However, this one can be done better than the other three gifts, with a bit of forethought. Environmental News Network posted a great OpEd piece about what should be considered in a new ‘green’ infrastructure built.

1.) Reduce funding of sprawl-inducing bypasses, new highways through rural land, and other highway projects that reinforce automobile-based development
2.) Support bicycle pathways and bicycle lanes on roadways to make bicycle commuting and bicycle travel more viable. Bicycle access should be considered with all roadway projects.
3.) Provide incentives that influence driving behavior, including greater use of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on highways, congestion pricing, downtown access tolls, employee-provided transit passes, and elimination of employee parking subsidies.
4.) Create wildlife passages across roadways. Wildlife underpasses and overpasses can reduce roadkill as well as habitat fragmentation.

There are more, so please check out the original article.

However, this is also the time when the rubber has hit the road and the rest of the world wants to see how we are really going to act. It was easy for this country to go green as fuel prices rose, but what happens when the economy is suffering and oil prices have gone down?

The Guardian UK posted an interesting article that is a sort of “year in review” about climate change. One thing that stood out about this year is increase in malnutrition due to food shortages.

The problem, said the analysts, was a mix of climate change and extreme weather leading to poor harvests in major grain-growing countries such as Australia. But the blame was also laid on the many millions of acres of maize, wheat and other crops planted in the US and elsewhere in 2007 to provide biofuels for cars rather than food for people. Catastrophe loomed, said the UN.

Climate change is disproportionately hard on the poor: water shortages, weather extremes, lack of food make it hard for the lower classes to adapt to their conditions. And the article illustrates how poorer nations have reacted to the food crisis and the affect on poorer communities.

So here we are. The brink of major change is upon us to save the world. This author has fears:

Whether the world weans itself off oil and fossil fuels will probably determine global sustainability over the next 20 years. Low oil prices traditionally push energy efficiency off the policy agenda. Economic recessions have punctured green economic bubbles in the past. When times are tight, the wisdom goes, no one invests in new or risky technologies, and countries stick to cheap and dirty energy.

The article is a good read and you can find it HERE.

The Green House: The recession is the best thing that could have happened to Barack Obama.

The feeling amongst many is that Obama believes that the “green” movement and setting the economy back on track go hand in hand. By tackling things like the infrastructure and energy, there is a double benefit of saving money due to efficiency, while also creating “green jobs” and getting people employed, again.

Newly Nobel-ed economist Paul Krugman has taken the lead in arguing that “the usual rules of economic policy no longer apply.” Normally, if you wanted to retrofit a building or weatherize a home, you’d have to get the money from somewhere. The usual way is to increase revenues or reduce spending. No longer. With the economy in freefall and interest rates as low as they can go, the only hope for recovery is to spend—and to err on the side of spending too much.

The best part: Even though we have to borrow money, eventually the government can pay itself back by printing more. Yes, that would devalue the currency and therefore would not be, to use a technical economic term, free. But the way Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research sees it, we have to spend the money now, anyway, to stimulate the economy: “It’s like what Keynes said: Even if we pay people to dig holes and fill them up again, it’s still good.” And if we’re going to spend, we might as well spend on something that’s going to save us—both economically and environmentally—in the long term.

The argument against all of this… spending more and deflating the value of the dollar may lead the way to the Amero and there is always the backlash of a growing economy hurting the green movement.

You can read the article from Slate Magazine, HERE

ECOUSABLE

I went to the EcoGift Festival this weekend and happened upon this booth. First off, really great group of people behind this product; knowledgeable, friendly, and very passionate about what they do. I found this bottle unique for a handful of reasons. They are made with stainless steel, they are made locally (to Los Angeles, anyway), and they have a great twist off top. But the COOLEST part of this bottle is the brand new filtration system that is coming out very soon.

Built into the top, is a filter that purifies 65 components out of the water. This means that you can fill your bottle with tap water, and not have to worry about anything. I know that many people lean towards bottled water because they fear contaminants. This is a product that allows you to feel confident in a move away from plastic, because it handles the purification for you.

