Natural and Sustainable

Creating a balanced ecosystem in your life is easier than you think.

When cooking outside or caring for your patio or deck, you want to go the organic way, here’s how:

1. Freshen cushions naturally: Combine a half cup of hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar with a cup of water. Spray on mold and dirt and do not rinse. Treat the mold with a spray mixture of 2 tsp. tea tree oil and 2 cups water. The mold and strong smell will dissipate in a few days. To brighten lawn furniture, dissolve a half cup of washing soda in a gallon of hot water. Rub soda on and let set for 10 minutes. Rinse off. Test on wood to be sure the finish won’t peel off. Be sure and wear gloves as well.

2. Get a cleaner start naturally: Lighter fluid contains hydrocarbon-emitting petroleum distillates, which contribute to unhealthful smog and impart a chemical taste to the food. Use chimney starter (available at hardware stores) to start the fire. It holds the charcoal above a burning piece of newspaper and relies on airflow under the charcoal to create a glowing heat.

3. Fuel the fire naturally: Grilling with natural gas is the most environmentally freindly method of cooking outdoors. Charcoal and wood give off soot particles that polute the air. If food cooked over wood is a must, use the wood ash as an amendment to neutralize acidic soil.

Here is more information on creating a balanced eco-system within yourself and your own home:

Hemp, unlike its cotton cousin, needs little or no pesticides. Plants grow close together to shadow out weeds, require little rainfall and will grow anywhere wheat grows. Hemp fibre is four times stronger than cotton, and although it feels harsh on the skin, manufacturers are working hard to develop a softer version.

Recycled Cotton is another more earth-friendly choice in cotton clothing. Recycled cotton is cotton fabric that has been made from recovered cotton that would otherwise be cast off during the spinning, weaving or cutting process. A trade name for recycled cotton is Eco Fibre; there are no harsh chemicals used in the processing of this fabric.

Recycled plastic (PET) soda pop bottles are refined and purified, chopped down and processed into spun fibre strands. These strands are then knitted and woven into fabric.

New textiles using soy fibres, bamboo and organic wool, which comes from sheep raised solely on organic meal, are also in the works.

The Organic Trade Association
OTA (www.ota.com) is a North American association representing the organic industry in Canada and the United States. Members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmer associations, brokers, consultants, distributors and retailers. The Association has been instrumental in shaping both the regulatory and market environment for the organic products industry. As of Dec. 2003, its members included 76 Canadian companies.
(Source: Women-can-do-anything)

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip®: When trying to find “just the right’ gift to give, think outside the box and gift a gift that keeps on giving such as a charity. They not only give to the less fortunate but they also help cut down on planetary waste.

46. Campaign for a national health care system: If more and more people demand it, in the future the demand has to be met.

47. For the college bound, take some general classes at a state school ort community college where the tuition is lower: Even if you plan to take most of your classes a a more expensive college it’s a good idea to take the basics at a community college. Just check with the college you plan to go to after the community college to make sure the classes will transfer.

48. Attend an in-state college: Establish residency for a year or two beforehand, if you need to. You will save more money in the long run then just jumping right into a college.

49. Buy you college books online: Don’t give into the cost of the books at the college bookstore, they are there to make money for the college not help you out.

50. Watch for unique scholarship opportunities: Even the ones that help you gain help from other sources than cash. You may even get into opportunities where you get something for making the Dean’s List, or something similar.

51. Audit classes if need be: Especially in classes where you just want the knowledge not the credit.

52. For lessons, try bartering: Such as doing some work in photography in exchange for some dance lessons. Or sewing in exchange for some computer lessons.

53. Discontue your internet service and take advantage of a wireless “hotspot”: You can go in some towns to an internet cafe or even take advantage of someone else’s unsecure wireless. Even the smallest towns are now getting free wireless for residence.

54. Rediscover the radical notion of the library: You can get almost anything at a local library for free with a signed up membership and card. Even DVDs are at the local library.

