Recycling Info

…and recycle

Learn what plastic are collected at your curb. Most recycling programs in Minnesota accept plastic bottles with a neck that are made from PET (#1) or HDPE (#2).  Other products are usually NOT collected by curbside recycling programs – even if they are marked with a #1 or a #2.  Check with your county or city recycling coordinator and/or your recycling hauler to find out what’s find out what you can put in your recycling bin.

Abide by the recycling do’s and don’ts. Each recycling hauler has a list of plastics that they will collect as part of their service.  Do not put plastics in your recycling bin that are not on the list of accepted plastics. Placing other plastics into your recycling bin adds extra expenses to the program and does not lead to those items being recycled.

 

Watch for recycling changes.  Several recycling haulers in the Twin Cities Metro Area plan to collect additional types of plastic in their curbside program as early as January 2012. You’ll receive more information explaining the program changes soon.

Use drop-off plastic recycling programs. In addition to curbside recycling programs, there are local drop-off locations where you can bring other types of plastic to recycle. Check the program websites and/or call ahead for hours and further information.

The East Side Co-op in Minneapolis accepts all marked plastics #1-#7 on drop-off collection days. The City of Coon Rapids Plastic Drop-off accepts #1-#7 plastics. “Gimmie 5”at Whole Foods program accepts #5 plastic containers (i.e. yogurt tubs, select take-out containers). “It’s in the bag” plastic bag and film recycling program is available in several communities throughout Minnesota. Accepted items include clean and dry (must be dry with all food residue removed) plastic film such as plastic shopping bags, bread bags, cereal bags, dry cleaning bags, shrink wrap, etc. Note: Zipper-type plastic bags are accepted in this program ONLY if the closing mechanism is removed. Plastic bag recycling is available at several retailers including Cub Foods, Lund's and Byerly's, Target, and Kowalski’s Markets.  From Living Green 365 Newsletter

Happy Recycle Day

Happy America Recycles Day! Plastic accounts for about 12% of the trash that Americans throw away each year and it’s growing fast.  Plastic recycling rates are far below rates for paper, glass, and aluminum. The good news is that several recycling haulers in the Twin Cities Metro Area have announced plans to collect additional types of plastic in their curbside programs beginning as early as January 2012. More information will be coming soon. In the meantime, here are some ideas and tips to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic.

Reduce, reuse…

Skip the bags. Bring your own reusable shopping bag and skip the bag altogether for small purchases. Use produce bags sparingly.

 

Select products with less packaging. Choose products packaged simply, with no packaging or with a single reusable or recyclable material.        

 

Buy in Bulk. Reduce plastic waste by choosing the largest container for items with a long shelf-life like vinegar, kitty litter, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc.

 

Refill your bottle. Use products that can be refilled such as Restore’s laundry detergent, dish soap, and hand soap. Retail stores throughout Minnesota offer Restore refill stations.

 

Reuse your empty pill bottles. Donate clean, label-free pill bottles to your veterinary office or local humane society. This helps them save money and provide free samples and pet medication.

 

Donate discards to art programs. Check with your local school or scout program to see if they accept plastic items for art projects. Artstart, a creative materials reuse store in St. Paul, accepts many materials for art projects including unused plastic bottles and other plastic containers.

 

Buy products made out of recycled materials. Close the loop by looking for and purchasing products with labels that say they contain post-consumer material.

 

Note, reusing plastic bottles for drinking water is not recommended. It increases the likelihood of impurities such as bacteria and the potential leaching of plastic compounds into the water. 

From Living Green 365 Newsletter

Interesting Tips

Greening your home's exterior

Summer is an ideal time to work on home improvements that will help your home last longer, keep you healthy, and increase energy efficiency. Take a walk around your home and assess what improvements need to be done this summer. Inspect the foundation for cracks. Foundation cracks can be a pathway for moisture and pests to enter a home. Excessive moisturecan lead to mold and structural deterioration, and pests can affect a home’s structure and indoor air quality. Repair indoor and outdoor cracks right away or hire a professional to do so.

Inspect gutters and downspouts for damage or blockage. To prevent water from coming into your home, gutters should drain water several feet away from the foundation. Add downspout extensions if needed. Consider a rain garden at the base of a downspout to soak up the water, but locate the garden at least 10 feet from your foundation.