I think that everyone needs a reusable water bottle. Not only does it help the environment, but it helps you and your health. I know that this product is on my stocking stuffer list for a handful of people, and I hope that it gets onto yours.

The filtration product, I think, comes out this week. Either way, you should get a bottle. You can get more information from their website, HERE.

Coral Reef Loss Suggests Global Extinction Event

The latest global coral reef assessment estimates that 19 percent of the world’s coral reefs are dead. Their major threats include warming sea-surface temperatures and expanding seawater acidification.

Zooxanthellae, the tiny organisms that give coral reefs their vibrant colors, are emigrating from their hosts in massive numbers as oceans heat up, killing themselves and the coral they leave behind – a process known as coral bleaching.

The demise of coral reefs, however, affects the entire ocean ecosystem – a quarter of all marine fish species reside in the reefs, according to The Nature Conservancy. In addition, IUCN estimates that 500 million people depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods.

Obama’s Global Warming Challenge: It’s A Ticking Time Bomb

“We’re out of time,” Stanford University biologist Terry Root said. “Things are going extinct.”

Complicating everything is the worldwide financial meltdown. Frank Maisano, a Washington energy specialist and spokesman who represents coal-fired utilities and refineries, sees the poor economy as “a huge factor” that could stop everything. That’s because global warming efforts are aimed at restricting coal power, which is cheap. That would likely mean higher utility bills and more damage to ailing economies that depend on coal production, he said.

CLIMATE CHANGE: “Things Happen Much Faster in the Arctic”

In just a few summers from now, the Arctic Ocean will lose its protective cover of ice for the first time in a million years, according to some experts attending the International Arctic Change conference here.

Such a “dramatic and serious loss of sea ice will affect everyone on the planet,” Barber told IPS.

The Christmas Tree tradition started in Germany. Because of its shape, it was a symbol of the holy trinity; father, son, holy ghost. It became revered as God’s Tree. The tradition became fashionable after Queen Victoria, in 1846, took a photo with her family by a decorated tree. From that point on, the decorations of the tree became more important than the symbol of the tree, itself.

It is a shame that these trees are raised to be killed for folly. Many of them are filled with pesticides. And, in killing them, the ecosystems, even in Christmas tree farms, that have formed around them are destroyed.

This year, at least in California, it would be great to consider this:

THE LIVING CHRISTMAS COMPANY

It’s simple! You select the type and size of tree you’d like to adopt and we deliver it to your home for Christmas. The price includes delivery to your door before Christmas and pick up after. We will also hold a small deposit that will be refunded once your tree is safely returned.

You can keep your beautiful Living Christmas Tree for three weeks or so, after which, it becomes unhealthy for the tree to remain inside. You’ll need to select drop-off and pick-up times for your location, based on your availability and the good health of the tree. Even though you’ll still have to say goodbye to your tree, know that, instead of going out with the trash, it will be returned to the North Pole, so it can continue growing until next Christmas.

By renting your tree, it stays alive. It is returned at the end of the season and the company maintains it for the following year, when you can rent a tree again. I think this is GREAT. Prices, at this time, are a little higher than purchasing a dead tree. They are trying to make it as economical as possible. With growth and popularity, it will be!

If it isn’t too late, I would hope you all consider renting a tree this year.

It’s not just closure. Closure implies being closed for business. Due to lack of donations to keep the sanctuary running, and lack of food, in part because of the political climate of the country… the animals are starving. There is not enough food.

The wildlife orphanage, which has been featured in several documentaries promoting tourism in Zimbabwe, relies on donations to provide sanctuary to the 300 animals from different species that have been orphaned, abandoned, injured, born in captivity or brought up unsuccessfully as pets.

Chipangali is home to lions, leopards, baboons, snakes, owls, and crocodiles, among other animal species.

you can go to PlanetSave to get more information.

BUY A USED BOOK

I know that you may think I have lost my noggin’, today. But, I want you to consider for a second the amount of paper (therefore trees) used to make books. Many of which are really not even being read.