55. Volunteer to usher: Get into plays, concerts and other events if you ask to volunteer and help out. All you have to do is ask.

56. Find low-cost fun in your local paper: Take full advantage of free concerts, events and even some movies.

57. When at a concert or movie, avoid buying anything to eat or drink while you are there: Some place will even let you bring in your own snacks or drinks.

58. Take turns entertaining with friends or neighbors: Potlucks and parties are a great way to entertain and get others involved.

59. Occasionally, go ahead and spend money: Spend money on things you know you will benefit from in the long run.

60. Volunteer: Organizations such as Willing Workers on Organic Farms

**JM over at Fiction Scribe has her “Thirteen Goals for Next Year”. Read her goals and while you’re there leave her a message and tell her your goals for 2008.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: If your shelves are overstuffed with books you’ve already read, check out BookMooch, a free service that help you trade books with others around the globe. You rack up points for each book you give away. Make a wish list and redee3m your points when a book you want becomes available. And here’s the cool thing: BookMooch has a list of charities it works with, so you can donate your points and shre in the literacy wealth with someone in need.

Anyone can start living a more Eco-Friendly lifestyle. All it takes is one step in the right direction to get started. Here’s how:

1. Safer Paint: Many companies now offer no-or-low-VOC paints, like Benjamin Moore’s EcoSpec, Yolo, and Anna Sova in a huge array of colors.

2. Stain Trick: Pour boiling water on a stain spot as soon as possible and it will come out like magic. You don’t need to use soap or chemicals.

3. Greener Cleaners: Organic skin care is an easy way to decrease toxic exposure to the elements. Try any of the organic varities that are at your local health food store. There are so many to choose from and most of great for you and your baby as well.

4. Resources On Eco-Living Information: Check The Green Guide or the NRDC. For instance if your dentist is wanting to put sealants on yoru child’s teeth, you can email to ask about the safety of the sealant.

5. Fresh Air: Keep air purifiers in the bedrooms of your home. Models with medical-grade HEPA filters, to reduce allergens, and carbon filters help to reduce fumes and off-gassing.

6. Less Plastic In The Home: Switch to glass bottles for your child. Drinking out of glass is better for you and even better for your baby. Plastic contains so many harmful chemical additives and when heated they release those chemicals.

7. Food Smarts: The Environmental Working Group’s list of produce likely to contain pesticides is a helpful in figuring out what’s particualrly important to buying organic.

**Brad Pitt and Angelina took their kids and headed to Brad’s parent’s house in Missouri for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Over at Brad Pitt Watch, Randi has the whole story, read it here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Plant a garden. If you don’t have the time for a fun garden, plant a herb garden and keep it in your kitchen window. Use the herbs that grow in your herb garden in your cooking. It is a great way to add fresh herbs to any meal and also is a great stress releiver when you get to enjoy what you have grown.

• Use a dime-sized portion of shampoo and conditioner when washing your hair. Then when you get halfway through the bottle, add a little water to make it last even longer.

• Love cut flowers? Weel, most are treated with pesticides and flown thousands of miles, and usually die in about three days. Instead opt for indoor plants such as hydrangeas, which come potted.

• Try to buy local over organic when in the supermarket. Of course organic is important to your health as well as your families, but buying local you support local growers. It not only forces you to eat seasonlly, when produce is freshest, it also eliminates the energy coasts of shipping food from around the world. Also, small farmers are more apt to care about their environmental impact than industrial agriculture, since they live on the land they work.

• Bring a tote to the supermarket when you do your shopping, and try to remember plastic produce bags as well, so you are not collecting more and mroe each time.

• Test your own drinkinbg water yourself with a water purifying kit from a local hardware store. Or get an easy-to-install water filter. So instead of buying plastic bottles, use a carafe of water in the fridge.

