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Organic cotton cable knit throw from Ethical Ocean. (Courtesy of Ethical Ocean)

GreenCheck® Providers Offer Exclusive Coupon Codes and Discounts to SCGH Readers

Do you want to have the best environmentally friendly gifts this year, without the price tag? Here at Sierra Club Green Home, we have an exclusive database of GreenCheck® products and service providers who work hard to bring you the most sustainable products and services at costs that fit all budgets.

These GreenCheck® providers are offering promotional codes and discounts exclusive to SCGH readers. Just another reason to visit SCGH.com: SAVINGS!

Ethical Ocean
Shop with a conscience.
Promo Code: SierraC11 for $10 off any purchase.

Go Green Items
Offering the widest variety of quality environmentally friendly products.
Promo Code: SIERRA15 to save 15% on your order.

Essential Safe Products
ESP proudly offers kitchenware and on-the-go products that are free of BPA, phthalates, Teflon, lead, and other harmful chemicals to the human body.
Promo Code: SIERRA to save 15%.

Pumpkin Doodle
Promo Code: GreenHome to save 15%.

AAA Solar Source
Photovoltaic System   save   $300.00 (2.1kW to 5kW) and ($500 5.1kW or larger)
Solar Domestic Hot Water save $300
Solar Pool Heating     save      $300
Solar Attic Ventilation save   $100
KVAR or Variable speed pump save $50.

Terralogos Energy Group
We transform home and workplace environments into the most advanced models of energy efficiency, cost consciousness, and sustainability.
Get $45 off TerraLogos Energy Audit for SCGH homeowners.

Habify
Habify offers consulting, sales, and installation of products for a better home.
Receive 50% off our evoreview. SCGH homeowners pay just $49!

CoolPlanetStore.com
Promo Code: CPSierraGreen for 20% off.

DropWise Essentials
High-quality aromatherapy and organic plant-based personal care products
Promo Code: GHSC2011 to save 20% off plus free shipping.

PacWest Painting
$200 off exterior paint
Simply email us via our request page using discount code HOLIDAY2011. 
Expires January 31, 2012.

Organically Natural Store
Promo Code: SierraClub to get 10% off until Feb 29 2012.
Use the same code for 5% off after February 29 2012.

Want to be a part of this exclusive green business network? Apply today and reach out to millions of green consumers!

(By Daniel Moyle, Flickr)

In this blog post SCGH Chief Sustainability Officer Jennifer Schwab shares her predictions for 2012, including the growing connection between sustainability and social justice. Her thoughts were originally published, along with the forecasts of several other green visionaries, by Inhabitat.com.

The Economy Americans will continue to be frugal as our country is in a state of crisis with high unemployment, market volatility, and the threat of the euro zone collapsing. This could thrust us back into the worst grips of recession. Unfortunately, this does not fare well for green consumer products. However, I believe the best of America will rise to the occasion to help out their fellow man. Thus in 2012 the social justice piece of sustainability will be more prominent relative to past years. I’m witnessing this abroad right now as restauranteurs, hoteliers, and other service oriented businesses are including local sustainability goals and policies into their models. This includes educating and employing locals to help lift them out of poverty while teaching them a new skill set.

Social Trends I also believe that as the millenials come of age, they can set an example for the rest of us. For example, experiences are considered more valuable than status-driven purchases. Being green isn’t an inconvenience, it’s a way of life. Car ownership is so 2005, renting transportation on an as-needed basis is the present. These trends will continue on an upward trajectory in 2012.

Building and Construction As credit markets ease, we will see more commercial buildings constructed and the energy integrity of these structures will be a priority. Projects such as hospitals, hotels, corporate headquarters, schools, and federal buildings will have more green attributes than ever and LEED certification will continue to be the bellweather in green building certifications.

