December 2005 | Green Lines
This Month:
Waste Free Holidays celebrates 10th year, connecting homeless, lighting the tree not your bill
By Heather Nordell
What a difference a decade makes. King and Pierce Counties’ Solid Waste Divisions announce their 10th annual Waste Free Holidays program. The program features “stuff-free” gift alternatives from 200 businesses throughout both counties. Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the holiday season than other times of the year. From Nov. 17 to Dec. 31, the program offers 15 to 50 percent off tickets for a range of experiences including concerts, plays, sporting events, recreation, museums, restaurants, massage therapy, yoga studios, even the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Nutcracker.” Project Manager Tom Watson says, “The most valuable aspect of this program is getting the message out to reduce waste during the holidays. This is the only program I know that actually supports the local economy while rewarding people for reducing their holiday waste.” Last year, half of the participating businesses reported a total of $59,000 in sales from the program. For more information visit: www.wastefreeholidays.com.
Locally-based nonprofit Community Voicemail (www.cvm.org) announces its new “86 that fruitcake!” program for holiday giving. Rubenstein Technology Group donated technology expertise to create CVM’s new e-gift cards, which provide both corporate and personal holiday gifts by making a donation in someone’s name. The donations go to support 24-hour, free personalized voicemail services for homeless people, domestic violence victims and people in transition, including 38,850 people displaced by the hurricanes. CVM services have worked with over 2,000 organizations to serve people both regionally and nationally. Voicemail helps keep people connected to family, friends, jobs and employment opportunities, housing and healthcare and has offered stability, hope and dignity. “More than 6.5 million American households do not have phones in this country. We try to bring light to the effects of disconnection. Reliable access to communication really creates a lifeline for many people,” says national spokesperson Patty Bonnell.
Co-op America (www.coopamerica.org) announced Ten Thousand Villages (www.tenthousandvillages.com) as the winner of their first annual People’s Choice Green Business of the Year Award. The award was created to honor the work of socially and environmentally responsible businesses, highlight how businesses can commit to products and practices that contribute to the health and well-being of people, workers, communities and the environment, and challenge corporate America to do the same. Ten Thousand Villages is one of the oldest and largest fair trade organizations in the world and a pioneer among Fair Trade businesses in the U.S. It has stores throughout the U.S. and Canada, including a local store at 6417 Roosevelt Way. “We anticipate this award will help our business continue to grow, which helps us help artisans around the world be able to educate their children, maintain shelter and have healthy meals every day,” says store manager Sallie Landis.
To save energy, Seattle City Light recommends LED holiday lights. Conventional holiday lighting consumes significant energy and often adds $50 or more to November and December bills. Many local retailers now carry colorful energy-efficient holiday lights. Retailers carrying the LED holiday lights this season include: Ace Hardware, Albertsons, Bartell Drugs, Costco, Emerald PUD Energy Store, Fred Meyer, Kmart, Lane Electric Cooperative Product Center, Target and Walgreens. For more information visit www.ci.seattle.wa.us/light/printdocs/Holiday_Light.pdf
![[Send]](http://seattle.consciouschoice.com/sendlink/send.gif){kind=small}
Recommend this page to a friend
Top Ten pages recommended to friends:
