greenliving

With the party season well into it’s half way mark, there are a host of ideas to make each event a stylish, unique, yet eco friendly do! Your guests will be plesantly surprised, you will be less overworked for having done it and at the end of the evening, you’ll know you’ve made a difference, if even a small one. And if you have any converts, then that’s only a bonus.

Here are two of my favourites

Place settings: Why invest in store bought  place cards when you can make your own stylized ones? Visit your garden or the closest lake/beach to your home, and gather shining, smooth stones. Ensure they are large enough to write your guests’ name on them. Wash them and for a more artistic endeavor, stamp their names on it with alphabetic stamps and an ink pad. Tuck a sprig of holly under the stone and  you’re ready to set the table! If you socialize a lot, you may want to consider saving the stones in a large glass jar- looks pretty and creates some great memories too. You can also return them to the garden so they’re back where they belong.

 Flavoured fruit water: This is one I do on a daily basis, and definitely for parties. Take a pretty glass bottle or pitcher and fill  it with water. Chill it (with heated homes and lots of visitors, chilled water will be spot on to quench thirsty partying guests) and then drop in slices of lemon, sprigs of mint, slivers of cucumbers, apples, peaches or any fruit or veggies. Looks great and tastes even better.

My 4.5 year old daughter ’s really excited about Christmas, and this is one time in the year, that we create a lot of snail mail (posted mail) for friends and family around the world. And of course, a very special letter goes out to Santa to say a big thank you in advance for the gifts we know he’s going to bring!

This year, we eagerly waited for a Santa letter; something I learnt that Canada Post does for it’s clients. It’s brilliant- the children receive a real letter from Santa, complete with ‘personalized’ comments and a penned in signature! My kids were thrilled and when I read it; I couldn’t help smiling. Here’s part of what Santa wrote:

“You know, when I’m traveling in my sleigh on Christmas Eve, I’m always amazed by how beautiful our planet is and how much I  wish to protect it. Mrs Claus always packs my cookies in my favourite reusable lunch bag for my long trip around the world. She knows how much I love her cookies!”

We’ve lived in a lot of countries/continents around the world- Asia, Europe and the Middle East-before finally settling on Vancouver. And it’s a choice that time and time again I’m so happy we’ve made. Santa too has gone green here; and that’s a true miracle!

Merry Christmas!

It’s been a busy last few weeks, and I’ve neglected all blog writing. So I’m happy I have something to post today. I received a badge from one of the groups I’ve joined- Brighter Planet. Check them out, it’s worth it! I joined their 350 Challenge and so they donated 136 pounds of offsets in my name, making me ‘carbon neutral’ for a day. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, please do visit my blog post on ‘carbon emissions’.

Here’s how they summarize it:

The average American emits 136 pounds of carbon dioxide each day. About 36 pounds come from driving, flying, and other travel. Another 22 pounds come from heating, cooling, and powering our homes. The final 78 pounds come from producing, transporting, and disposing of all the stuff we buy, and from shared services like schools and street lights. 136 pounds would fill 5,000 balloons — imagine releasing that every day.

And check out their link to get a donation in your name:

http://oneday.brighterplanet.com/users/4626/passes/public/6FX-Q1E