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In this edition of Earth Share's Earth Saving Tips you will find ideas for saving money and energy on home lighting, ways to make your holiday gift giving as green and environmentally friendly as possible. We invite you to share these tips with friends, family and throughout the workplace. To read Tips online visit www.earthshare.org.

Don't Be in the Dark This Winter

As the days get darker, we turn the lights on earlier and leave them on more each day. Lighting accounts for about a quarter of all electricity consumed in the U.S. Here are some ways to lighten the energy load while keeping your home bright:
Replace light bulbs.
Regular incandescent light bulbs are inefficient, with 90% of their energy going to generate heat not light. Replace standard lamps with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs -- they cost more per bulb but are far more efficient and last up to ten times longer. Over the life of one CFL, you can avoid replacing up to 13 incandescent bulbs and use 75% less energy! Visit www.energystar.gov for more information.

light bulb
Use lighting controls.
Photocells turn lights on and off in response to natural light levels - for example, on at dusk and off at dawn.
Crank timers, which are spring-driven and similar to old oven timers, limit lights to short durations where the need for light is brief.

Occupancy sensors activate lights when you enter a room and turn them off after you leave. They are good for areas of infrequent use, such as storerooms.
Dimmers reduce the wattage and output of light bulbs. They also significantly increase the life of incandescent bulbs.
Don't overuse kitchen and bathroom ventilation fans. Left on for too long, these fans can pull out much of your heated air.

Other lighting tips.
Clean fixtures and lamps annually by wiping off the dust (make sure the bulb is cool first).
Clean or repaint walls. Dirt on surfaces reduces the amount of light they reflect and make the room feel darker.
Turn off incandescent lights when you’re not using them, even if you’re just leaving the room for a few minutes.

Cell Phone

Jingle, Jangle Hear the New Phone Jingle
Hoping for a new cell phone for the holidays? Do you and your family have old cellular phones, pagers or PDAs you don’t know what to do with? Donating these items to Earth Share, and help our health, water, land, air and wildlife. Visit  Earth Share to find out how to double the benefits of your recycling efforts!

BUNDLE UP WITH MOTHER EARTH

There are now many options for choosing clothing with the environment in mind. Here are some ideas for dressing green:
Buy organic. It’s not just for vegetables anymore! Organic cotton clothing which has grown in popularity is made with fewer chemicals and uses less water. Natural fibers like hemp, soy, and others also have less of an impact on the environment.
Wear plastic? Approximately 40 billion plastic bottles are produced annually in the U.S. and about two-thirds of them end up in landfills. But two liter soda bottles can be made into fleece jackets and other clothing! Learn more at www.patagonia.com.
Re-use. Buy clothes at consignment shops or online resellers like eBay. Donate clothes you don't wear anymore to local charity or sell it yourself.

ALTERNATIVE GIFT-GIVING GUIDE

It's that joyous season of gift-giving -- why not consider alternatives to typical store-bought gifts? Doing so will help reduce landfill waste as well as other forms of pollution. Here’s our holiday list of ideas for less-wasteful, more creative giving!
  • Make dinner for someone or cook other homemade food and deliver it.
  • Make a video of family members, friends, and loved ones.
  • Offer your talents, such as photography, financial planning, or hairstyling.
  • Make a book of family recipes.
  • Plant a tree in someone's name.
  • Baby-sit or pet-sit.
  • Give tickets to an art exhibit or museum.
  • Give a gift certificate to a used book or music store.
  • Give a sports- or health-club membership.
  • Give frequent flyer miles.
  • Give an adventure or experience (a day of hiking or canoeing, for example).
  • Give tickets to concerts, sporting events, shows, whale-watching trips, etc.
  • Give an Earth Share CharityGift tm that helps protect the environment.
  • Give a plant sprouted from one in your own garden.
  • Provide a gift certificate for a lesson (tennis, swimming, drumming, etc.).
  • Create a photo album or have an old photo restored, enlarged and framed.
  • Weed, water, or help establish a friend's garden.

 

Give the Gift of a Healthy Environment
Just in time for the holidays, Earth Share is pleased to offer a new way you can help the environment while doing something you already do -- gift giving! Instead of giving Dad another tie and Mom another scarf, why not give a gift that gives back? The new Earth Share CharityGift tm; cards offer three nature scenes to choose from and can be personalized and sent via U.S. mail or by email. Gift givers decide on the charitable donation amount and then let their recipients choose how to use the donation to help the Earth! Cards are personalized, ordered and redeemed online. Visit our website to learn more: www.earthshare.org

Best wishes for a happy, healthy holiday season from all of us at Earth Share!

Check out our new CharityGift cards, below!
CharityGift card picture
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