Here are a few tips to help you greenover your Christmas Day:

1.   Don’t throw your wrapping paper in the garbage… save it to reuse or recycle it (as long as it is not foil or any other unusual material, it can go in with regular paper)!

2.   Save gift bags and tissue paper too!  They can be used next year.

3.   Recycle Christmas cards (that are paper, not plastic or glittery), or save and reuse cards that you receive as gift tags for next year.

4.   If you receive electric goods this season, don’t throw your old ones away. Recycle or donate them.

5.   Remember to recycle your Christmas tree when the holidays are over–most solid waste facilities will take them.

6.   Don’t let your good habits slip this week…keep on recyling your plastics, glass and cardboard!

“Instead of shopping for new decor, clothing, and gift wrap, try reusing (and re-purposing) what you already own. You may just turn a white Christmas (or Hanukkah) green.”

To read the whole article in The Boston Globe click on the link below (and look for greenover):

http://www.boston.com
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Thanksgiving is over but there is still so much turkey left! And turkey sandwiches are not appealing anymore.

I didn’t want to waste and through out all the meat.  So I looked at some turkey leftover recipes online.

I  found Turkey Nachos recipe. The recipe seemed pretty easy so I tried it.

It was sooo good. And you couldn’t even tell it was turkey ; )

Here is the recipe:

Turkey Nachos

3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups cooked turkey, coarsely chopped
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 10 ounce package large tortilla chips
16 fluid ounces refried beans, (or regular)
2 cups  shredded Monterey jack cheese, (or Cheddar cheese)
2 cups salsa
sour cream

Heat oven to 425°F.

Whisk together lime juice, olive oil, cumin and garlic powder; toss with turkey in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Make a layer of tortilla chips to cover the bottom of a large 12 to 14-inch round or oval baking dish. Evenly spoon refried beans over chips. Top with turkey and sprinkle with 1 cup shredded cheese.

Make another layer of tortilla chips. Spoon half the salsa evenly over chips. Top with remaining cup of cheese.

Bake nachos 15-20 minutes or until heated through and cheese melts and begins to bubble.

Serve hot with remaining salsa, sour cream and cilantro, if desired.

Booklet with green tips

The Christmas Season might be the most wonderful time of the year, but it is also the most consumptive time of the year—household waste increases by 25% during November and December from all of the parties, wrapping, decorating and packaging. With all of this consumption and waste, Christmas is not necessarily the most Eco-friendly time of the year.

This does not mean you shouldn’t enjoy the holiday season, or that you shouldn’t have parties, give gifts, or decorate your house. There are many holiday products and ideas that have a much lower ecological footprint than those traditionally used.

So, greenover joined forces with Justine at Adlumia to throw a party at the Island Merchant (who served local foods) to give guests tips, products and ideas, for going green for Christmas.

Amanda, Justine and Jitka

Go Green for Holidays tips:

Holiday Gatherings

- Send electronic invitations instead of paper invitations.
- Serve locally produced food and beverages.
- Use linens, glasses and plates, and not disposable dishware.
- If you do use disposable dishware, make sure it is biodegradable or compostable.
- Co-host a party with friends or neighbors, rather than having many different parties.
- Be sure to recycle any bottles or cans, as well as compost food scraps.

Glasses and serving platters made from wine bottles (Aldumia, Allium)

All natural honey treats and locally made honey (Bee and Blossom)

Decorations

Christmas Trees

- Buy a real tree — real trees are grown without using many chemicals, are replanted every year, absorb carbon dioxide, and decomposing trees add nutrients back into the earth. Recycle it at a local waste management facility.

Christmas Lights

- Buy a new string of LED lights, or retrofit your current lights with LED bulbs. Make sure you unplug the lights during the day and overnight to save energy.

Real tree with LED lights

Ornaments

- Don’t throw out ornaments you don’t like anymore—swap with friends or donate them to a thrift store. Buy new ornaments that are locally made or made from environmentally friendly materials.

