Greening Christmas . . .

After opening all those Christmas presents, you can reduce the amount of garbage you create by recycling wrapping paper, boxes and old electronics. Check out this website for 15 Things You Can Easily Recycle After Christmas:  http://blog.biggreenpurse.com/biggreenpurse/2011/12/avoid-post-christmas-clutter-15-things-you-can-easily-recycle-after-christmas.html

Christmas Gift Ideas

Why not buy more sustainable gifts when shopping for Christmas gifts this year? Look for quality products made in the USA (less shipping resources consumed, more local jobs supported) that last and have minimal/recycled packaging. Check out the daily green website for some great gift ideas: http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/green-gifts

Light Up Your Christmas and Save . . .

For those who still have incandescent Christmas lights at home, LED holiday lights are brighter, last up to 100 times longer and use up to 90% less energy. LED holiday lights are cool to the touch making them less of a fire hazard and safer for you and your family.

2011 LED LIGHTING EXCHANGE SCHEDULE: Friday, December 2, 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm and Saturday, December 3, Noon to 10:00 pm during December Nights in Balboa Parkin front of the Prado Restaurant. Please bring a valid California ID or a copy of your recent SDG&E® bill to exchange up to 3 incandescent strings for led strings.

"Small Business Saturday"

"Small Business Saturday" (November 26, 2011) is about pledging to shop locally to support local, small businesses instead of shopping online or at large box stores. This doesn't have to be just at Christmas time and it helps the environment best when you are buying services or goods that are local not made in China and shipped thousands of miles to get to you. A bonus is that it helps create/keep jobs in the US.

Story of Broke

Our country can do better for the environment and our economy. This new video from Annie Leonard about our government and our environment is worth a look.

http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-broke/

It is almost that time of year again. Try having Apopt-A-Christmas-Tree deliver your tree this year. They have special pricing for early orders. You can keep it and plant it after Christmas or have it picked up and delivered to reforest areas affected by wildfires. www.adoptachristmastree.com

Fair Halloween

Since Halloween is during fair trade month, why not give fair trade chocolate to trick or treaters. You can get fair trade Divine chocolate at the book store or order smaller treats here: http://sweetearthchocolates.com/level.itml/icOid/242

Clean up the beach!!!

Join your fellow Californians on CA Coastal Cleanup Day at Tourmaline Beach (or many other sites around San Diego), September 17 from 9am until noon. http://cleanupday.org/cleanupsites.htm?id=C&id2=109

buy local and fresh

Buying your fruits and vegetables (and nuts and honey, etc.) from your local farmer's market is a great way to get healthy food, support family farms and the local economy (many fruits and veggies, even organic ones, come from other countries or thousands of miles away). Tuesdays: 2-6:30 pm on Bayard St from Garnet ave to Hornblend St
http://www.sdfarmbureau.org/BuyLocal/Farmers-Markets.php

paper-less

To stop receiving unwanted catalogs that use a lot of paper, go to http://www.catalogchoice.org/. They cancel catalogs for you. You can also call the catalogs directly.

back-to-school SHOPPING

When shopping for back-to-school products (or anything else, for that matter). Stay away from vinyl (PVC) in your products. This #3 plastic (PVC) is called the "poison plastic" by the Center for Health, Justice and the Environment.

In addition to negative environmental effects, plasticisers used in PVC can leach out into the air over time. One of them--DHEP--is a suspected carcinogen.

Clean Water

The ELCA website has some great resources for "Our Faith In Action". Here is a link for information about the issue of clean water and how you can be an advocate for clean water. Clean Water for Our Communities - click here

living in the dark???

Here are 5 ways to save money and the environment this summer: close the shades, upgrade to an energy star air conditioner or rely on passive cooling, shade your air conditioner, line dry your laundry and get an energy audit.

Sandwich bag alternatives

For those picnics at the beach or your lunch at school or work, there is an alternative to ziploc sandwich bags. Try Fresh Pak's velcro closure, insulated sandwich bags made from 50% recylced material. http://www.blueavocado.com/products/fresh_pak-48-6.html

Medals and Ribbons

For those who have medals for running marathons, half marathons and triathlons and aren't interested in keeping them, you can donate them instead of throwing them away. Medals4Mettle awards these medals attached to a Medals4Mettle ribbon to children and adults fighting debilitating illnesses. http://www.medals4mettle.org/

mmmmmm - Ice Cream

How about enjoying some fun summer treats that are more earth friendly than most "treats". Some of the ice cream ingredients are Fair trade, organic or non-GMO (genetically modified organisms). Two brands, So Delicious and Ben and Jerry's, are even fairly common in stores. http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201107/enjoy-icecream.aspx

Morning after the Mess

This year's "Morning After Mess" cleanup is Tuesday, July 5, 2011, 8AM to 11AM at Belmont Park. Last year, about 1,000 volunteers collected more than 8,000 pounds of trash.

Clean up and Surf!

