By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Let’s shop green without being obvious about it, OK? You can, you know. There are many ways to tweak the holiday list this year to skew it toward recycled, socially conscious, energy-conserving goods. Of course, we don’t like to advocate lots of consuming. We definitely don’t buy that theory that it’s our patriotic duty to purchase our way out of the recession.

On the other hand, we are going to exchange gifts this holiday season. With that in mind, here are a few humble suggestions for keeping it green (and affordable), subtly.

A TOASTER OVEN

Black and Decker CTO6301 Convection Toaster Oven

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

When we think about Thanksgiving, we think about Plymouth, Pilgrims, and of course turkey. What would Thanksgiving be without a turkey?

For the longest time when it comes to food, we’ve gone by the notion that bigger is better. The bigger the turkey, the better it will taste. Unfortunately this process of thinking led to the inhumane treatment of animals and use of growth hormones, in order to turn a quick profit and satisfy customers.

Lately, though, people have become significantly more conscious about what chemicals animals are exposed to, because it directly relates to them when they are putting it in their body. And that has led to some options when it comes to picking your bird from among the 270 million or so turkeys raised in the United States. ( In 2008, 273 million turkeys were raised in the United States, according to the National Turkey Federation.)

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

If you’ve been taking your home green, you know how ideas can feed off each other. Someone gets picky about paper recycling; someone else becomes the food waste arbiter; pretty soon everyone has their eco-role and the household’s carbon footprint is shrinking.

Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants realized early on that green grows like that. The hospitality chain, with roots in San Francisco, has a history of putting eco-friendly ideas in place. Even before green hotel or green restaurant designations were developed, Kimpton was experimenting with eco-friendly practices at its San Francisco properties, such as the Hotel Triton, where motion sensors turn off lights and 60 percent of the waste gets recycled.

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From Green Right Now Reports

As part of Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, which continues through Oct. 24, the US Environmental Protection Agency is urging families to be aware of the hazards presented by lead and lead-based paint in the home and in childcare facilities.

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental health threat to children in the United States, ages 6 and younger. And families may have lead around the home without knowing it because it can’t be seen, tasted, or smelled. Because it does not break down naturally, lead can remain a problem until it is removed.

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By Harriet Blake
As the Nobel Prize Committee noted in awarding President Obama with the Nobel Peace Prize last week, the world is in a better place than it was a year ago.
The world also is in a better place thanks to six young people who are being honored on Tuesday for their heroic environmental efforts. [...]

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From Green Right Now Reports

It was inevitable that eventually someone would bring together all those new waterless car wash products with all those kids holding car wash fundraisers.

One such partnership takes off tomorrow in LA, where teen members of the nonprofit Green Youth Movement will hold a car wash at the Barrington Dog Park in Brentwood.

The group, lead by GYM founder Ally Maize, hopes to make a statement about water conservation, and several of her classmates from the Archer School for Girls, will be raising funds for their senior class activities.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Planning a low-impact, money-saving Halloween is so much more rewarding than trying to turn some other holidays green. You don’t have to argue with relatives about whether or not to have a turkey, or disappoint the kids with gifts to humanitarian causes in their names at Christmas. All you really need to do is think creatively, get holistic about your pumpkin, maybe dust off the sewing machine and take it easy at the store.

Here are our best nine ideas to help you get started.

Halloween Chico Bag

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

As you sort through which Disney character your child will be and find the candy of choice for the trick-or-treaters, add some green to this year’s Halloween. From candy to pumpkins, there are many ways to make this holiday eco-friendly.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Digital media resources from Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentary series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, including on-demand video, lessons plans, student activities, and historical archives, are now available through the PBS Teachers web portal.

The site includes preK-12 educational services and a searchable library of more than 9,000 local and national standards-based instructional resources.

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By Tom Kessler
Green Right Now

Adam Archer thinks the world would be a much better place if people would only spend more time playing games on their computers and mobile phones. And he may just be right.

Archer, the founder and CEO of GamesThatGive, has a simple but compelling proposition: You sign on to play casual games on the site, designate a charity you want to support, and then sit back and have 70 percent of the revenue from advertising on those games go to your charity.

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From Green Right Now Reports

In response to its members’ interest in green hotels, AAA said it will now designate AAA Approved lodgings that have been eco-certified through leading government or private programs.

A bright green “ECO” symbol will identify eco-friendly lodgings in the new 2010 editions of the AAA TourBook guides and on AAA.com. Additionally, travelers will be able to customize their hotel searches on the AAA web site to show green properties first in search results.

“The new ECO symbol serves as a notice to AAA members that a property has taken steps to become an environmental advocate,” Michael Petrone, director of AAA Tourism Information Development, said in a statement. “We are pleased to publish this information as a service to members who make sustainability a factor in their lodging selection.”

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By Tom Kessler

ADDISON, Texas (ADDISONGREEN.INFO) — When you have the word “green” in your school name, it’s probably safe to assume that environmental awareness is top of mind. That’s exactly the case at Addison’s Greenhill School, a coeducational private day school with more than 1,200 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

Over the last four years, the school’s Green Team — composed of parents and faculty — has led a series of sustainability initiatives that are truly putting the green in Greenhill. School leaders have looked for ways to make the school a more sustainable place and to promote eco-friendly habits in the students. >> Read the full story

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