Here’s another reason to buy second-hand or used; to avoid the new-car toxicity. What you’re smelling is off-gassing. Tell car makers to stop making cars that poison you.

Love That New-Car Smell? Your Body Doesn’t

Bag the Habbit Reusable Gift Bag image courtesy of Reuseit.com

I’ll start by saying that you don’t have to spend any money to celebrate your love. You can show how much you care by giving them your time and attention. You can also make handmade cards and gifts for those your Valentines.

For those looking for something to give that aren’t the arts and crafts type, here are some ideas with an environmental plus.

1. Vintage, estate and second-hand jewelry. This has become one of my favorite new things. Check antique stores, pawn shops or even a local jewelry store. One of my favorite jewelry stores locally has a wonderful selection of second-hand jewelry. If you live in the Chippewa Valley sneak a peak in Williams Diamond’s window or Eclectica on Grand.

2. A red, pink or purple reusable bag would be fun and in the spirit of the day of love.

3. Look for the same color theme in a reusable water bottle.

4. Buy organic flowers, or if you cannot find those, how about flowers from your favorite local shop.

5. Give the gift of chocolate, but not any chocolate, organic and Fair Trade chocolate. Another option is locally crafted chocolate. My favorite sweet spot in Eau Claire is Obsession Chocolates. The chocolates and sweet treats are often made with local and organic ingredients and love. Look around your town for a homegrown chocolatier.

6. Treat your guy to a cozy and eco-friendly fleece made with 41 percent recycled fiber from Patagonia in passionate red. Remember, Patagonia encourages you to buy its used clothing on ebay. Patagonia also recycles clothes.

7. How about a gift with a cause? Send a “Bee Mine Valentine,” as Heifer International writes on its page. Send a gift of honeybees to a family in need. The family uses the bees to start a business which then feeds, clothes and educates the family.

8. Cook those you love a beautiful, sustainable meal with local and seasonal ingredients. This is truly a way to say “I love you.”

9. The perennial favorite for Valentine’s Day is sleepwear and lingerie. Make those sweet nothings organic this year.

10. What romantic evening would be complete without some touches like massage oil and candles. You can find green versions of both of these. After all, why end your organic and eco-friendly evening with petroleum or chemical based anything? I’m certain you can find both the oil and candles locally.  In the Chippewa Valley Just Local Foods carries beeswax candles.

This is for all my Chippewa Valley localvores going through Haas Brothers’ chip withdrawal. Grandma Ferdon’s Tortilla Chips are a good replacement chip for the Haas Brothers’ Chips. The website says they are made in Wisconsin in a gluten-free facility. This is a double bonus for those who suffer from Celiac Disease. The contact information gives an address in Hayward, so it is a little further away than Chippewa Falls, but at least it is in the state.

Besides the yummy tortilla chips, Grandma Ferdon’s carries a line of gluten-free products. I’ve only tried the chips so far, so I’d love to hear from people who have tried the other products in the line, and hear what you think of the food.

Photo courtesy of CDC

Bats have a bad reputation.  Most of these image issues come from misinformation and misunderstanding. Many people think of bats as blood-sucking, rabies-carrying evil creatures. How sad and most definitely not true.

First of all, only 3 out of almost 1000 species of bats drink blood. All three are found in Central America. These bats mostly feed on larger warm-blooded animals. They make small incisions and lap up the blood, they do not plunge fangs into them.

Another reason people hate bats is because they think they have a high incidence of rabies. This is patently false. They have no greater incidence than squirrels, foxes or raccoons, about one percent of the population in North America, according to a study by the University of Calgary.

Bats are not rodents, contrary to popular belief, they are mammals. They are the only flying mammal. Many bats are also protected either by Federal or State laws in the United States. Bats are also protected in other counties around the world. Killing them could likely be illegal.

If you dislike biting, flying insects, bats should be one of your favorite animals. One little brown bat can eat 600 insects in an hour, according to the Berkley bat site. I would love to have a colony of bats in my yard. We have an overabundance of mosquitoes.

By having these fantastic little bug eating animals, we are able to reduce pesticide use around our homes and on crops. Bats are also pollinators and seed dispersers.

Bat populations are on the decline due to a very nasty fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome or WNS in North America. The name of the fungus is Geomyces destructans, according to an article in Science Daily. This deadly syndrome is decimating our important insect-eating bat population.

So, put down that tennis racket and step away from the poor confused bat that inadvertently flew into your house. Go with a catch and release method or call a professional for help. Install bat houses on your property to encourage the bats to sleep there instead of in your house. Bats have much more to fear from humans than we do from them, even if they do get in our house.

