Amazing Ways to Have an Eco-friendly Holiday With Your Family

1. Start by purchasing eco-friendly gifts. In regards to the environment, not all gifts are created equal. Choose gifts that are manufactured in a way that is environmentally friendly, and that havelow carbon footprints when they are used.

2. Only purchase gifts that you know will be put to good use. Even kids do not like to get a whole lot of junk for the holidays, so purchase only those things that you know will not end up in the trash bin. Not only will this be more eco-friendly, but the recipients of the gifts will appreciate the fact that you gave them things that they will treasure.

3. Shop local. Locally manufactured items do not have to be shipped across the country, thusreducing the amount of vehicle pollution needed in order to get them to you.

4. Use wrapping paper alternatives. Wrapping paper gets ripped off of the gifts and then thrown out, leaving excess waste among the festivities. Instead of using wrapping paper, place your gifts in bags that can be reused for years to come. Not only will the recipient have the gift, but they will have a way of wrapping gifts the following year that is easy and eco-friendly.

Most of the mass-produced shiny wrapping paper is not recyclable and ends up in landfills. Most of this shining and glossy paper is used to present gifts to near and dear ones. Imagine the impact on the environment considering that so many trees and oil are wasted each year just to be thrown away in landfills.

5. Stick to the one gift rule. Particularly when you have kids, you will notice that many family members like to go all out and buy a number of gifts for the little ones. Sticking to a one gift rule for all family members will ensure that there is no excess waste, and it will also ensure that the one gift the kids get from any of them will be a good one.

6. Practice your arts and crafts skills. This can add more fun to the holidays for the kids, as well. Have them make gifts for friends and family rather than buying them can be fun and also save you some money. It might even be a good idea to celebrate by holding a handmade gift exchange in which all participants have to either make their gifts themselves or purchase them from someone who did.

7. Simplify your decorations. There is no reason to overdo it. Keep your decorating as simple as possible.

8. Use natural decorations. Rather than filling the inside and outside of your home with a bunch of plastic that will just be thrown out and the end of the year, use decorations that are made out of wood and other natural substances.

9. Choose the right kind of tree. If they only last a couple of years, fake trees really do not do anything to help the environment. A real tree can be mulched after the holidays, which will ultimately use less energy than what was used to create a fake tree. The best option, however, is likely a potted tree, which can be used for more than one year and then planted after it has been used in your home as much as possible.

10. Use LED lights. LED lighting is far more efficient than the older bulbs. If you have not changed the lights you decorate with for a long time, upgrading to LED lighting will not only use far less energy, but it will also save you a whole lot of money on your electric bill.

11. Replace bulbs that have burnt out. When a string of lights no longer work, it is usually a single bulb that is the problem. Replacing the burnt out bulb will keep you from tossing the whole thing. The best way to do this is with bulb tester.

12. Use timers for your lights. Setting a timer so that your lights turn on at dusk and off at dawn is much more efficient than having the lights on 24/7. Using a timer will help both the environment and your bank account.

13. Don’t use disposable dishes and silverware. When a lot of people are over, many people find it easier to use paper plates and plastic ware. Unfortunately, this leads to a whole lot of waste. Use actual dishes instead. It will make clean up more difficult, but it will be far more eco-friendly.

14. Don’t toss leftovers. Rather than throwing away leftovers, compost them or feed them to animals (chickens will eat anything) in order to reduce waste.

15. Clean using all natural cleaners. Don’t use harmful chemicals during your clean up.

COURTESY OF :

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/

How is the I Touch the future project good for the environment?

The ITTF campaign is superbly ideal for the environment in a number of ways.

One, it is purely about sensitizing the target groups to embrace tree planting. Trees have immense benefits on the environment ranging from balancing the ecosystems to acting as water catchments, shelter for animals, functioning as carbon sinks and modifying local climates (micro climates). The trees also play a crucial role in preventing loss of soil through erosion. Specialized tree species such as mangroves add intrinsic values to the environment making it uniquely tailored to fit specific localities, such as coastal areas.

Secondly, the ITTF targets among others, the youth. This will positively engage the youth into issues of concern on the environment such as why they need to be part of the collective action to fight global climate change. The youth and the urban population will mainly support the campaign through publicizing it, purchasing campaign products such as designed t-shirts about tree planting and the proceeds channeled towards planting more and more trees to help realize a greener economy in the region. This thus ensures total youth involvement and participation in key activities aimed at making them responsible leaders of the future.

By working with urban households, the ITTF aims to create the much needed awareness to these groups concerning the issues of global warming and why they should spare a little coin towards cooling our planet through tree planting by supporting the ITTF in ways possible to them.

Overall, The ItouchtheFuture campaign looks forth to a totally transformed society of people whose culture commands total respect to forest resources of any kind within their area of jurisdiction. This will surely result into a greener world we never thought of, which apt resilience to challenges of global climate change.

I Touch the future campaign in the next five years

The ITTF campaign is expected to have gained enough weight in the Coastal Kenya and most likely in the next five years, we will be doing our way up to a national campaign by working in hand with other key actors in the field of environmental Conservation and awareness creation.

