I was reading today that more and more people are going green with their weddings. I love this idea and I had planned on doing the same if I ever get married. As I was reading I thought I wonder how you could go green at a wedding. I thought of a few things that I wanted to share with you. If you have any other tips feel free to share them also.

One that is almost a given is to get a horse and carriage for your ride away from the church. Plan the reception at a close location and it should be an easy trip. You can also encourage people to car pool to the wedding.

Use recycled paper for everything, invitations, menus, programs and anything else you use.

Throw bird seed instead of rice.

Have the wedding outside so you can reduce your energy use.

Buy locally grown flowers or pick your own and have a crafty person put them together for you.

buy all organic, the dress, the food and more, but don’t worry about organic if it’s all locally grown and produced. If you can get both go for it.

Have the reception outside and light it with LED lights.

Give out LED or Florescent lights as wedding favors along with a list of things people can do to help save the environment.

Thats my list what can you think of?

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I am really happy I have decided to move. It’s sad when you add up all of your gas to drive just 3-4 days a week and you end up spending more money then you would paying rent. I decided that I am tired of foreign countries getting my money. I would rather it go to someone local who needs it. Yes the same foreign people may still get some of it, but at least it switches hands a few more times first.

The best way to combat these prices is to find ways to stay as local as you can. I’m lucky I can move closer to where I drive. I know many can’t but there are still ways you can help to cut down on the need for foreign oil. I was reading about this in a magazine yesterday, and one way you can do this is to buy local. Spend money on fruits and vegetables that are grown in your area. If you live in a city, check and see if there is a farmers market available. Not only do you save oil use, but you are helping to support the local small farmer who I’m sure needs the money more. The bad part about this is that you may not be able to get some of the things you like. My suggestion is once a month splurge on that item. Trust me there are somethings you can live without.

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I love to hear when business decide to go green. I think many more need to think about it. The cost is really not that great and the benifites are amazing. It helps wild live and makes a better envirionment for your workers and visitors. You want people to feel good when they come into your place of business and for some knowing it’s designed green will make them feel really good about comming in and checking out your product or service.

Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center is one business that has gone green, yes a nature center is usually a very green place, but most of the time time buildings and other stuctures are not built to fit into the green design trend. In this case these buildings are. In fact Shangri has been one of the few projects to be awarded with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum certification for LEED®-NC. This is something they should be proud of and you should want to see more of. Not only is this great for their Public Relations, but it’s good for the animals and plants in the nature center since they benifit from the lack of chemicals and other mass produced products that could harm them.

Shangri La Gardens is located in Orange Texas just east of Houston. It’s along the gulf cost and in a great part of Texas. I have never been there but I have always wanted to go to that part of Texas. The only part I have been to is Dallas and just north of there. But I have heard the gulf area is a great part to be in. A little humid maybe but still worth a trip. Now it seems I have a new reason to go there. I would love to check out this nature center and see what exactly they have done to go green.

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There is a lot of talk about how water bottles are filling up landfills and causing huge harm to the environment. Many people just don’t know what to do about it. They like the convenience of the throw away type bottle but want to recycle, that is where HDPE recycling comes into play.

HDPE recycling takes these bottles bags and tubs and makes a newRecycled plastic material out of them. It’s a great way to help the environment and keep the world a cleaner place. Many areas already have recycling programs in place if yours doesn’t check with your local government about putting one in place or finding somewhere to take your plastic. Remember every little bit helps.

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There is a chance that todays Sprint Cup race may be rained out, but as I was going through the NASCAR website I saw the ad for the NASCAR foundation. This is a great cause that anyone can help out with. Even if your not a NASCAR fan, but you know one you should check this out.

It’s very simple to participate, you buy a pin for $5 that money then goes to the NASCAR foundation, no it does not go to train drivers or pay for races, the money raised goes to helping different charities that NASCAR families have started, many help with chronic illness, education and wildlife conservation, If your still not sure about it, check out this link: supported charities to find out more about each charity and what they do.

I am buying a pin as soon as I’m done writing this. I did this a few years ago also and it’s really a great idea. Unfortunately I didn’t have anywhere to wear the pin on NASCAR Day, but this year I should have somewhere to wear it and anything else I buy before then. This year NASCAR Day is on Friday May 16th so there is still some time to get shopping and your donations in.

Of course I will be posting about this a few more times, so you won’t forget, it really is a great cause and helps thousands of children, families and environments in our country.

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Global warming is a fact, it is not something made up by scientist or tree huggers to make your life miserable. It is something that will change how we live anyway so why not do something now to make the world better for your grandchildren and their grandchildren. I know many of us don’t have money to spend, but even a little can help a lot. Change your light bulbs to florescent. Recycle whatever you can.

Today I read an article on yahoo about the rain forest. Because of global warming and bad practices by people who live in the area the rain forest are disappearing. This means a lot more then you think. There is more carbon being released from the dead trees and since there are not as many trees to use it they can’t cope. This doesn’t just effect the temperature it effects peoples lives. They will lose soil and a way to eat and survive.

What does this mean for you. Well a huge rise in temperature. Lets put it this way, no more winters, and way too hot summers. The proof is even just in my lifetime and I’m 25. Winter use to be much longer and I liked it because you had time to get use to the cold. There was also usually snow on Christmas. Now there is hardly anything and it gets cold so quick that you don’t have time to grow accustom to it. The other problem is that summers are hotter and killing more and more people.

Maybe I just expect too much out of mankind. Maybe I don’t expect enough.

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Keeping your home clean is no easy task, but add in trying to live a green lifestyle and it makes it even harder. I found a great product that will help you do both and it works very well. It’s called Simple Green. Their line of  cleaning products are made from all natural sources and they do a great job of cleaning your home.

I have used the carpet cleaner myself and it really helped get the stains out. I was surprised at how well it actually worked. Once I have my own home I plan on buying some of there other cleaning products as well. I know I’ll have a good use for all purpose cleaner and the glass cleaner. Once the weather gets nice again I also plan on buying the car wash. I know after a long Michigan winter my car will need it.

So check out these products and let me know what you think.

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