A Merry Christmas ~ that makes a difference

It is that time again! Holy Moly! It's hard to believe we are in December once again.
Well, as you all know I'm a bit outspoken and strange when it comes to lots of things.
One thing in particular I am pretty outspoken about is... making changes, big changes in how we do things in our lives. In our daily lives and especially during the special times... the Holidays. This is the perfect time to start new traditions and to dump the laim non sustainable ones.
I've decided to make your lives easier by being a guide through this maze of choices. Now keep in mind I'm not going to give you all the directions, just going to get you started in the direction of sustainable & better for your whole family choices.
Alot of you may already be in the sustainable direction. SWEET! You can be advocates too.

We live in a very disposable world here in the United States. We throw out everything, until now...hopefully. I'd like you to think of where things come from, there whole journey. Where they were made, what their made of and how much fuel or energy did it take to get them from point A to point B. hmmm check out the story of stuff www.thestoryofstuff.com for an enlightening journey into that topic.
So, if we are aware of the journey maybe we will start to understand the waste involved in this process of buying so much at Christmas time & what it means for the whole instead of just us in our living rooms on Christmas morning. My family & I are doing a spend nothing Christmas this year. wwwspendnothingchristmas.com this is not because we are broke but, by choice, this Christmas gives us the opportunity to start some new traditions.

Where did this Holiday of grotesque waste and spending come from anyway? I know but I'm not getting onto that soap box right now. I just want you to think about that for a moment... Maybe we could stop being so wasteful and think about the bigger picture for a moment. The feeling you'll get from doing something worthwhile for your family far far out weighs the feeling you'll get from buying them junk that maybe toxic anyway, and could possibly be from a factory where a child slave is starving and living in extreme poverty. Whoa! Ok, not what you want to hear? Well, these are things we need to be thinking about when we are making shopping choices or deciding what to do for our Holidays. Is it sustainable or Not?
What is sustainable? Well, it is a way of life that gives back to the whole. A product that is non-toxic, paid fairly for, made in decent conditions. A way for someone to feel good about what they are doing, in there work and in their lives on a daily basis. It is a way of being that is non-polluting, does not exploit any other human being and gives back in some way. It goes full circle with no bad side effects.
For example: Fair trade items can be made by woman in Africa, not out of toxic substances, they are paid a fair wage for the products they sell, thus they can feed there family & send their children to school. The product is not a plastic piece of junk that ends up in a landfill, or so toxic it's recalled. So the circle is fulfilled. Good going out good coming back. Sustainability! You can get the true definition from the webster if you want. I like mine.

Let's have a little fun, shall we. I'm going to start with our loving tradition of chopping down trees in order to decorate with energy wasting bulbs only to throw them out on the side of the road once they are a fire hazard in January. If you get a live one just sit back and relax. I'll have something for you later.

Some factoids ~
28.2 million Number of real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. in 2008
5.8 pounds of pesticides sprayed on an acre of Christmas trees each year. organic trees go to greenpromise.com/resources
7.3 pounds of plastic mostly polyvinyl chloride, or pvc contained in a typical artificial tree.
1 ton estimated amount of carbon the average conifer tree can absorb over 60 years. livingchristmastrees.org
600,000 approx. number of U.S. homes that could be powered for an entire year with the energy used by decorative lights. Using LEDs, you'll use about 90 % less energy per string. Go to realgoods.com for solar alternatives or philips.com for LEDs
4,000 approx. number of tree recycling centers nationwide. To recycle your tree go to earth911.com to find out where your tree can be composted or turned to mulch.
So, now you have an idea about what I'm saying with the whole start a new Holiday tradition thing. right? Just one change can make a difference over all and it may inspire our friends and family to do something different and sustainable too.

There are some people out there doing some great things, they are called Social Pioneers or Social Entrepreneurs. I'd like you to get in touch with them, to point you in a sustainable shopping direction this season.
One of these wonderful people is Barton Brooks. He wanders the world doing just about anything he can to just get some good things done. He builds schools, hauls wood, builds corals & adds books to libraries. He does what he feels passionate about. He's not afraid to just get in there and get his feet wet. What he does sometimes takes donations, you can make a difference by contributing to his work this season, just because you can. go to globalcolors.org to check out his work and give him a loving hand with his projects. Lord knows we would love to go get involved, sometimes we can't always do that, this is the next best thing.
You can buy beautiful jewelry by Joan Hornig and get 100 percent of your purchase to go to a charity of your choice. joanhornig.com
You can purchase a product from a fabulous social euntreprenuer Patti Carpenter, who is changing the woman's lives in Brazil buy selling there handmade textiles. carpentercompany.biz
There is a Liberian refugee named Lovetta Conto who is taking munitions from the streets of waring Liberia and turns them into beautiful pieces you can wear. The proceeds go toward a home for refugees in Ghana. akawelle.com
Now that's Sustainable!

