Eco-Friendly Shopping

Holiday shopping is a lot of work, especially when we focus on Eco-friendly gifts. We have to research companies to make sure that their products are actually "green", browse their sites & catalogs for items which will please the receiver, and then be willing to pay a bit more because high-quality, environmentally-safe products typically cost more.

Let me make it a bit easier for you!

The newly redesigned Reduce Footprints' Special Offers page, which has been relocated from Facebook to this blog, has some great gift ideas. Each one is earth-friendly and (the best part) each one includes a discount just for you.

How about baby clothing, soap & hair accessories, or a solar water kettle:


Maybe someone on your list prefers essential oils, wooden teething toys, or containers for do-it-yourself cleansers:


Perhaps you'd like a wreath, a pretty "Poinsettia" for your hair, or an organic T-shirt:


What about some lip balm for stuffing stockings, totes instead of wrapping paper, and cards to share your holiday messages:


Discounts on all of these items, and more, are available by clicking the Special Offers tab at the top of this blog or by clicking HERE.

Be sure to bookmark the page and visit often ... we'll be adding new items regularly.

Happy Stress-Free Shopping, Everyone!


I received no compensation for this post ... I simply wanted to introduce you to companies doing their best to offer Eco-friendly products.

Wrap it up ...

The U.S. Postal Services recommends that packages be sent out no later than December 15th to ensure that all those green gifts (you did go green, right?) reach their destination on time. Even if your packages are staying local, you'll probably be thinking about wrapping soon. So here are a few tips on boxing, wrapping, and sending those packages in a earth friendly way:

Boxing

• Many gifts don't need to be boxed at all. Things like books, games, tool boxes, etc., can be wrapped as is.
• Make the box part of the gift ... for example, a tin bucket makes a great container for garden tools. Giving kitchen items? Wrap them up in a roasting pan.
• Use cereal, pasta or salt boxes ... just give them a good shake to clean them out.
  
• Check under your bed ... I'll bet there are some previously used boxes from years past under there.
• Check with shoe stores ... many of their containers get recycled or tossed out.
  
• Need to add some packing inside the box? Rather than use those Styrofoam "nuts", which are totally bad for the environment, try using popcorn (popped, hold the salt and butter), peanuts in the shell, or hard candy (wrapped). Recycled paper also makes a great filler ... as do rolled up t-shirts or socks.
  

Wrapping

• Got maps lying around? They make great, colorful wrapping paper ... and if care is taken, they can be folded up and used as ... well ... maps. Here's a fun idea ... use a bright pen to "map" out some fun places for your recipient to visit.
• Make the wrapping part of the gift. Dish towels work beautifully ... as do colorful scarfs. Ties can be used to "tie" up the package instead of a ribbon. For kids gifts try cute T-shirts, shocks or knitted hats.
  
• Use leftover wallpaper or drawer liner.
• Instead of a bow, how about a compact fluorescent light bulb. Now there's a bright idea.
• Speaking of bows, look out your window for package decorations ... a sprig of holly, a cluster of pine cones or a display of winter flowers. Your yard may be a treasure trove of beautiful ornaments.
  
• Check the library (they sometimes toss out or give away items), thrift stores and Good Will for books and magazines. Look for ones with colorful pages and interesting patterns ... and use them as wrapping.
  
• Do you get catalogs or holiday fliers? Look closely ... they may be the perfect holiday paper.
  
• If your house is like mine, you have a few pillow cases around that seem to have lost their mates. And who wants to put mismatched pillow cases on their bed (oh how gauche). Use these as gift bags ... and if they are a little too big ... trim them down.
• Need gifts tags? Cut them out from the Christmas cards you received last year. Another idea ... use old photos and write on the back of them ... not only will you be reusing an item which has probably been sitting in a drawer, you'll be passing on wonderful memories.

Sending

• FGX is a shipping company which is undertaking a year-long effort to make its operations greener. And that's not all ... they promise to get your packages to their destinations in a faster, cheaper and greener way. Check them out at http://www.fgxusa.com/ .
• Plan ahead ... I've read that using ground transportation is more environmentally friendly than using overnight services. It's a lot cheaper, too!
• If you're giving gifts to friends and family close by ... hand deliver them. Who knows ... maybe you'll get a hot cup of cider or mulled wine for your efforts.