The growth will be attributed mainly to the established and firm network we will have secured through most of our events, social networks and partnerships. The sales proceeds such from #ITTF T-shirts to the youths and engaging in diversification of livelihoods such as trough fish farming and beekeeping among others will have grown to a level where it will be easier to group the targets together and collectively outsource for more support from institutions such as the county government, the ministry of agriculture and the ministry of youth, gender and social welfare among others.

In the next five years, we also hope to have established strategic partners who will help carry our vision higher in the fields and these will include civil service organizations and CBOs established within the select counties in the country. They will be very essential in aiding project implementation and overseeing the tree planting activities in their areas of jurisdiction. 

Happy new year greetings!!

Dear Friends . .

I sincerely appreciate your efforts at taking care of the environment in 2015 in whichever way you made this possible.

Surely that's not all and its still work in progress. Our environment is what we borrowed from our children and the unborn generations so we have to give it to them as best as we can.

Remember it is borrowed and we should return it, I think, better than we've received it.

If you have made your resolutions for 2016 without considering the environment, then I believe you need to readjust.

If you are seeking for ways to do that let me make some suggestions to you.

Make your mind to:

1. Use less energy: this is aiming to use energy efficiently. Don't say you need to waste it even when it is not regular. Aim to switch off lights that are not in use. Ensure there is enough ventilation in your room. Space management helps to increase ventilation thus less energy.

2. Use clean alternative energy: electricity doesn't have to come from machines that burn fossil fuels. Alternative such as solar panels etc are readily available as they are getting less expensive. You can spread the panels where they can also serve as your roof or inlets for natural sunlight.

3. Support good and environmentally friendly ideas, policies, projects (eg Edwine Juma's tree planting campaign at http://
tinyurl.com/zl86lk7 or https://t.co/Z6pi2BjgtP) programmes: Become an advocate for ideas, policies, projects and programmes in your community, local government, state and nation at large. Plans and projects such as community tree planting, environmental auditing exercises, vehicles emissions testing, construction of bicycle lanes, etc.

4. Pull out from investments and companies whose operations are damaging the environment. Divestment actions would make companies and organisations more environmentally responsible. Report companies whose activities are damaging the environment your voice is your power.

Your environment is a powerful part of YOU!

5. Use bicycles, join public buses and car-pool: using bicycles, joining public buses and car pooling are environmentally friendly and reducing your carbon footprints.

6. Consume sustainably: Eat less meat, choose biodegradable materials for packaging (nylons aka leather) is destroying our earth at alarming rates. You can testify to the aesthetic nuisance/ pollution it causes. Buy organic items and don't make more food than fit your stomach and others you need to feed. Avoid food wastage. Reuse stuffs where applicable. Use water optimally.

7. Resolve to Be Responsible: Our children should live the life we dream for them in a healthy, disease and danger free environment thus the onus is on us to make responsible actions in protecting the environment.

8. Its a collective Responsibility so don't act alone. Involve others at your level of control and influence. Coming together is likely more effective in changing the systems and structures that are plaguing our environment and causing problems noted McKibben Bill.

From the fringes of the Icebergs and Arids in the North to the tip of Beaches and Mangroves down South. Environmental Protection is our responsibility. 
Be involved.

Joyous 2016
***********
By Oluwaseun,
Nigerian Environmentalist

Join The #ITtouchTheFuture Tree Planting Campaign Now!!

Vegetation cover is undoubtedly the biggest secret behind the amazing beauty of mother nature. Trees  make a crucial component of the vegetation cover. Since time immemorial, trees have been proven to be long lasting  linkages between us( the present generation), our forefathers(the past generation) and the future generation. It is also through trees that we are passing our story to the next generation. Trees live to reach the future generations. This makes them reliable ambassadors of environmental conservation across generations! In fact, if you have a message for the next generation, simply paste it on a tree( By planting a tree or supporting this campaign). The tree will live long enough to deliver your message !!

I would not dare you to imagine a future without a tree. It would be a horrible thing to dare you to do!  Instead, I would rather confirm this with you that trees are everything you and I needs. Nature is no more without trees.

It is because trees have so much to offer. The numerous roles they play in balancing our atmosphere can not be under estimated: the oxygen you breath is purely from trees!  

Trees of all kinds are essential in carbon sinking. Trees provide the cool shelter we need while outdoors. They are essential water catchment areas giving source to nearly all of the water bodies you ever heard of!

I don't want to say so little about trees because they are equally as important as you and I are on this planet. Most importantly is for you to know that without trees, there is no more water, there is no more life, there is no more of everything! 

If you will allow me to sing a song, then I will sing trees trees trees trees! 

Plant a tree today, because we need it tomorrow. Plant a tree today, because the future needs it. That is the only way a mortal being can live forever! You can touch the future. You can reach the next generation  just by planting a tree today!  It is our turn to give back to nature..nature is all that makes you and I look whole today!!

Simply donate towards the "Plant A Tree, Touch the Future Campaign' fundraiser and make it possible for us to enhance our forest cover today and share the same with all your contacts. Together we can win the war against deforestation. Together we can end climate change. You only got TO BELIEVE, TAKE ACTION and SUPPORT the 'I Plant A Tee, To Touch the future' Campaign  now!!