I’ve just finished a book that I have to recommend to every parent and educator. It’s called The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. The first half of the book talks about the importance of books, libraries, and of course, reading aloud to children (even after they’ve learned to read themselves), while the second half is [...]
Archive for December, 2008
22 Dec
Green holidays: open without ripping!
Can you believe Christmas is 3 days away? This is just a small post to remind you that one way you can reduce waste this Christmas is to open your gifts carefully, so as not to rip the wrapping paper. This way it can be reused again next year. My mother is very frugal and [...]
19 Dec
Green holidays: cards
I have mixed feelings about cards. On one hand, I enjoy receiving them, especially if some thought was taken into writing something inside. I do truly like thank yous and birthday wishes and such. On the other hand, within days of receiving most cards, I throw them out. Was that message worth the energy to [...]
14 Dec
Green eating, literally
For us, the holidays often mean lots of colds, coughs, and sniffles. The unhealthy eating in the month of December (lots more sweets, lots fewer fruits and veggies), the lack of sleep (staying up late wrapping presents and attending holiday parties), and all that germy indoor air we’re breathing means my family is often sick [...]
10 Dec
Green holidays: environmentally friendly wrapping doesn’t have to be ugly
Here are some of our gifts wrapped in recyclable packing paper. Not only did I reuse this packing paper from our move, but I can recycle it after Christmas as well. Of course the presents look prettier with the tags and cards I spent forever making but at least most of them can be recycled too. [...]
8 Dec
Green holidays: gifts
I think the best way to make your gifts green this holiday season is to focus on quality over quantity. A good example of this is with children’s toys. Yes, you can spend $50 and give your kids 10 cheap gifts. Lots to open. But also more likely that the toys will be poor quality, will [...]
4 Dec
Green holidays: wrapping paper
Oh my! How did I not know this before? WRAPPING PAPER IS NOT RECYCLABLE!! Every year, we throw ridiculously overstuffed bags of wrapping paper in the recycle bin. (Which brings me to a totally random piece of information I feel obligated to share–do not throw materials that are not recyclable in the recycle bin. If [...]
2 Dec
Green holidays: trees
For the month of December, I will be writing posts that discuss how to make your holidays greener and healthier. I’m starting with the topic of Christmas trees. I’ve been hesitant to write about this because currently in my living room, I have a Made in China, made with PVC, fake tree. All I can [...]
