'Tis the Season...

...for JustSaying to remind you about our favorite simple ideas to help make the holidays more green (and to post pictures of cute holiday animals).

• Get a real tree. Ideally, one grown locally as opposed to say... shipped to a Home Depot near you. Not only will your home smell like lovely pine without any artificial sprays or candles, but you are contributing to a business that is good for the planet. I know, I know: Instinct dictates that cutting down trees = bad. But that isn't exactly the case in the business of Christmas trees because higher demand = more trees planted.  Christmas tree farms are a big business. We're talking about 56 million trees bought each year that grew and absorbed carbon dioxide for 5-16 years before gettung tied to the roof of your car. Read all about it in an earlier year's post, "Purchase the Pine, People." (By golly gosh, those are some cute sisters in that picture!)Of course, purchasing the tree - roots and all - to be replanted after the holidays is the absolute greenest of the green but not everyone has the land for that.

• Make your own gift tags from last years Christmas cards. Or email me to receive a bag full of them for free in exchange for donating your old cards. Each year, JustSaying gives our home-made, re-purposed tags to friends and family and they are always a hit. 

• Consider purchasing gifts that give back through organizations like the World Wildlife Fund. Not only will you be donating to an important cause, you'll get on the mailing lists for similar organizations that send out holiday-themed return address labels and wrapping paper made from recycled materials (and a request for a small donation).

• As far as online shopping,Amazon is one of our favorites because of their eco-friendly frustration-free packaging. If you can't find what you are looking for on there, be sure and sign up for an account on your favorite sites so that you can save items in your cart until all your purchasing is complete and can be sent in a single shipment. Save yourself the shipping fees and save the packing materials and shipping miles.

• Use LED lights and put them on a timer. If you aren't fond of the bright-white, grab a colorful strand instead.  

If you've got any tips for the season, please feel free to share them in the comment section as this is the first of several holiday posts.

Save the Rain Forest

Paying landowners to protect the rain forests isn't a new idea. It's also not guaranteed to be as successful as we may hope because, unfortunately, local and global economic forces driving deforestation are often far more lucrative. The NY Times reports on recent efforts in Brazil:

Deforestation, a critical contributor to climate change, effectively accounts for 20 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions and 70 percent of the emissions in Brazil. Halting new deforestation, experts say, is as powerful a way to combat warming as closing the world’s coal plants.

But until now, there has been no financial reward for keeping forest standing. Which is why a growing number of scientists, politicians and environmentalists argue that cash payments — like that offered to Mr. Marcolini — are the only way to end tropical forest destruction and provide a game-changing strategy in efforts to limit global warming.

Unlike high-tech solutions like capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide or making “green” fuel from algae, preserving a forest yields a strikingly simple environmental payback: a landowner reduces his property’s emissions to zero.

Are you ready for some mind-blowing statistics? (Keep in mind, the Amazon accounts for about 17% of the world's forested area and deforestation and forest degradation make make up the second largest overall contributor to global warming) At the current deforestation rate, the Amazon is losing nearly 5 million acres per year. Since 1970, about 230,000 square miles have been lost. It is predicted that at the current rate, the Amazon will be cut in half by 2030. Do you know what the land sans trees is being used for? Cattle. In 2004, Brazil surpassed the United States as the largest meat exporter and has maintained approximately a 25% market share since.

I'm just saying... Who knows if paying the land owners will help. I bet a decreasing demand for meat would though. Bottom line: Saving the rain forest (or rainforest - it was one word in 1989) is one of our biggest challenges.