And guess what?
Yeah, that's right, you have the chance to win both pieces! Bonus!
To enter the contest, all you have to do is answer the question below in a comment on this entry and wait patiently until Monday, Dec. 8, when I announce the winner!
The deadline to enter is noon, Monday, Dec. 8. Winning would be a great way to kick off exam week; nothing like treating yourself to fabulous new FREE jewelry!
So, here's the question:
Are you doing anything to make your holiday more environmentally friendly? If so, what? If not, why?
Ready? Set? GREEN LIGHT! Go! Enter! Win!
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7 comments:
I'm trying to do as much as I can to make my Christmas environmentally and economically friendly. So far I have gotten 5 gifts from various vendors on Etsy.com. I got a set of ornaments for my mother and all proceeds from the sale are donated to a children's hospital in the dominican republic. I made my Christmas cards out of scraps of construction paper. They look very nice if I do say so myself. I have also handmade one gift so far, I used a picture of a very good friend and I, edited it a bit, put a quote on top of it and I will be printing it out on photo paper. These picture/posters with quotes are very trendy right now. Instead of buying wrapping paper and gift bags, my Grandma gave me her old already used ones. She's been through the depression so she's one of those people that saves everything. I'm all about reusing things so I was happy to take them off her hands.
This year and in the past to be more environmentally friendly I've replaced my old Christmas lights with more energy efficient LED Christmas lights. They only cost $1 to run for the entire season (4-5 weeks). I've also put my Christmas lights on a timer so they automatically turn off at a certain time of night so they don't burn on into the early morning hours. I also recycled gift boxes every year. As embarassing as it sometime might seem, you'll find me rooting through the pile of discards boxes on Christmas morning, collecting the one's I've used back, so I can use them again the following year or for another occasion.
The holidays are very different when you live over 1,000 miles away from your family. In being further away from my mother, I have become more environmentally friendly during this holiday season.
For every year up until this year, I have started my holiday season on Thanksgiving with lunch and dinner with my family, followed by a frantic look through the Black Friday advertisements.
The next day, my mother, my sister and I would get up early in the morning and feed into the frenzy that is ridiculous people shopping for things are ridiculous prices. It can get... violent in some cases. One year, I almost saw someone trampled.
After said shopping excursion, we would come home and wrap all of the Christmas presents.
This year, since airplanes mean limited travel space, I am knitting my sister a scarf for Christmas. The rest of my family is doing a "White Elephant" style exchange, with things found throughout the house. Oh, and instead of buying a ton of wrapping paper, I am putting everything into bags, which can always be reused next year. :)
I mailed four gift packages today in big padded envelopes already used before. Tonight I wrapped gifts in recycled paper
Not so much 'for the holidays,' but I asked for a fruit&vegetable juicer for Christmas so that I don't have to waste fruit& vegetables that spoil before I have a chance to eat them, and so I don't have to buy any more wasteful plastic bottles that just end up in landfills.
the theme for this christmas season is conservation.
..most significantly in the pocketbook.
my very limited availability of green paper has actually forced me to "go greener" over the past few holiday seasons.
here are some ways in which gift giving has made me more resourceful, and hopefully they can be useful to others when trying to make some one know how much you care for them:
... while trying these projects, consider being eco-friendly in each step of the process. reuse coffee cups or cut the top off of plastic bottles to put water in the paint for dipping brushes. use recycled meat and produce trays as palettes for paint and glue. use old newspaper to keep a clean workspace, and look at the potential of magazine pages that can function as cards or gifts.
• save gift boxes and reuse them for other occasions
- once you've accumulated a closet full of reusable gift boxes and bags.. GET CREATIVE!!
• cover those janky-looking, torn, macy's gift boxes with an old news record (really, any newspaper or magazine will suffice) using 1 part water 2 parts glue .. or one part flour two parts glue- which ever is lying around. paint them as you wish, or arbitrarily choose paper pieces that look interesting without any further decoration. for some people, the care put into packaging is a gift in itself. the receiver may decide to use the sturdy box to store photos or organize clutter. often people pass the box along in a gift they give in the future. it is interesting the stories such small objects might tell and the places they travel.
• take old crayons and a glass or aluminum bottle. choose your color scheme, melt crayons (various methods, i tend to just use a lighter) and let drip to create a textural flower vase, pencil holder, or desk decoration that is entirely unique.
• melt old crayons to make candles, you'll need to purchase a wick .. there are several fun projects to do with old crayons, explore your own methods or google some others that have been successful for other people if this sounds like a gift you are interested in. also, the paper peelings have great potential. try it out!
• save christmas cards and cut the personalized part from the generic part. if there is a meaningful message i keep the note in my lovely box ..i am a goober. and the other part can be reused as a gift tag/post card. it looks really nice to mount cut out images onto a colored card stock or plain old printer paper. orient the images in your own way and redesign the original card if you feel like taking it a step further.
• old t-shirts are wonderfully versatile. anywhere from a t-shirt blanket if you are ambitious, to simply cutting thin strips that can work as bows on packaging. it is fun to cut apart those shirts that do nothing but make you queez every time you come across then in you drawer, and turn them into something functional. redundant, but explore your creativity
•a low-budget gift that could be fun to give to a sister, mom, or best friend is simply a nice bottle of nail polish and a creative hand-made or computer generated coupon that is good for one manicure. cheesy, maybe.. but some people love that stuff!
• on those lines, any sort of way to serve some one or do a favor is clever to give in the form of certificate. the commitment is there and it is accodrding to the recipient's terms, so it makes things convenient. some one gave me a voucher for dinner one day, and it was one of my favorite presents. read your friends and family, you will know who will appreciate that sort of thing. brand your packaging or envelope uniquely to the person.
• this is old school.. make a wreath or holly and pine arrangement in a non-traditional way (if that is your style) people love when their homes smell like christmas and it will give a more positive aroma.
• be sure to clean out your closet and donate those clothes or jackets that don't often get worn and find a non-profit that is collecting. it is cold and people are deserving.
• sometimes sacrificing for someone else is one of the best gifts. there have been a couple of times when i skipped out on lunch and bought dinner for some one else for the two of us to enjoy. it gives meaning to mundane or habitual ways we go about out days. also, look at those in your community who may have less resources and offer what you might indulge in. it can make all the difference to some one.
• during this economic crisis it is just nice to spend time with the people that are important to me. i am trying to take note of how i spend my money and think of ways to stretch my resources.
my apologies that i just made such an extensive post, but i am just itemizing some gift ideas that i have been thinking of lately. thankfully there are some alternatives that are more ethical than many things that i like to buy and consume! most imporatntly i am thankful that i have people in my life that are most valuable!!! taylor, i GGGGGUUUUUUEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS you fall into that last category . (sarcastic/winking emoticon)
merriest.
I have been going green by wearing lots and lots of green jewelry. Like that necklace *cough*.
Haha, but seriously... My roommates and I have been recycling extensively this quarter, even toting our not-quite-trash to the recycling dumpster across the street. I am making just about all of my Christmas presents (but that might just be because I have no money). Scarves for my friends and sister, a bracelet for my mom...
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