Happy Valentine's Day

Trying to impress your valentine? Yes, yes we all are, but with a little foresight you can also have a green(er) Valentine’s Day.

Let’s start with the card: according to the Greeting Card Association, Americans purchase 7 billion cards a year and they buy most of those cards on Christmas and…Valentine’s Day. Additionally, the “majority of Americans say they prefer the old-fashioned handwritten card or letter to make someone feel truly special.” So what to do? Try electronic cards or environmentally sensitive paper greeting cards with “100% post-consumer content (PCC)” specified.

The dozen flowers you just purchased are very romantic but are very South American and are probably soaked in pesticides. Look for flowers with the VeriFlora certification, which guarantees “that flowers and potted plants have been produced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner and meet the highest standards for freshness and quality.” To gain certification, growers and handlers must meet six criteria: sustainable crop production, ecosystem protection, resource conservation and energy efficiency, integrated waste management, fair labor practices, community benefits.

As for the chocolate, finding organic chocolate shouldn’t be that difficult anymore but here are a few. Green & Black’s chocolate is both organic and Fair Trade. Dagoba Chocolate not only features organic chocolate, but their wrappers are 100% recycled and use vegetable based inks. And their facility is 100% powered by renewal energy. If you still haven’t found that perfect bar of chocolate, check out Endangered Species Chocolate, who donates 10% of their net profits to “help support species, habitat and humanity.”

Finally, tell her she has cute shoes. Good luck!

For a complete Valentine’s Day green gift guide, visit here.

Corporate Incentive Programs

You all remember when your dad (grandpa) retired and got that lovely clock/watch from the company where he spent 30 years slaving away for the man. Well, companies still offer incentive programs – many of which are related to “time served.” It’s a great way to improve employee morale, but also a contributor to each company’s carbon footprint.

One positive trend I’ve noticed is that these incentive programs are based on-line. Employees are directed to a website where they browse a catalog of selections and then input their choice into an online database. Despite this great improvement over paper catalogs and mailing in forms, there is still lots of room for improvement.

There is a lot that companies can do for the environment through careful consideration of gift items and methods of delivery.

Here are a few ideas:

• A bonus that is directly deposited into the employee’s bank account – this could be completely paper-free.
• A gift made to a sustainable charity in the employee’s name.
• Instead of just a regular battery-operated watch, how about the Citizen Eco Drive ?
• Items that are locally extracted and manufactured. Forget that bag made in China, shipped across the globe, and then airmailed from a warehouse in the middle of the country.
• Purchase gifts from vendors with a commitment to the environment

For some more ideas, refer back to Green A’s post on Gifts that Give Back .

Green Elephant Gift Exchange

The following video shows the HOK office "green elephant gift exchange." As you may remember from a previous post, the rules were that the gifts had to be either a regift or other found object, and that the wrapping had to be some sort of reused material.

Prizes were given for most sustainable gift (winner: manual paper shredder) and most sustainable wrapping (inside out UPS bag tied with rubber bands from vegetables).

Runners up in the gift category included a semi-functional solar cell phone charger and a tomato. Wrapping materials ranged from reused gift bags and wrapping paper to cookie tins, cracker boxes, and leftover fabric samples.

Watch the video to see the shiny, happy people of HOK givin' it away:

GREEN GIFT GUIDE: Gifts That Give Back

by Jill and Emily

It’s easy to get “wrapped up” in the holiday gift giving (and receiving) spirit. The holidays are about giving to those you love, so why not extend that tradition with one of these gifts that give back, which will benefit not just your loved ones but millions of others around the world. Here are some great choices, from trees to magazines to solar-powered flashlights - even jewelry - all of which give back to global citizens in need.