And finally, these ideas:

• Keep any boxes you receive for future use.
• If you use ribbon, regardless of the package size, measure out enough to wrap around an average box ... perhaps a shirt or sweater size box. That way, your recipient can save it and use it again.
• Carefully remove paper ... and reuse it.

"Wrap it up" green and it'll be a very bright Christmas!

As always ... I'd love to hear from you!

Green gifts for kids

Today is an exciting day. This post is written by Small Footprints (that would be me) and our bloggy friend at Wellness KIDS (http://wellnesskids.blogspot.com/). If you haven't stopped over at Wellness Kids, I encourage you to do so. There are some great articles about keeping our kids safe ... posts about what goes in and on their food ... information about using air filtration systems in the home ... and how cleaning one's home can be harmful. And here's the thing ... the information presented there is not only important for kids ... it's important for adults and the planet, as well. So, if you have a minute, stop over there and say "hello".

When it comes to special holidays and celebrations, it's easy to set aside our green efforts and opt for ease and convenience. That is especially true when thinking about gifts for children. Let's face it ... kids are bombarded with commercials for the latest gizmos and gadgets ... many of which contain less than environmentally friendly materials or are energy gluttons. And "green" gifts aren't always easy to find ... or on our children's list to Santa. Before giving up on green gifts, consider these ideas:

From Wellness KIDS, we have these wonderful suggestions:

I love the challenge of finding gifts that stimulate the mind, encourage creativity, are fun, and good to our planet. If you Google “eco-friendly gifts for kids”, you’ll find lots of great online retailers carrying a wonderful variety earth-friendly natural wooden, fabric and other types of toys. This year I tried to think of gifts that are not only natural or recyclable, but items that actually use or teach how to make use of recycled materials, and/or do something beneficial for our planet. Here are 5 of my favorite kids’ gift ideas this year:

$8.76 - Recycled Crafts Kit

I absolutely love this one. Get the book, Recycled Crafts Kit, by Laura C. Martin and pack it in a decorated recycled box along with lots of great recycled materials to be used in the projects from the book. The book is full of great information about waste and recycling, as well as fun projects for kids to make. Cheap, educational, fun, and eco-friendly! What more could you want?

$25 - Gardening Kit

Buy a great gardening book for kids, like Roots, Boots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together With Children by Sharon Lovejoy ($11.16 on Amazon.com). For about $25, you could get the book, and pack it together with some great kid-sized gardening gloves, a trowel, a pot and some seeds. Or you could go all out and provide and all the items needed to do one of the great gardens in the book. This is a great way for parents to spend time with their kids, for kids to learn the wonderful art of gardening and to add back to nature.

$50 - “Adopt an Animal” at www.worldwildlife.org

Give the gift of giving. Make a $50 donation to the World Wildlife Fund in your (or another) child’s name. 82 cents of every donated dollar goes toward the World Wildlife Foundation’s conservation efforts.

A $50 symbolic adoption includes as a thank you gift: A plush, stuffed animal, a species spotlight card, an adoption certificate, a 5”x7” color photo of the chosen animal and a drawstring gift bag. Choose from 80 available species. Or you can send an adoption card and allow the recipient to choose their own favorite animal. Order by 12/17/08 for arrival by Christmas.

Note: For a gift closer to home, support your local zoo. Many zoos have great adopt-an-animal programs too! Some of them include great behind the scene tours and other great benefits. Check your local zoo for more information.

$64/$84 Earth Friends (theearthfriends.com)

These adorable dolls are made entirely from organic or recycled materials. They are just the kind of soft, loveable dolls that become instant favorites with children. There are nine boys and girls to choose from. Each Earth Friend arrives with his or her own little backpack with a tree planting kit inside.

$1299 – MacBook

Okay – it’s a high-end gift, but I just saw the commercial for the new MacBooks and was amazed. Kids love Macs because they are great for gaming and graphics programs, plus they are sleek, streamlined, cool-looking and seemingly immune to viruses and spyware.

Now there is another reason to love MacBooks. According to Apple, they are the most environmentally friendly notebook computers in the world. The new version of their most popular MacBook can run on just one quarter of the power of a single light bulb!