• When you order take-out ask for the condiments of only what you plan to use. Who really needs 12 packets of soy sauce, eight packages of ketchup or four pairs of plastic knives? It’s sad to see them all end up in the trash eventually.

• Opt to pay a few cents extra to support wind-powered electricity, which comes from a renewable energy source. Your power company won’t hook you apt. or your house up to a different generator, but it does make sure that a comparable amount of wind energy is used in another place and it will overall make a tiny difference for a better world.

**Looking for tips on what stocks are up and what stocks are down? Check out Rick’s suggestion over at My Stock Winners. He states that The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payors Index (HMO – 1,798.6) is facing long-term resistance at the 1,800 level. Read more here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Swap, don’t buy (Try eBay, Craigslist, and Freecycle.)

1. Reflect on what’s important: Have a family discussion about what everyone is thankful for this year.

2. Experience Diversity: Incorporate other cultural and religious customs into your holiday celebrations.

3. Valunteer Where Ever You Can: Assist at a soup kitchen, children’s hospital or animal shelter.

4. Pick A Family Cause: Collect loose change and allowance money and donate it together.

5. Give Gifts That Count For Something: Instead of material items, give charitable donations in the names of friends, family, teachers and coaches.

6. Give meaningful gifts: Buy fair trade and ethically-sourced products from retailers such as World of Good Trade as One and Ten Thousand Villages.

7. Share In The Name Of The Holidays: Contribute new or gently used clothes and tous to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, toy drives or families in need.

8. Spread The Joy: Ask you child’s teacher to have students create handmade greeting cards. Then deliver them to a local senior citizen’s home.

9. Spread The Love: Compose a poem, song or testimonial telling someone that they are special. Create an eco keepsake: Write it on recycled paper and put it in a reclaimed wood frame.

10. Spend Time With Family: Cook together, talk with the TV off or just get on the floor and play games.

11. Care For The Earth: Conserve wrapping paper, reuse ribbons and bows, send greetings on recycled paper, or send e-cards online.

12. Celebrate Your Family: Appreciate the gifts that they are just for being themselves.

**Do you have bad habits? Over at Write Anyway, JM jokes about her bad habits, and how bad habits aren’t all that BAD. Read the whole story here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Compact your nonrecyclable trash and use fewer bags when throwing things away.

Volunteers, business and government working together to clean up Oregon’s waterways.

Common pullutions to oregon and the world’s water ways include:
• Cigarette butts
• Fishing line
• Styrofoam cups
• Scrap metal
• Borken glass
• Tires
• Pesticides
• Chemicals

All of these things end up in the Pregopns rivers, streams and lakes. Garbage and pollution contaminate our drinking water, poison fish and wildlife, and turn pristine waterwaterways into un contaminated trash mounts.

You can make a difference in this horrible situations or any waterway for that matter by adopting that waterway and cleaning up for future generations to come.

How it works: Oregon Adopt-A-River uses a citizen-based hands-on approach to keeping the state’s water cleans. Volunterrs take care of their favorite section of river or waterway, such as a stream or lake and they work with federal, state and local governments to clean it up. And continue to keep that waterway clean.

Adopting a waterway is simple. It only takes on person to get things started. And all it takes is gathering some friends or relatives or even neighbors together and start it up. Anyone who is an environmentally concerned citizen can Adopt-A-River. Those who adopt a waterway are called “Stream Stewards”. They choose a two-mile stretch along any waterway in Oregon. Stream Stewards make a two-year commitment and hold cleanups at least twice a year. Oregon Adopt-A-River will provide:

• A how-to manual on planning a clean up.
• Certificats of Adoption and Recognition.
• Grabage bags, stickers and window decals.
• Assistance to learn who owns and manages the land along your adopted waterways.
• Safety Tips.
• Sample news releases and suggestions on how to attract media coverage.
• Ideas on how to obtain donated supplies.
• Adviuce on trash disposal.

