Going Green

While watching the Style Network’s Gorgeoud and Green, which premiered on December 20th at 9/8 Central, I got a few great ideas, along with the ones from the show, about how to make you wedding more green without looking less expensive. One of the ideas from show I simply loved what the live tree favor to give to your guests. With that, I did a bit of brain-storming and came up with a few wedding favor ideas as well. 1. For a Wedding Favor: Hollow out organic apples, line with recycled aluminum foil and fill with water and small stemmed flowers. You can use these as table center pieces as well.

2. For the Reception: If you have a fall wedding you could throw a bulb-planting reception instead of the traditional one. Serving foods and drinks as well as tubs filled with different sorts of bulbs. The guests can either plant them at the party in a designated area or take them home to plant in their own yard.

3. For Lighting: Have an outdoor wedding. If you have your wedding outdoors it uses less energy to light the space because you can utilize the suns light. If you have an evening wedding light the space with candles. You can find many candles that come in sorts of sizes. Make sure you get candles that are soy, to go eco-friendly even more.

1.  Wood Lanterns:  ($39-$49) These lanterns have hardwood frames around a metal bas and with glass side.  Hold s all sorts of size of candles to help brighten your living space.  They can even be used outside to brighten and set the mood on your outdoor dinner gatherings.

2.  Solid Wood Console:  ($329)  This console table is made from solid wood with a sungkai wood veneer over the entire table.  Comes in brown, and natural wood tones. 

3.  Wood Stump Side Table:  ($199)  This piece of furniture is a great conversation piece and would look just grand in any room of your home.  It’s made from fallen wood so no trees where freshly cut to make the side table. 

You can decorate almost every corner of your house with a greener creative mind. 1.  Decorate with rosemary trees: You can purchase rosemary trees in any nursery. The posts they come in are perfect shaped for covering with scrape fabric that can match whatever decor you are looking to match it with. Placing it near your kitchen will also encourage you to use more rosemary during cooking.

2. Pressing whole cloves into oranges: Looking for a quick and easy way to scent your home while still looking creative? Purchase whole cloves and whole oranges and combine the two. Press the cloves into the orange peel in creative designs and place them in a bowl on your kitchen table or coffee table.

3. Use cuttings from evergreens to spruce up a room: Using old milk glasses and evergreen cuttings you can make a great conversation piece in a rush to decorate and also bring forth a green approach. Just use a clean milk glass jar or larger and place a fresh cutting of every green such as pine or cedar into the jar and place throughout your home.

The best part about going green is all of the great things you can purchase and find to add to you green collection and your green household. Here are five ideas to add to your green collection.

1. No Enemy Organics: These clothes are the ultimate must-haves. They are made in the USA and PVC-free and also sea friendly as well. They carry women’s, men’s and even babies clothing for anyone wanting to up their green wardrobe.

2. Little Green Star: This is the best in education and clothing boutique in one. They offer 100 percent organic cotton clothing for babies and toddlers and they prints on the clothing is printed with soy ink as well. They are all made in the USA and their environmentally friendly designs educate children in helping them learn how to protect the environment.

3. KANOE Organic Baby Hammock: This swing is set sort of like a Johnny Jump-up and rocks and sways baby with a bit of bounce as well. It’s made from 100% organic cotton and it is suspended from a weight calibrated spring. It helps babies get a more sound, and more relaxed and peace filled sleep.

4. Frey Vineyard Organic and Biodynamic Wine: This wine should be a star at your dinner table and for social gathers as well. There are no sulfites added and everything is organic.

5. Earth Lust Bottles: These bottles are made from high food grade quality stainless steel. The bottles are painted with nontoxic paints and are 100% BPA-free caps. They come in 13 ounces, 20 ounces and even a 1 liter size as well. They help eliminate to the added waste and are super duper stylish to carry anywhere.

If you are an avid bicycler, like me, the one thing about it is being green.  Not using gasoline is a great step in the green living direction, but being a bicycler, what else can you do as far as leaning into a greener lifestyle?

