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Get Ready for White Elephant Parties This Season During the holiday season, it is commonplace to receive some excess and some, frankly, unique gifts.  Trying to decide what to do with some gifts that are not necessarily useful?  Try regifting these presents, a way to recycle presents and give them to someone else. What is regifting? Essentially, regifting is the process of giving a received gift to someone else.  This is also occasionally called "recycling a gift." In America, an unofficial holiday "National Regifting Day," takes place the week prior to the Christmas holiday. What about etiquette?  Is it polite or appropriate to regift? Ultimately, this is up to personal preferences.  Some individuals may feel uncomfortable regifting or recycling gifts received during the holiday season.  Others may feel this is a great way to give more gifts during the holiday season. What are some regifting do's and don'ts? Below, the Grady's GreenLiving Tips team comp...

What Holiday Materials can be Reduced and/ or Reused? Picture this: It is January 1, 2018.  The 2017 Holiday Season is officially over and done.  Gift bags, wrapping paper, and bows and ribbons are spread throughout the house.  Electronics boxes and toy packages is spread haphazardly in the family room.  Holiday decorations are still on display in windows and doorways.  Holiday meal leftovers are shoved in the refrigerator.  If this scene sounds familiar, try to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle this holiday season to better prepare for the 2018 holidays and practice GreenLiving techniques.  Recycle : The end of the holiday season can be a great time to practice some easy recycling techniques.  Separate all of the gift wrapping and packaging components to determine what can be recycled.  Remember, Styrofoam packaging material and shiny or glittery wrapping paper cannot be recycled.  Cardboard boxes should be broken down and recycled. Reuse : Af...

GreenLiving Tips for the Holiday Season Planning to give or receive gifts this holiday season?  Remember to practice GreenLiving ideas when shopping for and/ or preparing to give gifts.  Several green gift techniques include: 1) Bring Re-usable Bags : If shopping for presents in department stores and/ or malls, remember to bring re-usable bags or leftover plastic bags instead of receiving a new, wasteful, plastic bag.  Plastic bags can take more than 100 years to decompose in landfills. 2) Save Gas and Shop Online : Want to skip long lines and preserve the environment?  Save on gas and complete holiday shopping online.  If shopping in stores are preferable, try to utilize public transportation, such as a bus or train.  3) Donate Instead : Instead of a traditional gift, donate money in someone's name as their gift for the holidays.  This memorable gift will save time and resources. 4) Consider Several Options : If trying to focus on GreenLiving this hol...

GreenLiving Ways to Celebrate Turkey Day Thanksgiving is this Thursday!  Planning to host a Thanksgiving dinner or family and/ or friend get-together?  If so, try to put in place some green and eco-freindly practices to the holiday celebrations. Though it can be a challenge, the holidays can be a good time to practice several GreenLiving skills.  Several ways to stay "green" during Thanksgiving include: 1) Manage food waste : A big component in many Thanksgiving celebrations is a meal shared by family and/ or friends.  If hosting this year, try to set up a buffet style meal so that everyone can get the portion of food they would like, instead of being served too much (or too little!) and wasting excess food.  If attending a Thanksgiving celebration: try to wait between courses before getting more food, to avoid getting too much food and wasting excess. 2) Compost when possible : After the Thanksgiving meal, some of the food scraps can be composted.  Remembe...

GreenLiving Tips During The Holidays The holidays are only several days away.  For some, this is a time of giving and receiving gifts.   This season, make sure you know what holiday gift items can be recycled and what needs to be disposed as waste. Can the following items be recycled?  Find out here... 1) Tape : No!  Tape, and most other adhesive products, cannot be recycled.  Throw away tape and/ or put tape into a standard waste basket to dispose of it. 2) Boxes with tape : Yes!  Even though tape cannot, typically, be recycled, cardboard boxes or decorative boxes with little/ some tape on it can be recycled.  Fold boxes up to properly recycle them. 3) Wrapping paper : Maybe. This really depends on the type of wrapping paper.  If the paper is plain, it may be recyclable.  However, if the wrapping paper or gift wrap has a design, multi-colored ink, or is made of a shiny, laminate material, it is not recyclable and should be thrown away in ...

Eco-Friendly Gift Giving Tips Planning to give or receive gifts this holiday season?  With only a few days left before the holidays, plan a green spin on any remaining holiday gift shopping.  Several green shopping methods include: 1) Bring Re-usable Bags : If shopping for presents in department stores or mall, remember to bring a re-usable bag instead of using a wasteful plastic bag.  Plastic bags can take more than 100 years to decompose in landfills. 2) Save Gas and Shop Online : Want to skip long lines and preserve the environment?  Save on gas and complete holiday shopping online.  If shopping in stores are preferable, try to utilize public transportation. 3) Donate Instead : Instead of a traditional gift, donate money in someone's name as their gift for the holidays.  This memorable gift will save time and resources. 4) Consider Several Options : If trying to focus on GreenLiving this holiday season, consider several options before purchasing gifts fo...