Other Decorations

- Display plants that are native to the area, such as holly; or buy organic. Purchase decorations that are handcrafted from sustainable materials.

Ornaments made from ghords (Allium) and Santa’s
made from recycled plastics bottles, newspaper and water-based paint (Seaweed Santa)

Gift Giving

- Be aware of where your gifts come from, and how far they travel to get to you. Shop at locally owned stores and give locally made goods.
- Give experiences such as dinner out, a massage, bowling, museums, memberships, or plan a family outing.
- Make a donation in someone’s name or give carbon credits.
- Go organic when giving clothing or linens.

Purses made from recycled materials, decorative hooks made from recycled glass (Allium)

Reusable water bottles, organic t-shirts (greenover), cleangreen gift certificates

Toys made in the USA and wooden toys with non-toxic paint (Main Street Toy Shoppe)

“Green is the new Black” organic T-shirt ($25 at Adlumia)

Gift Wrapping

- Wrap your gifts using newspaper, fabric scraps, gift bags, or old wrapping and bows from years before.
- Use wrapping paper that is recycled.
- Hide presents around the house and have the kids find them, rather than wrapping them
- Recycle wrapping paper, cards, and tags as much as possible.

recycled wrapping paper & cards (Adlumia)

Cards

- Send e-cards, cards made from recycled paper, reuse cards from prior years, avoid giving cards with glitter or other frills that can’t be recycled.

When you are shopping, bring your own reusable bag.

Envirosax (Red Fish Blue Fish)

Special offer:

Adlumia is offering a 20% storewide discount through December 25^th to anyone who mentions the event at check out. Visit Adlumia to see more gift giving ideas for the holiday season and to get the very trendy “Green is the New Black” t-shirt.

(Discount does not apply to already reduced merchandise, gallery works or the “Green is the new Black” t-shirt).

One of greenover’s latest ventures was to help the Hyannis Area Chamber of Commerce green their Annual Dinner.

greenover helped with following measures:

Invitations were printed on recycled paper using soy inks.
o Each ream of recycled paper prevents more than 4lbs of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. o Soy ink contains non-toxic soybean oil, whereas standards inks are petroleum based.

Appetizers were plated, which cuts down on food waste.

Chicken was organic and the vegetables were locally grown.
o Organic agriculture refrains from the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetically modified organisms and pharmaceuticals.

Bartenders asked if patrons wanted napkins rather than just handing them out to cut down on paper waste.

Most nametags have been used repeatedly rather than making new nametags every time.

The amended by-laws were sent electronically to as many people as possible, rather than mailing them, cutting down on paper waste and the emissions associated with mail delivery (which also saved the Chamber money!).

Limited number of programs were printed to save paper.

(Native) plants were borrowed from Hyannis Country Garden rather than using centerpieces that might get discarded at the end of the night (also saving the Chamber money!).

Throwing a birthday party in the spirit of sustainability is not as daunting as you might think, especially if the birthday girl is your best friend and the co-founder of Green Over Amanda Converse. Last month, Krista Clarkson, Katrina Baker and I planned a green party for Miss Amanda and implemented many of the eco-friendly tips that she has passed on to us over the past 10 or so years (yes, she was WAY ahead of her time!)

We started by sending out an electronic save-the date. We used a site called mypunchbowl.com, which provided a nice alternative to the standard Evite. We reached all Amanda’s friends via email and were able to instantly track responses without sending paper invites.

Party day began with a visit to the Cape Cod Winery in Falmouth. They were hosting a wine tasting in conjunction with CLASH, the Cape Land and Sea Harvest, and we knew Amanda would love to participate in this local, Cape event. A small group of us carpooled to the vineyard and spent a nice hour tasting the locally harvested wines and walking the vineyards. Despite the light drizzle of rain, it was great to visit the vineyard, a place where we had always wanted to try out.