Oregon Adopt-A-River also serves as a resource for citizens and volunteer groups. Teaching volunteers about the importance of healthy waterways is a central part of the Oregon Adopt-A-River program.

The state of Oregon alone, has hundereds of rivers and streams. All of them need help from committd and concerned volunteers. Here’s how to get started in any state where you live: The following is a random list of states that have the Adopt-A-River program in force.

• Minnesota

• Indiana

• Oregon

• Tennessee

• Montana (Adopt-A-Fish Program)

• Florida

• Mississippi

•Illinois

• Michigan

• Outside the U.S. -Canada

To name a few. Get started now by contacting your local water shed dept. through your local national park office. Or contact your city’s chamber of commerce to find out how to get started.

**Are you a Jim Henson fan? Well, over at Artist Passion, Wendy Withers friend Adam Sageser is and has made it into a passion beyond the normal thinking. Read the whole story here and watch the video of him during his puppet show.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Buy things that will last over time. Think long term, even if the product is more expensive, if it will last longer than ultimately it is worth the more expensive price tag. If the product, such as clothing is made better, it will last for years and years to come.

Putting plants to work for environmental sustainability and economic development within The Oregon Garden falls under the name of SPROut: (SUSTAINABLE PLANT RESEARCH AND OUTREACH).

SPROut’s Misson is to develop and promote the use of plants and plant material to solve environmental challenges. They build project partnerships and provides outreach and education to integrate research efforts with public and industry development.

What does SPROut offer:

• Outreach:
1. Website and publications
2. Educational literature for Oregon Graden visitors
3. Professional develpment courses
4. Curriculum for Chemeketa Community College’s 2-year Horticulture degree
5. Workshops/Conferences/ Research summits

• Research Support:
1. Research suppoert for Oregon State University’s Horticulture students and faculty
2. Start-up grants to launch research and implementation projects
3. Collaborative grant proposal develpment
4. Background researchg and literature reviews
5. Project management
6. Use of The Oregon Garden site for field-based research

• Research Priorities:
1. Wetlands/Wastewater Remnediation
2. Phytoremediation
3. Urban Water Management and Ecoscaping
4. Native Plant Restoration and Invasive Species Control
5. And Riparian Area Restoration

Current SPROut Research Projects:

• Landowner Tools for Quanitfying Multiple Environmental Services of Riparian Vegetation Buffers for Use in Water Quality Credit Trading in Oregon Watersheds.

• Sustainable Parking Lot

• Botanical Burrito & Floating Nursery Production for Water Treament

• The use of high rate irrigation of Poplar Trees as a nutrient reduction system

• New uses for the World’s Oldest Crop; using Barley straw to control algae in Aquatic Environments.

• Developing Green Roof Plants for Oregon’s Nursery Industry.

For more information contact: Renee Stoops, SPROut Coordinator at rstoops@chemeketa.edu or 503-584-7252 or by visiting The Oregon Garden or SPROut

(SPROut is currently funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA)

**Catch the weekend events over at Albuquerque, New Mexico blog written by Mary McIntyre. If you will be taveling soon, check out the rest of her blog to see if a stop off in Albuquerque will fit in your travel plans by clicking here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible. There is many uses in one rechargeable battery then a single use battery. It helps control battery waste in the landfill as well as the carbon impact on the Earth.

Ways to achieve relaxation with your pedicure or manicure at home and also keep it toxic-free and environmentally friendly.

1. Use soy or water-based, acetone-free polish remover.

2. Clip your fingers to the length you are wanting and then use a file to shape them.

3. Fill a small bowl with wam water and add drops of essential oil to the water and soak your hands or for feet use a large bowl and do the the same for about three minutes. Use essential oils such as geranium or lavender oil to help relax you.

4. Apply lotion to the cuticles with the the same oil as the base and push back cuticles with an orangewood stick. Never clip your cuticles. The cuticles are there to protect your nails from bacteria. If you receive a manicure from a “professional”, always tell them not to cut or clip the cuticle bed.

