I Unplugged for 10 Days: Part 7

Dolly the Dog likes to relax, too.  

Below is an account of my attempt to unplug completely from email and the internet for 10 days while on a stay-cation.  For those of you who haven’t heard the term, a stay-cation is a local vacation.

Day 7 – Thursday, April 28

I haven’t been on email or the Internet since Tuesday. Woo hoo!  The thing I have learned from this experiment is not so much HOW I would feel about unplugging and not checking email [by the way, I still have no desire WHATSOEVER to look at email], it’s more about our need to truly honor a vacation.  As I indicated in my first post, we are too connected.  We need to unplug in order to recharge. 

Also, as someone who is always on a schedule, I’m realizing that I really enjoy NOT having a set schedule.  Sure, I had a long list of things I wanted to get done on this stay-cation, and some ARE getting done, but not all, and I’m not letting myself stress about it.  Normally, I’d stress. 

Today I was supposed to drive up to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see my sister Lisa who is a hair stylist.  She was going to cut and color my hair.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast was calling for severe thunderstorms and threats of tornados and I would be driving right into the storm.  I didn’t want to do that, so I called her and said I’d come another time.  Honestly, it was a bit of a relief.  I still needed to do major grocery shopping for the gathering tomorrow and a round trip to PA and back, with cut and color in between, was a bit much.  Yes, that IS a problem of mine:  trying to squeeze too much into the day.  I rejoiced at knowing I was not going to feel harried.  I really hate that feeling.

So I got my shopping done and got to walk my dog Dolly at a leisurely pace and was able to greet boyfriend when he returns from his business trip with a clear conscious knowing I’ve taken care of all the big tasks.  I like this feeling.

It was nice not to rush.  So much of my life is rushing and trying to do too much in a small amount of time. I vow to not try to do this again when I get back to reality.  This stay-vacation world is NOT reality. 

The other thing I notice I’m doing while driving this week is that I let other cars go ahead of me and I let pedestrians cross the street in front of me.  Also, when I stand in line at a checkout, I let people go ahead of me.  I’m in no rush.  It is nice.  Sigh.  Is this because I’ve unplugged or is this because I’m on vacation or both? 

When I got a call from someone this week, I talked to them, but most people are doing a good job of not calling me because they know I want to unplug – and not just from email.  John and I did a bit of texting while he was out of town, but after he came back, I barely touched my phone.  Nice. 

When I told people I was going on vacation, they asked me where I was going and were hoping for my benefit that it was someplace tropical, but I didn’t really go anywhere.  I made two trips to Pennsylvania, but I mostly stayed at John’s in Takoma Park.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t there for the better part of 3 days since he was in New Orleans on business.  Some people may think that was not much of a vacation at all, but I enjoyed walking the boys to their bus stop with Dolly the Dog and meeting them at the bus stop at the end of the school day and not feel rushed.  

I’m relaxed.  Again, I ask if this is due to unplugging or from being on vacation?  I met if I were plugged in while on vacation, I wouldn’t feel this way.  When I tried to take 2 days off in March, I was on email both days for at least one hour or more.  I didn’t feel completely unplugged or relaxed or like I was on vacation. 

Next Post:  How I felt the first day back to work.  

I Unplugged for 10 Days: Part 6

 

View from John's front porch [his feet, not mine].

I Unplugged for 10 Days:  Part 6

Below is an account of my attempt to unplug completely from email and the internet for 10 days while on a stay-cation.  For those of you who haven’t heard the term, a stay-cation is a local vacation.

Day 4 – Monday, April 25

I am meeting my friend Kelly for dinner tonight at Busboys & Poets in Shirlington.  [By the way, this is a very green, veggie/vegan-friendly restaurant, so check them out!].  Since I haven’t been to this location before, I want to be sure I know how to get there, so I reluctantly get on the Internet for directions.  Since I’m already online and have blown the experiment yet again, after I get the directions, I quickly check out the site for Charlie Palmer Steak on Capitol Hill because I’m meeting Lisa DeMare, their Social Catering Sales Manager, for lunch.  [Yes, I’m officially on vacation but lunch with Lisa is fun and not work for me!]  I know where the restaurant is, but I figure I’ll read more about it.  [By the way, they had some really good vegetarian options available for me to eat, so don’t let the word “steak” in the name scare you away.  I would definitely go back again].

