Share & Voice: Green Holiday Parties

We all know that Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Holiday Season. Here we embark on numerous parties and get-togethers with our family and friends. I recently found Earth Share's article: Green Your Holiday Gatherings. EarthShare was "founded by its member charities in 1988. It is an opportunity for caring employees and workplaces to support hundreds of environmental charities through workplace giving campaigns. This is an annual, employer-sponsored program that lets employees contribute a few dollars per paycheck as their charitable donation." Below are steps you can take before, during and after your holiday party to keep it an eco-friendly affair.

Before the event:

• Use safe cleaning products
• Follow this Guide to Non-Toxic Cleaning
• Ventilate your house by the use of fans and opening your windows
• Plan your meal according to local food available and buy foods that are in their peak season
• Check out more Holiday Food Tips
• Reuse your old decorations
• Keep in mind that pumpkins, squash and corn make the best decorations and can be used later in your favorite side dishes

During the event:

• Use your own dishes, not paper plates and plastic silverware
• Try replacing your lights with LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes)
• Designate your waste bins (trash, paper, plastic, etc)

After the event:

• Consider starting a food compost by combining all of your "veggie scraps, produce peels, coffee grounds, teabags and more with some of your autumn leaves you've raked up and you'll have an excellent foundation of nutrient-rich soil"
• Use your dishwasher (YES this is more environmentally-friendly!)
• Relax

Want more tips on How to Green Your Holidays? Check out their website. They offer great tips on how to Travel Green, Eat Green, Give Green and Party Green! I hope you find something that you can use in your holiday planning!

Share & Voice: The Daily Green

While searching on the internet, I stumbled across this really cool blog: The Daily Green. This is an eco-friendly blog that is designed to offer daily tips, news and other topics of interest that relate to going green in our community. Their mission is to "broaden the audience for earth-friendly living by showing how going green is relevant to everyone." Below is an article that I found to be not only interesting, but suitable to all you followers.

11 Ways to Go Green on a College Budget:

1. Be a re-user
   You can re-use other's textbooks and let them use yours for free on sites such as Chegg, PaperBackSwap and Bookins. All you have to pay is shipping fees.
2. Turn Off the Water
   Leaving the faucet running can waste up to 1.3-gallons of water! Instead of leaving the water run while brushing your teeth, just turn the water off.
   
3. Reuse Paper
   Don't throw away paper that can possible be made for scrap paper. Use this as your post-it notes to save on extra costs. Or just use it to take lecture notes during class.
4. Download a free energy-saving application for your computer
   To reduce the amount of energy your computer uses when you’re not on it, download an energy-saving application like Local Cooling or CO2 Saver. Or just simply turn it off.
5. Be Thrifty
   Shop at a thrift store. Thrift store shopping is another way to of recycle and regulate CO2 emissions.
6. Spend Less Time in the Shower
   Reducing your shower time by just 2 minutes, can save 1,000 pounds of CO2 emissions into the air. This will use less electricity to heat the water and conserve water.
7. Go Paperless
   Instead of wasting paper on bank statements, go online and switch to paperless. This can save a lot of trees!
8. Try Reusable Shopping Bags
   Ditch those plastic bags and purchase a couple reusable shopping bags instead. You can use them for groceries, clothes and to carry your books and laptop.
9. Recycle Your Old Cell Phone
   Recycle your old cell phones. You can find a cell phone recycling center either near your school or at a local cell phone distributor store.
10. Consolidate Your Hair Care Products
    Buy 2-in-1 shampoo plus conditioner and then throw away just one container. If you don't like that idea, then buy hair products that come in a recycled container.
11. Wash Clothes in Cold Water
    This causes less heat damage to your clothing (like fading and shrinking), uses less electricity and produces less CO2.

Well there you have it. A quick list you can follow to go green, while living on a tight college budget. Most of these are completely free or relatively cheap to incorporate into your daily life.
I hope that most of you can find a few on this list to fit your environmentally friendly lifestyle!

Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/community-news/college-green-55100102#ixzz15VhqTIG6

Share & Voice: MiBra

This new product, known as the "MiBra" is a great addition to any woman's workout wardrobe. The newly designed sports bra is "eco-friendly, stylish, and comfortable. It also has a pocket to put your ipod and keys in while you work out." The creator, GirlHabits, made this bra out of 90% organic cotton and 10% spandex material. This bra is not only eco-friendly but it only costs $20.00! The best part about this key workout accessory? "Once it is ready to be discarded by the user, the MiBra can be sent back to the company. In return, the user can purchase a new one at a 25% discount and the old bra will be recycled or donated by the company."

They even have a Facebook page that you can check out! Just "Like" their page to receive updates and more on the MiBra.

Share & Voice: Green and More

Green and More is a website designed to offer eco-friendly customers a place to go to shop for environmentally safe products. These products "help them live a greener life at home and the workplace". The staff at Green and More "test and review all of their products to ensure that they are all natural, green and of the highest quality". They also value the support of U.S companies that meet their qualifications for reducing our carbon footprint on the environment while influencing positive change in our society.

They have a great selection of high-quality items to choose from. Some of their specialty catergories include:

• Eco-Entertaining
• Eco-Traveling
• Eco-Gardener
• Outdoorsman
• Energy Miser
• Go Eco-Dental
• Healthy Eco-Pet

And many more! Check out this website for some great eco-conscious products to use in your home!

Share & Voice: Green Halloween

For this weeks Share & Voice, I decided to find some ways to be Green on Halloween. I found this website called Green Halloween and decided I would share it with you. This website was created by Corey Colwell-Lipson, a martial and family therapist as well as a mother of two children ages seven and four. Green Halloween was developed to help "inspire fun, healthy, affordable, not-too-time consuming ideas that will support your goal of creating a Halloween that is happy and healthy for your kids and the planet we all share."

This month they are promoting a contest called: The Green Halloween Pledge.

Here is a description of the contest directly from their website:

Green Halloween wants to “help people commit to reducing the environmental impact of their Halloween celebration” by holding a contest called the Green Halloween Pledge! All they ask is for people who are planning to commit to the Green Halloween Pledge to do at least 5 actions from the following list:

•Swap costumes with someone rather than buying a new costume. This is a great idea and one of our favorite Green Halloween Tips.
•Purchase your costume, or its components from your local thrift shop.
•Use LED Halloween lights to decorate instead of incandescents.
•Collect candy in a reusable container rather than a disposable bag. Or better yet, make a fun project for your kids by having them make their own Halloween bag out of reusable or recyclable items you have around the house.
•When trick-or-treating, walk, instead of driving door to door.
•Carry a shakable or hand-crank LED flash light instead of one that is battery powered.
•Make your own Halloween face paints.
•Give away one piece of candy instead of handfuls.
•Purchase an organic pumpkin.
•Buy your pumpkin from a local farmer.
•Purchase an edible variety of pumpkin and paint, instead of carving the pumpkin. Then bake and eat the pumpkin when Halloween is done.
•Roast & eat your pumpkin seeds instead of tossing them.
•Use 100% beeswax or soy candles in your jack-o-lantern instead of paraffin candles.
•Give away healthier alternatives to conventional candy.
•Compost your leftover candy.
•Donate your leftover candy to troops overseas.
•Compost your pumpkin.
•Make crafts out of candy wrappers.
•Pack décor away carefully so that it can be reused next year.
•Text “Boo 5” to 27138 to donate $5 to support the Green Halloween® initiative.

"Participants of the Green Halloween Pledge will be entered in a random drawing. One participant will win a $150 gift certificate redeemable at HolidayLEDs."

"So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t taken the Green Halloween Pledge yet, do so now! Visit HolidayLEDs’ Green Halloween Pledge page for details and step-by-step instructions for entering the drawing! "

Hope Everyone has a Happy "Green" Halloween!

Share & Voice: Do It Green Minnesota

I found this website Do It Green! Minnesota and I thought it was super neat. Their motto is "Educating and motivating Minnesotans to live green, sustainably and to help build healthy communities".

There most recent update is about the 5th Annual Green Gifts Fair event on Saturday, November 20th from 10:00-5:00pm. This fair is located at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. Here is a peek at the information that the website provided.

