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With the New Year quickly approaching, you may be wondering what you can do to make 2009 as green as possible. Here are a few tips that should help you make your New Year more environmentally friendly.

Parties

1. If you’re having a New Year’s Eve party, send out e-invites instead of paper ones. You’ll not only receive your RSVPs faster, but you’ll save paper, ink and money. Also, encourage guests to carpool to save gas.

2. Purchase re-usable cups, plates and utensils, or ones that can be composted. This will save on garbage that goes into landfills.

3. Instead of giving out gifts, give each person who attends a list of green resolutions they can make for 2009 and by telling them about Green Groove.

4. Re-use old holiday decorations or wrapping to decorate for your party. This saves money, waste, and gives you a chance to think of creative ideas that will make your party unique.

Resolutions

1. Everyone makes New Year’s resolutions, and generally they’re too vague or grandiose and don’t ever get fulfilled. This year, make smaller resolutions that you know you can accomplish. Creating a phased withdrawal with Green Groove is a great way to start.

2. Help your friends, co-workers and family come up with green resolutions. There are even things you can do together, like adopting a mile on the highway and picking up trash, or cutting down on paper towel use. Having someone there to keep you on track, and to chart progress with, is a great motivator for continuing your resolution all year long.

If everyone takes the time and makes the effort to come up with green resolutions that will last all year, and follow through with them, a big difference could be made. Even if it’s something as small as creating a compost pile in your backyard and reducing your household waste, it makes a difference. The New Year is the best excuse to start making green changes in your life, so get to it!

Trying to find a "green" gift? Search no longer. Simply sign up a friend or loved one with Green Groove. You can do this one of two ways. First, you can easily sign someone up on our signup page. Just create a user ID and password for them using their email, then all you have to do is email them the information along with our site address (www.greengroove.org) and tell them to get started. Secondly, you could go to our new start page to put together a quick plan for someone, create a user ID and password using their email address, and the plan will be emailed straight to them. They can roll with that plan, or come back, sign in, and create a new one. Nothing quick, easier, and most importantly greener.

That's right, your friends and family can be carbon neutral for a day by joining Brighter Planet in their latest "One Day Campaign." All you need to do is point your loved ones here to make it happen. It just takes a name and email, that's it. The goal is to give away 5,000 one day gifts, and to offset 680,000 lbs of CO2. Pass it on!

Winter is approaching and record-breaking low temperatures are already popping up. Conserve energy in your home by making sure it's weatherized with a few classic tips. First, use caulk and weatherstripping to make sure there are no air leaks in the cracks between your windows and doors. Second, do what you can to insulate walls and ceilings. Third, use double-paned windows when replacing old and outdated glass. "Raising Baby Green," a book by Alan Green, claims that caulking and weatherstripping can save 1700 lbs of CO2, wall and ceiling insulation can save 2000 lbs of CO2, and double-paned windows can save 10,000 lbs of CO2. The book also claims that the reduction in CO2 will add up to roughly $1000 U.S. in saving. As a bonus to helping the planet, and your wallet, YOU WON'T FREEZE!

You've probably seen the Google ads lately with the claim that global warming is a myth. They all lead back to "The Douglass Report, Real Health News from Medicine's Most Notorious Myth-Buster." The self proclaimed know-it-all boasts that there is no reason to stay up at night worrying about your carbon footprint, and that "global warming flunkies" are just trying to take your money.

Green Groove would like to take a moment to warn against the good Dr. Douglass. That's right, it appears he is the one who appears to be after your money. In fact, his latest research update criticizing global warming scientists actually had this to say, "Just enter your e-mail address in the box below to get your free report. You will also get a FREE subscription to my Daily Dose, an e-letter written by yours truly that has all of the up-to-date health news and breakthrough solutions you need to look and feel great." I'm sure those solutions come real cheap.

The effects of pumping massive amounts of C02 into the atmosphere may, or may not, be hurting the planet, but think for a moment how much better life can be when living it green. Pretty soon we'll be out of oil, and have to find new (why not cleaner) modes of transportation. Soon, we'll be forced to recycle as there will be no place left to keep stacking our leftovers. Living green is just smart. It is unfortunate that we have educated doctors out there who are actually saying to stop worrying about your carbon footprint. Laughable, but still dangerous.

DVice.com has gathered ten ideas to help green your home, and you probably haven't heard of most of them. Here is a quick teaser, but do some Googling or go to DVice.com to learn more.

EcoDrain - Installs in the shower drain and uses leftover hot water to help heat the incoming water.

Solarwind Turbine - Think wind turbines covered in solar panels.

Water Reclamator - Waste water treatment in your own yard!

Swash Toilet Seat - Uses a small amount of water to wash your bum. No more TP.

Coolroof - Recycled rubber shingles that have solar cells embedded into them.

Granitecrete - This porous surface will soak up storm water runoff, instead of sending it straight to the city.

Ultratouch Insulation - This recycled denim product is like heating the home with your old Levis.

Green Walls - An exterior wall of plants to help purify air, and insulate your home.

Ceramic Paint - Exterior paint that lasts 25 years.

Plogs - Like a prefab mini-house made of used Douglas Fir.

Happy Thanksgiving! Wouldn't it be nice if everyone, everywhere in the world, could sit down, eat a nice meal, and give thanks with their friends and family today? There is A LOT of wasteful food and energy on this day, so please be responsible when celebrating Thanksgiving. Make every effort to compost the organics, and recycle/re-use everything else. One thing that unfortunately goes hand-in-hand with Thanksgiving is Black Friday, or the busiest shopping day of the year, that follows just one day after Thanksgiving. If you have plans to wake at 4am and shop till the sun goes down, please take a moment to think about the consequences. Most of the goods that are up for sale at 4am are items that were built cheap, which typically means built at the expense of the environment and people around the factory. Please don't run out and buy a bunch of items that have already taken a toll on our planet, and will eventually end up in a heap at your local landfill. Please, be responsible in your shopping. Thanks, and have a great couple of days.

The collection of December 07 photographs by photographer Chris Jordan, titled An American Self-Portrait, incredibly eye-opening for anyone who has not seen them. Just link over to the global intelligencer to see for yourself. Images included are:

- Two milion plastic bottles (used every five minute in US)

- 1.14 million paper bags (used every hour in US).

- 426,000 cell phones (disposed every day in US)

- 15 million sheets of paper (used every five minutes in US)

- 106,000 aluminum cans (used every 30 seconds in US)

There is more too. Please note that these figures are the ones listed alongside the photographs themselves. I wonder if those figures have gone up or down since 2007, what do you think?