Wrapping up Christmas

Hello, Emma and Rachel here. We hope that you've had fun over the last few weeks making your own decorations and wrapping for a little bit greener Christmas.

In the bagladee household we opted for the LED Christmas lights to cut down on energy wasted. The old lights had packed up so I didn't mind too much throwing them away. I'm also thinking of alternate wrapping ideas and trying to support fellow crafters by buying handmade items.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for following and supporting TLBG. We are so happy that the response from setting up this green blog has been a success. The plan was not to convert the world but just make more people aware that we can do more to make the planet that little bit greener. And you have all been doing your bit by taking part, whether that be your fantastic posts or your great suggestions......we are very grateful!

It just re-iterates what we say, that bloggers/crafters are such wonderful people. The generosity and selflessness is overwhelming at times. And the world is definitely a better place with you all in it.

If you are wondering why we have chosen now to do a thank you post, well let us explain. We have decided that over Christmas and into the New Year we are going to be taking a break from TLBG (I think I have worn Rachel out a little, Emma). There are lots of things going on in both of our lives for the next few weeks and would like to come back in the new year with some fresh ideas and topics (we're going to swat up in the holidays).

We would like to say, however, if you do have any topics/links/ideas please post at the bottom here. We will still be reading and responding to comments. And don't forget to keep all that wrapping paper, cards and even your tree as we will be covering Christmas Recycle when we come back.

So I think all that's left to say is HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR...we will see you all in 2010.

Hugs to you all,
Emma & Rachel xxx

Countdown to a greener Christmas - Wrapping

So, let's kick off this week with a couple of facts about Christmas wrapping:-

According to the book "A Greener Christmas", the US alone produces an extra 5 million tons of garbage over the Christmas period, most of which is wrapping paper, packaging and cards, which could all be recycled.

It has been estimated that if every American family wrapped just three presents in reused or repurposed materials, it could save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. That is an absolutely astonishing figure! And just think how much more it would be if every gift, all over the world was wrapped in an eco-friendly way.

So, what can we do to help? Here are some ideas:-

1. Re-usable. I read on a blog ages ago that someone had a set of Christmas boxes that were used year after year, that were part of that family's Christmas tradition. I love this idea! You can of course buy lovely gift bags & boxes, and I think cake tins (or indeed any size tin) would work equally well. But how about making your own? Shoe boxes are perfect to be recovered or decorated and re-used as gift boxes.

Then, of course, there is fabric. The Japanese tradition of Furoshiki is a beautiful idea - simply a square piece of cloth that can easily be tied - and you can find tutorials for how to fold and tie them all over the internet (check out www.thegreengivingco.com). There are various sites where you can buy wrapping cloths but it is just as easy to make your own - in fact, there's hardly any "making" involved at all! It's just a square of fabric which you can hem the edges, or leave raw if you prefer. And, once again, these cloths can be re-used time and time again. Alternatively, you could buy or make a drawstring fabric bag for wrapping awkwardly shaped gifts.

2. Re-purposed. There are so many things that could be re-purposed as gift wrappings. I've already mentioned shoe boxes but how about maps, newspaper, comic or magazine pages - these can look quite stunning when tied with pretty ribbons (again, reusable!). How about wrapping your gift in a pretty tea-towel (which could also form part of the gift) or a mens shirt front?

3. Recycled. When I was a child my mum used to save all the wrapping paper to use again the following year (we had to be very careful unwrapping things!) It's not quite so fun as rippping the paper off but if you do have any large pieces left over it is definitely worth saving them. Also, good old brown packing paper - if you make sure you buy the recycled variety - works very well. If you want it to look a bit more special, why not decorate it with some Christmassy stamps?

4. If all else fails, make sure your wrapping is recyclable so that you can put it in your recycling bin after Christmas. Try to buy wrapping paper with a matt finish and no special effects (glitter, metalic finishes etc) as these make the paper un-recyclable (those kinds of of "luxury" paper also probably cost more and require more resources to produce). Try and use a minimum of sticky tape and remove any pieces of tape before you recycle. You could even use no tape at all, if you tie your package up carefully with pretty string or ribbon.



From "A Greener Christmas" - gifts wrapped in teatowel, corrugated cardboard, newspaper pages and tissue paper,


and on this page, gifts wrapped in a map, brown packing paper, fabric and a shirt front.


Japanese Furoshiki - picture from "Sewing Green" by Betz White


A shoebox covered in brown paper and decorated with stamped snowflakes


More brown paper decorated with stamps


Collection of Christmas ribbons - all of which can be reused next year!