Later that night, we planned a cocktail party and dinner at the Hyannis Angler’s Club, a great space right across from the harbor in downtown Hyannis. We made sure that our venue had real plates, glasses, knives, and forks, so that we would not have to throw away any paper or plastic goods at the end of the night. They also provided us with cloth napkins and tablecloths after making a simple phone call and talking with the staff.

The decorations for the party were all sustainable or reused. I took some unused candles from my house and placed them around the room for atmosphere. Krista’s mom donated her weekly supply of fresh organic vegetables from Coonamesset Farms for us to use as centerpiece displays. Katrina’s mom, head of the floral department at Windfall Market in Falmouth, donated a beautiful and sustainably grown arrangement. I made a slide show of old and new photos of Amanda on my computer and ran it throughout the evening. This was a great way to forgo printed pictures that we would just have to throw away.

We also decided to offset our carbon footprint during the party by donating to www.carbonfund.org. For a donation of just $20.00, we were able to offset 2 tons of carbon, and we received a neat certificate to give to our birthday girl.

Jitka Borowick, Amanda’s partner at Green Over, also helped out by providing an eco-friendly party favor for the guests. She brought a few dozen Envirosax from local shop Red Fish Blue Fish in Hyannis. At the end of the night, we filled each bag with a few of the centerpiece vegetables, and everyone left with enough veggies for dinner the next night!

After dinner, we all headed to another Hyannis local hotspot, Embargo, to dance the night away. Amanda and gang certainly took this opportunity to continue supporting local business, as the bar tab grew and grew. We also decided to get in some free exercise on the dance floor, which in many circles in considered a green workout.

Planning a green party really was no more difficult than any other party I have organized. I made a few extra phone calls and looked on a few additional websites, but overall it was easy and exciting to party local and green. It felt great to leave a smaller mark on our community resources while at the same time promoting its businesses and assets. More importantly, we were proud to show Amanda just how much we have learned from her over all these fabulous years.

I don’t know about you, but I get extremely annoyed by the amount of junk mail I receive–especially those letters from the credit card companies that have the checks attached to them.  I used to get about 5 a week (apparently they think I am a good bet for spending money I don’t have….I wonder where they got that idea), until I simply called up the company and asked them to stop.  It literally took me ten minutes, and I have probably saved the lives of ten trees this month alone. 

Another thing I used to get a lot of–catalogs (the credit card companies must have told everyone I spend money I don’t have).  Then I found Catalog Choice www.catalogchoice.org, which  is a free service that allows you to choose which catalogs you no longer want to receive.  That takes less than ten minutes, and will save a whole lot more trees, not to mention the amount of energy, water and toxic inks it takes to print them. 

The latest website I discovered for saving trees–www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org.  Over 500 million yellow and white pages are printed every year (that is 2 for every person in the U.S.), and only a fraction of them are actually used.  This organization takes your name and address, and removes it from the Yellow Pages mailing list.  The organization’s goal is not to stop the use of such directories, but to eliminate the unsolicited delivery of the books. I personally haven’t used a phone book in months, and would rather not have two printed on my behalf. 

This Saturday, October 4, was Green Building Open House (www.reliance.org) and people could see how their neighbors are reducing their carbon footprint and cutting their energy bills through the power of the sun, wind, and smart building design.

I went with my mother in law to check out some of the houses. First house w visited was Conrad Geyse’s home at 64 Old Shore Road, Cotuit.

This residence/boat shop combination building is a working test/demonstration site for Cotuit Solar. Although some systems are over 20 years old, workability, modification and experimentation are the emphasis, not finished appearance. The building features solar/wood fired domestic hot water, solar/wood fired space heating, grid-tied solar photovoltaics, automatic nighttime insulation of passive solar wall, solar wood drying, composting toilet with nutrient recycling to gardens, graywater irrigation, woodstove exhaust condenser, ground water cooling & dehumidification.The site provides shelter, amenities, employment and a significant volume of food for the occupants. Fossil fuel use is +/- 130gal of propane per year, and +/- 2,500 kWh of electricity. (www.reliance.org)

Solar domestic hot water

grid-tied solar photovoltaic

stainless steel water tank

Conrad’s home with green roof and green house

composting toilet

on the roof

The second home we went to was near by at 135 Devon Lane, Marstons Mills.