 

Remove vegetation within one foot of the foundation. Planting shrubs, bushes, and vines next to your house creates dead air space that insulates your home in both summer and winter. But keep full-grown vegetation at least one foot from the foundation to minimize moisture problems.

 

Increase slope next to foundation. Encourage proper drainage by sloping the ground away from the house.

 

Add a rain barrel. Water from a rain barrel can be used to irrigate plants and grasses. Most commercially sold barrels are designed to keep mosquitoes out. The more water that is collected by a rain barrel, the less water there is to saturate foundations and basements.

 

Check the roof for damaged shingles. Look for loose and raised shingles or bent flashing around chimneys and vents. Repair or replace as needed. For improved durability, consider installing a metal roof or a 40+ year asphalt shingle roof.

 

Check siding for peeling or blistered paint. Peeling and blistering paint should be replaced. If repainting, use exterior paints that are low- or no- VOC (volatile organic chemicals) and formaldehyde-free.

 

Seal exterior air leaks. Sealing on the outside of your home not only prevents air from entering, it can also prevent damage to siding, walls, insulation, windows, and doors due to moisture intrusion. There are many places to apply caulking or foam to weather seal the exterior of your home: doors and windows; vents for furnaces, dryers, water heaters, air exchangers; entry points for wires, pipes, cables, faucets. Learn to caulk and seal your house by downloading the Home Envelope Guide from the Department of Commerce.

 

If re-siding your house, choose long-lasting materials. Steel and fiber-cement siding are especially durable. Steel can be recycled at the end of its useful life. Remember to do an energy audit if you replace siding. Properly installed, new siding can make your house much tighter, which can change the fresh air requirements for some combustion appliances or for the occupants.

 

Upgrade exterior lights. Switch exterior bulbs to energy-efficient compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LED). Adding motion detectors to exterior lights will also save energy.

 

Build a greener deck or patio. If you build a deck, use wood that is certified to be from sustainably managed forests, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification; use reclaimed wood that does not containchromated copper arsenate, lead, or creosote; or use recycled-content materials. Better yet, install a patio, which typically requires fewer materials than decks to construct. If installing a patio, consider pavers that let the water through. These "pervious" pavers let water soak into the ground, thereby reducing pollutant-prone runoff.

 

Consider solar. Adding solar electricity panels or solar hot water panels can reduce your carbon footprintand save money in the long run. An installer will perform site assessment to determine if your house is a good candidate for solar. Find an installer near you on this interactive map of solar and wind installers in Minnesota.

From Living Green 365 newsletter

TIGF - Earth Week

I know Earth Week is next week, but so is Easter, so this week's TIGF. I am thankful that Champlin has upgraded to a better, more effective recycling program that started this month. I already love it! Now if we move, I hope we find some place that has the same great commitment to helping the planet!


Earth Month Green Living Tips - Water 
These tips will help you to identify things that you can do right now to help reduce water use in your home and to keep our waters clean and safe.

Take short showers (10-15 gallons of water used) instead of baths (30 or more gallons used) for one person.

Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and save up to 240 gallons a month or while shaving and save up to 300 gallons a month.

Replace your showerhead with a water-efficient model and save up to 750 gallons a month.

Repair leaky faucets and toilets. A single dripping faucet can waste up to 200 gallons per month.

Don't rinse your dishes (just scrape off food) before placing them in the dishwasher. This saves 6,500 gallons of water per year.

Choose a low water use plants (such as native plants) and save up to 550 gallons each year.

Water your garden in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler to minimize evaporation.

Set a timer when watering your garden to remind you to shut off the water. A running hose can discharge up to 10 gallons a minute.



"Do It Green - Minnesota" newsletter

10 simple and affordable tips for winterizing your home

10 simple and affordable tips for winterizing your home

NOTE: Also, if you're looking for a way to recycle your old Christmas lights and switch to LED, click on the link to the bottom right or my blog for the REcycling Association. Looks like they will pick up your old lights for recycling. Josh and I did this last year through the hardware stores too, they gave you a deal on new lights if you recycled your old. Check with Menards, Lowes or Home Depot. Last year, Menards had the better selection of styles and better quantity than HD, but we never checked Lowes.

