The best gift ever

Whatever holiday you celebrate, you can give a truly amazing gift this year.  Consider donating blood.  It costs you less than an hour of time, and it can make the difference between life and death for someone else.  

Two of my brothers have been in serious accidents. Both received blood donated by strangers.   I can never thank those people, but I can pass it on by donating blood myself, which I do regularly now.

The Red Cross  makes it easy to find a place near you to donate.    

This will fill you with holiday spirit like no trip to the mall ever will.

Environmentally-friendly gift wrap

I like beautifully wrapped packages as much as the next person, but it seems to me that wrapping-paper is an outmoded tradition in this age of protecting the environment and conserving resources.

I spent one evening this week turning 2 yards of holiday fabric into a dozen re-usable fabric gift bags to use this Christmas.  Total cost for fabric and ribbon, about $6.00, or about 50 cents a bag.  I figure if I make a bunch of bags this year, I'll be set for years.  

The eartheasy site has good instructions for making fabric gift bags.  I chose opaque fabric and didn't bother with the lining.  You can buy fabric gift bags on the web, but they're a little pricey.  

If you have old fabric or even old sheets around the house, you can even make fabric gift bags without purchasing new fabric.  

Not only are these wrapping paper alternatives good for the environment, they're faster and easier than using wrapping paper. Perfect for when kids need to wrap presents. You just pop the item in the bag and tie the ribbon. No scissors, no tape.

Other ideas for gift wrapping without waste:  

• re-use old cookie and candy tins
  
• give a gift wrapped in a re-usable cloth shopping bag (Ikea has some great ones) 
  
• save and re-use the gift-bags and boxes you receive

Anyone else out there have ideas for gift wrap alternatives?

Tired of CSI _________ ?

If you like crime drama, but you're tired of CSI, here are a few other options that I like:

NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Stars Mark Harmon

Bones
Stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz

Both of these shows can be a little graphic with the body parts, so beware if you have young kids. If you want to catch up on old episodes, they're available on Netflix.

Easy Halloween celebration

Looking for an easy way to celebrate Halloween with your neighbors?   

Here's an idea:  Host a pumpkin carving party during the week before Halloween.   

You can order pizzas and make it BYOB.  Each family brings their own pumpkins to carve and takes them home after the party. There's no need to even tidy up your house if you hold the event in your yard or garage. Just be sure to provide plenty of garbage cans, carving tools, and a place for folks to wash their hands. 

Sarah Palin doesn't represent me

I'm horrified by the idea that there are women in the US whose views are represented by Sarah Palin.  I love the idea of a woman in the White House, just not that woman.  I want the first female president in the US (and make no mistake, there's a good chance that could happen if McCain is elected) to be an educated, well-rounded  role model that young girls could admire, rather than someone whose policies they'd need to fear.  

Check out her answer to how she gets the information to form her political views.  Apparently she couldn't even think of the name of a reputable newspaper.  

Fostering art appreciation

You can help foster your child's enjoyment of art and museums.  Here's what worked for my family.

When my kids were little, we set a pattern of taking them to museums and exhibits of various kinds. We started with the local children's discovery museum, airplane and train museums, the natural history museum, and science and technology museums.  We also regularly visited zoos and aquariums.  Hands-on museums were the best when they were in the 3-7 range.

As my kids got older, we started branching out into art museums, historical exhibits, and other cultural events.  To keep their interest, I found that it helps to create a little paper handout for them to fill out. I bring a clipboard and a pencil from home for them. For an art museum, the handout may include things like this:

• What piece of art do you like most and why?
  
• What is your least favorite piece of art and why?
  
• What's the oldest piece of art you can find? Who created it and when?
  
• Find a piece of art made from multiple materials. What's it made of? Do you like it?
  
• Is there a piece that you don't think should qualify as "art"? Why?

When my kids finish the handout, I give them each a dollar or two to spend in the museum store.  This keeps them engaged and rewards them for participating.  On the way home, we talk about their answers. It gets them to think about what they're seeing and form opinions about it. And, they think it's fun. Kind of like a treasure hunt.

My kids are 12 and 14 now, and they both love to go to museums. They each have different preferences in art and like different types of museums and exhibits.  

Many museums are free for one or two days each month, so check around if you're on a tight budget.  

Modeling responsibility

Unfortunately, I had the opportunity to model responsibility to my tween daughter the other day when I scraped the bumper of another car while trying to parallel park. I dutifully wrote out a note with my name and contact information to leave on the windshield of the other car, and I took pictures of the damage to my car and the other car with a camera I happened to have in the trunk.

While this event pretty much ruined my day, I look back on it now, a few days later, and realize I was given a great opportunity to model responsibility and accountability to my daughter. I'm sure that watching me take responsibility for a mistake I had made was more powerful than any abstract conversation would be. Of course, having the follow up conversation is also good.

So, look for those opportunities to model the behavior you want from your children, whether it's giving back the extra change when the cashier gives you too much, holding the door for the woman struggling with the stroller, or apologizing when you're wrong. Your kids are watching.

Smart charitable giving

How do you decide which charities to donate to? You don't want to donate your hard-earned money to a charity that spends 30% of it's revenue on fund-raising and 20% on executive salaries. You want to make sure your money is going to the cause you're trying to support.

I like the Charity Navigator website. They have analyzed over 5,000 charities and provided ratings based on things like % of money spent on fund-raising and administrative costs. They also let you search on charities based on categories, like animals or the environment, so you can find a charity that matches your interests.

Using Charity Navigator with your child is a good opportunity to teach about charitable giving and decision making. Let your child find and donate to a charity that matches his or her interests. Talk about your charitable giving philosophy and practices, and help your child develop a philosophy of his or her own.

Does your employer support the environment?

I'm very lucky to work at a company that cares about environmental sustainability. They demonstrate this with programs for commute alternatives, recycling, reducing paper waste, saving energy, etc. If your company doesn't have a sustainability program yet, maybe you can help start one. These types of programs can improve employee morale and contribute to a healthier bottom line.
You can start small. What happens to all the soda cans and plastic water bottles from your work? If they're going into the regular trash, talk to your facilities group about a recycling program.
I'd love to hear from others about ideas for a sustainable work place.