5. Using your essential oil-based lotion, use a small amount and add sugar to the mixture. Apply this all over your hands to help exfoliate the skin on the hands and add moisture where it is needed. If you have rather dry hands, rub mixture for a few minutes more, taking care in the areas needing it most.

6. With the orangewood stick, remove any dirt or grime from the nail bed, under the nail and on the tips of the fingers.

7. Apply a base-coat onto dry nails. It is wise to use a base coat that is a ridge filler, in order for the color to go on more smooth. Apply your color in two coats, followed by another light sweep to help the polish stay on the nail longer and prevent chips in the color.

8. Using a cotton ball soaked in polish remover, wrap the cotton ball around the top of the orangewood stick and remove any color on the skin and around the nail area.

Some Environmentally-Friendly Polishes To Try:

• Priti Nail Polish ($12.50)

• Anise Professional Nail Color ($6)

• Honeybee Gardens Nail Enamel ($5.99)

• Suncoat Water-Based Nail Polish ($9.99)

• PeaceKeeper Nail Paint ($12)

• Go Natural Nail Polish ($5.25)

Safer and environmentally-friendly polishes are no different in color than the everyday run-of-the-mill polishes up for purchase at the drug store. The only “better” difference is they are safe for the earth and better on your skin. They do however take longer to dry than the normal nail color, so do keep that in mind when applying layers.

**There is an automotive class just for women who are eager to learn how to do every type of car maintenance themselves. It’s called: “Ladies, Start Your Engines”. The instructor is Lori Johnson and she aims to being more women into the automotive knowledge world. So look out men, here we come. To read more about this class, go to Automotive Blogger, written by M. Mayber, and read all about it.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Always buy shade-grown, fair-trade coffee. ALWAYS! Never settle for less.

Nothings more sustainable than using what the earth already provides. Leaves and foliage make a great Thanksgiving center piece as well as wall art. Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Enhance an ordinary wooden tray with a scattering of fallen leaves. Cut a piece of colored art paper to fit the inside of a tray. Using pressed, preserved leaves, plan your design, dot each leaf with craft glue and press onto the paper. Place the paper on the bottom of the tray. To protect the design and the leaves from getting broken, place a piece of glass over the top. You can get a piece of glass cut to fit the tray size at any frame shop.

• Graphic leaf patters put a modern spin on the age-old art of framing pressed botanicals. Select frames of your choice. Take the glass out of the frame and trace outline on a piece of card stock. Arrange leaves as you like on the paper, dot each leaf with craft glue and press gently onto the paper. When throughly dry, put the frame back together and replace the glass. For a wreath pattern, draw and cut a circle from a piece of 1/8-inch thick cardboard, using a large bowl or other round shape as a tehmplate. Set a smaller bowl inside the circle and trace. Cut the inside shape out to a make a ring. Brush a thin layer of craft glue on the leaves and overlap them onto each other. Experiment with background papers in nature’s rich palette of earth tones.

• Give packages a woodsy flair by tying them up with twine or raffia topped with leaves. Try a mix of papers in seasonal hues. For gift boxes, wrap each box with paper and tie with twine, leaving enough for a bow. Make a fan of a few pressed, preserved leaves, and punch a hole where the stem meets the leaf. Thread the twine though, knot and trim the ends. For paper bags, punch holes at the bases of a few leaves, thread the twine through and tie. For bottles, cut a length of parchment paper slightly longer than the circumference of the bottle and as wide as the label you’ll be covering. Wrap the apper around the biottle, tie with twine and tuck the leaves underneath.

• Make pillar candles embellished with leaves the highlight of your tabel. Or arrange them on the mantel. Plan the leaf pattern on a flat surface. Brush a thin layer of craft glue onto each leaf and press onto pillar candles of various heights. Arrange the candles on a tray and surround with loose leaves.