Green Halloween

Celebrating a Green Halloween

Halloween is black and orange. It can be green, too! Here are things you can do to make a scary time of year more sustainable.

Pumpkins
Search the Minnesota Grown Directory for local farms and farmers' markets selling pumpkins in your area. Look for organically grown pumpkins, too.
When the fun is over, put your jack o' lantern in your compost bin.
Some communities have pumpkin collection events. Pumpkins are collected for animal feed. Ask your city or local hauler if such an event exisits in your area.
Costumes
Make your own, with supplies from second-hand and thrift stores, as well as stuff you find during fall cleaning. For ideas, check out Coolest-Homemade-Costumes.com.
Swap costumes with your friends and neighbors. You could even throw a "find a costume" party before Halloween.
Rent a costume.
Treats
Look at the co-op or natural foods section of the grocery store for treats that have minimum or recycled-content packaging.
Hand out treats that can be used again and again, like pencils or small boxes of crayons.
Start a Trash Brigade through TerraCycle. TerraCycle collects common trash items (like candy wrappers) and creates everyday recycled products.
Arm your trick-or-treaters with reusable treat bags. Canvas shopping bags or pillowcases work well.
Hopefully, Halloween this year can be a treat for the planet, too!

Living Green 365

Be Green With Your Red, Orange and Yellow

What to do with your autumn leaves

When the leaves fall from your trees, consider them a resource. They contain nutrients that your lawn and garden needs! After playfully enjoying your leaf pile, here are a few eco-friendly options.

What do do with your leaves
Bag up dry leaves to use as a carbon source ("browns") for your backyard compost pile in the coming year.
Use leaves to provide a protective layer of insulation for perennial gardens and shrubbery, either bagged or loose.
Use a mulching mower to break leaves into tiny pieces and leave them on your lawn.
Compost your yard waste at home or at a compost site.
What NOT to do with your leaves
Don't throw yard waste in the trash. Mixing yard and tree waste with your trash is illegal and is not the best use of this resource.
Don't rake leaves onto the street or sidewalk. Leaves raked into the street end up being washed down storm drains and into wetlands and lakes. When they break down in water bodies, they release nutrients, which cause algae blooms in the summer. Don't rake additional leaves into lakes or streams, either.
Don't burn large piles of leaves. Burning leaves releases large amounts of air pollution. These pollutants can cause breathing problems for sensitive groups and lead to long-term health effects for all of us.
A new rule for curbside pick up of yard waste

Residents in the Twin Cities area who bag their yard and organic waste for curbside pick up are now required to put their waste in compostable bags--either paper bags or compostable plastic bags.

Living Green 365 Newsletter

Energy Saving Tips

Three quick and easy steps to save energy

Some energy-saving tips can be done once, but they will continue to save energy indefinitely. Below are three things you can do on a Saturday morning in September to begin saving energy right away.

1. Set your water heater to 120 degrees.
Water heating can account for 14%-25% of the energy consumed in your home. In addition, water heated above 120 degrees Fahrenheit can damage human skin. To save energy and reduce the risk of scalding, set your water heater dial so that it heats the water to 120 degrees or less. Here is how to test the temperature:

Run hot water out of any sink in your house.
Fill a glass with hot water and submerge a personal or cooking thermometer into the water.
Read the thermometer. If the water is higher than 120 degrees (or simply hotter than you want it) turn the water heater temperature dial down. As a reference point, water that is just too hot to touch is around 107 degrees.
Wait a few hours and test again.
Repeat until the water is at the desired temperature.

2. Adjust your computer's power management settings.
Power management puts your monitor and hard drives into a low-power "sleep" mode after a period of inactivity. Using power management features on your computer can save more than 600 KWh of electricity and more than $60 a year in energy costs.

The two biggest users of power are the display and the hard drive. To improve the power efficiency of your computer, use the following power management settings:
Monitor sleep: 15 minutes or less.
Hard drive sleep: 15 minutes or less.
System standby: 30 minutes or less. Standby mode turns off the monitor and hard drive, and switches the computer to a low-power state.
Power down manually: Every day after you are done using your computer.

3. Install a programmable thermostat.
A programmable thermostat will automatically reduce the heating temperature in your house while you are gone. It is the easiest way you can save energy and money--up to $180 per year.
Set the thermostat to scale back by 8 degrees Fahrenheit when you leave for work and go to bed.

