[SustainableTompkins] Local Eco-friendly Holiday Cards

Wed Nov 29 07:05:57 PST 2006

Where to get eco-friendly locally-made holiday cards:

When I realized Unicef did not offer cards on recycled, unbleached paper, I 
wrote to them requesting they include that choice next year. Then I 
contacted Acorn Designs --  www.acorndesigns.org  (tel: 607-387-3424) -- the 
notecard company in Trumansburg supporting our local artists. I was happy to 
discover their volume discounts for locally-made holiday cards on recycled 
paper are just as affordable as Unicef's. Including the recycled envelopes, 
you pay $1/ea for 100+; $1.10/ea for 50-99; or $1.15/ea for 25-49 cards.

Acorn Designs offers many beautiful wintry designs, including regional 
scenes, and they're blank inside so you can personalize your message. They 
also include inspirational and informative texts on the back. You can even 
arrange to pick them up at their booth at the Ithaca Farmers' Market.

Happy Holidays to all who love Mother Earth! - Jan Quarles, Sheldrake, NY

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elan Shapiro" <elansla at ecovillage.ithaca.ny.us>
To: <sustainabletompkins at lists.mutualaid.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 7:27 AM
Subject: [SustainableTompkins] Tips for Greener Holiday

> The Green Challenge guide to the holidays
> By Meaghan O'Neill and treehugger.com
> Updated Monday, Nov. 27, 2006, at 10:54 AM ET
>
> Ah, the holidays-season of tinsel and trash. With all the parties and
> presents, Americans, on average, increase their garbage by 25 percent
> from Thanksgiving to New Year's, according to the Environmental
> Protection Agency. That comes to a total of more than 25 million
> tons. From manufacturing, boxing, and wrapping presents, to carting
> them to store shelves and doors, lighting up our houses, and
> traveling elsewhere, this is a time of CO2 hangovers, as well as the
> food and drink kind.
>
> So, what's a carbon-conscious consumer to do? The simplest way to
> stay on your carbon diet is to consume less than you have in previous
> years. But that doesn't mean you have to be Scrooge. (After all, you
> certainly don't want to end up with
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/weather_makers.php>coal in
> your stocking when
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/01/willie_nelsons_1.php>biofuel
> is the new carbon-savvy you.) Just don't binge.
>
> As a general rule, it's hard to say whether it's better to shop
> online or off. There's the gas it takes to get products and you to
> the mall versus the fuel and extra packaging it takes to ship goods
> to you or the person you're giving them to. And then there's time and
> convenience, always at a premium. It's a lot to balance. To that end,
> some holiday pointers:
>
> * When shopping online or by mail order, consolidate your orders into
> as few shipments as possible.
>
> * Consider the benefits of buying locally made goods, which aren't
> transported over long distances to get to you. Or could you buy
> antiques as presents? They're all about recycling and reuse.
>
> * Consider also gifts such as tickets to a play or concert, a museum
> membership, or art classes. They don't come with boxes and wrapping
> (and won't get shoved on the back of a shelf). Check out TreeHugger's
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/holiday_gift_gu_3.php>roundup
> of holiday gift certificates.
>
> * Could you reduce the number of holiday shopping trips you make, to
> save on gas? Could you bring reusable shopping bags? Most paper bags
> are made from virgin paper. Plastic ones are less CO2 intensive to
> make, but they're still made with petroleum and take hundreds of
> years to decompose in the landfill.
>
> * If you're sending gifts by mail, choose small, light packages,
> which take up less space and fuel than big, heavy ones.
>
> * If you're buying gifts for kids, toys made from natural materials
> such as wood and organic cotton are better for your CO2 count than
> stuff made from plastic, which is derived from fossil fuels.
>
> * Wrapping paper-usually made from virgin materials-is a large part
> of the holiday-waste stream. And if it's shiny or sparkly, it can't
> even be recycled. If every household wrapped three gifts in recycled
> materials (reused
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/mapwrap_repurpo.php>maps or
> cloth make great trimmings), we'd save reams and reams of paper.
> (Here's <http://www.cygnus-group.com/use-less-stuff/>one
