It sounds as though we might get another substantial snowfall tonight. Here are some photos from the one we had right after Christmas. Lindsay is sitting on the stairs up to our back garden. And I am in a snow cave that Neil dug out for Lindsay and her friend. See if you can spot the chicken coop.
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TREECycle
Don’t dump your Christmas tree out on the street! Give it new life by bringing it to one of many city parks this weekend to be chipped. Here’s the NYC site that shows which parks are participating in the different boros. Many sites offer free mulch as well.
If you don’t live in NYC, check with your local government or sanitation department to see if they have a similar program. And if you are lucky enough to have a good-sized yard, just chop the tree up yourself and leave in an unused area. The animals and plants will love you for it. Here’s a link to a woman who keeps goats, who’s neighbor drop their trees off for her goats to munch on.
Just remember, remove all lights, tinsel and other stuff that isn’t part of the tree. I always think this is a super-obvious thing to say, but a couple of days ago I saw a tree on the curb with all the lights still on it. What the heck? You had such a bad Christmas you can’t imagine ever stringing your lights again? Or just a gross example of our disposable society?
Snowbound
You can click on the picture above for a view of the snow that was in our backyard. I have been a bit snowbound myself and will need a few days to sort through the photos of things we did during the winter school break.
Merry Christmas
I hope your day is filled with happiness and love.
Last Minute Gift for the Planet
Do you ever stop and think about all the mail-order catalogs that arrive at your home? Then you think about all those catalogs going to all your neighbors and friends and family and it seems overwhelming. Many companies try and use recycled paper, or paper from managed sources. However, there are still plenty of companies buying paper made from the trees of endangered forests in Canada, the US, etc. Peek here to read about a group called Forest Ethics and how they are trying to protect the endangered forests.
Besides recycling those catalogs, you can very easily stop them from coming to your home in the first place. In the past, if you wanted to stop the catalogs, you had to call each company, navigate through their phone system and convince the person on the phone to take you off their list. Not anymore! Catalog Choice has arrived to do all the work for you. For free I might add.
Just click http://www.catalogchoice.org/ to go to their website. You set up an account (they don’t sell your name to others, because that’s exactly what they are trying to help you with). Then you find companies in their database who are sending you unwanted mail. You just opt-out of receiving mail from them and Catalog Choice does the work contacting them.
Sometimes companies print up to 6 catalogs at a time, so it might take a few weeks/months before you stop receiving them. Just be patient and know that you are making a big difference. They even show you how many trees, pounds of greenhouse gas, pounds of solid waste and gallons of water you have saved by opting out of your particular catalogs. I’m a total sucker for those stats!
Happy Holidays! Please share your ideas for gifts for the planet.
The Nogg
Here is an insanely gorgeous chicken coop that was designed in the UK. It is made out of cedar, stainless steel and glass. It is obviously for free-range hens as there is no run. I look forward to peeking inside of one of these someday soon to better see the roosting and nesting areas. They made a pull out droppings tray, so it’s not just pretty, but practical as well. You can read more about it on their website. I wonder if this will make it to the US. She says hopefully…
Reusable Gift Bags
Each year I think about all the wrapping paper that gets used and tossed during the holidays. It makes me shiver thinking about all the trees that went into such a one-off item. Since we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, it is on my mind twice this month. We have the Hanukkah bag that Lindsay opens each night. She doesn’t seem to miss the wrapping paper one little big. I haven’t ever gotten nearly organized enough to make loads of bags for Christmas. I aspire to be that organized, but honestly, I’m just trying to get all my knitting and shopping done in time for Christmas morning.
In case you are as horrified as I am at the idea of using wrapping paper, and you have some time to make beautiful gift bags, here are some links. This link is for the bag you see above. It is beautiful and looks super fancy. Nobody would feel disappointed over the loss of wrapping paper with it. Here are instructions for a much simpler bag.
And here are simple instructions from Japan’s Ministry of the Environment for wrapping gifts using a piece of fabric. How great is that?!? And how many of you have struggled over how to wrap a watermelon. Admit it.
First Frost
This weekend we had our first frost of the year. Since then the weather has stayed cold and the ground is now getting hard. That is one of the most tangible signs of winter for me. Walking on hard, frozen ground. It’s so wonderful when it gets soft in the spring. But as much as I like being warm, there are parts of winter I do like. I like knitting with a vengeance and I like warming up the house (in a good way) with baking and cooking. We even had a few snow flurries the other morning. That’s still magical.
Ted Talks – Birke Baehr
Why is it that an 11 year-old boy can clearly see what is wrong with our food system, but most grown-ups can’t? Watch this. It’s pretty great.
Mixing Metaphors
We are a family of mixed traditions. Neither Neil or I are from religious households, but we celebrate our Christian and Jewish traditions. We celebrate both Hanukah and Christmas much to our daughter’s delight. And tonight like a good Jewish/Christian family, we are celebrating the first night of Hanukkah by taking Lindsay to see the Nutcracker.
She’s seen various versions before, but tonight we’re going to the big kahuna. Lincoln Center. I can still remember the first ballet I saw at Lincoln Center. Swan Lake with my grandfather. People-watching at intermission was almost as spectacular as the performance. I can’t wait to share this experience with Lindsay!