Still got some floppies lying around? Turn them into something!

Remember floppies? They were so cute. But now what are you going to do with them?

Treehugger just had a really cool bit about arts and crafts with floppies, including this nifty notepad, available on Etsy:



I think it's a great idea - not only do you get to keep these puppies out of the landfill, but it's a great tribute to hard-core geeks like (I'll admit, to an extent) me. Heck, I remember 5-1/4s. I might even pick a few of them up for a couple of my more old-school geek friends.

Terrapass does weddings now!

Since it’s coming up on June, and so many folks are gearing up to get hitched, I thought I’d share this tidbit from a recent TerraPass newsletter: they can now help you make your wedding carbon neutral. The amount of travel involved in planning a wedding, on the part of both you and your guests, is the single biggest eco-impact your wedding will have.

Now, I realize that there’s been some debate about the whole TerraPass/Carbon Offset THING (especially on TerraPass’s usually interesting blog), but honestly, I think it’s a great idea. While it would be wonderful if we could all switch to wind or solar, and all drive hybrid cars, the reality is that some of us are bound by location and/or finances to be unable to do these things; for example, the electric company that services my part of Somerville doesn’t have the option to use renewable energy (although in my former home, in Cranston RI, I did actually use 100% renewable), and honestly – I can’t afford a hybrid right now. So, I compromise by driving my car surprisingly little (I think I’m down to three days a week, maybe?) and walking or using the T most places. Plus, I donate pretty heavily, and have volunteered design and marketing services on occasion to green organizations. To me, TerraPass is a good option for those who don’t have the alternatives available; since it helps fund renewable energy products. With more funding, more renewable energy becomes available; more renewable energy, less fossil fuel dependence; and then, one hopes, the Terrorists will Lose.

Want to make your guests’ travel even more eco-friendly? Try to pick a location that’s close to the bulk of your guests, and see how many of your guests can ride down together or take the train instead of flying.

Harry Potter Goes Green!

Okay, so it's not often that I mention this in a "business" setting, but I LOVE Harry Potter. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Not so much Harry, but the books. LOVE them. So yeah. Anyway. According to the good folks at More Hip than Hippie, the final installment of the HP series (which, yes, I've pre-ordered) is going to be the greenest of all the books - the mainstream edition will be printed with 30% minimum postconsumer waste, and there's going to be a special "deluxe" edition printed on 100% postconsumer.

Time to check in with Amazon and see if I can upgrade my order...

For the full article, visit this link from thestar.com

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas....

Okay, so I should start by saying that I LOVE Christmas shopping. There's something about the feeling I get from wandering through shops with the specific purpose of finding something that will make someone I care about smile that just makes me unbearably happy.

That said, there are certain things about the holidays that I always find challenging, from an eco-friendliness standpoint. As much as I love gifts and cards (I make my own holiday cards every year as well, which is always one of the highlights of my holiday) and the general spirit of the holiday, the sheer wastefulness of the holiday season invariably depresses me. From gift wrap and bags to the insanity of Christmas decorations and lights that stay on for weeks at a time, the holiday season is often a time when we waste SO much more than is necessary.

Mind you, there are certain holiday traditions that I have never engaged in with any regularity; I have only had one Christmas tree in my adult life, and I tend not to do holiday-themed decorations in general (although I will occasionally get a couple of cute wall hangings or statues that will last a long time and display those during the holidays), and I've never done Christmas lights. I never really had a place where it was appropriate, for one thing, and I've just never been into Christmas lights, for another.

But I love wrapping gifts, and I love making my own cards. And try as I could this year, it was almost impossible to find eco-friendly gift wrap or card-making supplise that were actually attractive in any of the stores I went to. I have noticed that there's a decent amount of eco-friendly stuff online (a quick Google Search for "eco-friendly gift wrap" pulls up quite a few decent options), but a large part of Christmas for me is the flow of things; I tend not to plan very far ahead, but I like to get things taken care of early, and I prefer to do my holiday shopping in stores rather than online. There's something in the process of wandering through a store and finding a bunch of great stuff that will be perfect for the people in my life that makes me happy on so many levels.

So, ultimately, what all this means is that I have a bit of advance planning to do for next year. While the actual gift-buying process can remain the same, certain things (like the stock I use for my holiday cards/envelopes, for example, and the paper I use to wrap my gifts) can be gotten in, say, August or September — or even January, when it all goes on sale — and stored until I'm ready to use them. It also means that I've found an interesting problem that other folks are likely finding as well; eco-friendly, beautiful card and gift-giving options that don't fall into the same paper-with-flowers-in-it rut so often associated with eco-friendly gifts. Something to chew on for 2007, I think.

And I'm still not going to hang Christmas lights.