• Living Green 365 Newsletter

Environmental Tips

Use a reusable water bottle

Have you ever doubted that your decision to recycle a bottle or bring a reusable container makes a difference? If so, here is some news to keep you going.

Compared against a single-use water bottle that is tossed in the garbage, drinking from a reusable water bottle filled with tap water will reduce energy consumption by 85 percent and greenhouse gases by 79 percent!

• Drink tap water. Bottled water costs as much as $10 per gallon compared to less than a penny per gallon for tap water. In addition, federal water quality standards are usually more rigorous for tap water than for bottled water. Those concerned with taste or quality can also add a filtration system.

• Buy only 1 or 2 reusable water bottles and use them frequently. Reusable water bottles are "in" right now, and come in fun colors and patterns. If you buy too many, though, you'll reduce the benefit of using a reusable bottle.

• If you host an event, provide a tap or pitcher for water. Encourage guests and attendees to bring a bottle or cup.

• If bottled water must be purchased, choose the thinnest bottle and purchase water that is bottled locally. This will reduce packaging volume and energy for shipping.

• Last, but not least, continue to recycle any bottles you buy. We should all continue to recycle bottles and other materials. Recycling that same single-use water bottle we referred to above will reduce life-cycle energy consumption by 24 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 16 percent.

From Living Green 365 Newsletter

Eco-Shopping

More on a "Green" Note:

When we think of reducing our "carbon footprint," we think about driving less and improving the efficiency of our home. Just as important, however, is being intentional about what we buy.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that nearly 50% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are tied to our consumption of goods, materials, and food.

Luckily, there are many ways to reduce the impact of our stuff. In many cases, you will also save money and support the local economy!

It's easy to go eco-shopping. Just ask yourself these questions before making a purchase:

• Does the gift recipient need or want this?
• Can I buy this used?
• Can I get this with recycled content?
• Can this be recycled?
• Can I give a coupon to borrow or rent this instead?
• If I spend a little more money today on a high-quality or energy-efficient option, could I (or my gift-recipient) save money in the long run?

If there are alternatives, these questions will help you consider them. Just start with small steps -- a 10% reduction in new purchases in the average 2-person Minnesota household will save 1,102 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents.


Living Green 365 Newsletter

Winterize Your Windows

Haven't posted anything "Green" in a while...got this info in my e-mail today, thought it would be helpful to some:

There are lots of ways to improve the efficiency of your windows during the winter. Here are tips from the U.S. Department of Energy:

• If you have older windows (single pane), use storm windows and remember to shut them! Storm windows can reduce heat loss through the windows by 25% to 50%.
• Use the shrink-wrap type plastic film kits on the interior to stop air infiltration around leaky windows. They are inexpensive, effective, easy to install, and easy to remove in the spring.
• Close your curtains and shades at night; open them during the day.
• Keep windows on the south side of your house clean to let in the winter sun.
• Weatherstrip or caulk older windows to seal air leaks.

Living Green 365 Newsletter

Growing Green

This is from my Do It Green! Minnesota newsletter:

Grow Your Own Food: Save Money and the Earth!

Growing your own food is such a simple idea. It makes sense that we should try to be more self-sufficient, self-sustaining and simplistic in this multi-national, corporate owned, complex world. And what could be simpler than having a garden?

Here are some tips on growing your own food:

1. Write a garden journal to learn more effectively from your experiences
2. Collect organic scraps in a small box in the kitchen and throw it on the compost heap to have something to feed back to your soil. It’s free nutrients for the soil.
3. Turn your compost regularly to speed up composting
4. Seedlings need 17 hours of light each day to stay healthy
5. Plant fruit trees in your garden to provide shade in the middle of the day
6. Use wood chips on the lanes between your beds instead of spending time on cutting grass
7. Seed saving takes up a lot of area and many spare plants
8. Water the soil not the plants to avoid fungus
9. Increase diversity in your garden and be rewarded with healthy plants and more food
10. Take good care of the birds in your garden and they will help you debug your garden

Last of the April Green

From Doing It Green, Minnesota:

Tips for Going Green and Saving Money
DRIVE EASY. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon for gas.

USE ENERGY STAR. ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs (e.g. compact fluorescent lightbulbs) use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.

