The true cost of a holiday dinner

Read the full story at GreenBiz.

The holiday dinner has always been an occasion to gather family and friends together to enjoy a delicious feast. However, hosting a holiday dinner can come at a high cost — for the host’s pocket and for the environment.

Trucost analyzed the environmental impacts of 2 kg (4.4 lbs) turkey, 1 kg (2.2 lbs) potatoes and 1 kg sweet corn – the average quantities needed to make holiday dinner for a family of four. We examined the stages from farm to supermarket shelf, looking at the carbon and water footprints, and embedded waste and pollution, for each product. Trucost then calculated the natural capital cost of each of these impacts, applying the social carbon cost and the average cost related to water scarcity in the United States. The percentages on our graphic indicate the contribution each impact makes to the product’s total environmental impact.

 

Shareable’s Top 5 Alternatives to Holiday Shopping

Read the full post at Shareable.

The holidays don’t have to be about shopping. Let that simmer for a minute. It’s possible to coast through the season, spreading cheer and goodwill, expressing gratitude, celebrating abundance, connecting with loved ones near and far, and not get sucked up in the machine of over-consumption. Chances are, you have more stuff than you need, or a skill you can offer as a gift. Or maybe you’d rather make a donation or treat someone to an event. These gifts tend to be far more meaningful and valuable than the random gift-picking that takes place as holiday deadlines approach. Here are five shareable ways to celebrate the season while strengthening community, reusing goods and staying out of the mall.

 

12 Ways to Adopt the Sharing Economy This Holiday!

Read the full story at Shareable.

The sharing economy has spawned hundreds of websites all offering new methods for trading, bartering, renting, teaching, learning, riding, biking — you name it. With Facebook and Twitter you get a headstart on who you’re dealing with beforehand, making it more fun (and less awkward). Many of these sites are benefitting local communities, local commerce and all the while decreasing resource consumption.

This holiday season try out some alternatives to the usual. I guarantee you’ll learn, think and laugh your way into 2013 with a little bit of extra cash in your pocket. Some of these also make great alternatives to traditional gift ideas!

 

How to create less waste during the holidays

Read the full post at Mother Nature Network.

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, household waste increases by more than 25 percent, and this extra trash — mostly food, shopping bags, product packaging and wrapping paper — adds up to an additional 1 million tons of waste a week that’s sent to U.S. landfills, according to the EPA. Luckily, there are many steps you can take that will help you reduce your holiday trash — and even save some cash.

 

4 ways to create a sustainable holiday

Read the full story at Mother Nature Network.

A sustainable holiday season is definitely in reach, and it starts with all the merchandise. Do you really need to buy all that stuff just because it’s on sale? Well, maybe. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an eco-friendly Christmas come Dec. 25. So what would a sustainable holiday look like? Have a look.

 

Thriving with less this holiday season

Read the full story at Great Lakes Echo.

The extremes of America’s culture of excess were on display this past weekend, with the madness of holiday shopping. But do people really need all that stuff?

That’s the question some students at Michigan State University set out to answer.  Earlier this year a group of them at the East Lansing campus decided to live a more minimal and sustainable lifestyle.

They filmed the experience. The film and project, called Thrive With Less, started as a capstone for a documentary course.

 

How Sustainable is Your Valentine’s Day Candy?

Read the full story at GreenBiz.

It’s easy to lose sight of sustainability issues on a day that’s so focused on material expressions of affection, but there are resources that gift-givers can use to measure the impacts of their Valentine’s Day presents — especially one of the most popular: chocolate.

 

Reduce, Reuse, Re-invent: Valentine Eco-Craft

Here’s a neat valentine craft idea from the I.D.E.A. Store (via Chambanamoms.com).

 

Wrapping paper and the recycling bin

Read the full story at Mother Nature Network.

I received a friendly reminder from my local recycling company this week that wrapping paper (even if it is marked as recyclable) does not meet the standards for paper mills and is not accepted at our facility.

I’m glad they’re spreading the word, because I’ve certainly been guilty of this in the past. While I prefer the more reusable gift bag, nothing is as thrilling for children than shredding the wrap on their holiday or birthday presents and uncovering the gift beneath. My family has always accommodated this thrill, knowing we could put the paper on the curb and send the fibers back into the recycling process.

The Internet provides mixed messages about gift wrap. Many sites say that some of it can be recycled, as long as it is not one of the foil types, coated in plastic, and is stripped of all tape and embellishments. According to the Hendricks County, Ind., Waste Management District, “In general, wrapping paper is not recyclable. Often the ink used to produce wrapping paper isn’t simply on the paper’s surface. Many times the paper is ‘beater dyed’ which means the color is actually in the pulp of the paper. The de-inking process used to recycle most other types of paper is not effective at removing ink from paper that has been beater dyed. Many types of wrapping paper are very thin and contain few good quality fibers for recycling. Additionally, wrapping paper is often laminated and/or contains glitter, tape or other additives that cannot be recycled.”

 

A Tree of Books Shines in Poland

ViaAmerican Libraries Global Reach.

Santa Claus is no doubt pleased with the giant Christmas tree at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland, constructed for the holiday season by the staff entirely from books. The tree stands at approximately five feet wide at the base and about eight feet high, and is made of 1,600 mostly hardcover volumes.

UWM librarian Maciek Rynarzewski notes that duplicate and extra copies of books were used in the construction, and all were treated with respect in a manner befitting a librarian: “No glue, no cutting to size.” He also says that the installation, situated in the main lobby, has drawn praise from library patrons and some welcome media attention for the library.

More photographs of the book tree, along with advice for building your own, are available at the Polish-language website pulowerek.pl.