Late this afternoon, I get a call on my mobile from No Name Vegetarian Caterer and they inform me they can’t caterer the gathering on Friday.  Argh!  That night, I get back on the web site for Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats and plan out a menu, run it by my boyfriend John and plan to email the owner in the morning.  There goes the experiment yet again…

Total time on the internet today:  About 20 minutes. 

Day 5 – Tuesday, April 26

I got on email this morning.  It is the first time I’ve been on since Friday morning. I went a whole 4 days without getting on email, but I don’t consider this too huge of an accomplishment since 2 of those days were over the weekend.   I didn’t want to send an email, but I figured it was the easiest way to contact Doron Peterson, owner of Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats [and grand prize winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Channel by the way] about the gathering on Friday.  Despite the fact that the web site CLEARLY stated I could call the main number to place my order, I email the order to Doron since I know her.  I wasn’t looking for a discount.  I just wanted her to know that I was using her company for catering. 

So I send the email and keep checking email to see if she had responded to it.  I HATE that I got on email!  I try REALLY HARD to not look at emails anybody else sent me.  I look a bit at WHO emailed me, but I don’t open any emails.  Okay, maybe one.  So I am forced to keep looking at email to see if Doron responds, but she never does.  Long story short:  I finally speak to her via mobile phone late in the afternoon.  We have a lovely chat and she says, “Just call the main number.”  So I really didn’t need to get on email at all.  Argh!  I kick myself for ruining the experiment YET AGAIN but vow NEVER TO LOOK AT EMAIL ANYMORE DURING MY STAY-CATION!!

Next post:  See how I do for the duration of the experiment. 

I Unplugged for 10 Days: Part 5

View from the end of the road my parents live on in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

Below is an account of my attempt to unplug completely from email and the internet for 10 days while on a stay-cation.  For those of you who haven’t heard the term, a stay-cation is a local vacation.

Day 3 – Sunday, April 24

I haven’t been on email since Friday morning.  At least I have THAT going for me.  I don’t miss email at all and have no desire whatsoever to look at it.  Ever since Saturday, my phone is indicating that I have no new email, which I know is wrong.  My mobile phone does this from time to time.  No problem for me!  That makes unplugging even easier because I am not tempted to look at it.  I don’t miss my phone and have no desire to talk to anybody on the phone.  I am not experiencing withdrawal whatsoever.  I’m barely thinking about work.  I am really excited that I don’t have to work on Monday.  I am barely paying attention to what time it is and I am barely looking at my watch which is surprising because I am a compulsive watch-look-er-at-er. 

I had things I wanted to do today, like writing, but I didn’t get that done either and that’s okay because I’ve got the whole week off.  It will get done. 

Today at Easter brunch with my family in my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, my 22 year-old nephew Alex told me about a challenge he took last semester in one of his classes at Temple University.  He and his classmates were challenged to remove mass media from their lives -- as much as possible -- for at least 24 hours. This included television, radio, phone, email, the Internet and any kind of musical source.  I barely watch TV (Castle on Mondays for 1 hour, Cougar Town on Wednesdays for 30 minutes) and disconnecting from the phone, email and Internet does not scare me; however, the thought of disconnecting from NPR makes me anxious!  The thought of no music or noise for 24 hours stresses me, too.  Because I usually am alone in my office, except when my interns are here, I like listening to the voices on NPR ALL DAY LONG.  It keeps me company.  I’m an extrovert. I get my energy from other people.  I don’t do very well in silence.  

My smart nephew was able to engage in his disconnection fairly easily because he headed to the hills (as in the mountains, not my relatives) for 3 days.  He was with a group of friends who were NOT participating in the experiment, so he was forced to listen to music during the drive.

Alex told me he enjoyed unplugging and it was very easy because he was in the mountains and the weather was nice.  He also had other things around him to do and people around him to keep him company.  Imagine that, old fashioned socialization…He commented that had he been in the city (Philadelphia), it would have been tough to unplug with so much stimulation around him. 

His challenge was when some people in his group started watching a movie, it was tough to stay away from, but he did it!  Alex also commented that by Days 2 and 3, he started experiencing withdrawal symptoms from his laptop.  He’s 22 and on Facebook regularly.  I get it.   