RECYCLE. One aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for three hours. Check with your city, county or recycling hauler about rebates or incentives they may offer residents for recycling.

BUY IN BULK. Packaging makes up 30 percent of the weight of trash and 50% of trash by volume. You can save money by buying in bulk. For example, Gatorade powder is priced at $4.29 and makes the same amount of drink as eleven of the single-serve 24 oz .bottles priced at $12.45.

SWITCH TO NON-TOXIC CLEANERS.An estimated 2–5 million exposures to household poisons occur every year. Non-toxic cleaning products do the job safer and cheaper. You can make your own non-toxic cleaners using simple, ordinary ingredients you probably already have at home – baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice. Vinegar, while it kills bacteria and mold, does not harm the environment. A 5% vinegar solution kills 99% of bacteria and 82% of mold. To make a 5% solution, add three ounces of vinegar to half a gallon of warm water. Making your own cleaner only costs about .20/refill.

REUSE BAGS. An average American could save 22,000 bags in our lifetime if we use reusable bags when shopping! Many stores will also offer a credit if you reuse bags.

SAVE ENERGY, SAVE HOT WATER. Save up to $51 and over 5,000 gallons of water annually by using low flow shower or sink devices.

Healthy Cosmetics?

This is from my Living Green 365 Newsletter:

Several ingredients in personal care products have been identified as unhealthy. Some compounds of concern include parabens and other preservatives, siloxanes, phthalates, musks and other fragrance components, and benzophenone (BP-3).
You can look for products that are nontoxic. The tricky part is that ingredient safety testing is not required by law for cosmetics. And manufacturers are not required to completely disclose all ingredients on the product label if the ingredient is considered a trade secret or if it falls under the broad categories of fragrance or flavoring.

Some tips for choosing healthy personal care products:
Simplify the number of products you use.
Choose fragrance-free products.
Learn more about ingredient names and terms to avoid from the resources below.
Always read the ingredients list on personal care products.

Vinegar, The Uber Cleaner

This is from a newsletter I used to get called Ideal Bite. I quit getting it because most of it was geared for California, but I kept this one for posting:

Wanna conquer high cleaning-product costs?

The Bite
Drop the bed-sheet toga, and pick up a bottle of white vinegar. Uber-disinfecting and cheap as Hades, DIY vinegar cleaners really do the trick, so you can move onto conquering bigger things, such as, say, the Roman Empire.

The Benefits
• Costs less than a handmade olive-leaf crown. We found a 32-ounce bottle of white vinegar at the supermarket for just over a buck; the same size bottle of all-purpose cleaner was four times that (and you'll dilute the vinegar for most purposes).
• Treating kids like emperors. Conventional cleaning products are responsible for about 10% of toxic-exposure calls to poison control.
• Not stabbing our rivers in the back. High concentrations of detergents were found in 69% of waterways in a 2002 nationwide study.
• Smelling better than an ancient Roman. The vinegar smell disappears when it dries; it even acts as a mild deodorizer.

Personally Speaking
A little straight vinegar, sprayed directly on weeds, gets rid of 'em.

Wanna Try?
• Make sure to use white distilled vinegar - balsamic and red wine varieties will stain.
• All-purpose countertop and mildew cleaner: Mix vinegar and water 1:1 in a spray bottle.
• Fabric softener: Add 1/2 cup to the rinse cycle.
• Toilet bowl cleaner: Use pure vinegar to get rid of rings.
• Window cleaner: Mix vinegar and water 1:4 in a spray bottle.
• Weed killer: Use higher concentrations of vinegar (most household vinegar is 5%, so go for 10% or higher, available at hardware stores). (I also heard vinegar for canning vegetables works for this.)

Happy Earth Day!

Here's a few snip-its from this weekend's Star Tribune insert Green 2.0

To save on fuel costs: Slow Down." At speeds above 60 MPH, fuel mileage drops off sharply."

CFL bulbs "use 75 precent less electricity when they are on and you won't be replacing them for years because CFLs last much longer." (Don't forget, they need to be recycled and handled carefully because they have some mercury in them)

"Packaging makes up 30 percent of the weight and 50 percent of the volume of our garbage." They suggest buying bulk packaging to save the planet and money: "In bulk powder form [Gatorade] costs about $4. The same amount in single-serve bottles costs about $12.50.