In 2011, Sierra Club Green Home witnessed a number of green home improvement professionals close their doors. This is particularly true of energy auditors. The physical inspection, energy audit model may be eclipsed by technology such as Eye-R systems which utilizes infrared imaging, predictive analysis, and artificial intelligence to identify and model energy leaks in the built environment. Data deduced from these “drive by,” infrared energy audits will reduce the amount of time required to perform an audit by 70%. This drastically improves the viability of the energy audit business model. We will see more technology-driven, energy solutions deployed at scale in 2012.

Solar In 2012, the solar industry will continue to consolidate — due to the panel supply glut, dissipating incentives, excessive loans coming due from the boom years, unfavorable balance sheets, and the accompanying negative P.R. On the upside, solar panel prices have dropped significantly which has permitted more accessibility than ever to the residential consumer. With favorable leasing terms and electricity prices rising, we will continue to see more rooftop adoption in 2012. Sierra Club Green Home even foresees some markets approaching grid parity in 2012.

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Dawn at Cromwell Valley Park, in Towson, Maryland. (By Roland Oehme)

Blog post by Roland Oehme

Ring in the New Year with gratitude for what this year has given us, and excitement for what the next year holds. Here Sierra Club Green Home writer Roland Oehme shares the top 12 things he is grateful for going into 2012.

12 Green Things I Am Thankful For:

1) My family and friends are the most important things in my life. I am grateful for the time I’ve been able to spend with them this year.

2) My local nature park that I enjoy daily walks in. The simple act of exercising in nature rejuvenates my body and spirit. I think everyone should be able to take walks in forests, meadows, hills, valleys, streams, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems.

3) I enjoy relatively clean air, water, and soil. However, I see this as the minimum of what is acceptable. Much more can be done to clean up my local environment, especially the Chesapeake Bay (the largest estuary in the United States).

4) All of my fellow human beings who are actively engaged in protecting the earth’s animals, environment, and people in order to create a healthier future for all.

5) More and more people are aware of the major impact we have on the global environment be it climate change, radiation leaks, trash, air pollution, soil pollution, or loss of animal and plant diversity. More importantly, more and more people realize that we can turn this around.

6) Many governments are taking concrete action to ensure a cleaner environment. For instance, Denmark, Germany, and Spain are committed to changing their energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

7) More people are advocating for the regenerative design model, as described by John T. Lyle in Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development and by William McDonough in Cradle to Cradle. Regenerative design allows all life to not just exist but to grow and flourish in a healthy state.

Nature’s beauty inspires and motivates me every day.

9) Many people are learning about and adopting vegan and raw food diets. Adopting a vegan diet has enabled many people, including former President Bill Clinton, to lead a healthier life.

10) Animals’ welfare and protection is important to many people.

11) By choosing a healthy living food diet and lifestyle, I feel healthy and full of energy.

12) That the planet earth is my home.

Roland Oehme is a green and healthy living reporter. Read his blog at www.we-love-rawfood.blogspot.com.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. All rights reserved.

(GreenWorldApps)

By Kara A. DiCamillo
December 22, 2011

For many of us, the holidays always come so quickly. That means we still are doing our last-minute decorating, planning, and of course, shopping.

If you’re like us at Sierra Club Green Home—still shopping and being tempted by non-green products—look for the ShopGreen logo on Web sites you are browsing. Or, if you are a retailer, consider participating in the ShopGreen program.  ShopGreen is a Web application for shopping carts on retailer sites that allows customers to reduce the carbon footprint of their purchases. The program does so by funding carbon offset projects which includes wind and hydro energy, reforestation, and methane gas capture projects.

So how does it work? It’s actually very easy. During checkout, ShopGreen offers customers a chance to add to their orders just 1 percent of the sales amount, which goes towards the purchase of a carbon offset. And that’s it!

For consumers, ShopGreen is a way to show one’s commitment to the environment with one click of the mouse.

For retailers, ShopGreen allows them to design the program they want by choosing from a large selection of environmental projects, depending on what it is they are passionate about. Setting up the ShopGreen application on a retailer’s Web site appears to be an easy process, and retailers can start offering customers carbon offsets the same day.

