to knowing where your food comes from are countless for your health as well as the health of our earth.

Watch out, though, because you (and your kids if you have them) will eat local fruit like candy.  We can’t get enough of the sweet blueberries this year… yum.

Four-year-old Earth Day preschool coloring

As Denis Hayes, the coordinator of Earth Day 40 years ago, noted recently, it was easier to get things done at that time in our history.  The movement “took everyone by surprise” and there was not the counter-movement that there is today, heavily funded and ready to defend special interests. 

On Earth Day, as www.fabricwrapper.com  gave away free fabricwappers in an effort to spread the word regarding resuables (REUSE does come before recycle!), my kids were at school coloring the earth.  Using ALOT of paper.  One parent objected, but I don’t think we can overemphasize the value of environmental education for the next generation.  Using some paper now might pay off big later.  After all, most of our choices are based on habits and it is harder to teach adults “new tricks”.  But kids… they will be the ones who never start those bad habits to begin with. 

We still have a lot to accomplish and need to stay focused, especially on big issues such as clean energy.  Ignore the hype, the green-washing, the critics, and do what is right for your family.  Remember my article about baby steps?  Use your instincts and we will all live happier and healthier.

Big hair and fluorescent clothing are how we expressed "We are tired of conserving and just want to have fun". Is an 80s-style backlash on the way?

Am I the only one who is worried that our window for major energy reforms is passing by?  The clock is ticking for major environmental initiatives and all anyone is doing is Talking.   We blog, we tweet, we educate.

Don’t get me wrong, talking is good.  If one positive thing has come from our current economic crisis, it is that conservation has become “hip”.  Making it cool to be thrifty and gauche to be ostentatious has been, well, convenient, to an American public that is quick to respond to the latest fads.  And the conversation about the environment has extended beyond the marginal tree hugger crowd to the general public.  I mean, gosh, Michael Pollan was even on Oprah this month!  Oprah made millions of people who had never read a book embrace an “Oprah’s book club” for years, so I am willing to bet that thousands of would-be Walmart produce shoppers are probably thinking of starting their own garden this summer after that show aired.  Average Americans are taking notice of issues spanning from gas emissions to solar energy because “conservation” and “recession” go hand in hand.

But where does the 2007 energy platform stand after the U.S. comes out on the other side of this debacle?  And make no mistake, we will… but history is cyclical.  The 1970s brought recycling and homemade clothes to the forefront only to be followed quickly by the 1980s, a decade of total excess.  What will the next decade look like?   It seems easy to predict that a public that is currently willing to be encouraged to “reduce and reuse” will be grow tired of being lectured.   “What  a buzzkill”, they will say… “I am full of hope, I have money again…. I think I will go buy some bright, fluorescent, NEW clothes”.

Earth Day 2010 is April 22 and I need some help on two fronts:

(1) Parents: Please send me ideas for Earth Day events at school.  I am on the “green team” for my children’s elementary school and I want to organize something really neat for the school.  Something that you know gets people involved and excited!  I found this site that has some great ideas, but prefer advice from a parent organizer who has seen an idea in action!

(2) Business Owners/ Customers:  What should fabricwrapper.com  do for Earth Day?  We promote sustainable living all year round, but feel this globally recognized tribute to the Earth is a good time to do something extra.

Thank you in advance for your ideas and comments!  Let’s all start planning now for local activism that will lead to global attention.

We just got back from Steamboat Resort in Colorado and I am so impressed by their recycling efforts!  It just goes to show you that anyone can do it.  If this resort can have their cafeteria staff at the very top of the mountain sort through every tray to make sure it is all recycled properly, then any resort can make this effort.

When I met the Food and Beverage Director for Steamboat at a Green Festival in Denver, I wondered if her personal interest in sustainable living was reflected in Steamboat policies and I was glad to see that it is!  Kudos, my family will definitely visit again.

All of us who enjoy the outdoors see a link between the way we treat the world around us and the ability of future generations to play on this earth as we do: to hike, to kayak, to fish, to surf… and to ski!

This year more than ever, the holidays are a time to reflect and rejoice the simpler things in life. In this economy, many families are asking themselves how they can simplify some of their holiday traditions. They want solutions that require less preparation and stress, less money spent, and also less garbage in our landfills:

Give Gifts of Time or Service

Gift cards are a good way to guarantee the gift recipient gets to pick out something they actually want and will use. Or if you really want to avoid the waste that “stuff” creates (see newdream.org for tips on reducing your overall consumption), opt for something more creative like a gift card for a local restaurant or music concert. Finally, consider the gift of your time. Handmade coupons for car washing, baby-sitting, etc. offer something valuable to your family and friends while saving your holiday budget as well.

Use Our Reusable Gift Wrap

To reduce the mountain of paper, tissue and bows that go in your family’s trash can each year reuse your gift wrap. Fabricwrapper.com’s Holiday Line offers a beautiful selection of reusable gift-wrap for the holidays. Founder Stephanie Lancaster, a mother of two, comments, “Many families are exchanging reusable gift-wrap year after year; reducing their gift wrap budget and carbon footprint at the same time”. The Sierra Club points out that if every American family wrapped just three gifts this year in reusable gift wrap it would save enough paper to fill 45,000 football fields. The site carries the signature Fabricwrapper for boxes and gift cards in addition to fabric gift bags and furoshiki, all made in the USA. The company belongs to 1% for the Planet, donating one percent of all sales to environmental non-profit groups.

Compost/ Recycle Holiday Waste

More than 10 million Christmas trees will end up in a landfill this year. Don’t let your tree be one of those sent to a garbage dump – compost it instead. Also, don’t forget the mounds of kitchen scraps from Christmas dinner or the uneaten latkes after lighting the menorah. There are plenty of opportunities during the holidays to compost. Think of the wonderful planting soil you will create for spring. And keep in mind that the biggest composting and recycling opportunities are at holiday parties, when large numbers of partygoers create large amounts of trash.

Party Responsibly

If you are hosting a holiday party this year, consider washable rather than disposable tableware and linens, and be aware that “less is more” when it comes to cheap party favors and decorations that will end up being thrown away. Send an “evite” rather than mailing invitations. Also, be aware of the food you are serving. Pre-prepared foods may seem simple, but they come at a high cost to the planet. Serving fresh local, organic food whenever possible will taste and feel better. To reduce costs, serve more foods that are lower on the food chain and stay away from costly meats. Or consider reducing the guest list. Any party that is obligatory rather than fun shouldn’t be on your radar. Remember to simplify and focus on the friendship of the people you are inviting. After all, that is what the holidays should be about!