I got an email from TerraPass this morning. It reminded me that it was time to purchase my yearly carbon offsets. It’s not to late for you to do the same. Now, purchasing carbon offsets is no substitute for reducing your carbon footprint or living a more sustainable life, but it does help to balance out the emission that you can’t eliminate. TerraPass works on clean energy projects from wind, energy from farm methane digesters and energy from landfill methane capture.

TerraPass also has funny e-cards that you can still send as a Christmas, Hanukkah or Holiday card. It is the ultimate green gift. So, if you’re still looking for a gift and want it to be a green gift, consider purchasing carbon offsets for someone.

Photo courtesy of Reuseit

It’s that time of year when many of us are banging our heads against the wall trying to figure out what gifts to get for everyone on our list. Maybe this is the year to give those friends a nudge, who have yet to make the move to the green side. I hope this makes some of your Holiday shopping a little easier.

Gifts for Men:

1. Recycled Rolling Rock Tumblers

2. Made By Humans Pocket Cutlery Set

3. Lyziwraps Reusable Gift Wrap

4. Stainless Steel Pints

4. Pad Stash

5. S’well water bottles

6. A masculine Reuseit Workhouse Bag

7. Resource Revival Bike Chain Bowl

8. Mountainsmith Apex Recycled Backpack

9. Patagonia’s recycled Men’s Micro D Fleece

10. L.L. Bean Solio Gadget Charger

Gifts for Women:

1. Essential Oil Atomizer

2. Reisenthel Bottle Bag

3. S’well Water Bottles

4. Recycled precious metal jewelry by DeAnna Cochran

5. Upcycled Wool Scarf or any upcycled item on Etsy

6. Hemp Kindle cover

7. Organic Spa Box

8. Ecoist Wristlets

9. Organic Zen robe

10. Recycled Jewel-Tone Vases

Gifts for Kids:

1. Fairy Insulated Lunch Bag

2. Homemade Popsicle Molds

3. Reusable Water Bottle

4. Posh Pouches snack or sandwich bag

5. Eco-Friendly Wooden Push Toy

6. Green Toys Tea Set

7. Soy Wax Crayon Rocks

8. Lyra Colored Pencils in Wood Box

9. Basic Black Record Cuff Bracelet

10. Converse Chuck Taylor Hemp Shoes

Gifts for Pets:

1. Orbee-Tuff Bone

2. Skinny Mayday Pet First Aid Kit

3. Nature Nap for Cat by West Paw

4. Sojos Organic Cat Nip

5. Hemp Dog Collar

6. Silly Kitty Breakaway Hemp Cat Collar

7. Organic Bumper Dog Bed by West Paw

8. All Natural Paw Rub for Dogs

9. The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook

10. Organic Cat Grass

Of course, always check in your locally owned stores for handmade gifts and goodies made by local artists and crafters from recycled, upcycled and repurposed materials.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is able to celebrate in a more sustainable way with organic, local and BPA-free food. I am thankful for all the people and bounty in my life. We need to strive to live more sustainably so that others have more to be thankful for in their lives. That is a main goal of sustainability. Celebrate and give thanks!

Hey! The shopping is great in here! Where have you all been?

I’ve been seeing the adds for Shop Small on Small Business Saturday. I’ve been shopping small and local for years. I’m not saying I never go to a national chain store, but I make an effort and take the time to go to my local stores on a weekly basis. This campaign is nice, but I do not believe it goes far enough. Shopping small and local has to become a way of life. I truly believe in supporting Main Street and keeping profits and economies local. As the phrase goes “think globally and act locally.”

Yes, by all means, shop small on Saturday, November 26, but don’t let that be your only day to shop small and local. Make it part of your weekly, if not daily, routine to shop small and local. I know and love my locally owned stores. These people are my friends and neighbors. Shopping with them and knowing them makes my life richer and our community better.

Go ahead, head downtown and to other less traveled parts of your community. You’re going to love who and what you find.

I saw this link on a fellow green blogger’s site this morning. I took a peek and figured this was some good information to share. Most of us are using so many electronics in our daily lives that finding greener companies to buy from is important. It is also important to let companies know that we are watching how they are doing on sustainability. If your favorite company didn’t do so great on this guide, let them know you’d like them to do better. In this competitive market, if a company hears from its customers, they will make changes to improve on whatever the issue is customers are complaining about.

Greenpeace International

If you have some old incandescent Christmas lights and want to upgrade to efficient LED Christmas lights, now is the time to do it.  Home Depot is running a Christmas light trade-in special. If you trade-in your old broken or used incandescent lights, you will receive $5 off a new string of LED Christmas lights. There is a limit of 5 discounts per customer. This special is going until Sunday, November 13.

If you have a Home Depot near you, take advantage of this. Switching to LED lights is a great way to make the holidays a little greener. If you do not have a Home Depot near by, check with the other retailers and ask if they are running a recycling program like this. Maybe if enough people ask, everyone will get on the the Christmas light recycling bandwagon.