DIY Workshop - A Living Christmas Tree

The DIY Workshop titled "A Living Christmas Tree" will take place on Saturday December 14, 2013, from 1 pm - 2 pm at the Evergreen Garden Market, located at 550 Bayview Ave., Toronto, Ontario. A living tree is a far more environmentally sound alternative to traditional cut trees. During this workshops participants will learn how to care for and maintain a live Fraser fir in their homes, and then how to plant it in the garden or forest so that it will be around for generations to come.

The program is sponsored by Home Depot.

The Days of Overconsumption

Everyone is well acquainted with the twelve days of Christmas, in the modern era, that is being replaced by 6 days of overconsumption. The period around Thanksgiving is the busiest U.S. shopping period of the year. Thanksgiving has long been a spectacle of consumer overindulgence, but now this rampant consumerism extends well beyond Black Friday. Marketers are finding more ways to entice consumers, but they ignore the fact that we cannot sustain our current rate of consumption.

Environmentally Friendly Alternatives to Traditional Christmas Lighting

Millions of lights are used to decorate and illuminate the Christmas season, but traditional light bulbs are a huge drain on energy. Thankfully there are more environmentally friendly alternatives to the traditional Christmas light bulb. LED Christmas lighting uses significantly less electricity and lasts much longer than traditional bulbs. A large number of retailers are offering LED Christmas lighting this holiday season.

Environmentally Friendly Alternatives to the Traditional Christmas Tree

There are over two billion Christians in the world and many in North America and Europe are following the time honoured tradition of decorating a Christmas tree. This Christmas millions of Christmas trees have been bought around the world. The question is what type of tree is best for the environment? Here is a review of some of the options available today.

Global Warming and the Shortage of Mistletoe

The effects of climate change are ubiquitous, and this year it is even impacting the availability of mistletoe. Droughts, one of the corollaries of global warming, is behind the shortage. The small parasitic plant grows on trees in humid climates in Europe and the US. Because of dry conditions in the southern US, and Texas in particular, most of this years crop comes from Europe.

Green Gifts for the Holidays

With each passing year, green gifts are getting more popular. People are changing the types of gifts that they are shopping for. This year in particular, studies are showing that as people become more concerned about the environment, they are more interested in eco-friendly gifts.

Green gifts are trendy as people want to be apart of the growing green movement. People buy eco-friendly products because they want to communicate their consideration for the planet through their choice of gifts.

Green gifts need not be more expensive than the other standard manufactured products and they can often cost much less. Some eco-gifts actually save the recipient money.

Businesses are giving eco-friendly promotional gifts during this holiday season as it provides them with the perfect opportunity to establish their brand as one that is eco-friendly. These eco-friendly promotional items are varied, but the message they send resonates widely. Such a message can have a very positive effect on the perception of a company's brand.

A wide variety of eco-gifts are now available, here are eight online portals that specialize in green presents.

WWF

The WWF Adoption Certificates are gifts that help protect animals and conserve habitats. Adoption certificates are available for a wide range of animals including the near extinct or critically endangered Tiger, Sea Turtle, Amur Leopard, Emerald Hummingbird, Przewalski's Horse, Darwin's Fox, White-cheeked Gibbon, Sumatran Rhino, Gorilla, and Mekong Dolphin. Other endangered animals that can be adopted include the Polar Bear. Adoption helps to protect that animal, in the polar bear's case, adoption helps to preserve the rich biodiversity of the Arctic.

NRDC

If you are interested in shopping that is good for the environment, look no further than NRDC's Green Gift collection. It contains more than 40 extraordinary and affordable holiday gifts starting at just $15. Gifts include, Clean Energy Boost help stop the construction of dirty coal-burning power plants in honor of your gift recipient. Leader of the Pack or Den Defender which helps to save America's endangered wolves or polar bear cubs. Queen Bee helps ensure the survival of honeybees. Whale Protector helps to save marine mammals. This gift will make them part of NRDC's efforts to end the inhumane killing of whales for profit. For just $15, Revive a Rainforest plants a tree in a rejuvenated rainforest in Costa Rica.

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy has a range of green gifts including, Adopt a Coral Reef, protects the underwater habitat. Consumers can choose from amazing locations like the Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, Palau or the Dominican Republic.

For just $50, consumers can adopt an Acre of rainforest in Costa Rica. Located in remote southwestern Costa Rica, the Osa Peninsula is home to the most significant populations of jaguars, puma, tapirs and scarlet macaws.

Another gift works on the safety and security of broad-tail hummingbirds and other species along their migratory paths. For just $1 per tree, you can also help plant 1 billion trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.

Trees for the Future

Trees are the perfect gift because they replenish the soil, increase crop production, keep groundwater clean and help provide sustainable jobs. Trees are a gift that keeps on giving, they help decrease poverty and improve the environment in the countries where they are planted, while also helping reduce greenhouse gases that affect us all.

Trees for the Future, is offering Tree Planting Certificates which allows donors to have 500 to 5,000 trees planted in honor of a friend, family, or loved one. For as little as $20, donors can have a personalized certificate sent directly to the recipient. Tree Planting Certificates are available in three easy options: $50 plants a “Grove” of 500 trees, $100 plants a “Forest” of 1,000 trees, and $500 plants a “Village” of 5,000 trees. Donors can give other amounts at a rate of 10 cents per tree. For as little as $20, recipients are sent an e-certificate and for gifts $50 and over, donors can send a print certificate. Donors can choose to have trees planted in such countries as Haiti, Ethiopia, Nicaragua or Brazil.

