Winter green tips

Winter is coming. Here are a few ways you can go green:

1. Let the sun in.
   The sun provides natural light and warmth open your curtains to take advantage. Close them in the evening for insulation.
   
2. Install a programmable thermostat.
   Set the temperature lower when you aren't in the house. Save some green and you won't even notice the temperature difference.
   
3. Stop the drafts.
   For about $30 you can stop drafts near windows and doors by sealing them with caulk or weather stripping. You'll save that much in a month.

New recycled cuff

We are now offering record cuffs.  We are recycling old records and you can either buy them

plain or with a flower made out of an aluminum can.

Check our store out for something a little different.

Christmas gifts

Think of Cangles.com when looking for Christmas gifts this year.
Not only are they nice but they are eco friendly.  We have necklace and

bracelet sets for the young girls-they would make great stocking stuffers.   Don't forget our hair clips and in a few days we will be bringing out another new item.  I will keep you posted.

Nature's Jewels

Acorns become easy ornaments with a coat of paint and loops made of twine glued

to the caps.  Use small branches/twigs that have fallen from trees and hang the acorns

from the twigs.  Place twigs in a vase.

The vase can be nestled in a silver serving tray filled with acorns.

You can also wire together acorns to make a napkin ring.  Drill tiny holes

through 9 or 10 acorns.  Alternate acorns top-to-bottom so they cuddle closer.

Better homes and Gardens

Communion Cup Christmas Bell

 This is a great idea for reusing plastic communion cups

Materials Needed:

• Communion cups (Lord Supper Cups)
• Acrylic paint
• String
• Small jingle bells
• Drinking straws
• Craft glue or hot glue 

Instructions:
1. Paint cup with 2 coats of white paint, let dry.
2. Paint on holly leaves and berries (or whatever design you desire) using green and red paint. Let dry.
3.Thread a 2-inch long string through the top of a jingle bell. Using hot glue, glue the string to the inside of the top of bell. Just let the bell touch the rim of the bell on the inside.
4. Cut off 1-inch of drinking straw. Glue to top using craft glue or hot glue. These bells will make cute Christmas party favors.

More Fall tips

Compost as much as possible

Instead of putting your leaves, branches, and weeds into plastic bags only to be picked up by trash collectors, consider turning this lawn “waste” into nutrient-rich soil ready for your spring garden! Collecting compost is quite easy and can save money on soil and fertilizer when it comes time to start your garden after the cold season. Almost everything in your yard is compostable (grass and plant clippings, leaves, dead or brown weeds), except for weeds that have seeds or pernicious weeds (i.e. ivy) that can withstand composting. Mix in some of your kitchen waste as well – fruit and vegetable peels, teabags, and coffee grinds – to increase your yield.

Fall tips

Before firing up your furnace and/or fireplace it’s crucial to ensure that everything is in working order. This way, you’ll lessen the chance of a dreaded “oh my god, something’s wrong and I don’t know how to fix it” situation in the dead of winter and keep you energy costs in check.

Start off with the fireplace if you have one. Make sure that everything is clean and functioning. If it’s been a while since your fireplace has gotten a deep clean and inspection, consider hiring a professional chimney sweep to clean the flue and tackle any repairs, if needed. If your fireplace damper is damaged or nonexistent, install a chimney balloon to keep warm air in and cold air out of your home.

A less daunting task is replacing or cleaning a furnace filter as recommended by the manufacturer. Before you do, sweep or vacuum the area around your furnace. Regular cleaning or replacing of a furnace filter increases efficiently and prevents dirt and allergens from circulating around your home. And while you're at it, sweep or vacuum in and around heat registers to get rid of accumulated dust and dander.

Finally, inspect caulk around windows and doors to ensure that any leaks are nipped in the bud before winter hits. Fall is also a good time to venture up to the attic and check on the condition of the insulation. For inexpensive, DIY "heat in, cold out" tasks that can be performed in fall, check out my “Weatherize this” series where I discuss everything from foam outlet gaskets to attic stair covers to water heater blankets.

For Kids - recycle Pringle cans

Recycling a Pringles can, kids can use them for storing pencils,markers and other school supplies in them... and you can use them for storage as well for straws, pens and pencils,change,ponytail holders just anything you can think of....

After you have decided if your making a bank or a pencil holder.. or something else you may have thought of think about what you want to decorate it like and with... you could paint it, color it, glue stuff to it, put your name on it just whatever you would like...