Consumers generally have loyalty to brands. If the ShopGreen logo appears on even more Web sites, consumers likely will continually shop through that brand or Web site.

Let’s face it: Most of the products that are being purchased online are producing carbon dioxide through the manufacturing and transportation processes. So why not give customers a chance to shop green to support the environment? Especially during this time of year, it sounds like a win-win to us at SCGH.

If you’re doing your shopping online, most retailers still are guaranteeing shipment by Christmas Eve. And then there’s the post-holiday visiting of friends and family, where coming bearing gifts is a good idea.

For related articles, see:
Green Holiday: Shop Less, Celebrate More
EPA Builds New Web Page to Help Consumers Shop Green

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

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This Douglas fir is transformed into a decorated, live, potted Christmas tree. (John Fogel)

By Debra Atlas

Every year, 25 to 30 million live Christmas trees are sold in the United States. Their ornaments and decorations help brighten our holiday. But after the holiday, they end up curbside as trash or, in towns offering such services, as recycling. A sad fate for such a wonderful part of Christmas.

Around the country, a new tradition is growing: renting a living tree for the holidays.

John Fogel was the first to offer this unique service in 1992 when he opened Original Living Christmas Tree Company in Portland, Oregon. He digs live evergreen trees up, root ball and all, pots them, then rents them for the holidays. Later, he picks them up and delivers them to parks, school districts, and other groups who pay around $10 to have the trees planted on their property.

“It’s something that’s good for business, for the environment,” Fogel says. “It’s about hope, feeling good about the planet and innovation.”

There are benefits to renting as opposed to buying a cut tree:

• Rented trees last longer;
• They are reused year after year until they are eventually sold and replanted as mature trees;
• You will have less mess—and no needle loss;
• Each tree that is rented reduces the amount of wasted holiday trees that end up in landfills; and
• Delivery and pick-up are included in the price of the rental.

Fogel accepts only the number of orders he knows he can find buyers for who are willing to plant the trees come January. This year he’ll accept around 200 living tree orders.

People can learn to make their own potted Christmas trees with the information on Fogel’s Web site. After the holidays, simply put an ad on Craigslist or contact your local parks department to donate it for planting.

Fogel plans to expand his operation through franchising. Anyone interested should contact him via the Web site.

Since 2005, residents of San Francisco have been able to rent live Christmas trees through a partnership between the San Francisco Department of the Environment and Friends of the Urban Forest. Residents can choose from four different species of evergreen trees: southern magnolia, small leaf Tristania, the strawberry tree, and a New Zealand Christmas tree (nothing like a traditional holiday tree). People can even give the gift of a planted tree named in someone’s honor. After the holiday, the trees are picked up, then replanted in neighborhoods around the city.

It’s all on a “first come, first served” basis.

In California, there are a few well-known Christmas tree rental companies:

LivingChristmasTrees.com, founded in southern California by landscape architect Scott “Scotty Claus” Martin in 2008, serves the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County areas. Customers can choose from a variety of trees, including two-foot-tall baby sequoias, hardy blue cedars, and oh-so-fragrant seven-foot-tall Monterey pines. Orders include a watering tray to protect floors and you can even “adopt” a tree that they’ll bring back to your house year after year. Customers also can purchase “green” ornaments, LED lights, and stocking stuffers.

In northern California,  RentALivingChristmasTree.com serves the Monterey Peninsula, Santa Cruz, the San Francisco South Bay area, and Salinas. Choose the date you want your tree delivered (up through December 23), and you can even visit the nursery to pick out your own tree. They also carry LED lights to keep your green tree energy efficient.

Plant Manning, founded by Eric Manning in the Santa Cruz Mountains, has been offering live Christmas tree rentals for more than 20 years. Serving both northern and southern California, Manning delivers potted Colorado Spruce or Redwood Christmas trees to your home or office in his biodiesel-fueled bus and guarantees post-holiday pick-up. And you can adopt the same tree each year.