I hope that gives you some good ideas. Happy Wrapping!

Rachel & Emma xx

Coundown to a greener Christmas - Decorations!

So, this week we're talking decorations, and what better excuse for a bit of crafting?! There is a huge amount of inspiration out there - on the internet and in books and magazines. Here are just a few ideas:-


Fabric wreath from Home Sweet Sewn by Alice Butcher & Ginny Farquhar


Felt and fabric decorations from A Greener Christmas by Shererazade Goldsmith


Simple, natural wreath idea from Country Living magazine


Festive garland from Green Parent magazine


Vanilla heart biscuits from Ideal Home Complete Guide to Christmas


Paper decorations (above and below) again, from Ideal Home Complete Guide to Christmas



I do love these paper decorations, but they would, of course, be much greener if you used recycled or repurposed papers - I'm thinking old magazines, maps, pages from thrifted books etc.

On the internet, here are just some of the links I've found for some fabulous tutorials:-

Edit: The link for this first one didn't seem to be working - it took me to a real estate site! - but there are some great ideas there so here's the actual address:

www.livingcreatively.com.au/projects/create_now.php?category_id=16

Domestic Diva

Sew Mama Sew

The Long Thread

For advent calender ideas:

30 Handmade Days

Inchmark

And for kids crafts:

The Crafty Crow

I haven't gotten round to making any decorations just yet, but I certainly plan to, and will come back and post pics once I do.

Finally, a word about lights. Everyone loves Christmas fairy lights, they make everything look so magical, but did you know that conventional fairy lights waste 90 per cent of the energy they use as heat? - only 10 percent is turned into light. According to A Greener Christmas, "if you leave a set of conventional Christmas tree lights on in your home for ten hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas, you'll produce enough carbon dioxide to inflate 64 party balloons." If you need to buy new lights, choose LED lights, as they use 80 percent less energy, last longer and stay cooler than traditional bulbs. I am certainly going to make sure that our fairy lights are not left on all the time this year.

So, I hope this has given you some inspiration and that you'll all have fun making lots of different decorations. Please do drop us a line and let us know if you post on your blogs.

'Til next time, take care!

Rachel x

In the Spotlight - The Story of Stuff

Just a quick post today, as I think this one can really speak for itself. If you haven't watched this 20 minute web-movie already, then please do - it's a real eye-opener. I first saw it probably some time last year, and I believe it has such an important message, especially at this time of the year when we're all gearing up for Christmas shopping. It'll make you look at all those cheap goods that you thought were such a bargain in a whole new light. And get your kids to watch it too - younger children probably wouldn't be interested but I would think a 10 year old could understand it all ok.

You can watch the movie here - www.storyofstuff.com/international/


Next week we'll be continuing our Countdown to a Greener Christmas with the subject of decorations so if you have any handmade ornaments or tutorials to share please do let us know.

Take care
Rachel x

Countdown to a greener Christmas - Gifts

Now that it is November I don't feel so bad about talking about Christmas!! As you know, we are starting our countdown to a greener Christmas with the topic of gifts. So how am I going to be greener with my gift giving? Well, I think that, as a family, we are fairly restrained about our gifts anyway. We don't have a lot of money so our Christmas budget is pretty modest. Several years ago we all agreed with friends and family to only buy presents for each others children and only on their birthdays, not at Christmas (with the exception of our parents). I think at one point I was buying gifts for about 14 children, it was just getting a bit silly, and my kids were getting tons of stuff that they really didn't need (and that we didn't have room for anyway!) Now though, with their birthdays spread out over the year I can take more care over their birthday gifts, and at Christmas I can devote all my attention to my own children. As much as I would like to be able to say that all my gifts will be handmade - I just can't. With 7 & 12 year old boys, it's probably going to be a mixture of computer games and lego! We still don't spend a huge amount on them and I try to make sure that everything I do buy is something that they really will appreciate and use - not the latest must-have toy that they will get bored of after 5minutes.

For our parents though, we do give "greener" gifts. For the last few years we have made our own hampers for them. I love this idea, as you can tailor it exactly to the person you are giving to, so we included things like, luxury hot chocolate, biscuits, speciality teas, pots of jam - things that we knew they would like and would use. I would either buy a basket to put the items in or decorate a box - either of which could be kept and reused. This year I am knitting - scarves for our mums and socks for our dads (if I can manage to knit fast enough, that is!) plus they will get the latest school photos of the boys.