Here are some other sustainable ideas and products to keep you on track this Holiday season ~
Looking for wine that is sustainable for that party of just to sip while curled up with a good book this Holiday? Check out these sustainable choices
French Rabbit an organic vintner who boxes instead of bottles there wine because it uses less energy to ship boxed wine. frenchrabbit.com and Fetzer Vineyards in Mendincino County, a zero waste winemaker. sweet! fetzer.com
For the beer drinkers check out organic Wolaver's Organic Ales wolavers.com
For your meat selections this year check out and buy for certain ~ Pastured meat versus factory farmed. For the best bet shop local always for food.
Otherwise D'Artagnan dartagnan.com, Organic Prairie organicprairie.coop, or Applegate Farms applegatefarms.com are great choices.
Chocolate ~ Yes! Anytime of year but, especially for the Holidays! check your local grocer for Equal Exchange chocolate or Fairtrade. No child labor chocolate people!
Most Cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast of West Africa, were children are forced to pick pesticide-laden crops. Give something that makes you feel good because of the chocolate and because of where the chocolate come from ~ Equal Exchange is BEST!
equalexchange.coop Read the labels and make some good choices.
And for that fashionista on your list or next time your shopping for something you need. Check out these great choices. No need to go green, wardrobe crazy, just choose better next time you absolutely need something. Get it sustainable and start to slowly change your closet into a healthy and heartfilled place.
Choose better fibers ~ Bamboo, Hemop, INGEO Corn Fiber, Modal from Beech trees, or organic cotton. Non organic is made by a hugely toxic system from start to finish.
Here's a List of designers and companies going sustainable or making better choices~
loomstate.org
delforte.com
goodsociety.org
lindaloudermilk.com
denimtherapy.com recycled denim!
edunonline.com for the Rocker in all of us!
loyaleclothing.com
rawganique.com for a formal evening
Be a conscious consumer. Less is more ~ buy fewer things of higher quality to get the most for your money and to conserve the planets resources.
Do some research before you buy and find out where your clothes are coming from.
Now for the Holiday Glam check out some alternatives!
paint your nails with this instead of toxic sludge. peacekeeper nail polish in fantastic shades! iamapeacekeeper.com
or sparitual.com sparitual nail polish hmmm enlightening!
Clean, moisturize and glow with this ~ Jurlique fantastic on & off your skin! jurlique.com Not cheap but, a wonderful alternative.
Burt's Bees is another or try Juice Beauty Products juicebeauty.com
For lips check out Perfect Organic or
Cargo Plantlove Botanical lipsticks
For your beautiful peepers check out NVEY ECO at econveybeauty.com

Do you feel enlightened? A little more aware? Hope so.
That's my intention.
Please do what you can to be awake and aware this Holiday season and make some choices that make a difference instead of the status quo.
We can feel better and live better do to our choices and we do influence others in out choices too!
So, this Holiday my one wish is that we all are awake making choices to be a part of this planet instead of beings just hanging out here for awhile.
We have a responsibility to be conscious for our children and educate them in order for them to make conscious decision as well.
And please, do me a huge favor and ask yourself ~ Is it ok for me to not buy this Holiday? To just Be this Holiday? Be with my family, Be happy just being and to take a look around at all we do Have. Will anyone die with out our presents? Will they care about them in a month? in a year? In 10 minutes? If not...Just say no! If yes, then of course we would want them to have something, sustainable, healthy and that does some good for ALL! After all isn't what this Holiday is ALL about! All of us! Living in love and peace due to a star somewhere in a sky?
Here's to a Fabulous, Sustainable, Joyous Holiday!
p.s. Could not have a heartfelt Holiday without saying Heifer International is the Bomb! Just say yes to buying a cow, a chicken or rabbits in someone else's name!

xoxoxo