International Surfing Day is June 20. A good excuse to go surfing and do a little beach cleanup. There is also a Beach cleanup on June 25th in Pacific Beach - Crystal Pier at the end of Garnet Ave. Meet at the grassy area on the north side of the pier at the end of Garnet Ave. You can help keep our beaches and oceans clean.

Riding the Train

A great way to skip traffic on I-5 if you are headed to Orange County or LA is to take the Pacific Surfliner. Great views of the coast and if you are headed to Disneyland or an Angels baseball game the train stops right at the Angels stadium (less than two miles from Disneyland).

Block the Sun (in a good way)

When possible, choose sunscreens that physically block the sun (using minerals such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide) in preference to chemical absorbers, which can have effects on the environment and possibly on your body. These aren't as common, but are available at places like Whole Foods, Jimbo's and Henry's.
Also check out
the daily green for more information on sunscreens

And an interesting video that might make you think differently about why to use sunscreen
. . . dear 16-year-old me

Yum - Fruit!

In 2010, the twelve fruits and vegetables that had the highest pesticide levels—even after peeling and washing included celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, kale, cherries, potatoes, and imported grapes. Buying organic versions of this produce is safer for you and the environment.

recycle/re-purpose your flipflops!!! - and then get some new ones.

From April 22nd to May 21st Old Navy Stores within the continental US will collect used, dirty and broken flip-flops. Each store will have a box located near the entrance where you can drop off your flip-flops. TerraCycle will repurpose the flip-flops into playgrounds that Old Navy will give away to a few lucky schools or community organizations.

Enjoy some fresh air - Bike to Work

San Diego Regional Bike to Work Day is Friday, May 20, 2011. Here is a link if you would like to register or check out the location the 75 pit stops planned for this year. http://www.icommutesd.com/Events/BikeToWorkDay.aspx

Celebrate Earth Day

Sunday, April 17th at Balboa Park is the largest Earth Day environmental fair in the world (as far as we know)! Come join the fun and find out ways to help protect and preserve the world we live in. (http://earthdayweb.org/EarthFair.html)

A life without plasic

There is growing evidence that plastic is not only bad for our planet, it is bad for our health as well. Why not try giving up plastic on a trial basis for the rest of Lent for a start (or at least reducing your use of plastic). check out this website
learning to live without plastics

Water less

In honor of World Water Day (which was on March 22nd): You can support companies that are trying to reduce their water footprint when you need to buy new clothes. Levi's WaterLess™ jeans reduce water usage (normally about 42 liters per pair) by an average of 28% per pair--and up to 96% for some styles. It's a step in the right direction.

Green Bargins

Here is a way to get a good daily coupon emailed to you and to support businesses that focus entirely on green bargains while giving a percentage of sales to designated non profits. Sign up at:Green Box Top

What's hiding under your refridgerator?

Don't wait until you lose something under the fridge to clean under there . . .
A refrigerator with dirty coils works harder, and uses 25 percent more energy compared with a fridge with clean coils. To clean the coils: Disconnect the power; pull the unit away from the wall; remove the grill covering the coils; and use a vacuum cleaner or a bottle brush to clean.

Meatless Mondays

There is a quiet movement of "meatless Mondays" where people around the world are cutting meat out of their diets one day a week for their health and the health of the planet. Plenty of colleges and universities are trying this including UCSD. More information here: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/the-movement-goes-global/

Water Reminder

This may seem obvious, but it is easy to forget. So, remember to turn off your automatic sprinklers when it rains. It saves water, money and reduces runoff.

BEACH CLEAN UP

From 9-11am on Saturday the 26th of February at Tourmaline Beach there is another beach cleanup. With more rain potentially washing trash into the ocean and onto the beach, it is a good time to help clean up your local beach. Remember to bring your own reusable trash bucket if you have one to cut down on trash bags used for the cleanup.

"Green" clothes

While the clothing we buy represents a relatively small portion of our personal environmental impact, there is a $3 billion (and growing) market worldwide for green apparel. Try organic cotton, clothing made from recycled fibers or second hand clothing. For more: http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/

bring back your gadgets

Starting this month (January), you can opt in to Best Buy's "Buy Back Program" when you get a new TV, phone, laptop, or tablet. Any time within two years, you can bring your gadget back in and get a gift card worth as much as 50 percent of its original price. It costs a little upfront, but ensures you get some money back for your "old" electronics and that they get recycled.

The end of Christmas Celebrations

San Diego's 37th Annual Christmas Tree Recycling Program runs from December 26, 2010 through January 23, 2011. The closest drop-off location to Christ Lutheran Church is at Kate Sessions Memorial Park (Soledad Road and Loring Street). For more locations go to: http://www.sandiego.gov/environmental-services/recycling/dropoff.shtml

tie a striing on your finger

Remember to shut off your sprinkler system when it rains. It will save water, money and excessive runoff from ground that may be already saturated.