Inhabitat

The Inhabitat Team's, Green Holiday Gift Guide has eco-conscious and ethical presents for everyone. Their eco-friendly, ethical and handcrafted gifts support charitable causes and generally make the world a better place. Gifts include items like the Potus Pot a cute made out of a recycled incandescent bulb, Philips’ 60-watt AmbientLED bulbs, have a lifespan of up to 15-years, and use just 20% of the energy of a conventional 60-watt bulb, Bambu Bamboo Bowls. made from eco-friendly and fast-growing bamboo.

Greenwala

Greenwala calls itself the one stop shop for all your holiday shopping, decorating and food needs. They provide a Last Minute Green Gifts. Their Holiday Shopping Guide includes Top Alternative Green Gifts For The Holidays, Top 10 Lists For Those Last Minute Green Gift Ideas, Gadgets To Help Green Your Holidays ,Holiday Green Gift Guide: Stockings, Digital Media Makes Great Green Gifts, Natural Holiday Gifts for Pets by PETCO.


Green Irene

In the Green Irene Digital Catalog you will find green gifts like Blue Line Power Cost Monitor, Activeion Ionator HOM, Green Irene Enzymatic Clean Starter Kit, Green Irene Soy Candle, Tealights, Eco-Friendly Modeling Dough, Children's Glue, Children's Soy Crayons, Children's Markers, Children's Paint, SodaStream Peguin Soda Maker and Composters.

The Giving Effect

Rather then build up in land fills, or go unused, The Giving Effect helps donors to recycle unwanted gifts. more than 1,000 cause-based organizations registered hoping to connect with new donors this holiday season. Organizations registered on The Giving Effect include The American Cancer Society Discovery Shop, in Napa, California, Baltimore Theatre Project in Maryland, and Pibbles & More Animal Rescue in Queens, New York.

The Giving Effect uses social media to help donors discover and connect with organizations. The goal is to create a national movement to get food, gently-used items, and more to people in need. Donors use The Giving Effect to connect with charities that need pretty much everything you can spare, from clothes, food, books and shoes, to cleaning supplies, cars, fencing and lumber. Each donation on their site becomes a living story that can be shared on Facebook or Twitter to spread the holiday spirit and encourage others to do the same.

To donate simply browse the site by needs, location, and categories to find causes you’d like to connect with. Then, complete a simple form to arrange a pickup, drop off, or shipment. Tax receipts are issued via email when the items are received.

All of these gifts can be purchased online, reducing the need to travel and thus reducing emissions. This holiday season more than ever, people's concerns are being channeled into useful gifts that benefit the environment and all who inhabit it. These creative new approaches to giving are helping to make this world a better place.

New Year's Resolutions for a More Sustainable World in 2010

The beginning of the new decade is a good time make a resolution for a more sustainable world. During the holidays we collectively generate mountains of waste. According to the California Integrated Waste Management Board and Recycle Works, the US alone purchases over 2.6 billion holiday cards each year. (enough to fill a football field 10 stories high). Between Thanksgiving and the New Year, Americans throw out an extra million tons of trash each week (a 25% increase). In addition, 38,000 miles of ribbon are discarded each year–enough to tie a bow around the Earth.

Powerful improvements can be made through relatively simple business innovations and consumer decisions. Each year, 50 million Christmas trees are purchased in the U.S. and about 30 million go to the landfill. During the average 15 year life span of a fake Christmas tree, a real tree user will put about 1/2 ton of waste into landfills. Fake trees are even more destructive to the environment as they are made with polyvinyl chloride (or PVC, otherwise known as vinyl), one of the most environmentally offensive forms of non-renewable, petroleum-derived plastic. Fake Christmas trees are also know to have several carcinogens, including dioxin, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride. Fake trees also contain lead and other additives that have been linked to liver, kidney, neurological and reproductive system damage.

The most eco-friendly way to enjoy a Christmas tree is to buy a live tree with its roots intact from a local grower. As reviewed in a recent New York Times article, Scott Martin, a landscape designer in California, has established a business that rents living Christmas trees to LA homes using biodiesel trucks. After the holidays, the trees are picked up and planted on industrial properties.

The beginning of the new year is a good time to make green resolutions. Here are several suggestions:

Inform yourself about sustainable business
Raise awareness about sustainable business
Lobby your legislators on behalf of the green economy
Get a green degree
Get a green job
Invest in sustainable stock
Start a sustainable business
Make your existing business more sustainable

Whatever you resolve to do, find a way to get involved in the green economy. As consumers we can resolve to make more informed, responsible buying decisions. As entrepreneurs and business owners, we can make our businesses more sustainable by resolving to adopt the triple bottom line of planet, people and profits.

Other green business resolutions include incorporating sustainable principles into your business decisions. Supplying environmentally friendly products or services that replace the demand for non green products or services. Being greener than traditional competition and making an enduring commitment to environmental principles. (for more specific information on sustainable business frameworks and guidelines see ISO14001).

You can also follow THE GREEN MARKET and get updated, topical information delivered to your inbox, as well as gain access to the wealth of resources and tools in the Green Link Library.

Whether you are a business owner, entrepreneur or consumer, everyone can make sustainable resolutions for 2010.
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