Green Christmas

Instead of wrapping all your Christmas presents in paper that is probably expensive and may not be recyclable, try to be creative with more environmentally sensitive methods. You can use old comic strips, old maps, reusable cloth or paper bags. There are more ideas here: http://life.gaiam.com/article/top-10-green-gift-wrap-ideas

Green Gift Guide

Still having trouble figuring out what to get people for Christmas? Treehugger.com has a green gift guide for helping you through this gift giving time of year. http://www.treehugger.com/giftguide/?campaign=TH_more_slideshows

Energy in Common

The team at EIC has developed a quick and easy process that allows absolutely anyone to help fight poverty, to help fight climate change, and to help create their own carbon offsets – all from the comfort of their own home or their office or anywhere with internet, actually. http://www.energyincommon.org/

lighting up the world with LED

It is that time of year when SDG&E is again exchanging your old incandescent Christmas lights (up to 3 strands) for new multi-colored LED Christmas lights. Some of the upcoming events are: November 27th in Seaport Village and December 3th and 4th in Balboa Park. www.sdge.com/le ds

AMERICA RECYCLES - and you can too!

Celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15th. It’s easy to find an event for everything from recycling your old electronics at Sony to t-shirts that are recycled and turned into paper at Disney stores for a special discount. Here is a link to events around San Diego: http://earth911.com/america-recycles-day/?zip=92109

Reduce and Re-use and if you must, then Recycle.

Keeping your Fridge Alive!

Save energy by keeping your refrigerator full, but there should still be enough empty space around your items for the air to circulate efficiently. The freezer should be more tightly packed, since your items will help to keep each other cool. If you don't have enough food to fill the space, you can use water filled containers.

Get together to stop Global Warming

On Sunday 10/10/10 people all over the world (187 countries) are gathering in work parties (6391 events) to take action against global warming. To join in, find an event near you at 350.org

Green and the Government

An important green act is voting for propositions and candidates that seek to preserve our environment. For more information on how to vote for the environment on November 2nd check out the California League of Conservation Voters website. http://www.ecovote.org/

Fishy decisions

Whole Foods has recently decided to label their products with the color-coded sustainability ratings of the Blue Ocean Institute or the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is a great step forward, but please avoid the red labeled fish as it is presently caught in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.

Coastal Cleanup Day - coming soon!

Sat Sept 25th is Coastal Cleanup Day from 9am to 12pm! There are over 80 cleanups throughout SD County. The nearest sites to Christ Lutheran Church in PB are Tourmaline Beach and Pacific Beach Drive. See link for more locations: http://www.cleanupday.org/

Coastal Cleanup Day - coming soon!

Sat Sept 25th is Coastal Cleanup Day from 9am to 12pm! There are over 80 cleanups throughout SD County. The nearest sites to church are Tourmaline Beach and Pacific Beach Drive. See link for more locations: http://www.cleanupday.org/

Offset your sending habits

Did you know that for a small per package fee (as little as 5 cents), you can use UPS carbon neutral to easily offset the carbon dioxide emissions generated by the transportation of your shipment. Just select the carbon neutral option before paying when creating shipments online or ask a clerk about it at your local UPS store.

surf , recycle and create concrete

Did you know you can even recycle surfboards? Pacific Beach Surf Shop, Miramar landfill and Solana Beach lifeguard station and Patagonia will accept your old surfboard. Usable boards are donated to LA non-profits and broken boards will be ground up and used in mixing concrete

composting our way to more space

Composting is a great way to reduce what you send to the landfill, but it is important to know what you can put in your compost pile. You may not have known that items like old bread, crackers, cheese, wine corks, egg shells and even hair trimmings can be composted. http://earth911.com/news/2010/08/09/i-didnt-know-that-was-compostable/

FREE ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

There is a free electronics recycling event at Liberty Station (Farragut Rd) in Point Loma for you to dispose of your old electronics responsibly on Saturday, August 7th. http://www.allgreenrecycling.com/upcoming-events/ecycling-event-san-diego/

When Bulk is Good

Buying in bulk can reduce the amount of resources you use when you buy groceries. More and more grocery stores are expanding their bulk sections and if you bring your own reusable bulk food bag you can save even more resources. http://www.simplefamilyliving.com/Food-Bags-c276/

Commuting

Save Money and the Environment. Commuting takes a real toll: on your car, on your health, and on the environment. Sharing a ride to work in a carpool or vanpool can be a great way to save – even if you only do it one day a week. http://www.icommutesd.com/Commuters/RideMatcher.aspx and as an added bonus you get to know someone else a little better.

Creation Stewardship and Advocacy

If you would like to learn more about how you can be more involved in "Creation Stewardship and Advocacy", there is a one day workshop at Camp Stevens in Julian on May 15th. This event is being created by an interfaith environmental community here in San Diego. Talk to Erin or Tim Martinson if you would like more information.

FREE ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

Recycle San Diego is hosting a FREE electronics recycling event Saturday, April 10th from 10am to 2pm which is open for consumers. Bring any amount of accepted eWaste to have it recycled for free at: Recycle San Diego Parking Lot, 8222 Ronson Road, San Diego, CA 92111. http://www.recyclesandiego.org/e-waste_events.htm

Turnin old into new

An interesting way to reuse: Turn Your Old Sweaters Into Brand New Items.
Send an old sweater to Reknit (http://www.rekn.it/) and they’ll unravel it and use the materials to create a new item of clothing (gloves, a hat, a scarf, etc.). Reknit creates a different piece of clothing each month. Or, if you can knit, try it yourself.

Water Issues - Fiim on March 22

If you would like to learn more about water isues join Surfrider for a free showing of "The Cycle of Insanity - The Real Story of Water" film on Monday March 22nd at The Loft @ UCSD. Please RSVP to water@surfridersd.org

advocacy networking

Sign up for the ELCA e-Advocacy Network! E-Advocacy empowers ELCA members to advocate for peace, justice, and care of creation. You'll receive timely updates from the ELCA on a wide variety of issues, including hunger, poverty, and the environment.
http://ga6.org/elca_advocacy/join.html?r=Jp3LhqSqHw9jE

Takin' Out the Trash

A good way to motivate yourself to reduce the amount of trash you generate is to do a "Trash Audit". Here is a link to an article about someone who did one and wrote about how to do one yourself: http://earth911.com/news/2010/02/15/true-life-trash-audit/

Valentine's Gifts

If you are still looking for a gift for Valentine's Day, stop by Open Door Books (Pacific Beach in San Diego) to get some fair trade chocolate or coffee. You can also find Marcy Sweets (a local, organic, fair trade chocolate company) at Whole Foods or Jimbo's Naturally stores.

Outdoor Water Use

During the "rainy" season in San Diego it is a good time to consider all the different ways that we use (or overuse) water in our landscaping.

To optimize some of your outdoor water use try using the City of San Diego's Landscape Watering Calculator found here: http://apps.sandiego.gov/landcalc/

Saving Water

Two ways we can save water in San Diego. One is to report a water leak, meter leak or pressure problem. The number to call is (619) 515-3525 (good to have in your cell phone). The second way is to turn off your sprinklers when it rains.