A fun way to recycle a little paper

Yesterday my daughter and I made some cute Christmas ornaments using scrap paper we had around the house and some markers. =)

www.origami-resource-center.com/christmas-ornaments.html

Holiday Green - Christmas Cards

My daughter and I were talking this morning as we enjoyed a nice morning outside in the yard. I told her I was thinking about ways to be more green this Christmas and asked her if she had any thoughts on what we could do. Her reply: "Paper" Yeah. Wow. Christmas cards, gift wrap, ribbons... I started to brainstorm ways to reduce my personal use of these things. Thing is...I love giving and receiving Christmas cards. There are people I am seldom in contact with, but can rely on Christmas cards every year to get caught up with the. So how do I continue with this tradition while wasting less and reusing more? Well, I could go hard core, and make a card online that I email to everyone. Hm. That would certainly do it. No paper, no mess, no stamps or return address labels...easy to send - no envelopes to address. I could. But I dunno. Somehow it loses something. So. Post cards?? Cards that fold and become their own envelope? I'm liking that idea. How to do that? I would probably have to use heavy paper, so does that defeat the purpose? I want to share photos. That's pretty wasteful too. But I want to be able to do these things. Hmmm..... Post cards, maybe that's the compromise. Create my own with my pictures, and print our greeting. No envelope, less expensive... Recycled/recyclable paper? Maybe next year I'll send them online. Maybe.

Thanksgiving green thoughts

Just a quick thought as we gear up for the festivities today. The first thought that comes to mind for how to be green today is to use reusable containers for all those leftovers! More work? Yeah. But not much. More water? Yes. But in the end I believe it will result in less waste. Just my thoughts.

All-Purpose Reusable Gift Bags - Photos

Two of my reusable gift bags. I just make them to fit whatever I need to wrap! =)

All-purpose reusable gift bags

I'm learning how to post photos. Just practicing. But this is one of my reusable gift bags. I'll post photos of some of the others. I like them. =)

Holiday Green

I started to think about what I could do this holiday season to pursue my dreams of being more green. The first step was so obvious I wondered what took me so long to get here. The paper and trees that are used during the holidays are mind-boggling. So. In the past I have tried having a live tree, but I can never seem to get the thing to last through the winter. I'll keep working on that one. But my main focus this year is the gift wrap phenomenon. Recently, Flylady (flylady.net) posted a message about making and using reusable gift bags. POP! My brain was all over that. I love to sew, and it's a new project, plus it advances my green path. I was hooked. I have been making them like crazy ever since. They're easy to make, and can be made any size/style. Giving them to others is like giving two gifts in one. And you're gently passing on the message to "save a tree." I love it. I also have a bin full of flannel fabric that I collected when I was making cloth diapers, a phase which has passed. (The making of, not the using of-I'm still doing some of that) So I'm happy to have a use for that. They're not so Christmassy, but whaddevah.