Alex made the observation that we socialize around mass media and when you remove yourself, you remove yourself from your community.  After the experiment, his classmates reported that they felt disconnected and could not communicate with others.  Alex felt they could not socialize without utilizing mass media.  Being asked to NOT use mass media made communicating and socializing much harder for these people. 

What is our world coming to???

Total time on the internet today:  Zero minutes!   

Check in tomorrow when I share how I did on Day 4 and my challenges of staying away from the Internet. 

I Unplugged for 10 Days: Part 4

Below is an account of my attempt to unplug completely from email and the internet for 10 days while on a stay-cation.  For those of you who haven’t heard the term, a stay-cation is a local vacation.

Day 2 – Saturday, April 23

My boyfriend John is having a gathering of family and friends on Friday and being the event producer that I am, I am helping him with the menu and other details.  I had hoped to have these details taken care of before my unplugging, but we couldn’t’ find the time to have the discussion until now. 

I try to convince him to go with Sticky Fingers Sweet & Eats, an amazing vegan bakery/restaurant [see, we ARE still talking green on this blog!] that also caters, but he wants to go with No Name Vegetarian Caterer since he has used them before.  I’m okay with this since I’m curious to see how they’ll do.  I get on the Internet to see what their menu options are.  While I don’t mind getting online (no heart palpitations whatsoever) to handle this task, I will admit that I’m a bit disappointed that once again, I’ve failed at my plan to unplug.  But this gathering is much more important than my silly experiment, so I “man up” and get online. 

John and I look at the menu for No Name Vegetarian Caterer from our respective laptops.  He is one efficient, no-nonsense kind of guy, so we quickly figure out a menu.  I send an email inquiry and specifically request No Name Vegetarian Caterer to call me on my mobile phone since I am NOT checking email!  So goes it for unplugging from phone calls…  I realize that will be impossible.  I stay away from my laptop for the duration of the day. 

I didn’t plan anything for the rest of the day.  As a planner, I like to plan out my day – even on the weekends, but today, I wanted to let whatever happen, happen.  John, his 2 young sons and I went to an egg hunt in his neighborhood.  This one family has been hosting it for nearly 20 years.  The night before, parents drop off 1 dozen candy-filled plastic (eek!) eggs per kid.  The next day, families show up at the same house for a shot gun start to the egg hunt.  The little ones go first, followed shortly thereafter by older age categories.  They have a limit of 12 eggs per kid.  The adults hang out and enjoy a pot luck brunch and chat while the kids hunt for eggs.  I help out a few neighborhood kids I know who haven’t accumulated their 12 eggs by standing in an area where I see eggs and let them know if they are getting warmer and colder.  It was great, simple fun. 

Total time on the internet today:  15 to 20 minutes.  

Next post:  See how I did on Day 4 and read about the interesting experiment my college-aged nephew engaged in that involved removing mass media from his life for 24 hours.   

I Unplugged for 10 Days: Part 3

Below is an account of my attempt to unplug completely from email and the internet for 10 days while on a stay-cation.  For those of you who haven’t heard the term, a stay-cation is a local vacation.

Day 1 of Unplugging – Friday, April 22 (Earth Day)

My official unplugging began at approximately 9:25 a.m.  I was visiting my best friend Lori (yes, we have the same first name) and checked email once last time.  Over the next 10 days, I recorded my thoughts and feelings on my digital recorder (since I was trying to unplug!) and later transcribed those comments for this blog

I am completely finished with any email I wanted to send and I feel great!  I feel like I’m in college and just finished finals.  I am REALLY looking forward to NOT looking at email and I am NOT worried about NOT looking at it.  I have taken my precautions.  I am SO looking forward to being done with email for 10 days because I am really tired and desperately want to unplug.