Do It Green! Minnesota offers our annual Green Gifts Fair right before Thanksgiving. The event is meant to introduce green gift options and low impact ideas to celebrate the holidays from Thanksgiving to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa to Winter Solstice, New Year's and everything in between! Come begin your holiday celebrations with us on November 20th!

• SHOP 70+ local retailers and artists for green, recycled, fair trade and organic gifts.
• LEARN about green holiday decorating, wrapping, food and party ideas, and homemade gifts.
• EAT lunch or dinner at many of the restaurants at the market and sample low carbon holiday foods with local chef demos.
• CELEBRATE the new 2011 Do It Green! Magazine focusing on Living Green and Simply (great gift idea!).
• ATTEND the eco fashion show, low carbon food cook off, or listen to local musicians on our main stage.
• REDUCE bring your own cloth shopping bags, reusable coffee mug for $1 coffee at Mapps Coffee & Tea in the market, and silverware and cloth napkins to reduce waste if you eat in the market (they only serve styrofoam and plastic!). Also consider biking, busing or carpooling to the event for a free gift.

I think this would be a great event to go to to learn more about buying and giving greener gift options. Check out the website for more ways they are promoting Minnesota to Do It Green!

Share & Voice: Boxed Water

I found this product while I was browsing on the internet. It is called Boxed Water. I honestly have never heard of this before and thought I would see if anyone else had?

"About 76% of the Boxed Water container is made from a renewable resource, trees, that when harvested in a responsible, managed, and ethical way serve as an amazing renewable resource that benefits the environment even as it's renewed. We ship our boxes flat to our filler which is significantly more efficient compared to shipping empty plastic or glass bottles to be filled. The flat, unfilled boxes we can fit on 2 pallets, or roughly 5% of a truckload, would require about 5 truckloads for empty plastic or glass bottles. Our cartons can also be broken down to their original flat state, and are recyclable in some areas. We're also giving 20% of our profits back to the resources our product is composed of - water and trees. Not only does it simply make sense, but we really enjoy supporting water and forestation organizations as it's part of our company's ethos and way of thinking to give back and participate".

Let me know what you think about this new product!

Source:Boxed Water is Better

Share & Voice: Duluth's Scenery

Duluth is gorgeous around this time of the year. Even though Fall is my favorite season and I absolutely love all the Fall colors, I decided to capture some pictures of the sunrise and sunset down in Canal Park.

I hoped you enjoyed looking at my pictures of Duluth's scenery! I highly recommend everyone to go out and experience it for themselves, it truly is breathtaking!

Share & Voice: The "Inn" Thing to Do

"After spending a year in the Sustainable Twin Ports Early Adopters business and environmental sustainability program, Overland and the Inn staff made a commitment to build sustainability into their everyday business lives." The staff at the Inn on Lake Superior now offers many options to be more "green". They have recycling bins in every room and have cut their overall electric and water usage. They have also made changes to their breakfast bar. These would include switching from foam and plastic plates to actual dishes and silverware as well as using organically grown coffee to support farmers. Overall, the Inn has cut over $10,000 in costs since being enrolled in this program. The future looks green for this Canal Park hotel, and we can only hope that their success will inspire and motivate others to do the same.

Welcome to Through Green Eyes with Katie!

Here is the official WELCOME to my blog.

Hello! My name is Katie. I am a senior at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I am pursuing a degree in Health Education- Community Health, with a minor in Psychology. Through Green Eyes with Katie is a blog that I designed for my Environmental Health class. I chose this title because I want both you and I to see the world through a more eco-friendly outlook, aka "Through Green Eyes". The purpose of this blog is to share my thoughts and opinions about issues we discuss in class about our environment!

There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Read 'n' Seed
6. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the catergories will be listed as labels. This post has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the catergories above.

The members of my group are:

1. Samantha@Samantha Green with Envi
2. Alyssa@Treerific Time with Alyssa
3. Adam@Adams Outdoor Connection
4. Emily@Eco-quest with Emily
5. Kristen G@Kristens Coral Reef
6. Carly@Go Blue Too with Carly
7. Katie@Through Green Eyes with Katie

You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog! Keep checking back throughout the semester to see weekly updates about my attempts to save our environment!

"The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river." ~Ross Perot