BOGO SOLAR FLASHLIGHT (Buy One Give One)Give the gift of light this year with the BOGO light - a fabulous solar-powered flashlight that costs just $25 - AND with your purchase of the flashlight, one is donated to someone who needs it in a developing country. We’ve written about it before because we love the product and the idea. Give the gift of light! $25 from Bogolight
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ADOPT AN ANIMAL FROM WWF AND GET A CUTE PLUSH TOYAdopt an animal from the World Wildlife Fund, and you will get a cute plush toy version of your animal. Every donation you make to WWF helps save some of the world’s most endangered animals from extinction and supports WWF’s conservation efforts. We think this is a fabulous way to encourage conservation efforts, by encouraging a love of animals in children! And if you can’t think of a good benefactor for your stuffed owl, wolf, chimpanzee or polar bear, you can donate your stuffed toy to a needy child, with WWF’s toys for tots program.$50 from World Wildlife Fund

$22 from Uncommon Goods.ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD XO COMPUTERHere’s a gift that truly gives back. The beautifully designed One Laptop Per Child computer is the greenest computer around - combing education and social development with ingenious energy efficient product design. Best part? When you buy one of these beautifully designed uber-green computers for a needy child in a developing country, you get one for a little one in your life as well. Donate-One-Get-One offer lasts through Dec 31st.

AID TO ARTISANS TOTE BAGAid to Artisans is an amazing organization that supports craft production and local economies worldwide. This tote bag supports their Friends of India Handcrafts project, which helps women’s craft cooperatives in rural Tamil Nadu in southern India. These craft cooperatives provide employment for widows, abandoned mothers, and unmarried women. The bags are crocheted with nylon wire by hand, and contribute to the livelihood of more than 250 families. $19 from Aid to Artisans
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DESIGN 21 ALLUMONDE RINGSupport Design 21, which promotes design for the greater good, with this gorgeous ring designed by Richard Hutten. The sleek design comes in stainless steel, gold, silver, and a few other stunning materials to suit any budget, and proceeds go to Design 21, UNESCO, and a nonprofit of your choice.
$25-$2,500 depending on material from Design 21
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DESIGN LIKE YOU GIVE A DAMN BOOK This groundbreaking book on humanitarian design from around the world is a must for ALL designers. Inspire the designer in your life and feel good about donating to a worthwhile cause while you are at it. All proceeds from the book go to funding Architecture For Humanity’s important work providing shelter in impoverished and disaster-relief areas. $35 from Architecture For Humanity.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL APPAREL Support the international aid organization with great t-shirts for you and your little ones. We love the “I’ve Got Rights” onesie and Instant Karma t-shirts, which feature John Lennon’s face (there’s a great CD as well). All apparel is sweatshop-free and sales help support Amnesty International’s life-saving human rights work.
$14 and up from Amnesty International.

ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY - OWN THE DAY SPONSORSHIPDonate one day’s salary and sponsor a day’s worth of humanitarian design. You can dedicate a day to a loved one, and pick any day on the calendar - all the money goes to support Architecture for Humanity’s great projects around the world, and your recipient gets their name proudly displayed on AFH’s website all day on the day they own. $100 or more from Architecture for Humanity

ADOPT AN ACRE AND GET A NATURE CONSERVANCY CALENDARMake a donation in someone’s name your to adopt two acres of rainforest land from the Nature Conservancy, and your gift recipient will receive a 2008 Nature Conservancy calendar featuring stunning nature images. Here’s a great example of a gift that feels good to give and receive. $100 from Adopt an Acre
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PLANTABLE ECO CALENDARGive the gift of time AND flora with this plantable calendar, which will please your planning and planting friends alike. Each month is its own page, so after the month is over, plant your page and watch it grow into blossoming blooms!
$19.95 from Botanical Paperworks.

GOOD MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONGOOD just announced their new nonprofit partners, which include everyone from Teach For America to Room To Read, Kiva (see below), and the Acumen Fund. A year’s subscription (six issues) is just $20 and ALL subscription costs go directly to the charity of your choice. What better gift could you give than the gift of GOOD and $20 to a great cause? $20 from Good Magazine .