The challenge is that my goal is to unplug from the Internet, too.  My marketing consultant told me about an unplugging quiz that she suggested I take before and after my unplugging.  I haven’t yet had an opportunity to take the quiz yet, but I really want to.  Also, I have dinner scheduled with a friend on Monday and want to be sure I know how to get there.  I could always call my friend or the venue, but I’m sure both will send me to the web site.  I decide to worry about it later.  Perhaps I’ll quickly log on to the Internet one last time and take the quiz when I’m visiting my oldest sister Sharon today on the way home from my friend Lori’s …  But that will be the LAST time I plug in… I swear…

***

It’s now the evening of the first night.  It’s been easy not to get on email since I’ve been on the road from Pennsylvania to Maryland for a good part of the day.  The hard thing is to not look at email on my phone since I see that I’ve got emails to read.  I push the button as if I’m going to read the emails, but look away when it brings up the emails and quickly get out of email mode.  I do this because I want to keep setting the number of emails to read back to zero because at the end of the 10 days, I don’t want to see that I have 600 emails to read!  It will surely give me chest pains.  

I didn’t get a chance to take the unplugging quiz at my sister’s, and since my marketing consultant recommended I take it before and after my unplugging, I figure I better do this NOW!  So I got on the internet to take the quiz.  It didn’t make a lot of sense to me, so I won’t be taking the quiz at the end of my unplugging. Sigh.  I plugged back in on the very first day for nothing!!  Darn, darn, darn! 

Total time on the internet today:  about 20 minutes.  

I Unplugged for 10 Days: Part 2

Below is an account of my attempt to unplug completely from email and the internet for 10 days while on a stay-cation.  For those of you who haven’t heard the term, a stay-cation is a local vacation.

My Approach

I thought about unplugging from email about one week to 10 days before my official vacation.  The more I thought about unplugging, the more excited I got.  I not only wanted to make this a project that I blogged about (after the fact of course), I wanted to make this a movement!  I was REALLY serious about sticking to my decision to unplug. 

I knew I’d have to plan a bit before THE BIG UNPLUGGING occurred, so this is what I did:

The Date

Before all this crazy thinking began, months before I had booked a speaking gig in New Jersey on April 21^st, and had planned to visit my best friend Lori (yes, we have the same first name!) in the Philadelphia suburbs afterwards.  Because of this, I had already planned to take off the rest of my speaking day and the day after that which was Earth Day as well as Good Friday.  I would be watching my boyfriend John’s young sons during the middle of the following week while he was on a business trip, so I figured it would be easier to take those day’s off, too.  As a result, I just opted to take off from April 22 and not return to the office until May 1^st. 

My unplugging officially began on Friday morning April 22^nd, so my unplugging time ran over 2 weekends and I only lost 6 official work days. 

It helped that my time off was right after Easter/Passover, so I figured others might be on vacation and the demands on my time – and my email – might be a little less.  It also helped that I didn’t have an event coming up the following week. 

Other Actions

1.  I was worried that my email box would get overloaded, so I started unsubscribing to junk email I knew I would never read. 

2.  At least one week before my vacation, I alerted current clients as well as regular clients who didn’t currently have an event on the books about my vacation and plans to unplug.  Nobody was concerned and I think a few were envious.  They all supported my endeavor.    

3.  As I’m sure you suspect, I prepared an automatic out of office email and indicated that the office would be shut down for the week and that we would not be checking email until we returned.  I added that if it was a true emergency, people could call my mobile number.  Otherwise, they would have to wait until May 2^nd.  I did the same for office voice mail.   

My next post, which I'll make later today, will include a report from Day 1 of unplugging!

I Unplugged for 10 Days: Part 1

Below is an account of my attempt to unplug completely from email and the internet for 10 days while on a stay-cation. A stay-cation is a local vacation for those of you who haven’t heard the term.

Why I Did It

In the past, when I went on vacation – whether a true vacation or a stay-cation -- I still checked email and voice mail. You know what? I really resented it! This was probably because I remember a time when you took vacation, you truly unplugged because there was no other option. There was no such thing as checking email. Heck, email didn’t even exist! And you weren’t able to check your voice mail at work remotely because there wasn’t such a thing as voice mail. There was a receptionist who took a hard copy message for you. Yes, I know I’m dating myself. I turn 45 at the end of the month. In those days, you MIGHT call into the office to check in with your boss, but in my early days in the working world, there were no cell phones, so when you were on vacation, nobody contacted you and you didn’t contact anybody else. People respected this.

Why don’t we do this anymore? These days of being connected 24/7 are burning away our brain cells and burning us out! Am I the only one who feels this way? I’d love to hear your comments.