• Nothing could be easier, or prettier, than setting a table dressed up for the season. Place leaves in a pattern for each plate, arrange a ring of leaves around the rim or dot the leaves across the plate as desired. Carfully place a glass plate of the same size as the bottom plate on top snadwishing the leaves between the two plates. Try colored glass plates, instead of clear, for an entirely different look.

•Instead of decorating with traditional greens, drape a favorite mirror, mantel or banister with a garland of leaves. Cut a piece of brown twine to desired length (6 feet gives you a good length to work with) and lay straight on a flat surface. Working form one end and using a hot-glue gun, sandwich the twine in between two leaves and secure with a dot of glue. Continue adding “leaf sandwiches” on the twine until the entire length of twine is covered. Vary color and variety of leaves. Secure the garland to a mirror or banister with glue dots. Glue dots are best so they won’t leave a mark when the garland of leaves are removed.

**Need tips on how to entertain a crowd of people? Over at Household Tips, Stephanie gives tips on how to achieve the perfect setting this holiday without going insane. Read her tips here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: If your shelves are overstuffed with books you have already read, check out Book Mooch, it’s a free service that helps you trade books with othes around the globe. You rack up points for each book you give away. Make a wish list and redeem your points when a book you want becomes available. And here’s the cool thing; Book Mooch has a list of charities it works with, so you can donate your points and share the literay wealth with someone in need.

Here are simple wasy to celebrate the season in a more sustainable way.

You wake up on January 1st with piles of crumpled wrapping paper, tissue paper everywhere in every color imaginable and gift bags laying all around filled with gifts of uselessness that you may only use once or twice before it ends up in a yardsale or donation box the following year. Not only the gifts lay about but also mounds of leftovers. All of this means, mind-boggling amounts of waste.

Americans toss away an extra 2 billion pounds of garbage weekly between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. From an environmental prespective, consumption, wheather of matiureal goods or energy, poses the greatest threat of anything we do on the environment.

Being environmentally conscious also reduces your holiday stress. Cutting back on the overdoing and overspending helps keep your immune system strong and winter-cold-resistance. It also brings more personal value to a celebration. Environment consciousness as taking a step back and focusing on the season. You have all your friends and family around, so take advantage of that and spend time with people rather than focusing on gift giving. Do yourself and the earth a favor: Before you decorate your home, wrap your gifts, and set out your buffet, consider these paths to a happier holiday.

• Decorate Your Tree With Sustainability: Every year, roughly 35 million Christmas trees are cut down and sold, serving a major source of holiday waste. First of all, don’t feel guilty about buying a tree. Trees are grown as a sustainable crop. In fact, 1 acre of Christmas trees produces enough oxygen to support 18 people, and provides habitiats for birds and wildlife. Buying an artifical-tree isn’t a better choice, since most faux foliage is made from earth-toxic PVC. The very best thing you can do is buy a live tree, with a root-ball, not a cut one. Live tress can be found at most nurseries and some tree lots. When the season ends you can plant it in your yard or a park. Whether you go cut or live be sure and always recycle your trees. Being a live one to your garden or a cut one to a local tree recycler. To find one in your own area go to Earth 911 or call you city’s public works department.

• Decorate With The Earth In Mind: Decorating for the holidays is a way to show personal expression, yet so many people fall back on petroleum-based products like tinsel, and plastic lawn ornaments. People not only use these products they also use the old fashion lights that blaze forth waste. We waste 40 precent more energy during the holidays than during the rest of the year by burning lights and doing extra driving.

Look for energy-eicient LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs, which burn just as brightly as regular tree lights by use 5 precent of the energy and last up to 100 precent longer.

Rather than filling the house with store-purchased decorations, which typically are mass-produced, easily broken and destined for landfills, make your decorations personal or biodegradeable such as winter squash and pomegrantes accented with fragrant cinnamon sticks and nutmeg into wreaths and centerpieces. Or buy a biodegradeable wreath made from birdseed for your front door. Let meaningful souvenirs and phtographs take the place of glass and aluminum ornaments on your tree as well.