The house is a fairly standard colonial that happened to have a great south facing roof in the back. We moved in and wanted to use that roof. First we added the PV array, then a Solar Domestic Hot water. The savings have been beyond predicted values and there have been no maintenance issues.(www.reliance.org)

Grid Tied PV

Solar domestic hot water

It was a beautiful day and we finished our house tour at Earthly Delights in Osterville. Had a delicious lentil soup, cup of coffee and cookie.

From Australia, all across the U.S., to even China politicians and corporations are pondering banning or taxing plastic bags, because of the incredible amounts used and discarded everyday that end up in the natural environment.  This would mean that large businesses, such as grocery stores, would be unable to give out plastic bags, or charge a fee for very bag used.

Plastic bags clog drainpipes, fill landfills, end up in trees and pose a danger to wildlife.  They also require a large amount of oil (approximately 12 million barrels a year) and energy to produce, which leads to tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.

I would like to say that governments do not have to intervene in this situation–that people will change their habits once they are aware of how wasteful plastic bags are.  But I don’t trust that will happen.  My father “forgets” to bring canvas bags almost every time he goes to the grocery store and comes home with ten new plastic bags to add to the collection–and I give him a hard time every time.  He might change his habits if he knew there would not be plastic bags available to him when he went shopping, or that he would have to pay 10 cents for every bag used.

Yes, some stores take back the plastic bags and recycle them.  But this does not cut back on the number of bags that are used and therefore need to be produced (using the same amount of energy and emitting the same amount of CO2 mentioned before). And the reality is that only 1-2% of plastic bags are recycled worldwide.

What can people do?

• Carry reusuable bags with you to the grocery store.
  
• Carry an Envirosax or a Chicobag with you all the time–these bags fold up so they are able to fit in your purse or pocket.
  
• Consider if you really need a bag for that greeting card or pack of gum, and tell the cashier: “No thanks, I don’t need a bag.”

I bought a basil plant at a local farm and was looking forward to using it this summer on tomatoes with mozzarella and sandwiches. The plant was growing very fast and I knew I would have to eat basil for breakfast, lunch and dinner to use it to not waste it. I called my friend Shawn and asked him about his pesto recipes - the best pesto I have had.

my basil plant

I picked almost all the leaves and was ready to start.

This is how the plant looked after.

I washed the leaves and dried it in a “spinner”.

I got my mini food processor, which was my wedding present and I really love it (Thank you, Moira) and was ready to start. First I heated olive oil in a pan and added pine nuts and roasted them till they were light brown. I put the pesto in a food processor and added the pine nuts with the oil.

I also added garlic, salt, pepper and of course Parmesan cheese.

I tasted the pesto and added a bit of olive oil. Mixed one more time and it was just perfect.

I kept some of the pesto for sandwiches and pasta and the rest went to an ice cube container. I wanted to freeze to have it ready for later.

I have made 3 batches from my basil plant and I think I will be able to make one more. It was not only fun taking care of the plant (feeling connected to the food I consume), making the pesto (and many tomatoes with mozzarella and basil), but also enjoying the delicious meals. Thank you, Shawn ; )

Here is the recipe:

1 bunch fresh basil (only leaves)

4 peeled garlic cloves

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup (or more) grated Parmesan

toasted pine nuts (golden grown)

salt, pepper

Blend all together and taste. Make it how you like it.

Tip: If you want to have your basil plant big, keep pinching the growing flowers.

If you have any recipe you want to share, take some pic and email it to me: jitka@green-over.com