I can name SO MANY times when my vacation time came and there were still details up in the air for an upcoming event – or three. So I checked email daily and made myself available to clients who had to call. As a result of all of this staying plugged in, I can’t remember the last time I went on a vacation and truly unplugged. Perhaps it was during a trip to London in 2006. My mobile phone would not work across pond and I didn’t bring a laptop. Once – maybe twice – I checked email at an internet café. But other than that, I unplugged. Still though, I couldn’t go a week without checking email. And the last time before that probably some time in 2002. Pathetic.

So when I decided sort of last minute to take off from April 21st thru May 1st, I got excited. And I was DETERMINED to unplug. How did I do?

This week I’m going to share with you how things went. Tomorrow I will discuss my approach to making this work and then I’ll share with you just how I did and how I felt after the 10 days was up.

South African Tourism’s Launch of ECOTHANDA: the Sustainable Meetings Directory

Held at the Haworth showroom in Washington, DC, this website launch featured everything South Africa:  Zebratinis, wine, food, music by MAHALA, and models wearing South African hats and demonstrating the new sustainable meetings directory with i-Pads.   Below is a list of our 14+ green initiatives.

1.  Our venue was LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Photo courtesy of balance photography

  

2.  We were able to use the existing furniture in the showroom for the event.

Photo courtesy of balance photography

  

3. Geppetto Catering, our caterer for the evening, is the highest rated certified green caterer in the Metro DC Region.  They are 100% wind powered. 

Photo courtesy of balance photography

  

4.  All vegetables, fruits and produce are from farmers at local farmers markets.

Photo courtesy of balance photography

  

5.  All serving ware was on china, not plastic. 

  

6.  No plastic bottles were used.

  

7.  The napkins were compostable.

  

8.  We composted and recycled our waste. Our trash bags were biodegradable and made of rice.

  

9.  The South African wines were from sustainable wineries listed on ECOTHANDA.

Photo courtesy of balance photography

  

10.  Our votives contained LED lights and our decorative lighting was via LED lights thanks to John Farr Lighting Design.  

  

11.  The name badge holders were made of 50% recycled vinyl and the inserts were made of 100% post consumer recycled.

Photo courtesy of balance photography

  

12.  Plastic generated from our linens and other rentals was baled and recycled.  Linen hangers were returned to be reused.

13.  Our guest gift was made by MonkeyBiz, a nonprofit income-generating bead project listed on ECOTHANDA.

Photo courtesy of balance photography

Photo courtesy of balance photography

Photo courtesy of balance photography

Photo courtesy of balance photography

Photo courtesy of balance photography

Photo Courtesy of balance photography

Photo courtesy of balance photography

Sixth Annual Polar Bear Plunge the Coldest Ever!

I did it! On Saturday, January 22, I plunged into 30-degree water in 20-degree weather and raised over $1,523 (and counting!) thanks to nearly 50 friends, family, colleagues and clients.

I had an amazing time at the Plunge! I bundled up (8 layers on top, 3 on the bottom if you count my suit) and looked a bit like the Michelin Man and didn’t feel cold at all – even when I took off all those layers to get in the water. In previous years, I actually felt sick as soon as I hit the water, but not this year. I kept charging forward, full speed ahead and had the most amazing time! Everybody is ALWAYS in such a good mood and so many people really get into the spirit of the day.

lori hill event productions helped out with some of the logistics and in recruiting the day’s sponsors who also helped out a bunch. Be sure to give these folks you attention and business if you can.

Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company
            












 Not only does Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company produce some of the region’s finest coffees (if you were at the Plunge, you know!), they do it with modern eco-technologies. But more importantly, they are devoted to making the world around us a better place. CBRC pledges 2% in support of their H2O-Initiative that contributes funding to local organizations devoted to restoring our regional treasure, the Chesapeake Bay. Visit their web site to find out how you can purchase them at a store near you.

New Leaf Vegan Society
For three years in a row, Dale Ball from New Leaf Vegan Society has baked her buns off to provide the most delicious vegan muffins, cookies and brownies. We are confident she shocks skeptics when they realized they are eating vegan treats! New Leaf believes in a tasty plant-based outlook towards a more compassionate and sustainable future for ourselves, the animals and the planet. They are a valuable resource for delicious recipes, tips and hot topics.


