Each year I say – I should figure out a Christmas holiday tradition for my family that’s not only eco-friendly, but fun, and also something that everyone can swallow.

Facts:
I personally was raised with Christmas – trees, cookies, gifts, the whole darn deal. I liked it and as a kid thought it was mostly fun, but I never loved how hectic it was, and by the time I was in my early 20s I was sick of the whole planning perfect gifts mess.
By the time my son Cedar was born, his dad and I wanted to do something for the …read more

I love Green Halloween and I also love ChicoBags, so I’m happy to announce that they’ve partnered up again this year for the 2nd Annual Trick-Or-Treat Bag Design Contest. The first annual contest was a big success last year and I’m hoping that many of you will come out for this year’s event.

What’s this contest about?:
ChicoBags, maker of yes, all things reusable bags, and Green Halloween, a non-profit, grassroots movement that was created by Celebrate Green author Corey Colwell-Lipson, in order to promote sustainable Halloween traditions teamed up to bring this contest to kids.
Children ages 1-13 are encouraged to enter …read more

Saint Patrick’s Day is quickly coming up – March 17th, so if you haven’t made plans there’s still time to green up your activities…
For some easy general ideas read:

Green Your St. Patrick’s Day Party
St. Patrick’s Day Blog Carnival
Learn how to turn your organic brew green (yes the color green). Oooo festive.
If you’re really advantageous, you can always recycle your beer cans into butterflies

If you’re specifically looking for information on greener brew to drink on the big day you can do one of the following:
Check your local yellow pages (or online) for a green pub near you. You’d be surprised how …read more

Join the Our One Heart contest for a chance to win a $350 Romantic Package for 2: A little bird told me that the Avalon Hotel & Spa is apparently the greenest hotel in the Pacific Northwest – so this is perfect for tree hugging folks.
Choose green cleaners over conventional store bought toxic cleaners.
Recycle some household items.
Do something smart for your heart (it is American Heart Month) and the planet and join the nature gym.
Get the whole family outside into nature during winter.
Hug a tree.
Enjoy some solar made music!
Make some Organic & Natural Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries.
Whip up some organic …read more

Our last poll was, “How will you green your holiday season,” in which 71 of you voted. Not bad. Many of you were trying to be nice and green this holiday season.

Here’s the break-down, with links if possible so that you can learn more about these topics…

3% of you planned to serve organic meals
10% of you bought fewer gifts
3% of you made recycled decor
3% of you skipped the X-mas tree
10% of you made homemade gifts
1% of you of all vote sent e-cards
3% of you are recycling your gift wrap
1% of you are using reusable …read more

In continuing with my reviews this week, I thought it would be nice to look at a holiday-minded product. On with the show…
Product: Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family by Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell
Basics: Celebrate Green is a mama-daughter book collaboration – the title is fairly self-explanatory – this is a book about all things related to green holiday celebrations.
Cost: Family friendly at only $17.95. Plus for a limited time, you can score an even better deal. “Right now when you order a copy of Celebrate Green! from our website, you can choose …read more

It’s good to reuse wrap, but if you happen to be shopping for new wrap this year, here are some beautiful green options.

Gorgeous Dew Drop Melody Print on Silken Banana Paper – Semi-sheer banana paper with a festive crinkle and silken threads. Handmade in India.

If you’re shipping gifts to friends and family, you can keep it green with the following tips:
Do use recycled boxes and heavy envelopes instead of buying new at the post office. Note that some shipping places don’t accept boxes with lots of oddball writing on them. You can fix this quickly with one sheet of plain brown recycled wrap.
Don’t use polystyrene packing peanuts – they work well at protecting gifts, but are a huge eco-problem because they’re made from non-renewable resources.
Do use biodegradable packing peanuts – they dissolve in water and can even be composted. Get some at U-Haul.
Don’t use …read more

22 of you managed to enter the Holiday Hallmark Card Studio Software Giveaway before midnight my time. I was going to have my son draw names, since we had under 30 entries, however, one, I’m still sick, so he’s elsewhere, and two, a video of him drawing names and me trying to talk would be a whole lot of you hearing me cough. Not fun.
That said, we’re going to do a boring, random name generator. Not as much fun as a video, but still, nice if you win. Two of you have won a very cool prize – the Hallmark …read more

I love this gift idea for kids. It’s fun, creative, not expensive, and completely recyclable.

This treehouse is easy to put together, and you don’t even need glue or scissors – everything is pre-punched. Young kids can do this with parent help. After building you can decorate with paint, glitter, nature objects, or whatever you like. After decorating, you get to play. This treehouse is big enough to use with tiny dolls (like dollhouse size).
Available at Seasons Natural Toys, a company that I’m a little obsessed with.