I think that the most important thing is to just be more mindful of what you give. People really don't "need" so much stuff. Giving something that has had real thought put into it is so much nicer than just spending money. Making or buying handmade items is a wonderful idea and, as we all know, the internet is a fabulous resource for this - tutorials for making just about anything, and places like Etsy or Folksy if you want to buy something unique.

So, what sort of gifts will you be giving this year?

Rachel x

It's coming....

Even though it is still October, (just), you cannot fail to have noticed that Christmas is everywhere - in the shops, in magazines, on the tv and also in blogland too. Everyone is starting to think about the festive season. I recently bought this book, "A Greener Christmas", and it has really encouraged me to try even harder to make our Christmas this year that little bit greener. Some of the facts in the book are quite shocking - for instance, in the intro, it reads:-

"Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are now widely recognized as the two most polluting days of the year: the equivalent of three weeks of carbon dioxide emissions and three billion tons of extra garbage are generated worldwide over this short period. Much of the extra trash collected contains discarded gifts, most of which will end up in landfill sites. Container ships are also now carrying record volumes of cheap Christmas consumer goods from china - all of which are expected to have a life span of less than four months."

So, next week we shall be starting our Countdown to a Greener Christmas and we really hope you'll join in too. We're going to start with gifts. Obviously, we're not asking you to blog about specific gifts you'll be giving - we don't want to spoil any surprises! - but rather, do you have a "policy" when it comes to gift giving? Are you making any of your own gifts or do you make a point of buying only handmade or eco-friendly gifts? Do you have any arrangements with family & friends about the type of gifts you give each other? Are there people in your family who are particularly difficult to buy for and you're stuck for ideas? Do you love the thrill of Christmas shopping in a big shopping centre, or do you do it all online? Do you have any favourite websites for eco-friendly gifts? Let us know!

Til next week!
Rachel & Emma xx

TLBG Wednesday - Water Conservation - Rachel

Firstly, thanks to Emma for choosing this week's topic. This is definitely something that we should all be concerned about as water is so vital and without it - well, we die! We have made some changes in the Contented household over the last few years - apparently, here in the South East there is less water available per person than in Sudan & Syria! These are the changes we've made so far:

* Not leaving the tap running whilst brushing teeth
* Also not leaving the tap running when washing the dishes - I used to have the tap running the whole time so I could rinse things before putting them on the drainer! I dread to think how much water was wasted over the years! Now, I only turn on the tap to rinse specific items (like glasses or cups - if you've ever poured yourself a glass of water and taken a swig that tastes of washing up liquid, you'll know what I mean!)
* Only using the washing machine on a full load
* Only filling the kettle with the amount of water needed
* We have a water bag in the toilet cistern
* This next one might be a step too far for some people, but I'm going to put my neck on the line and tell you that - we don't flush the toilet after every use! Have you heard the little rhyme? If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down! Well, that's kind of what we do. We don't leave it all day, but instead only flush, maybe once every three uses? Obviously, anything unpleasant does get flushed straight down, and if there are guests in the house I do flush it every time as well, but we must have saved an enormous amount of water by doing this. The trick, I think, is to keep the loo spotlessly clean (no mean feat with three males in the house!) and to keep the lid shut too.
* Taking short, sharp showers. I'm pretty quick in the shower and I'm also trying to get into the habit of not shaving my legs in there either - it's more convenient than using a basin full of water but think how much water is just pouring down the plughole while you're doing it?


I also think it's really important to think about what we put INTO our water as well. The more "contaminated" our water is when it goes down the drain, the more treatment is required to make it clean and usable again and the more risk there is of that "contamination" escaping into the eco-system and harming our wildlife, or even of being pumped out of a sewage overflow pipe and onto our beaches. So we're back to the subject of using eco friendly products (shampoo, shower gel, washing powder, washing up liquid, toilet cleaner etc) again! Don't pour cooking oil (whether it's from frying or from a tin of tuna) down the drain either - although it's a food product, it can really damage wildlife if it gets into our rivers. (What do you do with it then? Good question. Our local council recommended that we collect it in an old bottle then wrap the bottle in a plastic bag and dispose of it in the household rubbish. I'd love to know if there's a better solution). Ok, gone slightly off at a tangent there, but you get the picture!

On the Act On CO2 website there's a great little gizmo to calculate how much water you could save if you made some simple changes. So, how much can you save?

Rachel x