Go Green in 2014!

By: Catie Tobin, Ocean Advocacy and Education Fellow

This season, Clean Ocean Action is offering tips about how to green your holiday. Here is the eleventh of twelve in COA's 12 Days of Green Giving' series.

This New Year’s, why not consider greening both your New Year’s Eve plans and your resolution?

Photo Credit: Google Images

Throw an environmentally friendly celebration this New Year’s Eve!

Hosting your own party, instead of going out will save you on the carbon emissions (and money) of transportation.  Encourage your guests to carpool to your home and nominate (or volunteer) a designated driver for the evening.  Emailing invitations and using LED lights for decorations are great green party ideas for this holiday season.

Ring in the New Year with some green drinks too! Whether it is with eco-friendly cocktails, such as organic vodka (i.e. Square One Vodka or Modmix), juice from a local orchard, beer from a local brewery, or water from a Britta Filter infused with seasonal fruit, there is a perfect drink for your guests.

Greening Your New Year’s Resolution

Photo Credit: Google Images

The turn of the New Year marks a blank canvas; a time in which someone can make positive changes to their current lifestyle. Common ‘green’ resolutions include losing a few pounds by walking instead of driving, carpooling to events, or riding your bike to the supermarket. Identifying greener resolutions is the easy part, but successfully following through on those resolutions requires true dedication.

What do you need to successfully follow through on your resolution? Drive. Desire. Creativity. Support. So why don’t you support your friends and family this holiday season by providing them the tools to stick with their greener New Year’s resolutions?

Sites such as Groupon offer great opportunities to give the gift that supports greener resolutions. Whether it’s an admission ticket to a national park, eco-friendly adventures like camping or rock climbing, Groupon offers great deals that can be customized to the person you are going green with.

If a resolution involves reducing, reusing and recycling, especially with your holiday décor, then Pinterest is the site for you! Whether you want to create eco-friendly personalized gifts for your friends and family, or learn fun and different ways to recycle items in your own home, Pinterest is a great tool for all you Do It Yourself-ers. 

At Clean Ocean Action, we encourage all of you to think of 2014 as an opportunity to become a better steward to our ocean and to the planet.  Consider greening your New Year’s plans and making simple changes throughout the year to reduce your carbon footprint.  Small changes can add up in a big way!

Wrapping It Up Eco-Style This Holiday Season

This season, Clean Ocean Action is offering tips on how to green your holiday. Here is the fifth of twelve in COA's '12 Days of Green Giving' series.

By: Catie Tobin, COA Ocean Advocacy and Education Fellow

It may seem difficult to keep up your holiday spirit up this season while staying environmentally cautious, especially while wrapping presents, shopping at malls, or sending out your holiday cards, but it’s a good thing that there are quick and easy ways to ‘go green’ this holiday season!

Sites, such as Eco Cycle, Pinterest, and Tree Hugger, give great suggestions on how ‘going green’ this holiday season is affordable, eco-friendly, and easy! The perfect way to start is wrapping  and packing eco-style. Wrapping paper adds a variety of colors to your holiday décor, but why use single-use wrapping paper?

Utilize comics, posters, old calendars (there are only a few more days left in 2013), maps, blueprints, fabrics, or cloth gift bags to wrap this year’s holiday gifts instead. This is a great opportunity to not only be eco-friendly, but to personalize the wrapped gifts for that particular person. You can even make a game out of it on Christmas morning: have your loved ones find their gifts based on which type of wrapping resembles them the most! For example, if you have a cousin who loves to travel, wrap all of their gifts in recycled maps, or an uncle who loves to go boating and fishing, wrap his gifts in recycled fishing nets or pages from a boating magazine. Be creative!

Another great way to be environmentally friendly this holiday season is to bring your own re-usable bags holiday shopping. Clean Ocean Action has a re-usable, recycled bag made from recycled plastic just for you! This is a simple and easy way to avoid using plastic shopping bags and help the environment! 

Choosing holiday cards which can easily be recycled is another useful tool that can help you ‘go green’ this holiday season. While sending e-cards is an environmental solution, they can get lost in people’s inbox and may not seem as personal. If you prefer to send out holiday cards via post office, choose cards without non-paper embellishments like foil or ribbon, and look for cards that contain post-consumer recycled content. Don’t worry, you can still send around a photo with your family rockin’ their holiday-best sweaters, but why not do it in an eco-friendly manner? Sites such as Greener Printer and the Gallery Collection will allow you to do just that. Now go and get the camera ready and say ‘eco-friendly’ as the light flashes!

There are so many ways in which you can be environmentally friendly without lessening your holiday cheer. Start a new tradition this year and watch as these ideas remain a holiday favorite for years to come. 

Give the Gift that Keeps on Giving!

This season, Clean Ocean Action is offering tips on how to green your holiday. Here is the second of twelve in COA's '12 Days of Green Giving' series.

By: Catie Tobin, COA Ocean Advocacy and Education Fellow

Tis the season for shopping lists, baking to-dos, and holiday decorating galore. With all of the time needed to complete those tasks, it’s hard to devote time to really thinking about personalized gifts for your family and friends, let alone environmentally-friendly gifts. It’s a good thing that there are websites out there that can help you do just that!

Holiday gifts do not necessarily have to be an article of clothing or an iTunes gift card. Why not give something more meaningful and that can help the environment? Become craftier, especially with your holiday décor, utilize Pinterest as a way to create long-lasting (and greener) decorations! Whether you want to transform your house into a Winter Wonderland or you want to create personalized gifts for your friends and family, then Pinterest is a great tool for all you Do It Yourself-ers. 

Websites, such as ReUseIt, are a great resource to use when holiday shopping. Whether it is a reusable eco hero cape for your environmental superhero or eco-finger paint for your artsy neighbor, gifts for all ages can be found on this environmentally friendly website. Other websites, such as The Daily Green, provide other great opportunities to find ideas for unique green holiday gifts.

Gifts do not necessarily have to be something that the recipient physically receives. Another great option to build a greener future with a greener gift is to donate to an environmental organization in said person’s name. For example, Clean Ocean Action provides great opportunities to give the gift that keeps on giving. A donation to Clean Ocean Action in someone’s name allows us to continue protecting our ocean and build a greener future. Our fellowship and internship programs are funded by donations from people like you. They also go to building our educational programs to help shape the next generation of marine scientists.

A donation to Clean Ocean Action can also give the gift of an ocean education. Make a donation to COA specifically for a Clean Ocean Action presentation for your child’s school or an organization you are a part of. Presentations are available for all age groups and topics include the Clean Ocean Zone, Pointless People Pollution, Liquefied Natural Gas, as well as a general Clean Ocean Action presentation. 

Going ‘green’ this holiday season does not need to be a difficult task. Whether it is decorating in a greener fashion or giving ‘greener’ gifts, there are numerous websites available to help you accomplish all of your environmentally-friendly goals. Start a new trend amongst family and friends by thinking outside the box this holiday SEAson and purchasing greener gifts that will be sure to spread cheer!