Perfect Settings
A rented table looks pretty naked without a beautiful linen to adorn it and we are grateful that Perfect Settings, a party rental company with one of the most extensive product lines in the area, helped us adorn our tables with beautiful grass green linens. There are many party rental companies out there, but Perfect Settings makes every effort to reduce their carbon foot print. Furthermore, they recycle all plastic linen bags and cardboard, offer recycling services to events through the rental of recycling bins, purchase 100% wind power and have the most environmentally friendly tables and coverings in the special events industry.

Waste Neutral Group
We wouldn’t walk the talk if we didn’t dispose of our Plunge waste responsibly, so for the past three years, Waste Neutral Group has taken our compostables (all food, coffee cups and collars, wooden stirrers, napkins, paper waste) and recyclables and diverted them from the landfill. Whether you are planning an event, or are a commercial business or institution, Waste Neutral will come up with cost effective alternatives to help you divert needless waste from going to the landfill.

Brrrr! I'm Taking the Plunge!

Why I Plunge
Visiting the home of Mike Tidwell, the executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, in the summer of 2006 for one of his clean energy open houses turned me from light green to dark green. I credit CCAN for the sustainable practices I engage in at home and in my business and I’ve developed quite a passion for the fight against climate change. I’m trying to do my part to raise awareness about it and to help CCAN in their battle to change legislation. Accordingly, it has been my pleasure and honor to participate in their Annual Polar Bear Plunge for the previous 3 years even though I’m not a fan of the cold.

Make a Pledge!
If you'd like to make a pledge -- I'll take pledges of $5 to $500 -- go to my plunge page.

I Hope You’ll Join Me
I always have a great time at the Plunge. Seeing people of ALL ages is so inspiring and some folks wear amazing costumes. We drink great organic/fair trade coffee from Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company (we also provide hot tea and cocoa) and Dale Ball from New Leaf Vegan Society gets up at the crack of dawn to prepare her tasty vegan muffins and cookies. Be sure to get to the Plunge site early because Dale’s treats go fast! Our food and beverage spread always looks so nice because Perfect Settings party rental company donates the most beautiful table linens. And afterwards, Waste Neutral Group takes away all our waste – compost, recycling and the tiny bit that goes to the landfill.

The actual plunge itself is less than a minute. In fact, your time in the water is mere seconds. It’s a small sacrifice for a great cause.

Afterwards, we all head to an after party close by and nosh on great food and many of us have an adult beverage or two. This year, we’ll be at McLoone’s Pier House, a restaurant that cares about the environment.

If you'd like to join me, you can register at Keep Winter Cold.

Tips for an Effective Plunge
When I arrive at the Plunge site, I have my bathing suit on under my multiple layers of clothes (long johns under pants and about 3 or 4 layers up top). When it comes time to plunge, we all head into the heated tents to strip down to our suits. I then put on a bathrobe and wrap myself up in a blanket. I also bring a towel. For the previous 3 years, I’ve worn flip flops which is NOT a good choice because they fly off as soon as I hit the water. This time, my plunge attire will consist of a pair of old athletic shoes, my bathing suit, a hat, a scarf and some gloves. After the Plunge, we head back into the warm tents to change back into our warm clothes. Be sure to bring a Chico bag (or some other nylon bag – no plastic!) in which to place your suit and any other wet clothing.

If you are on the fence about plunging, I hope you’ll – pardon the pun – take the plunge and participate in the Plunge! You’ll have a great time!

Eco Gifts for the Holidays

My family has decided not to exchange gifts this year because we already have enough stuff! But if you have gifts to buy, make thoughtful, fair-trade, eco selections that will be easy on the Earth.

Here are some of our favorites in alpha order:

All for the One
Educate your child today about a greener tomorrow by purchasing the beautifully illustrated book Easy to Be Green. If you would like it autographed, at check out, indicate in the gift message block that you want it signed by the author AND if you want it personalized with the gift recipient's name and/or the gift giver's name (Santa, Mother Earth, etc.).

Carbon Fund
Give a gift this year that reduces the carbon footprint of someone you care about. Your donation supports projects that help the climate by reducing carbon emissions. Choose from guilt free wrapping paper, coal for being naughty, carbon offsets for yourself, your family or your office, or plant 10 to 100 trees.

eco-artware
Not just art, this site sells all types of cool gifts from recycled, reused and natural materials.