According to Apple’s website, each new MacBook is designed with the following features to reduce its environmental footprint:

• Arsenic-free glass
• Mercury-free LED-backlit display
• Brominated flame retardant-free internal components
• PVC-free internal cables
• Highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure
• Up to 41 percent smaller packaging

So, if your kid has been especially great, this would be one heckuva gift!

A BIG THANK YOU to Wellness KIDS for those great ideas. Are you ready for some more? OK ... read on. These come from Small Footprints:

• When buying holiday gifts for the kids keep in mind that it’s better to buy products that are made of organic cotton and wood.

• It's OK to give slightly used gifts. Look for items that are in good shape and that don't contain toxic materials.
  

• Have a little artistic genius on your list? Buy earth friendly ... and animal friendly supplies.

• Bedding ... what kid doesn't like to jump into a bed with his favorite cartoon characters on the sheets? Look for organic, Eco friendly materials in colorful, playful designs.

• Furniture ... when I was a kid, my parents got us a little table and 4 chairs. It was kid-sized and we thought it was just about the coolest thing in the universe. I'm sure that they thought we'd eventually do homework on our little table ... we, however, imagined tea parties and art projects and car tracks and table games and ... well, you get the idea. So ... how about some kid friendly, earth friendly furniture. Look for organic wood and non-toxic paint.

• For the outdoor kid (and those wonderful nature hikes), consider a backpack made from natural or recycled materials.

• How about a LED flashlight ... after all ... what would ghost stories around a campfire be without one. There are green varieties available which are solar powered and still others which are kid powered (a crank is used to power it up).

• For the little ones, how about a fun, animal shaped toothbrush. Recycline has a series called Preserve Jr. Check out their link below in the list of resources.
  

• Toys never go out of style. Here are a few options (be sure to look for Eco-friendly materials and minimal packaging):

• Fuel cell racing cars (they run on water ... wow)
  
• Wooden building blocks or balls
  
• Stuffed animals
• Science kits
• Crayons made out of soy wax
• Did you know that ToysRus has an Eco-friendly line of toys? Yep ... it's true!
  

• Don't forget about homemade treasures (again ... made with Eco-friendly materials):

• Scarfs, hats and mittens
• Clothing
• Stuffed dolls and animals
• Books (for a very cute book, check out our bloggy friend at Musings from the Fishbowl
  
• Candies and cookies
• Doll houses and furniture
• Kid friendly jewelry
  

• Get the kids involved and help them make gifts for the people on their list.

For additional ideas and resources, check out the Internet. Here are a few suggestions:

• http://www.recycline.com/preservejr.html
• http://www.zrecommends.com/detail/the-2008-z-recommends-mostly-green-pretty-cheap-holiday-gift-guide/
• http://www.toysrus.com/
• http://www.greenandmore.com/gifts-for-kids.html
• http://www.nrdc.org/greenliving/guides/holiday.asp
  

Just remember ... with any gifts, consider packaging and materials. With a little effort and creativity, you can give the little ones on your list a gift that will not only bring smiles to their faces, but will make the earth happy as well.

As always ... I'd love to hear from you!

The perfect read ...

Reusing and recycling are two "basics" of living a green life. Did you miss my posts on these subjects? If you'd like to read them, click on the following: Reuse Recycle

The following article on repairing books is brilliant. Maybe you have a dear book that is getting tattered and you're thinking of tossing it in the recycle bin. Perhaps that beloved classic needs a face lift so that your children will have many pleasant hours reading it. Imagine giving books a new life and then giving them to libraries, thrift stores or the next door neighbor. And who wouldn't adore a collection of a loved one's favorite books ... all fixed up and given as a gift? With a little work, books can be repaired and ... in nothing flat ... be back on the shelf. So check those closets, basements, and attics for boxes of old books and ... fix them up. This is reusing and recycling at it's finest!

How to Repair a Paperback Book

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Do you have a trade paperback that has fallen on hard times? Loose pages? Cover come loose from the pages? Here's how to resurrect that book for a few more years of good reading.

Steps

Missing One or Two Pages

1. Open the book to the place where the pages belong.
   
2. Place a thin bead of glue along the crack of the spine.
   
3. Carefully place the page(s) back into place, taking care to align the edges of the page with the edges of adjacent pages. To prevent glue "ooze" from making the book hard to open, place a strip of waxed paper on each side of the glued section, at the glued edge.
   
