My favourite holiday movie is Christmas Vacation. There was a house about 30 minutes from where I grew up that was exactly like the Griswald's house in the movie. You probably won't see too many houses around that take their decorating to that level. Knowing my luck if we did have someone in our neighbourhood that had that many lights on their house they would leave them on all night and it would shine right into our window.

Lights
If you do put lights up on your house try out the new solar lights. No extension cords are required and they charge even when cloudy. They are pricey though so you could always opt for the LED lights that have been on the market for the last few years. Put your lights on a timer so that they come on and go off at a certain time.

Tree
Instead of buying more ornaments try hand making them. Use LED lights and turn them off when you are not at home and when you go to bed at night.

Decorations
Try handmaking a wreath with pinecones and berries. Avoid buying just one more cute santa figurine that will do nothing but hold hard candy and collect dust. Look for stores or holiday craft sales where you can pick up locally handmade decorations.

The holidays are fast approaching. There is a girl online who has a ticker counting down the number of sleeps left. It freaks me out every time I see it. I haven't started anything at all yet. I do have a list though....if that counts for anything.

This season we decided to really look for ways to be more environmentally responsible with our gift giving. As a result we will be making most of the gifts we give.

What are the key things you can do to reduce the impact your gift giving has this holiday season?

I have been recycling Tim Hortons cups at home for years but there was never anywhere at the actual coffee shop to recycle them. Seems like a pretty simple thing for a corporation to do to reduce their impact on the environment. If Tim Hortons was a steel, chemical or electronics company you know that they would have had to come up with action plans to recycle their end products.

Finally Tim Hortons is rolling out a recycling program. Unfortunately it is limited to the Toronto area right now but hopefully they will implement it in all of their shops. I was one in Waterloo recently and they did have recycling bins for bottles and cans but not for the coffee cups and lids.

Tim Hortons plan is to recycle the coffee cups into roofing paper or cardboard boxes. Mmmmm they are going to smell soooooooo good.

This is a good start but have you ever noticed how much Tim Hortons waste there is laying around. Coffee cups, timbit boxes and coffee trays strewn all over the city. While I think that the recycling program is a good first step I think that there is a lot of room for improvement. They could start by offering those who are staying in the shop to enjoy their beverage a coffee mug. Yes they have them but they don't use them very often. It is rare that I see someone sitting there with a mug instead of a disposable cup. They could also offer a discount if you bring your own mug.

Oh and heaven forbid it is Roll Up the Rim time of the year. Not only do you get your drink in a mug but you also get your lovely cup so you can rollup the rim. There has got to be a better way to allow those who are choosing not to use a disposable cup to still have a chance to win that ski-doo or TV or free donut.

Electronic products such as TV's and VCR's contain toxic heavy metals and need to be disposed of properly. Do you know where that old printer you threw out went? Was its disposal managed properly or did it end up in a third world country? RN sent me this video last week. It is eye opening. I mean I knew that there was a problem with e-waste going overseas but I had no idea that it was this bad.

Do you like to read? Here are a few options if you want to "green" your reading.

Eco Libris allows users to plant a tree for every book they read. BookMooch is a place where you can exchange books with others around the world.

Eco Libris and BookMooch have also teamed up to offer Green Mooching. As you balance out your books on Eco Libris you will earn points towards books on BookMooch.

Do you drink bottled water because you think it is safer and/or easier? The environmental impact of drinking bottled water is substantially higher than tap water. To make one bottle of water it actual takes more than 6 times that same amount of water. That is just crazy. You also have to consider energy use, transportation, production of the plastic, waste and the overall emissions from the entire process. Now that doesn't mean that there are environmental impacts from tap water. That water is treated and uses energy but it is far less of an impact than bottled water.

If you have to drink bottled water make sure you either reuse the bottle several times or that you recycle it. Alternatively if you do not have to drink bottle water then switch to tap water. Get your self a cool water bottle and carry that with you. There are some really nice stainless steel water bottles available online or at any "outdoorsy" store.

Take the Think Outside the Bottle Pledge and reduce your overall carbon footprint.

Well it is that time of year again. The time when the beauty of falls vanishes and we are left with months of freezing rain and snow. Here are some tips to get your house ready for the winter season. It will help to keep you warm and reduce your energy costs.

Replace the filters on your heating system. Dirty filters will block the flow of air and make your system less efficient.

Set your programmable thermostat to comfortable temperatures while you are at work, at home and sleeping. We have ours set for 75 degrees while we are home, 72 while we sleep and 70 while we are at work.

Check your windows. Make sure that there is not a draft. If there is try re-caulking them or purchase a kit to winterize your windows. It will take only a few minutes to do each window and can make a big difference in how much warm air you are losing.

Check your exterior doors. If you feel a draft then consider replacing the weather stripping.

Check your vents. Make sure they are not blocked. This will allow the warm air to flow freely throughout your house. If you don't need/want to heat a particular area of your house then shut the vent entirely.

If you have a fireplace make sure the flue/vent is clear before you use it.

If you have any other tips please suggest them!