> calculation.) Other alternatives include buying gift-wrap made from
> recycled paper or
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/hemp_gift_wrap.php>hemp and
> flax. While you're at it, try
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/08/biodegradable_c_1.php>Sellotape,
> which is made from biodegradable plant cellulose.
>
> * Every year, 2.65 billion holiday cards are sold in the United
> States. If you're buying, choose cards made from recycled paper and
> avoid the shiny can't-recycle kind. Even better is to send e-cards.
> And recycle the nonshiny cards you receive.
>
> * A deluge of catalogs has probably already descended upon your
> mailbox. It takes 14 million trees to produce the mail-order books we
> receive annually. And along with direct mailings, catalogs account
> for more than 4 million tons of CO2-emitting landfill mass.
> <http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/newdream/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5078&t=default.dwt>Encourage
> the catalogs you like to use recycled paper and get off the mailing
> lists of those you don't want.
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/greendimes_more.php>Read
> this to find out how.
>
> *
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2004/12/how_to_pick_a_g.php>Christmas
> trees are a topic of much environmentalist debate. Fake trees are
> reusable but are made from petroleum-derived sources and often
> shipped from abroad. Real trees, for their part, are typically
> sprayed with lots of pesticides. And
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/christmas_trees.php>new
> research shows that pine-tree farms capture less CO2 than the
> hardwood species they're displacing in some parts of the country.
> <http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/organic_christmas_trees.htm>Organic
> Christmas trees are tough to come by. Plus, of the 33 million real
> Christmas trees sold in North America every year, many end up in a
> landfill, emitting carbon dioxide as they rot. If you opt for a real
> tree, be sure to bring it to a <http://www.earth911.org/>local
> recycling center, where it can be chipped for mulch or used whole to
> stabilize wetlands. A better choice may be to purchase a live,
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/11/potted_christma.php>potted
> tree, which can be
> <http://www.sheridannurseries.com/GardenSite/subGARDENTIP43mainframe.htm>planted
> outside after the holidays. Evergreen varieties such as pine, spruce,
> and fir work well in many regions.
>
> * Replace conventional incandescent holiday string lights with their
> light-emitting diode counterparts. These
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/11/inexpensive_led.php>energy-efficient
> strings use up to 95 percent less electricity, last up to 10 times
> longer, and are safer since they produce very little heat. LED lights
> are more expensive, but you'll shave a few dollars off your
> electricity bill and pounds off your carbon weight. And unlike
> conventional light strings, if one bulb goes bad on an LED string,
> the rest will still work. No matter what type of lights you use,
> limit yourself to keeping them on for four or five hours a day, and
> turn them off at night.
>
> * Skip the tinsel and other decorations made from
> fossil-fuel-intensive plastics.
>
> * If you're decorating with candles, choose the ones made from
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/bluewick_soy_ca_1.php>soy
> wax or
> <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/treehugger_holi_2.php>beeswax.
> Both are renewable resources, as opposed to regular paraffin candles,
> which are made from petroleum.
>
> * For holiday parties, rent real plates, glasses, and silverware (or
> use your own) instead of using the disposable kind.
>
> * Consider staying close to home rather than blowing your CO2 budget
> on high-emissions travel to faraway places.
>
> (Click
> <javascript:void(window.open('http://www.slate.com/features/greenchallenge/login.aspx?quiz=holidays','_blank','width=875,
> height=700, left=, top=,
> resizable=yes,status=yes,scrollbars=yes,'));>here to take this week's
> action quiz.)
> -- 
> Elan Shapiro
> Sustainable Tompkins Program Co-Chair
> Sustainable Living Associates, Principal
> Frog's Way B&B
> 211 Rachel Carson Way
> Ithaca, NY 14850
> 607-275-0249
>
> "We must be the change we want to see in the world"
>           Mohandas Gandhi
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