4. Close the book.
   
5. Wipe away any excess glue.
   
6. Place the book under several heavier books to press it while it dries.
   
7. Wait 3 or more hours for the glue to dry before opening the book.
   

Entire Cover Separated From the Pages

1. Open the cover and lay it on a flat surface.
   
2. Use plastic glue[1] to wet the spine area.
   
3. Carefully place the page spine edge into the glue.
   
4. Close the covers.
   
5. Wipe away any excess glue that squeezes out the end of the spine.
   
6. Rubber band the cover to the book and press it under several heavier books to hold it while the glue dries.
   
7. Leave the book for at least 3 hours to allow it to dry. Overnight is best.
   

One Cover Torn Off

1. Use tape[1] to re-attach the cover.
   
2. Place the tape parallel to the spine so that half of the tape sticks to the first page of the book.
   
3. Bend and fold the tape back on itself.
   
4. Carefully align the cover to the spine edge.
   
5. Press it onto the sticky half of the tape.
   
6. Follow the instructions in Cover a Paperback Book With Clear Plastic Film to reinforce the spine.
   
   • Alternatively, you could cover the spine edge with heavy duty clear tape. Librarian book repair tape works best, but packing tape would suffice for a year or two (after a year or so, packing tape will yellow, dry out and cause more problems).
     
   
   

Cover Creased or Tattered

1. Tack down all loose flaps or tears with plastic glue.
   
2. Cover the book with plastic film once the glue has dried. Follow the instructions in Cover a Paperback Book With Clear Plastic Film or Make a Hard Cover for a Paperback Book to reinforce and/or protect the cover from further damage.
   

Tips

• Patience is a virtue... Don't hurry this! Take your time and do a careful job. Hurrying only increases the likelihood that you will end up with an unsatisfactory result.
  

• Plastic glue is not necessary to fix your fallen literary friends. Plain old Elmer's School Glue (yes, the kind you used in 1st grade) works just as well for fixing tatters and separating covers. You can purchase it for less than $1, it dries clear, and really does hold. It won't survive the apocalypse but your book will be secure enough to read (and will look better too!).
  

Things You Will Need

• Helpful supplies to have on hand.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Cover a Paperback Book With Clear Plastic Film
  
• How to Repair a Book's Binding
  
• How to Make a Hard Cover for a Paperback Book
  

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Plastic Glue and Book Repair tape are available from Library Supply companies such as Brodart and DEMCO.

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Repair a Paperback Book. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

There now ... wasn't that just the perfect read?

As always ... I'd love to hear from you!

Click here for an easy and free way to help fund mammograms for those in need at The Breast Cancer Site!

For Me?

Last week, I celebrated a birthday (and no … I’m not saying how old I am … those of you who know … “mums” the word). I woke up to beautifully wrapped gifts … so beautiful, in fact, that I’ve put the wrapping paper on the wall. And that brings me to today’s idea:

Get creative when wrapping and giving gifts. The person I live with is very creative. He can create something beautiful from the most ordinary items. We create a lot of blueprints in our business. They are printed on huge, sturdy pieces of paper. Instead of just tossing them, he finds creative ways to reuse them. In this case, he glued two pieces together to form a good, heavy canvas and then … he painted a beautiful picture. The painting included some of my favorite things … flowers, the mountains, critters … and when he was done, he used the painting to wrap my gift. The result was a beautiful, colorful and very personal gift wrap. And, not that the gift itself wasn’t wonderful, but … I’m sure that years from now, what I’ll remember the most is the very special gift wrapping, made with love … just for me.

There are all kinds of ways to give gifts without adding to the surplus of stuff that gets sent to a landfill. The gift, itself, can be something you make with recycled materials. Rather than use a cardboard box to wrap a gift, use something creative and useful such as a flower pot, bowl, casserole dish or keepsake box … make the container part of the gift. Wrapping paper can be something as special as my “painting” or as simple as a towel that can be reused. And imagine how beautiful a package becomes if you use a bouquet of flowers on top instead of a bow.
So the next time that you have a gift to give, get creative … you’ll not only show kindness to the earth, you’ll thrill the person who opens the package.