Ten days into the new year and there are already people who are back to their old ways or on "auto-pilot."  By now, most of us realize that in order to achieve any goal (small or great), we need to make a conscious effort and live like it matters.  

It is the end of another year and time for new year resolutions.  I am looking forward to 2012.  Here is a list of some of my eco-friendly new year resolutions for the upcoming year:
- 100% donations and/or giveaways of outgrown clothes and toys
- Learn how to make jewelry using recycled materials
- Learn more about recycled metal art (I came across a website  happyscraps.net that highlights metal art made from recycled metal and look forward to seeing their gallery of work at a local spring festival in 2012).
- Expand gardening goals to produce 20% of more of my meals from my own garden (very ambitious given the size of my garden)
- set up a rain barrel (finally, I have been wanting to do this for years!!)
- learn how to quilt so that I can recycle some worn clothes (that have sentimental value)
- participate in a family park replanting event (with my family)

Here are some of my other new year resolutions:
- complete second half marathon (with a new Personal Record)
- complete my first triathlon 

Looking forward to another year!

We love cooking, especially during the holidays.  Homemade pumpkin pies are easy to bake and provide a lot of antioxidants and nutrients.  We simply follow the baking recipe that is on the pumpkin can (yes, I use the pumpkin from the can as opposed to carving up my own, although I hope to try preparing a pumpkin pie from scratch next year).

I am excited to offer you this free Chocolate kit giveaway.  My kids enjoyed making our own chocolates.  It tasted great (not too sweet) and the instructions are easy to follow and fool proof.

Make Your Own kits are available in Make Your Own Chocolate, Make Your Own Chewing Gum, and Make Your Own Gummies, these activity kits are all-natural, educational, and eco-friendly. With pre-packaged ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions, everyone aged 8 and up gets a real kick out of making candy from scratch. Focusing on the history behind and the origin of these candies, each kit is designed to captivate your interest, connect you to the global community, and create something yummy to eat in the process! 

You can have a chance to win a free chocolate kit giveaway.  In order to qualify for the free Make your Own Chocolate giveaway, you need to:

1) Sign up for the FREE eco-friendly living email newsletter (I do not share your email with anyone and send quarterly (4 x / year email messages)).  

2) Sign up for the free Glee Gum newsletter: http://www.gleegum.com/contact-us.htm

The giveaway will be selected randomly by December 31st, 2011.  Best of luck and have a joyous new year!

We enjoyed spending thanksgiving with our extended family.  Instead of stuffing ourselves with all of the extra food, we ate reasonable portions and my sister in law showed me how to freeze the leftovers (which I have never done before).  When you freeze food, it usually lasts two weeks longer than just refrigerating leftovers.  To prepare/defrost frozen food, you need to place the food in a microwave safe container, add some water (you need to add some moisture) and then heat it up.  


We are getting our Christmas tree ready for Christmas.  We've used the same plastic tree for over ten years and plan to use it for many more.  We also save the Sunday newspaper so that we can use them as wrapping paper.  In keeping with an eco-friendly tradition that we started a few years ago, we will not be lighting the Christmas tree (to save energy, electricity and money).  Although most probably we will light it up on Christmas Eve for a while.

I completed my first half marathon race last month and have already signed up for my next race.  I didn't think I would be able to run 13.1 miles but after completing the race, I feel great and am ready for more.  I am already training for my next race.  For those of you who think you can't, you really can.  I started training in April and it took about six months.