What Holiday Items Can Be Recycled or Reused? It's officially the holiday season: a time to plan for various holidays and/ or seasonal celebrations.  This year, add a green focus to the holidays by adopting several eco-friendly practices.  An easy way to be "green" during the holidays is to continue to recycle- several holiday items that can be recycled or reused include: 1. Decorations : Decorating for the holidays?  If properly stored, many holiday and/ or seasonal decorations can be saved and used again next year.  Examples of decorations that can be reused include: holiday lights, banners and signage, candles, and more. 2. Wrapping paper and gift packaging : Planning on buying new gift bags and gift wrap?  There might be plenty of gift bags and/ or wrapping paper left over from last year.  Designate a place in the home to store usable gift packaging.  If buying new gift bags, boxes, and wrapping paper, set the extra, unused materials aside for next...

Thanksgiving Is Only Two Days Away Though it can be a challenge, the holidays can be a good time to practice several GreenLiving skills and lifestyle choices.  Several ways to stay "green" during Thanksgiving include: 1) Manage food waste : A big component in many Thanksgiving celebrations is a meal shared by family and/ or friends.  If hosting this year, try to set up a buffet style meal so that everyone can get the portion of food they would like, instead of being served too much (or too little!) and wasting excess food.  If attending a Thanksgiving celebration: try to wait between courses before getting more food, to avoid getting too much and wasting excess. 2) Compost when possible : After the Thanksgiving meal, some of the food scraps can be composted.  Remember: avoid dairy products and bones, but any organic material such as shells, vegetables, and fruits can be put in the compost bin.  Learn more about composting here . 3) Avoid unnecessary waste : Try ...

October Themed GreenLiving Tips Pumpkins are a staple of the autumn season, especially in the days leading up to and including Halloween.  But what are ways to utilize leftover pumpkins after this season?  In this blog, Grady Management explores five ways to use a leftover pumpkin: 1) Utilize pumpkins for food and baked goods : Leftover pumpkins can be cut up and made into pies, cakes, and/ or jams.  Pumpkin seeds can also be scooped out and baked as well. Learn more pumpkin recipes on in the All Recipes article " 19 Healthy Pumpkin Recipes ". 2) Compost old and/ or leftover pumpkins : Pumpkins are primarily made of water and, because of this, are easily broken down into compost. 3) Plant pumpkin seeds : Pumpkin seeds can be used for more than food- they can be planted in a garden and produce more pumpkins.  The seeds can also be a great gift for avid-gardeners. 4) Turn pumpkins into a craft : Pumpkins can be made into bird feeders, bird houses, candle holders, jack-...

Eco-Friendly Holidays in the New Year The new year might be the time to commit to living a more green and eco-friendly life.  Remember to keep this upcoming eco-friendly holidays in mine to raise awareness for different obstacles facing the environment: 1) World Water Day : Did you know that one in four people on the planet do not have access to clean water?  This holiday focuses on one of our most precious resources; water, and is celebrated around the globe.  World Water Day is held on March 22.  View the website here . 2) Earth Day : This past year, several Grady GreenLiving blogs were dedicated to Earth Day, an annual holiday held to promote environmental sustainability for the planet.  Read more on the official website .  Earth Day is April 22, 2016. 3) World Ocean Day : This global holiday celebrates ocean preservation.  Learn more about this holiday, celebrated June 8, here . 4) World Carefree Day : Do you drive to work?  On September 22, t...

Eco-Friendly Alternatives For Your Holiday Tree This is the season to decorate a holiday tree and bring some festive cheer into your home.  Decorating can be both fun and eco-friendly, just remember the following tips and tricks to prepare any home for this holiday season: 1) Artificial vs. Real : When purchasing a holiday tree it is important to know that artificial trees are actually very dangerous for the environment.  Artificial trees are often made from a type of plastic.  Oftentimes, artificial trees are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other chemicals, and as such are non-recyclable and eventually just become cumbersome waste.  Real trees produce oxygen and rid toxins from the air.  Another option would be an organic tree. 2) Alternative Trees : This year, alternative holiday trees are all the rage.  People can make trees of recyclable materials or even supplies found around the house.  Try a tree made out of coffee filters, shredded...

Preparing for The Holidays In An Eco-Friendly Way Have you done all of your holiday shopping? If so, it's time to think about gift wrapping and preparing for those packages to be delivered.  This year, consider this fact:  In the US, the annual trash from gift wrap and shopping bags totals over 4 million tons. To put that into perspective, a full-size elephant averages around three tons. Here are some green tips to keep in mind before you give your friends and family their gifts: 1. Use environmentally friendly wrapping paper Choose wrapping paper made using fibers such as hemp, or paper using recycled content. 2. Avoid buying glossy foil or metallic wrapping paper  You can do a beautifully wrapping job for your gifts without having to use metallic wrapping paper. This kind of 'paper' is difficult to recycle and it has no value for use as mulch since there are heavy metals used in the foil paper. Foil gift wrap is also harder to reuse, since it wrinkles and creases easily...