Every year at this time I rack my brain trying to think of the perfect gift for friends and family members. The cliché question of the season seems to permeate my thoughts: What do you buy for the person who has everything?

A couple years ago, after returning from a year in India where I worked with child laborers, I reflected on the concept of “gift giving” and the true spirit of Christmas. I realized the unnecessary practice of buying gifts for loved ones, who may or may not even appreciate it. After an extensive discussion with my siblings we opted for a new gift giving philosophy.

Rather than exchange gifts with each other, we all donated money to a charity of our choice. This upcoming Christmas will be our third year donating money to the organization I worked with in India, Workingchild.org. Rather than purchasing another photo frame or vase for one another, we have enabled 100 children to eat healthy food for a month. …read more of Giving the Gift of Ethics here

The summer is rapidly approaching and so are those two weeks of vacation that you’ve been working hard for all year.

While most people are busy making travel plans to far off places, why not avoid all the lines, tourist traps, and travel times by taking your holiday a little closer to home, and call it a “Localiday.”

In our busy day-to-day life, we may not notice all of the beautiful landscape around us or have a chance to explore the natural and historical attractions right in our own backyard.

Not only can a local vacation save you a lot of money and the hassle of booking all your travel plans, you can also drastically reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding flying or driving for long distances. …read more of You Deserve a “Localiday” here

If you haven’t already converted to the reusable canvas bag, you may still be pondering the old question: Is it better to use paper or plastic?

Unfortunately, the answer is never clear-cut (no pun intended), as the excess use of both of these resources can be detrimental to our environment.

While one may be more biodegradable or easily recyclable than the other, the amount of resources and energy it takes to produce the product may negate that argument. For instance, not only are we having to cut down trees to make paper cups, but in fact, more petroleum is used to make paper cups than polystyrene cups. However, polystyrene does not biodegrade and can therefore be potentially harmful in the long run. …read more of Paper or Plastic? here

Every year hundreds of thousands —if not millions—of tons of waste are produced from disposable cups and shipped off to landfills.

I know, I know, some of them can be recycled. But the truth is that many of them cannot, because of the wax coating that is on the paper cup.

Not only should we be concerned about the waste these cups create, but what about the number of trees that are sacrificed for us to enjoy a nice cup o’ Joe, or the petroleum used to make the cups?

Now, travel mugs are certainly not a new or novel concept–but based on my recent trips to the coffee shop, it appears they haven’t quite become as trendy as reusable water bottles.

So, what is it that’s holding people back from lugging a mug? …read more of Refill not Landfill here

Earth Day is about coming together to each do our part for the environment.

Whether you choose to be extra conscious of your energy and water consumption, educate others about a certain environmental concern, or take political action by writing your local representatives, each small action counts and can certainly create a ripple effect for those around you.

While we should consider taking action and doing our part for the environment everyday, Earth Day provides us with the special opportunity to come together with our respective communities to celebrate our Earth and engage in dialogue about what action needs to be done. …read more of Greening Your Community here