Category: Green Holidays
Greener Easter Eggs
| March 17, 2013 | Filled under Green Holidays |
Easter is just around the corner. The other day I shared some greener gift ideas and today I want to share some ways to have greener Easter eggs. There are many great options out there that help you avoid the toxic dyes that you find in the cheap grocery store kits and the toxic plastics in the cheap plastic eggs.
- Dye your eggs with food. Onions, red cabbage, and other food can be used to make beautiful eggs. Crunchy Domestic Goddess has some great tips for dyeing your eggs natural.
- Buy a natural dye kit. There are several dye kits out there that use safer dyes. Two examples are one by GLOB that contains 3 color packets (enough dye for 1 dozen eggs), 3 compostable cups, and 3 bamboo mixing brushes. Another option comes from Wee Can Too, it contains two sets of 3 primary colors and a neutral veggie based crayon for drawing on the eggs.
- Condo Blues shared an interesting tutorial for making washi paper eggs. They are super cute and a very interesting alternative to dyeing.
- Are you vegan? EggNots makes dyeable ceramic eggs. They are made in the USA and last forever. They suggest using food coloring but natural dye options would likely work as well, it would be a great way to use Condo Blues’ washi paper egg tutorial!
- If you need fillable eggs consider Eco Eggs. They are made from bpa-free, corn-starch based plastic, are food grade, are fully compostable in industrial compost, are durable and reusable for many years, and they are made in the USA.
Will you be using Easter eggs this year? If so are you going to try any of the options above or do you have other green ideas? Be sure to share in the comments below.
This post is part of an Easter carnival held on the Big Green Purse, be sure to check out the other posts.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclaimer for more. Photos of the products are property of the stores.
Easter Gift Ideas from Abe’s Market
| March 6, 2013 | Filled under Green Holidays |
Easter will be here soon and it’s a holiday that can be full of plastic junk and candy filled with toxic ingredients. One place you can shop to get better gifts for Easter, is Abe’s Market. I have searched the site and come up with some of my favorite ideas. And one bonus great thing about Abe’s Market? You can get free shipping if you spend more than $49.
Organic Chocolate Bunnies | Natural Easter Egg Dyeing Kit | Nature Discovery Box
Stuffed Bunny | Eco-Friendly Nail Polish
Organic Chocolate Egg | Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks | Veggie Sidewalk Chalk
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclaimer for more. Photos of the products are property of the stores.
Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas
| February 3, 2013 | Filled under Green Holidays |
Theo Casanova Caramels | Boxed Fruit Body Scrub | PACT Boxer Briefs
Men’s Organic Robe | Silver Heart Pendant
Level Naturals Bath Bombs | PACT Bikini | Beeswax Candles
Save 25% on all 100% Pure gift sets for Valentine’s Day.
Save up to 50% on many great gifts from Abe’s Market until February 5th.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclaimer for more. Photos of the products are property of the stores.
Eco-Friendly Gift Wrapping Guide
| December 12, 2012 | Filled under Green Holidays |
Christmas generates around 300,000 tons of trash each year, part of that waste is wrapping paper. That’s a lot of waste for something we use for just a few minutes. There are many great options to help reduce the amount of waste you create this year, here are a few.
Think outside the box and use things like magazines, brown paper bags, and newspaper to wrap your gifts. There are many ways to make simple items like those beautiful. Also this year be sure to save what you can from gifts you receive. Good quality wrapping paper can often be used again, gift bags can be used over and over, tissue paper and ribbons are easy to save as well.
Look for Recycled Wrapping Paper
If you really just love wrapping paper and don’t want to go the reusable route, be sure that you look for recycled wrapping paper. There are many beautiful options and most are also recyclable. Also use wisely, make sure not to over use and save any scraps that could be useable on smaller packages. If you like to do paper crafts you can save the even smaller scraps for your crafts.
Christmas Wrapping Paper | Winter Wonderland Wrapping Paper | Red Twinkle Wrapping Paper
Skaters Gift Bag | Mittens Wrapping Paper
Falling Frosties Wrapping Paper | Scarves Pillow Box | Snow Flurries Wrapping Paper
Go Reusable
Reusable gift wrap is another great option. If other people you are giving gifts to are open to it, agree to only use things that can be reused and just pass them back and forth each year. There are many options for different kinds and styles of reusable gift wrap. There are a lot of beautiful ones on Etsy, as well as the ones below.
Chewing the Cud Gift Wrap | Bag the Habit Gift Bag | ChicoBag Reusable Bag
Lucky Crow Gift Bag | Lucky Crow Gift Bag
Bag the Habit Gift Bag | Chewing the Cud Gift Wrap | Lyziwrap
Are you using any eco-friendly wrapping this year? Share what you are using below.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclaimer for more. Photos of the products are property of the stores.
