DB Green

Solving our environmental challenges can sometimes feel overwhelming. So many areas need help that it is hard to know where to start.  But imagine if we all took one or two small actions in our daily lives.  Imagine that once you took those in 2009, you added a few more in 2010, and a few more in 2011. Then imagine if your family and neighbors added their own actions to the total.  Imagine the difference we could make!

So, here we are, the beginning of a new year: a time for resolutions, a time for action.  Check out the list attached 2009-green-new-year-resolutions1. Are there things you would be willing to start doing?  Things you’ll encourage your family and friends to do?   Print it out, tick the items you’ll continue doing and tick a few new items you’ll commit to doing in 2009.  Then print out a version (double-sided, of course) for your spouse, your kids, even your friends.  Let’s see the change we can make happen in 2009!

Happy New Year from DB Green!

-Michele

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Hi there- all this dreary drizzling is FABULOUS for our trees so John feels we probably don’t need to water tomorrow. He will go and check the trees out tomorrow and see if we need to water and if so, we will have a go on Wednesday. I will send out an email late tomorrow night if the decision is to water then and let you know. In the meantime there is a Facebook group called DB Green which you can join by searching for DB Green on Facebook and then somewhere is the option to join the group. If there are any events please let us know on there and Michael (computer whizz) can put under events category as they come up which you can get invited to. (I hope that is OK Michael?!! )
While I’m thinking about it it’s time to get revved up for the NEW YEAR with a meeting and a look at the goals we hope to achieve for the year. I do need more people to take an active role if we are going to achieve some of them. Shortly we’ll send out the major ambitions for the year- if there is something that interests you please let me know so you can start up (or join) that team. There is so much we can do here in DB with just a bit of work- the more helping hands the less each of us have to do. I am taking a little pressure off myself this year (one of my MANY resolutions) by not trying to do everything- if I just can’t get round to it because I have a full-time job and three small children then it may unfortunately just not get done- so I will try to delegate more and if it doesn’t get done then so be it. We’re all busy and we can only do what we can do…..she says very philosophically………. but still upbeat and looking forward to a year of action!!
So anyhow- MEETING- how about Thursday the 8th- as it’s the first of the year lets say 10am as the main meeting with a recap at 7:30pm for those who are at work during the day. If you can make the morning please go for that one in preference. We will try to set out what we want to achieve for the year and see if we have any takers to lead or join teams.
Michelle is going to send out the commitment list any moment now so look out for that one and in case you don’t hear from me beforehand
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Let’s make it our greenest one yet!

Cheers,
Kate

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I have been on a personal mission the last few Christmases. A mission to reduce the amount of Stuff that comes into our house. Especially Stuff that is opened, reviewed, and quickly forgotten.  Just ask my kids about the 5-letter word that I utter loudly as I tour their rooms or the playroom – STUFF!

Last year, we took a vow of fewer gifts for the kids, which we implemented with some success. We also came up with an idea to give activity gift vouchers (quality time spent together) instead of ‘things’. At first we weren’t sure that giving a voucher for a “hike with mommy” or a “dinner at a restaurant of your choice” to the kids would quite measure up to the thrill of tearing off wrapping paper and seeing the latest electronic toy or plastic-encased item from Toys R Us, but surprisingly these gifts ended up being the most valued ones after the Christmas day ‘high’ had passed.  The goal was one on one time between one parent and one child and it worked!  They even asked for more. 

So, as I was contemplating how to further reduce Stuff, it occurred to me that we could make all our gifts work harder.  We could give environmentally-friendly gifts to family members who wouldn’t normally consider them. We could buy books or products that supported an environmental or education organization.  We could donate money to a charity in their name. In fact, when I started thinking about it, I realized that there was a whole world of potential gifts that could support our environmental ideals of reducing consumption and waste, but also engaging and supporting us in our mission to improve the way we live. 

So here are some ideas of ways to be more environmentally friendly during the holidays:

REDUCE

As a starting point, get the whole family to watch “The Story of Stuff” http://www.storyofstuff.com/ – this is a great video that talks about where stuff comes from and what happens to it when we are done. Gets you thinking about whether we really need more. 

Next, give gift vouchers for activities together, in other words, time not things! Your kids or spouse will be surprised and perhaps a bit initially confused, but ultimately, we have loved the activities we did one on one and the kids even asked for more certificates!  With our busy lives, we found that the 1:1 activities felt the most special since we rarely get that dedicated time.  You can be quite creative with what the certificates look like: hand-written in a card, create your own ‘official’ template on the computer, download a standard template in your document program of choice.  Here are some ideas for activities to do together: hikes/walks, dinner at restaurant of their choice, sports together (bike ride, rugby, soccer, frisbee, kayak), Disneyland or Ocean Park or Museum visit; movie or Omnimax of their choice; nice picnic lunch with a book or board game; girls – manicure/pedicure voucher together with mom; spouse – date night or  tickets to show.

