Take a look at these brilliant eco-friendly gift-giving tips.
1. Make sure that your gift will be used by the recipient
Yes, thought greatly counts; however, if your gift is not used by the recipient, it becomes wasted. Give only material presents if you think that you know the recipient very well. If you know them well enough and if you know what they badly want for themselves, go ahead and give your pal a material gift.
2. Give a consumable present
This kind of gift makes a double pleaser. First, when the recipient enjoys your gift and second, when he/she appreciates the fact that your present leaves him/her with no guilt of it being simply thrown to the corner unused.
3. Include a piece of you
You do not necessarily need to give something material. In fact, why not try offering some service? Perhaps, you can baby-sit while your pal enjoys a date with her partner. You can also give her a gift certificate for a relaxing spa or maybe a whole day pampering at the salon.
4. Give something green
Today, you will be able to find a wide range of green services in the market. Some of which include a Zipcar membership or maybe a gift of carbon offsets for commuting a friend.
5. Write
Nothing can be more personal and heart-warming than a card. To make this deed ?greener,? you can make the card yourself using recycled materials. These materials may be in the form of old pictures, old concert tickets, even old table napkins that you and your friend got when you once ate for dinner!
6. Give something which makes a third party better
For instance, you can make someone happy when you give a card which says that you donated a small amount to charity on his behalf especially if the money will be able to make a child from the other side of the world happier.
7. Give creative gifts which show that you care
A baby sweater which you knitted yourself will give more joy to the recipient. This can even become a family heirloom which will extend the life span of the gifts that you give.
8. Buy something local
A present grown and made locally can share a very unique product which you have discovered in your own community. Your locally bought gift will also help save the environment through less or absence of emissions involved in the shipment.
9. Give high-quality presents
Do not hesitate to spend a generous amount on your presents. High-quality gifts usually do justice to the materials which you consume in manufacturing when these products live longer. You can try secondhand shops, vintage stores or flea markets for these kind of gifts. You can then make it better and customized by giving a little personal touch like writing a message or doing a little paint job.
10. Be cautious about packaging
Always make sure that you use packaging which will not go to waste. For instance, you can use a scarf to wrap the gift or maybe boxes which can still be reused for holding stuff together. An organic gift bag will also be fun.
For most people, the phrase ?eco-living? conjures up thoughts of recycling, energy-saving light bulbs, and solar panels. In fact when you think about it, every facet of life these days has an eco-living alternative. Instead of flying long distance for your vacations, you can take the train somewhere closer to home. There are hybrid cars that are a green alternative to conventional cars. And you can even get a ball point pen that is made from a recycled cup.
Computing is no exception ? there are many things that you can do to reduce your computing carbon footprint. Our computers have a negative effect on the environment in different ways, at different stages of its lifetime. During manufacture, computers require a certain amount of energy in order to come into existence. In other words the factory required electricity to run its machines ? and a proportion of this can be attributed to each unit that is made. Then it had to be shipped to the retail outlet ? requiring even more energy in the form of diesel to power the ship.
To get the computer into existence and into your home required a precise amount of energy that is the sum total of hundreds or thousands of sources. The process of tracing each and every bit of energy that went into the process could go on forever, depending upon how accurate you want to be. For example, the chap who put the screws in the back of my computer may have driven to work, or he might have cycled. He might have had a cold or hot dinner. And that's not taking into account all the other workers who collectively created this machine.
Once the computer reaches the customer it starts using even more energy in the form of electricity. The electricity has to be produced in a power station and this usually creates carbon emissions. In recent years, power saving monitors and PCs have hit mainstream shops. For example did you know that a low power TFT monitor uses less power switched on than an equivalent conventional CRT monitor when on standby? That just shows the extent to which power saving has advanced.
When the computer comes to the end of its useful life ? it is send it must be disposed of. Depending on whether the device is sent to a recycling centre, an incinerator, or landfill, it will release carbon emissions. This Life Cycle Analysis may sound highly complex, and it is, but it needs to be that way to give a clear picture of environmental impact.
To be a greener computer consumer here is what I recommend:-
1.Use an low power TFT monitor and energy saving PC. 2.Instead of buying a new computer, try to boost your old one. This can be done with optimization or component upgrades. 3.Sell your old hardware on eBay, or better still give it away on freecycle.org 4.Never just dump your computer ? contact your local authority to find your nearest electronics disposal facility. 5.Shutdown or hibernate your PC at every opportunity to save electricity.
Both Ava A. & Zach Hope are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ava A. has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management, Web Development. Aside from giving green gifts, you can also make a safer home by observing . This can be made pos. Ava A.'s top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.
Zach Hope has sinced written about articles on various topics from computers and the internet, Iphone Reviews and web development. Zach Hope is the author of Speed-Up-Windows-XP.com, a site that can teach anybody to to invigorate old computers.. Zach Hope's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.