Manning’s business model is a bit different than other live tree rental companies. Because people ask for the same tree year after year, he trims the trees like bonsais. His vision is more long term, he says. He wants to keep the trees thriving for generations.

This is the real spirit of re-use, says Manning. “And there’s no waste,” he adds.

Rates and delivery dates will vary, so check with the tree rental dealer in your area. You can go online to find one in your area.

For related articles, see:
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree
Let There Be Light This Holiday Season!
Tree Tip

Check out more articles by Debra Atlas.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

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Here's some Envirosax all wrapped up! (Courtesy of Envirosax)

By Erika F. Washington

You’ve seen the aftermath of a great Christmas morning. The entire living room is complete mayhem: piles of wrapping paper, crumpled tissue paper, and bows littered in every corner. You can probably fill an entire trash bag with Christmas debris, which can make even the not-so-green cringe a little.

So SCGH found an alternative to gift wrap waste from disposable wrapping paper: useful, reusable eco-friendly gift bags.

Wrapsacks is a company that manufactures and sells drawstring eco-friendly gift bags, a disposable gift wrap alternative.  You can even follow your Wrapsack’s journey as it’s re-gifted from one person to another using Track-a-Sack® on the website. The Wrapsacks come in six sizes and are made of 100% hand dyed cotton. The company offers a video tutorial on how to wrap your gifts with the Wrapsack. Prices start around $4.99.

Envirosax is proud to help protect the environment for tomorrow’s generation by providing an alternative to disposable shopping bags with eco-friendly gift bags. They are lightweight, portable, and waterproof, and each one holds the equivalent of two supermarket plastic bags thanks to reinforced seams. They can also be used as gift wrap. Prices start around $8.95.

These options seem a little pricier than buying a roll of paper and a bag of bows but, over the course of a few holidays and birthdays, the eco-friendly gift bags will pay for themselves.

Plus, you’re not adding to landfills, which makes everyone’s holiday just a little bit merrier.

For related article, see:
Holiday Shopping? Check the Eco Price.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. 

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Attending a holiday potluck can introduce you to some great new people and recipes. Why not host a potluck where guests try new organic, raw, or vegetarian dishes? (Roland Oehme)

Blog post by Roland Oehme

Want to have a green holiday? Do you ever wonder how the holidays became the biggest shopping frenzy of the year? Is it Santa’s marketing genius? Is it just force of habit?

If you are tired of the same ritual of trudging off to shop at the mall, jostling through the crowd, waiting hours to park, and struggling to find gifts within your budget, there is a solution. Yes, the solution to enjoying the holidays and not getting overwhelmed with shopping till December 25 is really quite simple.

Sierra Club Green Home’s green holiday solution is to shop less and spend more time doing fun activities that bring joy to your family and friends—and quite possibly even to strangers. After all, the holidays are meant to instill in us the spirit of giving, and this can mean many things besides material goods.

One company even made its new campaign about consuming less during the holidays. Can you believe it? What kind of a store would do such a crazy thing?

As I thought about this idea of consuming less, I realized that there are so many ways to have good times with your loved ones that I could never list them all. In fact, it’s an endless list! So instead, I will tell you some of my favorite holiday activities, and I invite you to share yours by commenting on this post or on the Sierra Club Green Home Facebook page.

Our family enjoys driving into the rural countryside to cut down our own Christmas tree, which is a great way to spend time together and get some outdoor exercise. Christmas tree farms also protect vital open space and help cool the planet.

We also like to take our son to visit the local holiday train garden displays. He absolutely adores the trains, as many other children do.

We like to make holiday foods together, whether it’s cookies, cakes, and desserts or complete, delectable meals. Sometimes, we attend a holiday vegan potluck party, too. And we always make time to get some exercise by hiking at the local nature park, walking in the neighborhood, or strolling along a nice downtown area. One of our favorite spots is Baltimore’s beautiful inner harbor, where you can walk right along the waterfront.