The Recycled Bike Cube by Terry Bikesis a great way to add more green to your biking routine.  It’s the bag that is compact and small yet has a big impact.  It’s made of recycled Redura® on the outside of the bag.  It can carry just about anything you wish to carry on your bike ride such as your helmet, water bottles, and even your most important tools such as your needed tools like your wrench, pumps, tubes and even an extra set of pedals.  You can pick one of these awesome bike cubes up right off the Terry Bicycle site for about $75.

It’s a great addition to your already green routine with your bike riding.  To find more green living bags, click here.

Being energy efficient is a great way to go green with your lifestyle. It not only saves you money but also saves the earth as well. Here are some tips to keep in mind when you plan on making simple energy efficient, and lifestyle changes around you own home.

• Use as much natural light as you can: Yes, I to do not like people looking in on me, but I do love natural light. The solution is having windows. I’m sure there is a technical word for them somewhere, but they are windows with half shades. This allows for the light to come in at the top of the window but keeps peeking eyes out of your business. Diners worldwide use them and they are a great way to allow for the natural light.

• Take advantage of natural air flow: Have one window accessible in every room. If you open a window in each room you get air flow and it can help cut down on your air conditioning cost.

• Consider Skylights: If you install skylights you will not only take advantage of the day light during the sunlight hours you will also be bringing in additional natural light into your home as well.

• Change for Energy-Efficient Windows: If you have energy efficient windows throughout your home you will also cut down on air loss all over the house.

• Consider Radiant-Heated Floors: The floors are heated through fore you turn down your thermostat and save energy and money together.

• Consider Passive Solar Technology: Which means placing windows on the south facing

Whether you drink coffee in the morning or juice, or water during your exercise routine or afternoon walk, hopefully you are drinking those beverage choices out of a reusable container.

But, what kind of container is the key. With the recent talk about BPA from plastics being leached into foods and beverages that are at a certain high temperature the best option is to go with a container that is stainless steel.

On my hunt to replace my own reusable container I came across a great option from L.L. Bean and it is not only BPA-free it is also esuriently. It is reusable, recyclable and made from food-grade stainless steel so that your water, coffee or whatever you are drinking will come out tasting as fresh as when you first poured the beverage in.

The best part about this container is, it will not degrade over time, but can be placed in your metal recycling bin when it’s time is done. It comes in black, pink, blue, red, stainless steel color, green and my favorite, orange. They run about $15.95 for the 12 oz. small size-$18.95 for the 27 oz. large size. Check out the Bean Canteen here.

With this canteen you can guarantee your drinking pleasure will be a greener one and it will help save the environment as well by not adding to the landfill full of water bottles and coffee cups already inhabiting the grounds. It is a great way to not add to the BPA scares worldwide and help keep toxins from becoming an issue in your household as well.

Recycling to some means throwing what you can, when you think about it into the recycle bin on trash day, but it should be more than that. Almost anything can be recycled in your home if you just take the time to place it in one bin over the other.

Landfill space is running thin and more and more land is going to the use of that purpose. Instead of more land for landfills, we need more recycling to take over on top.

Thick cereal boxes, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, aluminum soda cans, glass containers, butter tubs, shampoo bottles to name a few can all be recycled. Rinsing out old bottles and containers should become second nature to you after the product inside has been used up.

Simple changes just like this are the main reasons to recycle. It only takes a few more seconds to rinse a container and throw it in the proper receptacle. If you just do your part within your own household, the landfill issue will become something of the past over time. Spread the word about how important recycling is and in time, and a bit of hoping, everyone everywhere will be recycling everything they can.

A lot of people have mixed feelings about this issue, but the scientific facts are in and prove otherwise. The climate changing and threatening the very existence of the polar bear is nothing new to many people, but the weather getting more and more violent may be something to raise an eyebrow about.

Earlier this year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report showing how the rise in temperatures is causing extreme weather conditions. Hurricanes, tornados, flooding, and even high wind conditions are all related to the change in global warming.

Downpours are becoming more and more of an issue that will cause localized flash flooding that can lead to damage of ones home and surroundings real quick. Heat waves will become more intense and last longer leading to exposure and more cases of drought that will lead to damaged crops along the grain belts of the world.

The best way to stop this is to help curb your carbon emissions now and change your living to a more greener lifestyle. The last 50 years has shown that the changes are contributed to humans more than any other source. The sooner you act the sooner we see the reverse in this issue.

Track your carbon footprint here.