Green America
Check out Green America's list of simple holiday gift ideas.

Herban Lifestyle
You'd be surprised how many evil chemicals are in traditional bath and beauty products. Herban Lifestyle's are chemical-free and good for the Earth.

Ten Thousand Villages
With stores all across the U.S., Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America.

If you like to shop in person and live near the Baltimore/Annapolis/DC area, here are some more picks:

Community Forklift
If you are looking to give your home a makeover for the holidays, come to Hyattsville, Maryland to check out this not-so ordinary home improvement center which not only sells surplus and salvaged building materials, but also new green materials. They also have cool antiques such as mirrors and lighting fixtures.

Earth Alley
Located in the kitchy Hampden section of Baltimore, this store sells eco-friendly and fair trade gifts.

nest
Located in Clarksville, Maryland, nest sells items that are organic, recycled, environmentally friendly, fair trade, hand made, and supportive of a healthy lifestyle.

Enjoy!

This Holiday Season, Entertain to Sustain

Below are 5 quick tips to help entertain to sustain for the holidays

Source Your Food Locally and Select Organic Options When Possible

It is always best to pay a little bit more for organic options for food and beverages since they contain less of those evil "ide": pesticides, insecticides and herbicides. Your body will thank you for ingesting less toxins which will contribute to better health in the long run.

Local options are also better because the average distance our food travels from source to table is 1,600 miles. In contrast, the average distance from local farms to the farmers market is less than 50 miles. Going local is a much better option because you not only reduce the carbon footprint since the food travels a smaller distance, but you also support your local economy. For every $100 spent on a locally owned business, $45 goes back into the community. Finally, the food is fresher and therefore, tastes better and don't you want to serve tasty food to your family and friends? To find a farmer’s market near you, go to Local Harvest. Many are open year-round.

Opt for Dishware Over Disposables

When serving food, I urge my clients to use glassware, silverware and dishware over disposables. It is best to select an option that you can reuse over and over again. Be sure to use an earth friendly detergent such as Seventh Generation and don't let the water run while washing your dishes! Use the dishwasher and make sure it is full before you run it.

If you must use disposables, stay away from that evil plastic stuff that takes decades to biodegrade. I use bambu Veneerware

Made of certified organic bamboo, it is compostable and breaks down in 4 to 6 months. Many grocery stores are carrying compostable disposable plates made of bamboo, fallen palm leaves, sugarcane pulp and other natural products. You can also get cups that look plastic, but are made of corn. They may cost a bit more, but your grandchildren will thank you for taking care of the planet instead of throwing more plastic in the landfill.

Use Soy or Beeswax Candles

Traditional candles are made with paraffin, a petroleum byproduct, which burns dirty and pollutes the air. Soy and beeswax candles are the earth friendly option. Years ago, the only beeswax candles I could find were taper candles, but Beeswax Candle Company sells tea lights, votives and even pillar beeswax candles. They'll ship to you in earth friendly packaging and while it may look like they've used those evil polystyrene packing shells, they actually dissolve in water.

Floral, Greens and Other Decor

The name of the game is to stay local and seasonal and/or pick floral that can be dried and reused. Ask your florist where they source their flowers from. You don't want flowers coming from another continent – that causes a huge carbon footprint. If you put up a Christmas tree, aim to get one that is balled in burlap so that it can be replanted. Also, when decorating around your home, use any tree branches trimmed from your tree or leftover from the tree farm. I've lucked out and snagged FREE greens from a tree farm that I later used for a client's holiday party. I decorated the tables with these, bubble vases filled with water, cranberries and floating beeswax candles. It was inexpensive and festive.

Carpool with Your Family

When I think of the song, "Over the River and Through the Woods" it makes me think of a family traveling together in one sleigh to their final destination. Too many times in our modern society, we pick convenience over the earth friendly option, but it can have a huge carbon footprint. So when the 30 members of your family are gathered at grandma's house before going out to dinner, instead of taking 10 vehicles with 3 people each, aim for 5 vehicles with 6 people and mix it up a bit. You'll form a stronger bond with your relatives and may have some funny stories to tell later.