I just read an article that major companies such as Levi's, are re-thinking and changing their manufacturing process because they realize that water is becoming a scarce resource.  For your own personal living, there are many simple ways to conserve water and heat.  The following are inexpensive and effective water and heat conservation tips:
- have family members take showers right after each other (the bathroom is already  warmed up and if you have a tank for a water heater, you already have used the energy to warm up the water of the entire tank)
- do only cold cycle washes in your washing machine
- check and replace all leaky faucets and water hoses
- check and repair all leaky toilets
- wear clothes two to four times before you wash (unless they are workout clothes which needs to be washed after each use)
- instead of getting rid of existing soup or chicken stock, use it to cook your rice
- use less detergents (whether it is for dishes or clothes or scrubbing your kitchen counters) so you will need to use less water to rinse off
- replace your lawn with native plants and/or stones so that you do not need to water the lawn
- invest in a rain barrel and use the collected water to water your garden and plants

Part of my weekly purchases include a loaf of bread, organic milk, organic yogurt and organic eggs.  In addition to recycling the milk carton, organic yogurt container and egg carton, I have recently begun to reuse the bread bag.  When I come to the end of the loaf of bread, I store the bread bag away and use it for (surprise, surprise) holding lunch sandwiches and/or snacks on the go.  It seems so silly to me to use a ziploc bag, when the bread bag that was just previously holding the bread will do the job. 

If you really want to be adventuresome, trying baking your own bread.  It only takes milk, eggs, flour and yeast.  I buy yeast packages in bulk so when the baking mode strikes me I am prepared (most people already stock the milk, eggs and flour). 

Newsweek magazine published an article on the 100 Greenest Companies based on the following criteria: carbon footprint, policies and transparency.  This is the third time Newsweek magazine has featured the 100 Greenest Companies.  Progress towards environmental sustainability and eco-friendly policies continue to develop.  However, most of these companies still have a long way to go in helping us ensure a better future.  For instance, most of these companies still produce a substantial amount of waste by-products during their manufacturing process and also do not have global wide policies in place to handle/process used disguarded and/or returned goods.  These companies need to collaborate vertically with their manufacturing partners and distributors to reduce waste in their supply chain process.  These companies need to collaborate horizontally with their competitors to uniformly reduce un-necessary product packaging.  For example, can you imagine how a global agreement between cosmetics companies in eliminating un-necessary product packaging would help the environment?  Can you imagine if General Mills and Kelloggs reached an agreement to reduce their cereal box sizes by 30% across the board how that would positively impact the environment?  If you agree and believe in these efforts, email these manufacturers and consumer goods companies and voice your opinion.  They are listening and they will begin to highlight their light packaging as a consumer competitive advantage when they realize we will shop with our wallets for more eco-friendly alternatives.

I have travelled for business and personal reasons and found that it is possible to pack and travel in an eco-friendly manner.

Eco-friendly packing tips:
- Do not buy travel size toiletries.  Instead, pack the ones you are using into a check-in luggage.  Chances are, you won't need them until you reach the hotel or your final destination.
- Conserve clothes.  Unless you are working out and sweating alot, you should consider wearing t-shirts, sweaters and pants at least two to three times during a given trip.  That way, you travel lighter and don't have to do a ton of laundry upon return (always pack extra underwear and don't reuse them on the road!)
- Avoid impulse purchases at the airline by bringing a carryon bag that contains your source of entertainment and food(books, snacks, etc.)
-If you do make airport purchases, ask for the receipt and refuse the shopping bag.
-Pack layers of clothes that you can mix and match so you will be prepared for a wide range of weather.

Eco-friendly travel tips:
-Use only e-tickets (copy the confirmation number into your smartphone)
-Avoid buying travel gifts which loses its novelty too quickly.  Instead, take lots of photos for your scrapbook and to give/share with friends and family members.
-Resist the urge to splurge on un-necessary items (e.g. if you wash your bath towel at home every two to three days, then, it should also be okay to reuse your bath towel at the hotel).
-Resist the urge to over-pack.  You can survive without your five step beauty regimen for a few days.  Fuel and related exhaust pollution can be greatly reduced if everyone commits to traveling light.
-Call ahead of time to where you are staying to see if they have onsite hair blow dryers and other things you might need on the road.  Most hotels have such items but they neglect to post the information on their website.
-Pack an essential bag for each child that contains some or all of the following: a journal, box of colored pencils, stickers and playing cards.  This will prevent you from making un-necessary impulsive kid purchases while you are waiting at the airport or train terminal.