I want you to consider the idea of a rare, vintage book.

If you have someone in your life that values books… and, I mean everything about them; the smell, the touch, the language, the stories. If someone you know has a true love affair with books and reading, buy then a book of value. A book that can be cherished. A book from a hundred years ago, or a first edition of something more recent.

You can find a rare bookstore in almost every city in the country. I happen to live in Los Angeles, so I am going to suggest my favorite place: BOOK ALLEY

Book Alley is a great used bookstore in Pasadena. They have contemporary titles of all genres. However, I recently discovered their rare book section. I found a book in there from the 1800′s! And, most of the books have touching and remarkable inscriptions. This is an economic way to give someone a gift, create a sustainable home, and honor the written word and our past. This is also a gift that can, if chosen wisely, can increase in value. Can you say that about the Gap t-shirt you were thinking of getting Aunt Betty Sue?

Another benefit: buying local. By purchasing items from a locally owned business you are supporting our economy. For every $100 spent locally, $68 of that will stay in the community, compared to only $43 if you spend at a national chain. You have helped create and support local jobs, you conserved your tax dollars, you nurtured your community AND… you help the environment.

So, consider getting something that is unique, valuable, treasured, and saves the community and the environment. I mean really… doesn’t everything else just seem to pale in comparison, now?

Happy Holidays!

TREE PEOPLE

Well, all these trees are gone to make your Holiday cards and junk mail. So give the gift of a tree. Gifts start at $25 and increase from there. This is from their website:

Contributions made to the Gift of Life program provide funds to support TreePeople’s restoration efforts. This includes both planting and caring for trees, fostering a healthy natural environment surrounding Los Angeles. Due to the nature of our work, we do not have tags or plaques on each of the trees. Specific trees are not designated to specific dedications.

You can go to their website and make your purchase on line. Although, you can send to anyone you want, all around the country, trees will only be planted in Los Angeles. I’m sure with simple research you can find someone local to your area, if not in California. Or, contact TreePeople to see if they have partner organizations.

Go HERE for their donation page.

HOLIDAY CARDS

There are so many traditions, that while sweet and generous, are a big waste of the Earth. Holiday cards are one such thing. People, whom you haven’t talked to in years, feel obligated to send you a card wishing you and your family well over the holiday season.

I guess I have never been one to understand the tradition, although I think the sentiment comes from a heart felt place. However, the waste of trees in order to produce such influx of mail is astonishing.

Americans, on average, purchase 7 billion holiday cards each year. That is an astonishing amount of virgin paper used for a simple greeting. On top of that, there are other environmentally damaging manufacturing practices used to make paper greeting cards, such as toxic printer inks and fixing agents. We must also consider the additional weight of the mail. Yes, your carrier is coming to your house anyway. But the sheer weight of all the greeting cards mailed annually adds to the fuel-consumption requirements associated with shipping them by 18-wheeler, plane, and mail truck. And then there is the fact that sooner or later, our greeting cards end up in a land fill. Even if they go to a recycling bin, there are some costs with transportation and conversion of the old cards into something reusable again.

So… what to do? If you absolutely MUST send something, please choose recycled greeting cards. They can be found in most places. Here are some online resources:

My Good Greetings
kidbean
Cards Direct

What would be my FAVORITE solution? Give an eCard!! You can get these from many greeting card websites… you know the ones… a simple google search will direct you accordingly.

Or, you can make them even more personal, by spending the same, if not less, amount of money having them designed by an artist. My friend Ruth Ann designs amazing web based holiday cards. I am sure she can create them according to whatever theme you would want. Another benefit, is you are not limited with what you want to say. You don’t have to restrict to whom you send based on mail cost or card cost. And, best of all, you are not hurting the environment.

Here is Ruth Ann’s website: http://ruthannanderson.com/

However, I am sure with some simple searches you can find other people, as well.

Consider all the ways you can be green this holiday season… Happy Holidays!