Stop Junk Mail. Be Eco Friendly. Do Good. The GreenDimes Blog

My Holiday Lights are Brighter Than Yours

Now that the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers have been taken care of, we're all turning our attention to the next big holiday tradition - putting up the holiday lights on the house.  People are getting pretty creative, and not just about their displays (though I must say I like the inflatable snow globes that showed up on front lawns last year - with snow drifting about inside!). 

No I mean folks are getting creative about making money from putting lights up.  Have you noticed that window cleaners, gardeners, and anyone else who works with ladders have expanded their services to now include putting up, AND taking down holiday lights.  How convenient is that? And they probably put them away nicely too.

Whether you are putting up your own lights this year or having someone do it for you, did you know you can make the season a little greener and brighter by using Energy Efficient Holiday Lights?  I had no idea, but if you think about leaving the lights on all evening, every day for two months, it makes sense that the energy use adds up and can result in your electricity bill going through the roof.

OK, I guess I should have thought about electricity cost.  Think about the movies like Christmas with the Kranks where Tim Allen puts up a huge display or Deck The Halls starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick where neighbors compete over who has the biggest Christmas display.  Often these end up with the entire neighborhood blacking out when they the final plug goes in. 

Sure that's exaggerated, but if every household used more efficient bulbs, the cumulative effect can be big (just like having GreenDimes reduce junk mail at more households adds up!).  Try using LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) - they use 0.04 watts per bulb, which is 10 times less energy than mini-lights and 100 times less than standard incandescent bulbs according to the City of Palo Alto Utilities.  Not only that but they last longer (which saves you money and time replacing bulbs) and they stay cooler which reduces fire risk.

So this year, brighten the neighborhood and still save green (dollars and energy) ...And don't forget to turn off the Ho ho ho'ing Santa when you go to bed.

Green Mail Carriers

This is the time of year when people start shipping gifts hither and yon.  Somewhere I read there is a 25% increase in mail between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This is  a pretty weighty task and the postal workers and their express shipping counterparts deserve a big thank you from each of us. 

Which brings to mind an article I read recently about a British mailman who was reprimanded for telling the folks on his route how they can unsubscribe from junk mail.  I'm guessing the post office seniority felt that the more the merrier as far the mail delivery business is concerned and that employees should not be undermining the efforts of the post office's direct mail clients.

Well, the papers picked this up and people were surprised and outraged that this man should be singled out because he provided good customer support - by telling people how to get off lists when they complained to him about the junk mail. So the post office undid their temporary suspension and now he is up for an award for his public spirited act. 

The moral of this story in my mind is that the post office has the potential to be a great partner in reducing junk mail and to get great PR out of it as well.  Imagine a greener, friendlier post office.  They can help people find out how to opt out of "to resident" email. Junk mail will go to the people who want it so the mailers can print less, save money and reach a more targeted audience. Those who don't want it, won't get it.  Less trees used, less waste in the landfills, happier planet. 

So this year, when your postal carrier brings you several tons of catalogs, think about two things.  One, how you can help save your mail carriers back by unsubscribing from unwanted catalogs - By joining GreenDimes, you can simply check off the catalogs you no longer want and we'll take care of unsubscribing for you.
and Two, your mail carrier probably cares just as much about the environment as you do and sees a lot more waste, so thank them for all their hard work, and then help us to make the mail they carry leaner, lighter, and greener.

Jill at GreenDimes

Give a Dime This Holiday!

Like you, I am busy. Between job, home, cars, parents, spouse, kids, kids' homework, piano, sports, and now add holiday planning and shopping, there is not a lot of time left for thinking about the environment. When in college, like many students, I had the time and opportunity to help raise issues and awareness. While advocating divestment from South Africa to help bring an end to apartheid, we built a symbolic shanty town in front of Sproul Hall, but that is not something I can squeeze into my schedule now.

Does lack of time mean lack of interest? Not in the least, that’s why we created GreenDimes. We know, given a choice right in front of them, people will opt for doing things in a way that will help the planet. We also wanted to make that easier and then show off how much all those little decisions you make really do add up to great improvements when you put them all together.

Besides, it turns out there are problems that we can solve for ourselves that coincidentally help the planet. That’s why we are so serious about figuring out this junk mail problem. It is bad for the earth and bad for my counter space. So less junk mail solves two problems.

We got to thinking about how great less junk mail is, and it occurred to us that this might be a great gift for our friends and family.  So now you can give GreenDimes to your friends as a gift.  How cool is that - they get less junk mail (a gift that keeps giving all year), more time, and we even plant a tree for them every month to boot.

So the question to you - is GreenDimes a good gift idea?  Let us know what you think.