Having a Plastic-Free Holiday and Plastic Bag Bans
| December 11, 2012 | Filled under Green Holidays |
Plastic is everywhere during the holiday season, plastic trees, plastic gifts, plastic bags from shopping, plastic wrapping, and so much more. Even though I try to avoid plastic I have to say I’m sitting next to our artificial tree. I’m allergic to the real thing and just can’t imagine not having any tree. There are also some plastic ornaments and candy canes wrapped in plastic on the tree. The tree is at least mostly PE plastic which is safer than PVC which most trees are made of, the ornaments are used every year and most are glass, and the candy canes are organic. There are many ways we can reduce the plastic we are consuming this holiday season though.
Use glass, metal, or natural fiber, like wool, ornaments. And use them every year. I see why it would be fun to do different themes each year but you need less stuff to stick with the same theme. Try doing different themes in different rooms instead.
If you aren’t allergic, choose sustainably raised real greenery and trees. If you do need a fake tree look for one that uses mostly or all PE plastic and take good care of it to make it last as long as possible. Also if the tree has any PVC, be sure to vacuum and dust around the tree often and if you have kids tell them not to touch it. PVC contains lead and other toxins. For wreaths you can also look at real grapevine wreaths or make a rag wreath.
Wrap gifts with recycled and recyclable paper, reusable gift bags, scarves, and other eco-friendly materials. There will be more ideas on the blog later this week, so watch for those.
For gifts try to find gifts that contain no or very little plastic. And when shopping for these gifts don’t forget your reusable bags! Plastic bags are causing so many environmental issues. It’s hard to believe something so small could cause so many problems but it’s estimated that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed each year! So those little bags really add up. It’s estimated that a million sea birds and 100,000 animals die from plastic bags and other waste each year. These bags come with a big price.
Taking your own bags helps a lot but sadly so far personal action just isn’t enough, and that’s where regulations come into play. Plastic bag bans are one way we can fight these problems. I don’t think anyone really wants to have to ban things but sometimes we have to when they cause so many problems and plastic bags are causing massive damage. They are even ending up in our food supply because of the animals ingesting them. I don’t think any of us want to be eating plastic bags.
Factory Direct Promos has created a very interesting, interactive map with information about places that have banned plastic bags, are working on it, or have had plastic bag bans fail. It’s a great way to track what is going on with this movement. The map is continuously updated and a great way to inspire us to keep the movement going.
Another suggestion I have for helping fight plastic waste this holiday season is to give Beth Terry’s book Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too as a gift. She has even put together a great gift set that includes a signed copy of the book, a Bag It DVD, and a beautiful cloth gift bag. It would make a wonderful gift for anyone on your list that is interested in the environment. Beth’s book is great, and I’m not just saying that because she included me. I truly enjoyed it and learned a lot. Bag It is also a great documentary that I really enjoyed as well.
What are your plastic-free tips for the holidays? Do you support plastic bag bans or taxes? Share your thoughts below.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclaimer for more. Photos of the products are property of the stores.
Green Holiday Blog Carnival
| December 10, 2012 | Filled under Green Holidays |
Hanukkah has started and Christmas is almost here. These holiday season is often very wasteful but it doesn’t have to be. Many bloggers have posted some great info to help you green this holiday season and this post contains just a small sampling.
One wasteful part of the holidays is the wrapping. Thankfully, Nature Moms Blog has some great ways to make your holiday wrapping greener this year.
Over at Non-Toxic Kids you will find a great list of non-toxic gifts. If you aren’t done shopping you will want to check these out. You will also find some tips for making the holiday more affordable but still green.
Jen and Joey Go Green also has some great gift ideas, including some of my favorites like Soda Stream and Glass Dharma glass straws.
Mindfully Frugal Mom has two great DIY gift ideas, a chai latte mix and framed recipes.
Another great and easy DIY gift idea are the salt dough ornaments over on It Starts With Me.
Hosting a holiday party? Celebrate Green has some great green holiday game ideas that would be a blast.
Random Recycling gives some great tips on recycling wrapping paper, did you know not all of it can be? Random Recycling also has some great last minute DIY holiday decoration ideas.
Green Talk has another great green gift guide, you are sure to find great ideas on this list.
Groovy Green Livin has some great info on non-toxic Hanukkah candles. She also has some info on staying well for the holidays, this is something that is very important to me as I have asthma. I spent last Christmas VERY sick so I am working hard to stay well.
My Plastic-Free Life has a great gift as well, it’s a pack that includes her wonderful book (which I happen to be included in), the documentary Bag It, all in a beautiful cloth bag.
Want to make a cute eco-friendly wreath? Check out the one on The Eco Chic made from t-shirts.
Good Girl Gone Green has an amazing looking recipe for a vegan gingerbread smoothie. All of her recipes always sound amazing.
The Greening of Westford has information on shopping locally and green.
The Well-Groomed Hippie talks about the importances of using decorations that will last.
Over at Environmental Booty you can win some eco-friendly products for a Christmas present for yourself. You can also find some great deals on several eco-friendly gifts.
Elise over at Mommy Bites shared some great gift ideas for kids and some charities to donate to for the holidays.
Abe’s Market asked me to share some of my favorite upcycled gift ideas on their site as well this year, so be sure to check that out.
Also be sure to check out the Green Holiday Guide Pinterest board for even more ideas. And keep coming back for posts here through Christmas. And feel free to share your posts in the comments below.