TREES FOR THE FUTUREFor a mere $45, have 450 trees planted in your friend or co-worker’s name. Trees For The Future, a non-profit dedicated to planting trees to help the environment and rural communities, has restored sustainably productive life to over 56,000 acres of land in Asia, Africa, and Central America. Your gift includes a Treeplanting Certificate and bumpersticker, plus the warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing you’ve done something good for the planet. $45 from Trees For The Future.

KIVA MICROLOAN GIFT CERTIFICATESFund a self-starting citizen in a developing nation - and get your money back! Kiva’s microloan model allows individuals to fund other individuals a world away to start their business, open a store, expand their farm, etc. Give the gift of a Kiva Gift Certificate for your loved one to invest. $25-$5,000 from KIVA .

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FOR MORE OF INHABITAT’S GREEN GIFT GUIDE, CLICK HERE >
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Incentivizing Recycling in the Workplace

I just ran across an interesting article on the development of a “recycling bank” as a way to incentivize residents of a township to recycle. The program is called Recycle Bank (http://www.recyclebank.com/) and it basically weighs the amount of recycling each household puts out and rewards with Recycle Bank dollars that can be redeemed for coupons to dozens of retailers. I know “dozens” does not sound like a lot, but when I checked out the list, I found a number of retailers that are available throughout the US, as well as some popular online retailers: Jockey, Sharper Image, Discovery Channel Store, ProFlowers, Staples, PetCo, Bed Bath & Beyond, IKEA, ING Direct, and many more.
Maybe offices can use this concept for encouraging employee recycling. I’m not quite sure how implementation would go…and of course, the idea is that we want to reduce waste, so rewarding for pounds of recycling misses the people that aren’t generating as much waste.
Here’s an idea: maybe offices could periodically spot check employee trash cans and give rewards for those that contain no recyclable materials. A $5 Starbucks gift card could go a long way to improving employee morale and encouraging environmentally-friendly behavior.

What are some of your ideas for recycling-related change management?

To view the whole article, visit this link: http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/26368

Green Elephant Gifts

I realize that I posted an entry about sustainable gift-giving a couple of weeks ago, but my coworkers and I had a brilliant idea.

Our group has decided to do a "white elephant" exchange (where everyone puts a gift into the pile and then take turns either selecting a wrapped gift or stealing a gift that has already been opened) - with a sustainable twist.

We're calling it the "green elephant exchange." The rules are that you have to give a gift that is not purchased (either something from your home, a found object, or a regift) and that it must be wrapped in a sustainable manner (reused gift bag, fabric bag, reused newspaper/gift wrap, etc.). I can't wait to see what the gifts are!

In a related exercise, at an old job, my coworkers and I used to regularly have "swaps" where everyone brought in nice things that they no longer wanted and traded for new things. Some of the items exchanged included candles, notepads, holiday decorations, etc. Anything that wasn't taken by the end of the day was donated to charity.

Please suggest other good ways to reuse/regift great items!

Holiday Giving

Many companies have the tradition of giving holiday gifts to their clients and/or employees. A lot of this ends up being food…and most of it unhealthy. Here are some ideas for more sustainable gifts – better for the environment and the belly, too.

• Charitable donations in honor of the gift recipient


• Locally grown produce or other locally made products


• Things that people can use either at the office or at home: canvas shopping bags, reusable drink containers, compact fluorescent lightbulbs


• Green energy donations – buy wind power offsets for a week, a month, or even a year


• Gifts that require no packaging

If you can think of others, please share!

Also check out these websites for ideas for both corporate and personal gift-giving ideas:
http://www.eartheasy.com/give_sustainchristmas.htm
http://www.planetfriendly.net/gifts.htmlhttp://store.greenfeet.com/gifts.asp?gclid=CKuZ2_P53I8CFQlxOAodfyzg9Q