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Green Up Your Holidays: Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas and Supplies

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Arizona Realty

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 As I sit here brainstorming about how to "Green Up Your Holidays," I can't help but think of how not eco-friendly the season can be: racing from mall to mall for the perfect gift, creating extravagent home light displays, and of course, the wrapping paper! A.K.A. Green (http://www.akagreen.com/), a green home store in Scottsdale, has come up with some suggestions to help inspire environmental responsibility this holiday season.

  • Try LED Holiday Lights for indoors and out. They're energy-efficient, longer lasting, and sure beat the tangled mess of ancient strings of lights we have crammed in storage!
  • Grow-A-Note holiday cards are 100% recycled, printed with soy ink, and wow, have wildflower seeds embedded in them so you can actually plant these cards!
  • Xeko card games for kids teach children about the environment, endangered species, and exotic locales. They also have stuffed animal charcters made from soysilk.
  • Do something different. Give loved ones an adopted plot of rainforest (about $50 per acre, http://www.nature.org/), or a picture frame made from recycled bike chains (http://www.greenfeet.com/). Just keep the earth in mind!
  • Check out www.tempe-listings.com for local green vendors that can help you green-up your home, your yard, and your life.

Green Presents

Need Ideas for New Year's Resolutions?

  • Paper, not plastic!  Plastic shopping bags are not recyclable in Tempe.  Plus, grocers like Sunflower Market will pay you to reuse paper bags. Or better yet, pick up a cloth shopping bag.
  • Go LED:  Pick up some LED lightbulbs at your next hardware shop stop. They are pretty inexpensive, long-lasting, and energy efficient.
  • Take cold showers... maybe when summer rolls around.
  • Grocery shopping?  Buy local and in season.  Flying exotic produce around the planet uses a lot of fossil fuels, so keep it national, or keep it very local.
  • Bus, bike, walk, carpool, or light-rail around town!  Visit http://www.valleymetro.org/ for fare info, carpool matching services, schedules, and more!

Have a happy holiday season from all of us at The Walsh Team.

Comments(2)

Mary Bowen
Coldwell Banker United, Realtor - The Woodlands, TX
Real Estate At Its Finest!!!
Thanks for the tips and reminders, afterall, green is one of the colors this season.
Dec 18, 2007 04:11 AM
Matthew Ricker
Keller Williams - Portland, OR
Great tips Patrick.  I really like the wilfolwer seeded cards.  Great idea.
Dec 20, 2007 04:56 AM