You may not know this but the IT sector has a huge climate impact. Think of all the servers that’s running 24/7 around the world to support our business, habits, and needs. I often wonder about this and how I am contributing to this huge problem.

While we can’t stop doing business online, we can at least look for ways to greening our online activities. Hostgator is one of the few IT businesses that is using renewable energy to both power and cool their servers. What they have done is quite impressive and I hope to see more IT businesses following their lead.

If you operate an online business or thinking of starting one, do the right thing and switch to an eco-friendly hosting companies. You will be glad you did!

When it comes to toys, one of the best ways to become more green is to re-use. This means that when your child no longer plays with a certain toy, you might give it to a child who would appreciate it, or reuse it
for your younger children. Not only this but you could also purchase second-hand toys for your children instead of new ones, for example from charity shops.

Often children will enjoy activities such as watching TV or playing games, but these are not the most environmentally friendly or healthy activities. You can try creating more green activities for them, which
will also have the added benefit of keeping them from being completely inactive all day. Try to awaken their creative side by letting them reuse old bits of card and paper that you no longer want and were planning on recycling. This can turn into a fun art project, and once they are done you can even recycle the remains.

Cooking is also a fun activity for kids to join in, helping them learn valuable skills as well as having fun and having something tasty to eat at the end of it. Try teaching them how to make cupcakes with organic, locally produced and fair trade ingredients.

If you want them to have some exercise too, teach them the benefits of growing their own fruit and vegetables in the garden. Not only will they learn about where food comes from, they will gain a sense of
pride in being able to watch their plants grow.

Apart from creating such activities for your children, reading is also a great way for them to keep busy and learn at the same time. Finding books for your children is easy, where you can be green by shopping in
second-hand book stores or buying books printed on recycled paper. On top of this it is also a great idea get your child interested in their local library, where they can borrow books as often as they like. Libraries also have a number of children’s activities so check out what they have available.

As you can see there are many ways to help your children be greener without them even knowing! This benefits your child not only in the way that they are helping the environment, but by taking part in a wide range of activities that can help them learn and build new skills.

This article was written by Daniel Harrison, who loves eco-friendly gadgets and helps people to be a little greener every day with his daily eco tips.

GoGreenTube

I am really late with posting about this amazing gift .. my blog post on “Our Energy Efficient Home” was declared the winner in the December contest held by my friend Beth over at GoGreenTube!!

Thanks so much for this Beth!!  You’ll see the Eco Friendly Wahm banner displayed on Go Green Tube soon

Canada Goes Green

This is really great - CBC and The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos in partnership with Cisco have taken on the challenge of mobilizing Canadians to do One Million Acts Of Green.

Even the smallest changes can make huge differences in the environmental impact of our daily lives, and that is exactly the point that One Million Acts Of Green hopes to communicate to every Canadian.

Young and old, parents and kids, small towns and big cities, we want to create an exciting grassroots initiative. All you have to do is go to this website and register one act – or more. Our green calculator, designed by GreenNexxus, will determine the impact of those acts on the environment.

We’re asking everyone to get involved: schools and universities, cities and communities, business, politicians, and even celebrities. George and The Hour are challenging other CBC programs to go green, including CBC News, Kids’ CBC, Steven & Chris, Living, and CBC Sports. But most of all, YOU.

Together we can make an impact. Together we can make our lives, our communities, and our environment greener.

One million acts of green, one act a time.

In just two months, there have been over 500,000 acts of green recorded. I think this is an awesome way of bringing a nation together towards a goal of common good. So come on Canada, join me in this amazing eco-challenge by registering for free at One Million Acts Of Green.

Bag Crafts

I am so impressed with the idea of making crafts out of plastic bags that I’m going to try my hand at making one of these for a Christmas Present this year. Crocheting is not my strong suit, so I’m only planning on making one bag to start with, but I’m sure once I get the hang of it, it won’t take me long to start whipping out plastic bag bags.

Have a look at PlasticBagBag.com as they have put together a lot of resources on creating your own plastic bag bags, including learning how to crochet, instructions on making your bags, and bag patterns. Very cool indeed!

Expanding on this idea, you can also make rugs, hats, drink holders.. pretty much anything that you can crochet with yarn can be made using plastic bags.

Cindy over at MyRecycledBags.com has a great selection of bags ready made that you can purchase, and she’s also got a lot of great ideas and patterns there too.

If you’re feeling really ambitious (and know how to crochet), then why not try your hand at making your own plastic bag sandals!

I also picked up a new phrase that I haven’t heard before: “Plarn” which is short for Plastic Yarn.

Another idea that I came across is fusing your plastic bags to make a unique, waterproof, solid material. Etsy Labs Technician Anda Lewis has a super video tutorial on how to fuse your plastic bags - take a look:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s another plastic fusing tutorial from Etsy Labs Technician Amanda.

Using fused plastic bags opens up a whole new realm of ideas, considering you can use the plastic just like you would a square of fabric. This can be awesome for making rain coats, makeup bags or even jewelry. How awesome is that?!!

Like I said, I think I’m going to start with a very basic crochet tote bag, and possibly a makeup bag using the plastic fusing method. These will make awesome Christmas presents, and won’t cost me a dime to make (gotta love being frugal too!)

Plastic Bag Statistics:

• Up to 1000 - Estimated years for a plastic bag to decompose.
• 1460 - Plastic bags used in a year by an average family of four in the U.S.
• 12 million - Barrels of oil used to make the plastic bags that the U.S. consumes annually.
• Less than 1% - Percentage of all plastic bags that get recycled in the U.S.
• 88.5 billion – Plastic bags consumed in the U.S. last year.
• 500 billion – Estimated plastic bags sold worldwide each year.