Vinegar can kill up to 99% of bacteria in your toilet! Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide and Rubbing alcohol also kill germs.

Check out the: Living Green section on the right hand side of my page for more posts about Earth Friendly Tips, Cleaning Recipes, etc. I have a great book for cleaning recipes if you are looking for something specific, let me know! (Furniture polish, all-purpose cleaner, even bug and weed killers!)

Green Tips

This is from the Saturn 360 newsletter:

Brush Wisely
Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. You'll save up to 8 gallons of water a day! That's 2,920 gallons per year for one person. Why? Water flows at an average rate of 2 gallons per minute from an average bathroom faucet.

Public Service Announcement:)

In honor of Earth Week, I will have some useful tips and facts this week, starting with a fun way to shop and "reuse" kid stuff. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Golf Dome in Brooklyn Park by Fleet Farm, there will be a consignment sale for kids stuff. It's kinda like a HUGE garage sale with GOOD quality kids toys, strollers, cribs, clothing shoes, DVDs whatever you might need from maternity all the way up to kids sizes (I'm not sure how high they go, but it's not just the babies and toddlers). I have gotten some REALLY great stuff for Roo there and my mom and sisters have too. Sale runs from 10-7 on Thursday and Friday and 10-2 on Saturday. There is a small cover cost on Thursday, but Friday and Saturday are free and Saturday, everything is 1/2 off! I'm going on Thursday with my mom! Can't wait...Save money AND help the environment by reusing!

YEAH! Upgrades!

We have officially signed off and are the proud owners of a new furnace and air conditioning unit! I'm so excited because they are way more energy efficient than the old models and very much needed. Our AC crapped out last year and we were told our furnace would not be far behind. We got a great deal on getting both as a package and we are really happy with the company so far. If you need a new AC or Heater, let me know. We can get a referral bonus if we give you their business card and so far we would totally recommend them! They have to come back to do something with the AC when the weather warms up a bit, but so far they have been great!

Happy New Year!

So long ago I gave up making resolutions, but last year maybe around March or so I committed myself to making our lifestyle a little greener. I fully admit that I used to think people who were eco-nuts were, well, nuts. But I decided to make baby steps in the right direction and see what one year could do. So I'm now proud to announce the things we have changed this year...small steps added up to a lot of things overall and we didn't even notice the change!

• Switched to environmentally friendly cleaning products. I have even made some of them! Most of them I like, still working on something that cuts kitchen grease though.

• Started recycling plastic bags at Cub. Did you know you can also recycle plastic wrap from your paper towel and stuff like that too?

• Started walking or biking to do small grocery trips in the summer. (This was mostly because of the high cost of gas, but Josh and I enjoyed it so we will probably continue even if gas stays low by next summer!)

• Also started trying to combine more trips into one so I don't take the car out as much. And I know this is silly, but I try to plan my route with right hand turns because apparently that's more fuel efficient:)

• Started recycling cardboard more, didn't really do much of that before.

• Started bringing home bottles or cans to recycle if I was out and bought a water or a pop. (Did you know that recycling 1 can can save enough energy to power at TV for 3 hours?)

• I found a reuseable coffee cup sleeve so when I go to Caribou, I can use my own and that saves cardboard sleeves! Ok, I know that's pretty small and if I was REALLY green, I would bring my own mug, but c'mon, baby steps remember!

• Started bringing my own bags to the grocery store. I'm particularly proud of this one cuz we actually remember MOST of the time now!

• Started reusing Christmas cards and scratch paper for Riley's art projects. She loves them! I even give my old desk calendars to her to play with and she thinks it's pretty cool!

• Switched to LED lights on our tree this year! I'm really excited about this one too and next year I think we might even switch the house lights. I found a house in the neighborhood that has my LED C9s and it's not THAT BAD! It's not as bright as the lights I have always used, but I think I can sacrifice! Baby steps!

• And my new favorite, got Bamboo sheets and towels for Christmas and I LOVE THEM! They are sooo soft! Bamboo is a more renewable material than cotton and requires less (or no?) pesticide to produce. Plus it's naturally anti-bacterial.

See, little things add up and we didn't even notice it! Yikes! What should we try next year? Any thoughts?