So what is a “green” Christmas? While some may go overboard and stop the lights, forget the tree altogether and not shop for presents due to carbon gases, there are some things you can do that are practical to help your Christmas be as green as you can possibly be without giving up all the wonderful traditions of the holidays. You can start off by making sure all your lights are safe LED lighting. Since LED’s take less energy you won’t feel guilty about having lights in and outside your home.

Buy a tree you can use for three of four days and then plant. You can buy these at a local nursery with a nice root ball. Put the tree for about a half a day in the garage or shed to help it come in from the cold. Make sure you have a large pot to both cover the root and hold water because it will need water. Keep it in for not more than five days before getting it ready to go back outside. You can either plant it in the pot or in the ground, if the ground is not frozen where you live. The last tip is to shop online and save gas and those carbon emissions by shipping directly to your family and friends.

A CSA is Community Supported Agriculture and is a way for the community to create a direct relationship with a local farm. Most CSA’s provide and box or basket of food on certain days that come directly from the farm. Some farms only have fruits and vegetables while others also provide meats and if you’re lucky you can find one that also have dairy as well. The farm normally agrees to bring you whatever they are producing in exchange for you agreeing to purchase whatever they can provide on an ongoing basis.

There are many CSA’s popping up all over the country and the vast majority are great! They provide a wonderful service to the community and, in exchange, the community supports and keeps the local farms going and making money. You can also find CSA’s where several farms have come together to provide the many different food products so you can actually order meats, baked goods and dairy along with the seasons fruits and vegetables. Some of these farms also welcome you out to see where your food is being grown and can make for a wonderful day trip for you and the entire family.

One of the things about buying a house that uses a lot of energy is traveling around the city looking at houses. In some of the larger cities this could mean a lot of emissions going up in the atmosphere. However, there are some things you can do to help eliminate the need for all this driving; though you will want to see the home in person before you place an offer. The first thing is to do some research online to discover some of the great neighborhoods in your area. Here is an example of some great Nashville area neighborhoods that give you a lot of information and pictures so you can narrow your focus.

Another great tool for selling and buying a home is the use of up to date search tools like the MLS Market Snapshot found in the right hand column of Liz Davis Homes. I actually used this tool to find out what houses in my neighborhood were selling for so I could set a good fair price when I sold my home. It was great to get the information I needed delivered to my email. It can help borrowers to determine if they can afford a certain neighborhood or not as well as making sure they don’t overpay for a property in a neighborhood. So you save on gas, reduce your carbon footprint and get great information. It doesn’t get better than this!

When I first heard this term I had no idea what it meant so first let me tell you what it is; green wiping is when certain products or services are said to be green for marketing services but there is little to back it up that says it really is a green product service. So now that you know what it is, let’s talk about what you can do to protect yourself from being bamboozled into thinking it is a green product.

The first is to ask the person why they believe this product or service is green and listen to them very carefully. A green product must be better for the environment, sustainable and good for the planet. One could argue that battery powered cars are not really green because even thought they are better for the air and can be considered sustainable with a low carbon source, the batteries are not good for the environment and there is no good way of disposing on them making them not so good for the earth. Now you have to decide if this product is “green enough”, or has been “green wiped” and make your decisions from there.

Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I am talking about. It has happened to almost everyone I know; you eat too much food all at one time on Thanksgiving and can barely move the rest of the day. You tell yourself that you are not going to do it again this year and you end up doing it anyway. Well, I have found a way to beat the bulge and feel great about it. I call it spooning.

It’s really quite simple, I get to have one spoon full of anything and everything I want and no more. What I find is a spoon full is about one serving and when you put one serving of the things you like on the plate, there is plenty of food, room for all of it, which used to be a large problem, and once you are done you are satisfied and full. The key is not to go back for seconds and thirds. Drinking water or tea will help you tackle going back to the trough for more and if you need some additional help; go into the bathroom, close the door and raise your shirt and take a real long look at your gut. That should do it!

As we start paying more and more attention to the planet, the animals we eat and how they get to our table as well as the way our actions have consequences in regard to pollution, water and health, there is also something else that is happening; a religion is being born. And just like in other religions throughout history there are those who have gone overboard in their zeal and are turning some people off, which is having a negative affect on some and it would be wise to rethink this attitude.

This is the time to educate, not push an agenda on anyone. That’s because there are more people than ever before looking into changing their lifestyle either for the sake of their health, the planet, to save energy or because they have found out about the cruelty to processed animals and don’t want to add to it any longer. This simply means that many people are coming to the same conclusion without any pushing, whining or guilt trips. With so much information flowing on the internet and documentaries being done for the betterment of our world, people are naturally listening to what is being said because they know deep inside their souls that nature is the best way for us all.

It does seem to be a little strange to be talking about post caps around the Christmas Holiday season but you would be amazed at how many decide to beautify their outdoor spaces and decks this time of year. Most do it for parties and entertainment purposes while others do it because they are going to have company and want to make a great impression. Since installing assorted post caps are very easy and quick compared to other things people could do, it does make since. You can also choose to get the solar caps or other lighted post caps that can really lend  a whole other element to the space as well as safety.

Another advantage to improving your décor with wooden fence post caps is the price. You would much rather spend your hard earned money on gifts and great holiday food items than a bunch of décor that will only be used once a year. These are great twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and fifty-two weeks out of the year. They will add beauty and fun to your outdoor areas that you can enjoy during the holidays and every season thereafter.

Isn’t it funny how once money is injected into an argument things change. Oh the facts don’t change; just the reasons. It seems while the science continues to show the many affects of greenhouse gases and that the world is, in fact, getting warmer, people in America have changed their minds and no longer feel global warming is a threat. And why not? After all, who wants to pay for changing the way we live; not us.

Oh we get up and yell about the deficit and how our children and their children will be paying for our missteps in regard to healthcare, jobs and generally taking care of each other but we don’t give it a second thought to those same children and grand children living in a world where they can no longer live because it’s too hot, the seas are rising and the ice is melting. All because we don’t have the money right now to take care of that so they’ll have to live with the consequences. Wow, as my son says, that makes a lot of since; not!

Everyone knows that in order for everything to come alive next year much has to die between now and next spring. In sounds like a bad thing but is, in fact, a wonderful thing that happens every year and we get rewarded for it each and every year as well. However, many people are quick to hire a gardener or landscaper in the spring and forget that it is just as important to have a skilled professional take care of your yard in the fall as it is in the spring and planting months.

Fall is a great time to get those compost piles turned and ready for winter by adding leaves and other natural debris to have rich and wonderful soil next year. There is a certain amount of green that should be added to the brown and your yard guys can take care of that for you. One of the things most people don’t think about is adding a hardscape such as a patio. The fall is the perfect time to add these types of outdoor living spaces and they will be ready to go at the first sign of spring.

What shade of green are you? If you look at what living green really is then you know there are all kinds of shades depending on “how green” you go. If all you do is replace your light bulbs with the energy saving kind of bulb then you are a light shade of green. If you walk or bike everywhere you go and eat only locally grown plants and animals, save your rain water and take a bath with recycled water you are a very dark shade of green. If you live in one of Michael Reynolds Earth Ships that is self sustaining and incorporates grow houses to grow your own food then you are so dark green you are almost black!

Very few of us stop to think what color green we really are and even fewer stop to think how far we would like to go. However, our world and the world of our children and grandchildren depend on us making decisions and commitments as to how green we are willing to go. To do this we will have to put our attitudes of entitlement behind us and get to work because being green requires us to get involved with our transportation, energy and food supplies, not to mention our water use. So what shade of green are you and how green do you want to go?