Many exciting events also are going on this time of year, like holiday performances at the theaters, symphony halls, and local churches. Take the whole family if you can, and relax and really enjoy the music and plays. Then there are local holiday light displays, conservatories put on colorful plant displays, and local museums usually have special holiday events.

Of course, the ultimate experience may be to travel to somewhere special to spend time with your family and friends, but this is becoming more of a material luxury than a simple experience. Locally, one can dine out and see a movie with friends and family for fun. My wife’s whole family would sing karaoke at home or go visit a hot spring or spa in her native Japan.

Perhaps the best things to do during the holidays are the simple experiences that sustain us. Like volunteering for your local charity, fund-raiser, or church, helping your neighbor with a project, spending more time than usual with your children, and making arts, crafts, holiday displays, or even gifts from items found at home.

Maybe that crazy store is on to something. Maybe the simple experiences bring us together and warm us most during the holidays.

Roland Oehme is a green and healthy living reporter. Read his blog at www.we-love-rawfood.blogspot.com.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Delectable and naturally flavored, organic, vegan, raw nuts and seeds are a healthy gift. (Roland Oehme)

By Roland Oehme

Before you saddle up and head to the mall for your holiday shopping, let Sierra Club Green Home give you the lowdown on how your purchases can help or harm your health and the planet’s.

What’s the harm in heading to the local superstore? Well, that lower price tag is often hiding the costs to the environment and to human health, especially for products made abroad. Most of the items for sale at chain stores contain toxins, are created using polluting and unsustainable practices, use up fuel being shipped far distances, and are made by workers who are paid low wages and work in poor conditions. Even animals are often harmed in conventional manufacturing. Many corporations still test their products on animals and use unnecessary animal ingredients.

This season, we have a choice as to where and how we spend our money, and it is a very important one. That’s why Sierra Club Green Home is showing you how to find products you can feel good about buying, whether you’re shopping in your town or on the Web.

Not sure if your corner store has goods that are truly green? One way to tell is by looking for green labels certified by a credible third party (i.e., not the company that made the item). Examples of trustworthy labels include Green Seal, Green America Business Seal of Approval, Transfair USA (fair trade), USDA Organic, Forest Stewardship Council, and Rainforest Alliance Certified. You can check out more green labels online.

Good resources for finding green stores and products include SCGH’s own Green Directory (available at the top of the home page), where consumers can search for local and online retailers or service providers. The Green Pages and the EPA’s “Let’s Go Green Shopping“ guide also are excellent resources. All of the businesses listed in The Green Pages are vigorously checked for their environmental and social values. The Green Pages is the best place to start when searching for any green product, since you will find only the businesses with the highest integrity listed here—exactly the kind of business the SCGH community wants to support.

Some of our favorite online stores for green clothing include Green Earth Bamboo, Jute and Jackfruit, Gaiam, Maggie’s Organics, Earthsake, and Kasper Organics.

You also can visit these online stores for green gifts: EcoPlum, Best Organics, Grounds for Change, and Mr. Ellie Pooh.

In the midst of big blowout sales and holiday deals, it is important to stop and think about the total cost of a product: to your wallet, to the planet, and to people. Remember that your buying choice is valuable, and your health and the health of the planet depend upon people who like shopping green!

Roland Oehme is a green and healthy living reporter. Read his blog at www.we-love-rawfood.blogspot.com.

For related post:
Spend Your Green on Green 

© SCGH, LLC. All rights reserved.

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31 Bit Designs is a socially minded business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. (Courtesy of: 31 Bits.com)

Blog post by Erika F. Washington
November 24, 2011

Admittedly it can seem difficult to stay in an eco-friendly state of mind during the holiday season with the rush of sales and Black Friday approaching at high speed. Today, more than ever, however, we need to celebrate what we have and protect it by being conscious of what our actions can do to the earth.