• Put Some Sustainability Thought Into Gift Giving: Most of the precents you buy in December will be discarded by January. Skipping gifts altogether ay beem Scrooge’ish, but some meaningfullness can be put into the gift other than something “throw away”. First, don’t shop the mall on the day after Thanksgiving, which is the busiest shopping day of the year, by observing Internation Buy Nothig Day. Then consider ways to avoid the shopping ills while coming up with ideas for gifts that mioght actually be appreciated. Handmade gifts are the ones more cherished.

Back in the earlier gift-giving days, manufactured goods become more and more available to the masses, the idea of a store-bought gifts gained ascendant, but that era is now coming full circle. For many, a return to handmade gifts has put the fun back into the holidays. People use and keep nomemade gifts because there’s a memory associated with them. As an alternative, gifts of service such as: Car washing, dog walking, foot massaging, have no environmental impact and plenty of personal significance.

Rather than asking friends and family members wha they want, ask them what they want to do. We often give tickets to shows or concerts, it has a certain intimacy.

•Wrap It Up Earth-Friendly Ways: If you take the time to come up with personalized gifts, it’s a shame to not use better wrapping paper to wrap it up with, pasticularly when you are trying to think more green. The paper industry has one of the largest ecological footprints in the world. Using recycled paper is very, very important to do during the holidays. You not only reduce forestry waste, you also reduce water, energy and global warming impacts.

Americans waste more paper during the holidays during any other time. Christmas card waste could be cut back by a 10 precent reduction in the already 750 million greeting cards sent anually. This cut back could save 30,000 trees. And if every household in America reused just 2 feet of ribbon this year, the result would be 38,000 miles saved could be used to tie a ribbon around the Earth. Try to reuse and create your own wrapping paper by using old magazines or newspaper.

**If you need to catch up on what’s happening on Law and Order Criminal Intent, why not read all about the latest on the show over at Crime Drama TV here at 451 Press. Read the latest on L&O Criminal Intent by clicking here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Always recycle your old print cartridges. HP has an offer for a prepaid envelope to use when you purchase new cartridges to send back to the company your old cartridges for recycling.

Take one great wrapping paper and yse it in three distinctly different ways.

1. Stackables: A paper with both patterned and solid sections allows variety when wrapping stacked bopxes. Unify boxes with a common ribbon.

2. Gift tag: Use the solid section of the paper to wrap the gift, cut a piece of patterned section for the tag.

3. Paper ribbon: Eke out the last bit of paper by cutting strips of the patterned section to use as ribbon. To make the casual bow, hold each of tha strip and twist until it coils. Tape the ends to each other; tape coil to gifts.

Little Ribbons:

Tiny rolls of barrow “Bobbin” ribbon available in dozens of colors and patters caost usually about $1 each. Keep bunches of them on hand to creat many gift-wrap loos with ajust a few papers. And an even better earth-friendly option is to save all dicarded ribbon from the previous year or even at birthdays and other holidays and reuse and repurpose those ribbons.

Stylish tree garland:

1. Old-Time Garland: Get the look of vintage ornaments strung together. Shop antique stores and pay less for old-fashioned glass ornaments. String them together and use as garland for your mantel, tree or even your door-frame.

2. Metal Spiral: This dynamic shape is super fun to use. Try using aluminum foil and cut in a circle and hang on your tree after unraveling it.

3. Hand-Felted Pows: So adorable and fuzzy you could practically wear them as a scarf. By in a fabric store, needle and thread them together and hang. You can even pick up older pow pows at vintage stores or second hand stores.

