Ballot: Vote, vote, vote. I cannot emphasis this enough. Become informed about the policies in your community, not just presentational elections. Vote for policy makers who support your values and ideas.
Buck: With every trip to the grocery store, the office, or in travel, let your purchasing power navigate what businesses thrive. Promoting consumerism of products and practices you believe in enable small, starter businesses to get off the ground and larger, established businesses to become affordable and abundant in communities where eco change is slower than urban environments. Secondly, by boycotting businesses who's practices are not up to eco-conscious standards, other businesses are allowed to enter tightly competitive markets. Thirdly, there are grants and research foundations which help support the efforts of innovative businesses that constantly strive for better, more affordable and efficient products. In order to receive funding, most businesses must show a growing and participating community in order to receive grants that help catapult new eco-conscious products.
Check out links to excellent, eco-conscious companies in the links page at the bottom of the blog site.
Buying Local Tips:
- Good for small business economies
- Less shipping and international outsourcing
- Recycled gifts for the holidays and for funky great fashions
- Ragstock, CrossRoads, Vintage Shops, Alley, Brown Stone Antiques
- Antiques: less items made from compression board which is made heavily out of processed materials and glue, produces a large degree of waste, and generate excess heat in the production process:
- Ikea= not so good, Antiques= very good
- Will last a long time and do not need to be replaced multiple times over a lifetime
- Wrapping: Reusable bags, potato stamp + newspaper, fabric, recycling form previous years
- Holiday Cards: online cards, youtube videos, recycled cards
- Holiday Tree: vintage or metal trees, rented tree, potted plants, wreaths made from dried apples, or old newspapers, plants
- Holiday Lights: lanterns, candles, sparklers
- Gifts: consider ½ presents, and ½ to a good cause, purchasing with low impact, keep boxes of packing to a minimal excess and use that packaging to ship other products instead of bubble wrap
- Etsy: buy hand made gifts, or gifts that are ALSO environmentally friendly (ie. sweaters, door snakes, florescent light bulbs).
- Tell your friends/family one of your initiativesis to act globally this year and purchase/consume around that. Your friends will think it is cool and get on board--- great ideas are contagious!
CHECK BACK FOR MORE HOLIDAY AND THANKSGIVING TIPS IN UPCOMING BLOGS
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