Sponsor or donate to a cause of their choice.  I have a mother-in-law who is dedicated to animals. This year I donated on her behalf to the SPCA. They will send her a certificate that says what she has ‘purchased’ (a dog bed and toys) and will also provide her a quarterly magazine to keep up with the local activities and issues.  Most organizations now provide some kind of card or certificate, but make sure they send it to your gift-ee and thank them, rather than you.  For global organizations, you may want to donate in the country where they live or for a particular program they would be interested in. Here are some ideas of organizations you can consider (environmental and other):  www.animalsasia.org  ; http://www.wwf.org/ ; http://www.seabirds.org/adopt.htm ; http://www.spca.com/ ; http://www.conservation.org/ ; http://www.heifer.org/ ; www.roomtoread.org ; http://oxfamunwrapped.oxfam.org.hk/index.php?lang=eng ; http://www.greenpeace.org/international/

RE-USE AND RECYCLE

If you do buy a physical gift, make your spending count by buying or sending products from recycled materials. There is an amazing selection of creative ideas appearing everywhere these days.  Some can be bought locally, some are online.  Do a search online for ‘recycled gifts’ and you’ll see all kinds of ideas. 

In Hong Kong, look for www.bezandoho.com (cool bags made from used colourful rice sacks)

Internationally: http://www.greentoys.com/ ; http://www.reusablebags.com/ ; http://www.wornagain.co.uk/ ; http://repurposed4you.com/shop/ ; http://www.carbonneutral.com/shop/index.asp ; www.patagonia.com (clothing made from recycled polyester) ; www.timberland.com (boots made with recycled rubber and organic components) ; http://aardbird.com/recycledfleece.aspx (products from recycled plastic) ; http://www.ecotopia.co.uk/pages/default.aspx ; http://www.carbonneutral.com/shop/index.asp

SUSTAINABLE

A lot of different gifts can fall into this category, whether you consider clothing made from bamboo or organic cotton, organic food and wine, fair trade products, natural soaps and lotions, solar chargers for electronics. Really if we just think for a few minutes, we could choose to only buy products that are made responsibly and sustainably.  As a gift you could give a basket of organic fruit and cheese, select some lotions or soaps made naturally, or give a soft blanket made from bamboo.

In Hong Kong, look for these companies: http://www.ecosensehk.com/ ; www.kinoa-shop.com (in DB) ; http://www.threesixtyhk.com/  (in Central)

Internationally or with local distribution, consider these products which have a foundational ethic of producing eco-friendly sustainable products:  Tom’s of Maine; Burt’s Bees (available at GNC) ; Body Shop (fair trade products) ; beer home brewing products  http://www.breworganic.com/index.asp ;

For saving electricity consider a solar charger for the iPhone : http://www.solararcadia.com/products/iphone-solar-charger-01 or other electronic devices: http://www.solio.com/charger/index.htm ; or solar battery chargers from Kinoa-online ; or a nice basket of assorted CFLs?

EDUCATIONAL

Educating kids and adults about the environment is also a great way to use your spending power!  There are a million books and magazines out there about the environment, but here is a small selection of ideas to consider.

Subscription to National Geographic’s Magazine on environmental living, The Green Guide: http://www.thegreenguide.com/, paper version or digital (save trees and reduce carbon from shipping!)

Books for kids about saving the planet: http://www.bogeybugz.com/book.html  available at Page One, Dymocks and Bookazine, as well as from DB business Little Miss Green the Party Queen.

“Living Green in Hong Kong” — Catherine Touzard (DB author)

“Hot, Flat, and Crowded”   – Thomas Friedman

“Animal, vegetable, miracle” – Barbara Kingsolver

“The Economics of Climate Change:The Stern Review” – Nicholas Stern

“50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth” (updated and revised) – by John Javna, Sophie Javna, Jesse Javna [also a kids version available]

 NEED MORE GIFT IDEAS?  

Check these sites:

http://www.thegreenguide.com/issue.mhtml?i=111

http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=5616

http://www.treehugger.com/giftguide/

 Have some creative ideas we didn’t include? Add them to the website at www.dbgreen.org under ‘green gift ideas’.  Happy shopping and giving!

 -Michele

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I began life as reasonably environmentally aware. Grew up in a rural neighbourhood and spent a lot of time camping and hiking as kids, recycling where we could. Throughout my life, I have always gone out of my way to recycle, even when it wasn’t convenient. Over the last few years we have consistently taken our own shopping bags with us to the grocery store and consciously thought about our purchases before filling our bags (or house). But really, looking at ALL my actions and where I could make more changes has happened much more recently. Frankly, within the last year. It’s been an interesting experience. I discovered that once I committed myself (and my family) to ‘getting better’ over time, the opportunities for change just keep presenting themselves.