Something else you could make out of them are noise makers you could put some dried beans in it glue the lid on it and then decorate it I'm sure young children would loved to shake it around to listen to their new noise maker.... and remember to be careful when decorating it don't put anything on it that a small child could swallow and hurt themselves with it.....

ehow

Easy Green tips to save Money

1

Remember your parents telling you to turn the lights out when you leave the room? Mine did anyway. They were actually on to something way back then. Lighting averages about 11% of consumers electric bills! Another way to limit using your light bulbs is to open the curtains. Use some good, old-fashioned sunlight. Not only is it free, it warms your home on cool days and lifts your spirits. Now that's a great way to save money.

2

Be aware of electrical vampires in your home. One of the biggest is your home desktop computer. The Dept. of Energy recommends that you shut down your monitor if you're not using it for more than 20 minutes and the whole system if not using it for more than two hours. It's estimated that this could save approximately $90 per year. Of course if you use a laptop you'll save money since they only use 15 - 25 watts of use instead of the 150 watts used by the desktop system.

3

Other vampires that are preventing you from saving money are chargers. When your cell phone is fully charged, unplug the charger. Otherwise it continues to pull electricity.

4

 

Use low-flow, money saving devices to go green

You can also save money by adjusting how you use hot water. Turn your hot water heater down to 120 degrees and you can save 6 - 10% on your water heating costs. Also, increase savings by installing low flow toilets, showers and faucets. They're simple to install and can help save big bucks.

5

 

Save money on your heating bill

Usually, heating and cooling account for the largest portion of a utility bill. One way to save costs is to install a programmable thermostat to assist regulating you home' s temperature. For instance, every degree you lower the thermostat you save between 1 and 3% off your bill.

ehow

Eco friendly travel

Going Green before the Trip

•Turn the water heater to the lowest setting.

•Turn off the air conditioner/heat or adjust the thermostat for plants.

•Unplug appliances like the TV, toaster, microwave and DVD player. According to the Green Hotel Association, they can leak as much as 40 watts/hour even when they are off.

•Stop any newspaper service.

•Avoid buying travel size products says Meaghan O’Neill, editor of Treehugger and PanetGreen.com, in an article for ABC news titled “Green Ideas: Tips for Eco-Friendly Travel.” Instead purchase reusable plastic containers to fill with products from home.

Making the Trip Eco-Friendly

•Take the train or the bus on short distances instead of flying. Airplanes use a great deal of fuel taking off and landing.

Go Green at the Hotel

•Stay at eco-friendly hotels. The Green Hotel Association has a listing of hotels in many states that are taking steps to green up their practices. Also, when considering a hotel, inquire as to what they are doing to help the environment. Many hotels have a linen program and use flow restricting shower heads, but this shouldn’t be the only way they are reaching out. Try to stay at hotels that are going above and beyond the minimum to run a “greener” establishment.

•When using the linen program during a hotel stay, it can be difficult to keep track of who used what towel. The Green Hotel Association suggests packing safety pins with small beads on them. Each family member should have a different color to pin to the towels they are using during the trip.

•Be sure to turn off the air/heat and lights and close the curtains when no one is going to be in the hotel room.

Be a Green Tourist

•Walk, take public transportation, or share a taxi instead of renting a car.

•The Green Hotel Association also recommends eating cuisine local to the region. For example eat seafood on the coasts, steak in the Midwest, etc.

An Environmentally Friendly Travel Experience

Living a greener lifestyle includes eco-friendly travel. With “going green” turning into the new black more and more companies are thinking about how their actions affect the environment. Traveling consumers need to heavily patronize those businesses that are actively becoming more eco-friendly as well as request greener practices from businesses that are not.

 

5 tips for a green Thanksgiving

Here are Waste Management’s top 5 tips for showing your thanks to the planet this Thanksgiving: 

Look for organic, local produce. Many grocery stores now carry organic produce from local farms. By selecting organic and local fruits and vegetables, the food you eat will be free from conventional pesticides and you’ll cut air emissions associated with shipping.

Cook only what you need. Before going to the grocery store do a little math: a serving of turkey is between 3 to 4 ounces. So don’t buy a 25-pound turkey for a family of four, get an eight or ten pound bird instead.

Set an environmentally friendly table. Use cloth napkins and reusable dishes, utensils and glasses.

Be creative and save money. Make your own holiday centerpieces and wreaths out of items you find in your backyard.

Save those potato peels, spinach stems and carrot tops and put them in your yard waste bin. Seafood shells from oysters, clams and crabs can go in too. Even the bones and the leftover turkey carcass can be tossed in with the leaves and branches from your yard. These food scraps will be turned into compost for gardening and landscaping.