Before you grab “the greatest deal,” think about whether the true costs are accounted for in the sticker price—for example, the environmental costs of producing and transporting the product, your costs to drive from shop to shop in traffic. Many consumers out there are supporting the OCCUPYXMAS or Buy Nothing Day. And it is true that if stores did not open at midnight Friday morning or stay open late to satisfy the rush of hungry consumers, we undoubtedly would save energy and natural resources, but this to me doesn’t seem like a successful protest. Black Friday has been around much too long, and the powers behind it spend a lot of money pushing for this to be the American way.

Instead of protesting against the idea of shopping at un-godly hours, let’s focus on shopping smarter and not lose sight of the ultimate goal. Businesses that are completely conscious of the earth, creator, and consumer are not as hard to find as many think. A host of Web sites and boutiques offer vegan, organic, and fair-trade products.

Here are a few to start your shopping season off:

31 Bit Designs is a socially minded business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. Beautiful beaded jewelry pieces are all hand strung with love and care. The program equips women by providing literacy education, financial and vocational training, holistic care, and strong support systems, empowering individuals to further their careers and attain social equity.

How we define “style” is shifting with the growing awareness of pollution, deforestation, global warming, and resource depletion. Cri de Coeur, a completely animal-free shoe company, seeks to educate people about a vegan lifestyle. Its philosophical mission states that the company believes that “taking personal responsibility for not only what goes inside our bodies but for what we put on the outside of our bodies is crucial to our survival.”

Coyuchi sells not only sheets, towels, baby bedding, pajamas, and robes but a whole host of home textiles rooted in nature. The signature bedding is made from 100-percent certified organic cotton. All of its cotton products are certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and produced using fair–labor practices.

Rosie Hippo sells handcrafted wooden toys and toys made from organic fabrics. Its toys come from individuals, companies, villages, and cooperatives around the world. All of the toys are produced under conditions that are fair to workers and kind to the environment.

While shopping for the ones we love, we must keep in mind that we all occupytheearth so don’t just be “eco-friendly.” Love it—by respecting it.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

(© Konstantin Sutyagin | Dreamstime.com)

We don’t always appreciate the eco-progress we’ve made, but what better time to reflect on what environmental programs we’re grateful for than with Thanksgiving? Let us know what environmental progress you’re thankful for, whether it’s your town adding municipal composting or a new United Nations program. We want to hear from you! Below are what some of our SCGH team members and readers are saying. We will publish more of your responses on Thanksgiving Day.

Let us know in these ways:
On SCGH: comment on this post!
On Facebook: facebook.com/SierraClubGreenHome
On Twitter: @SCGreen_Home
By email: editors@scgh.com

• One eco-friendly thing I am thankful is eco laundry detergents or any other type of hygienic product that is eco-friendly. When it comes to many of the name-brand laundry detergents, I happen to be allergic to the chemicals a lot of them put into their product. Eco-friendly laundry detergents give me a wider array of detergents to choose from rather than simply sticking with Gain (it’s the only name-brand laundry detergent that I have found I can use). —W. Gallios, SCGH
• I am so thankful for all the wonderful eco-friendly home furnishings manufactures, designers, and retailers. Since 2008, we have helped share the journey of these pioneers. We look forward to many more years. —Nancy Kenney
• I’m thankful for thrift shops, which carry clothes that are inexpensive and aesthetically pleasing , and also divert textiles from going to the landfill. —SCGH
• I am thankful that Alaska’s humpback whale population has started to come back after facing near extinction in previous decades. This shows environmental protection and the whaling ban passed in 1966 truly have an impact on the state of our oceans. Read more about it. —H. Logan, SCGH
• I am also thankful that on Nov. 10, the president authorized an independent review of the KesyStone XL pipeline. He stated that global warming would be one of the factors needed to be assessed. You can read more about it here, and continue to support the halt of the pipeline here. —H. Logan, SCGH
  
• I am thankful for our transportation options, from bicycling to the train to peer-to-peer carsharing (such as Getaround) to zipcar. I have not owned a car for three years now, and have been able to get around just fine! —J. Blalack, SCGH