TheGoGreenBlog.com

Thousands of tons of holiday wrapping paper, tissue paper, metallic and plastic bows, ribbons, etc. are purchased each season. Many trees are destroyed, and lots of chemicals are released in the production process of these decorations.

After the holidays the wrappings usually end up in the trash and sent to a landfill, where they take a long time to decompose. Or, if you were to burn them, they would give off toxic gases. Either option is not very merry for the planet.

The best thing to do if you are giving physical gifts this season is to wrap them in an eco-friendly way. You can make the wrapping a part of the gift, something that can be used for another purpose afterwards, or just use plainer wraps made from recycled materials.

Here are the top 5 green choices for holiday wrapping:
1- outdated maps, old posters, sheet music or leftover lightweight wallpaper
2- newspapers (foreign newspapers are my favorite) or the Sunday comics
3- kids’ artwork
4- old wooden wine boxes, baskets or tins
5- scarves or handkerchiefs

By making the switch to LED Christmas lights this year, you can save big money on your electricity bill, and lessen your carbon footprint on the planet. Below are the top five eco-friendly reasons to upgrade to LEDs this holiday season.

Top 5 reasons to use LEDs
1- Use 10% the electricity of incandescents, and are 90% more efficient than their old-school tungsten counterparts
2- Made with far less nasty chemicals then the tungsten bulbs
3- Never really get hot
4- Last almost forever (about 100,000 hours)
5- When one burns out, it doesn’t take the whole chain with it

Bonus Tip
6- Save even more energy & money by setting a timer

Check out this video by lime, healthy living with a twist, where Jane Zadadowski gives simple, practical tips on creating a green lifestyle for your children that any parent can incorporate into their daily routine.

skinnyskinny is this great little company that produces & sell organic, all natural handmade bar soaps & bath salts (and will also be adding balms & body oils soon).

All of skinnyskinny soaps & bath products are made completely by hand from scratch in their Brooklyn, New York facility, using really great ingredients, including extra-virgin oils, unrefined butters & essential oils.

All of skinnyskinny products contain at least 96% certified organic ingredients, and they use 100% recycled, reclaimed, and sustainable materials for all of their packaging.

skinnyskinny is a true carbon-neutral manufacturer by purchasing enough wind-power to cover all of their electricity usage and buying carbon-offsets for everything else.

Now, you can’t get any cleaner than that!

I don’t know about you, but I have a back pile of plastic shopping bags. Either from the grocery store or the mall, even last nights take out…I have a ton. But I don’t just trash them. I reuse them.

Here are the top 5 ways to reuse plastic shopping bags:
1- tiny trash liner for the bathroom, office, or car
2- doggy duty or a kitty litter liner
3- ice pack for those bumps and bruises
4- tomorrow’s lunch bag
5- package padding for all those holiday & birthday gifts