Eco-Kids

When making your life and home more environmentally friendly it is also a good idea to look at the habits of your children. Not only can you find ways in which their toys and games can become more ‘green’, but you can also help to teach them about the importance of eco-friendly methods from an early age.

When it comes to toys, one of the best ways to become more green is to re-use. This means that when your child no longer plays with a certain toy, you might give it to a child who would appreciate it, or reuse it for your younger children. Not only this but you could also purchase second-hand toys for your children instead of new ones, for example from charity shops.

Often children will enjoy activities such as watching TV or playing games, but these are not the most environmentally friendly or healthy activities. You can try creating more green activities for them, which will also have the added benefit of keeping them from being completely inactive all day. Try to awaken their creative side by letting them reuse old bits of card and paper that you no longer want and were planning on recycling. This can turn into a fun art project, and once they are done you can even recycle the remains.

Cooking is also a fun activity for kids to join in, helping them learn valuable skills as well as having fun and having something tasty to eat at the end of it. Try teaching them how to make cupcakes with organic, locally produced and fair trade ingredients.

If you want them to have some exercise too, teach them the benefits of growing their own fruit and vegetables in the garden. Not only will they learn about where food comes from, they will gain a sense of pride in being able to watch their plants grow.

Apart from creating such activities for your children, reading is also a great way for them to keep busy and learn at the same time. Finding books for your children is easy, where you can be green by shopping in second-hand book stores or buying books printed on recycled paper. On top of this it is also a great idea get your child interested in their local library, where they can borrow books as often as they like. Libraries also have a number of children’s activities so check out what they have available.

As you can see there are many ways to help your children be greener without them even knowing! This benefits your child not only in the way that they are helping the environment, but by taking part in a wide range of activities that can help them learn and build new skills.

This article was written by Daniel Harrison, who loves eco-friendly gadgets and helps people to be a little greener every day with his daily eco tips.

Unusual and eco-friendly gifts can be found in multitude once you start searching for them, but this holiday season I’d like you to consider a truly wonderful and unique gift - the gift of life.

• One Rainforest Tree Helps Us Breathe
• One Rainforest Tree Can Heal The Sick
• One Rainforest Tree Supports An Abundance Of Life
• One Rainforest Tree Gives Hope
• One Rainforest Tree Protects Our Future

For the first time ever, Rainforest Forever is offering Amazon Rainforest Trees for sale to the general public.

The Standard Tree Kit comes complete with:

• Legal ownership of a living Rainforest Tree located in Biaciu, Brazil
• Framed Certificate of Ownership
• High-Resolution GPS Locator Map
• Congratulatory Letter to Recipient
• Personalized Gift Greeting
• Power of One Tree Card

The Deluxe Tree Kit comes complete with:

• Legal ownership of a living Rainforest Tree located in Biaciu, Brazil
• Framed Certificate of Ownership
• Framed High-Resolution GPS Locator Map
• Congratulatory Letter to Recipient
• Personalized Gift Greeting
• Power of One Tree Card

I don’t know about you, but I think this is an absolutely amazing opportunity (not to mention affordable). I would absolutely love to receive a gift of an Amazon Rainforest Tree and I’m betting there are many others out there who would appreciate knowing that they are helping save the planet’s rainforests.

So hop on over to Rainforest Forever and grab your little piece of the earths eco-system today!

While on the subject of GoGreenTube.com, I also want to let you know about a contest that they are holding - all you need to do Is Blog about GoGreenTube.com. Let them and your readers know what you think of GoGreenTube.com, make suggestions, let them know your favorite video or just tell them how much you love the site Read more about the contest here.

One major thing sets GoGreenTube apart from other video hosting sites is their commitment to the environment with their Carbon Credits program. Once you’ve registered (for free), each time you log in and watch a video GoGreenTube will offset one pound of carbon dioxide. To date, viewers have earned almost 5,000 carbon credits through GoGreenTube’s partnership with CarbonFund.org.

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We Are Green Certified!

What does being a Green Certified Site mean?

The carbon footprint of air and automobile transportation is widely known, but few people are aware that the electricity generation required for information and communication techologies (ICT) is now responsible for 2% of global CO2 emissions, exceeding the emissions of the entire aviation industry. With CO2Stats it is for the first time possible to get precise emissions data on a site-by-site basis, enabling fine-grained ownership and management of environmental footprints at the experience level.

A carbon footprint is defined as:

The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

A carbon footprint is composed of two parts, a primary and secondary footprint. The primary footprint is the sum of the direct carbon dioxide emissions of burning of fossil fuels, like domestic energy consumption by furnaces and waters heaters, and transportation, like automobiles and airplane travel. The secondary footprint is the sum of indirect emissions associated with the manufacture and breakdown of all products, services and food an individual or business consumes.

You’ll see more touches of green living around here too.. like the cool button in the footer displaying how much paper I’m saving by blogging (thanks GreenExperience.net).  On each blog post, you’ll also see the ECO-SAFE Merit Badge which “is a symbol of hope and love for the world we all live in.”  Both of these are absolutely free, and I’d like to encourage you to grab your badges too.

I’m keeping my eye peeled around the internet for more cool stuff.. we can never be sorry about working towards a healthier future, though I’ll get into that more in another blog post about reducing your carbon footprint!

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