I started off this year deciding it was time for a true recycling bin in my house. We had always just used spare plastic bags and put the empty plastic bottles, newspapers and aluminium cans in there. But around March, I decided the time had come for a ‘real’ bin, with real status, to sit next to the rubbish bin in the kitchen. No need for three recycling bins or for color-coding, we just separate when we get to the public recycling bins. Wow, what a difference a real bin made! Suddenly I was inspired to fill it up. To see how much we could move from the rubbish side to the recycling side. To help all of us remember what could be recycled, I taped a label to the top that showed what could and couldn’t be recycled. Then began the process of reminding and clarifying that, “Yes, ALL plastic is recyclable”, “Don’t put that paper in the rubbish, it can be recycled!”, “Nope, glass is not recyclable in HK”. You get the idea. Even in a home with only five people, there is a lot to be learned and many habits to be changed.

The next opportunity that presented itself was buying recycled paper products. As we were doing so well recycling our paper, I began wondering where it all goes and how it gets used. I discovered one day, while walking the aisles of Park nShop, that there were recycled paper products right there in front of me! Who knows how long they had been there and I had never seen them. Now I ONLY buy recycled content kitchen towels, toilet tissue, and facial tissue. Sometimes it is a bit more expensive, but really not all that much. And I know if we can create more demand for these products and increase the quantities, eventually the prices will come down. A bit more challenging was the search for recycled content laser/copier paper for our home printer. After a few discussions, Pen & Paper are now stocking it. Again, a few dollars more than the blindingly white paper made from virgin trees, but honestly, not something I can’t afford. I’d rather keep those trees, farmed or not, alive and capturing carbon. It’s a bit more important in the long run.

From there, I moved to the household cleansers. We live in the Marina in DB, on a boat, where all the ‘grey water’ finds its way into the ocean below us. Unfortunately there is no way to capture this water or have it pumped out by the Marina Club. So, in a nutshell, all the soapy chemical-laden water from our dishwasher, laundry, showers, and sinks, goes, untreated, into the ocean. Honestly, I never spent a lot of time thinking about this. In a place where billions of gallons of sewage get into the ocean daily, it is easy to argue that “what I do doesn’t matter that much”. This year, however, I gave up that argument; preferring instead the mantra from Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” So, we have now changed all our laundry, dishwashing, bath and hand-soap to eco-friendly products. Park nShop/Fusion is stocking a full range of Ecover products, more items can be bought online at Kinoa, and in-person at 360 in Central. I am still working on the shampoo challenge – trying to find the natural stuff without a lot of chemicals. Information is a bit scarce on this topic and the lists of ingredients require an advanced chemistry degree to decipher. The point is not perfection out of the gate, though, it is the awareness and action over time.

So now I find myself contemplating organic food. Again, I was never big into organic or free-range or all-natural foods. We do have an ethic to eat healthily at home and when we go out, and teach the kids good habits around food. But the cost and inconvenience of organic always made me question the value. What helped me reconsider my stance on this recently was a book I read called “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”, by American author Barbara Kingsolver. It is not a book about organic food. Instead it is a book about food choices and the impact food production and transportation has on our environment. The book uses Kingsolver’s own experience of eating local and growing her family’s food in their garden as the narrative, while throwing in plenty of discussions around genetically-modified food, massive US-size farms, the use of fertilizers and pesticides, the transportation of food around the world (lots of carbon), and the higher nutrition values of organic food. Suffice it to say, that I have a new view on how my personal food choices impact the environment. So, the cereal and the yogurt in our house are now organic. Bought some organic Granny Smith apples and baby carrots the other day, as well. It’s a process.

Yes, the changes are a bit more expensive. But if I am honest, they will likely cost a lot less than a night out in Lan Kwai Fung –a sacrifice I can certainly make. And think how much healthier that will be!

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I’m dreaming of a green Christmas …

Well even if you are not but are looking for meaningful & special gifts then the place to shop is right on your doorstep this Saturday.

There really is something for everyone.

With bags for every occasion and member of your family you will be absolutely spoilt for choice. There are gorgeous handbags and useful ‘manbags’ and very cool bags just for kids!

A stunning selection of jewelry for everyday wear and special occasions will be sure to delight.

The kids are well catered for with a great selection of stocking fillers and fun gifts of books and toys.

Pets are not forgotten either with some stylish, functional and fun accesories.

And what would a bazaar be without food! There will be delicious organic treats and beautifully presented chocolates.

To keep your kids entertained while you browse you can happily leave them in the reading corner which will feature a selection of new release stories.

Many of the companies showcasing their products are supporting charities or fair trade movements. So why not give gifts this Christmas that give twice the joy!

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