Garland isn’t just for a tree as stated above, you can use it in many ways, such as:

• Coil inside a clear glass bowl
•Swag across a bed footboard or over a head board of a guest bedroom.
• Use as a drapery tie-back
•Drape across a kitchen window
•Wind amont accessories on a shelf or mantel
•Wind along a handrail going upstairs or downstairs
•Drape across a door frame or archway into the sitting room

**Looking for somethings new for your wedding? Try fitting in some dance lessons and wow your guests. Over at Wedding Tactics, Stacy Ochsman talks about a Boston company that offers lessons for bridal couples. Read the whole story here.**

**Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: If you currently hold a major credit card why not think about switching your current balance over to a credit card that gives you more than just an interest rate each month. You’re going to buy stuff anyway. Might as well earn carbon offsets or monetary donations while you’re at it; they’re small (usually around 1% of spending), but they add up. Some cards offer personal rewards as well as giving to charities or CO2 offsetters, and all are affiliated with major card companies like Visa. Less worry about whether or not your rewards points are gonna expire, since the points go straight to the good cause. Try: Earth Rewards Mastercard, World Wildlife Fund Visa, or Working Assets Visa. And if you have a credit card issued by a bank, check its website to see if you can earn rewards for good causes.

Yum! Brand® such as A&W All American Food, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken, Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell have teamed up with World Food Programme (WFP) to help raise money through the month of October to help stop world hunger. This joining will not only feed children and others in foreign countries, your donations will go to help children and others all over the world.

To help in these efforts you can go directly to the World Food Programme (WFP)site and donate right on their page here. Or eat at one of the selected Yum! Brand participants and donate as much as you want. For every dollar donated you will get a card in which you can place your name or your company in which you donated the dollar under. Natural and Sustainable has donated $17 dollars to the cause through the Yum! Brand® program and $55 through the site directly.

Donated now till the end of October at partcipating Yum! Brand® participants and donate year-round through the site and help World Food Programme’s (WFP’s) efforts and stop world hunger now because there is strength in numbers.

Here’s some facts from the World Food Programme (WFP) site and where your donation efforts help:

•AFRICA FLOODS: 1.5 million people across the continent have been engulfed by Africa’s worst floods in decades. From helicopters in the east to boats in the west, WFP is using every means at its disposal to reach these victims.

•WHERE MOST NEEDED: This donation gives WFP the flexibility to respond with life-saving assistance when and where it is needed most. Your gift will support WFP’s beneficiaries’ most pressing needs, from life-saving food rations for disaster survivors to cooking essentials for refugee families struggling to survive.

•CHILD HUNGER: Our planet produces enough food for every man, woman, and child to live healthy and productive lives. Yet, every five seconds a child dies of hunger. Over 300 million of the world’s children suffer needlessly from chronic hunger. By giving today, you can help WFP change a child’s life forever.

•ASIAN FLOODS: Over 25 million people have been affected by floods across south Asia. WFP is providing assistance to the worst affected by the devastation in Nepal and Bangladesh. Your donation will contribute to WFP’s efforts to feed families who lost their crops and help them rehabilitate their homes.

•PERU: A powerful earthquake struck the southern coastal region of Peru on 16 August, killing hundreds of people and leaving many others homeless. By donating to WFP’s operation in Peru you will be helping provide urgently needed food supplies to the victims of this earthquake.

•DARFUR: After four years of crisis, food is running out for 2.5 million people in Darfur who rely on WFP rations for survival each month. Many have fled their homes to escape violence and are now sheltering in cramped makeshift camps and living conditions are desperate and dangerous. Without your support, WFP’s emergency rations risk being cut.

•SOUTHERN AFRICA: Drought is devastating crops across southern Africa, leaving almost five million people in Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland at risk of food shortages and adding a deadly new dynamic to some of the world’s highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. Without sufficient food, people affected by HIV/AIDS are robbed of one of their main defences against HIV and AIDS-related infections. Good nutrition also improves the effectiveness of drug treatments. Make an online donation today to help WFP use food assistance to soften the blow of HIV and AIDS on southern Africa.

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