In December, Dana celebrated a very important birthday, and if you know Dana even a little bit, then you know it means she celebrated in style – with flowers! Now fast forward more than a month later….The flowers may be gone, but we’re still left with a couple of shiny, translucent reminders.

Empty vases.

We all have them. Sometimes shelves full of them. But what to do with them? For today’s Green Thought Thursday, I thought I would share a few green ideas on how to repurpose or kindly get rid of some of your leftover vases.

For my first few tips, I decided to give Kelly Odom of Kelly Odom Flowers a call. Dana did, after all, order her arrangements from him (and loved them). Here’s what Kelly had to say:

–Recycle your vases with your florist! Kelly Odom will trade or issue credit for your returned vases.
–Donate! Kelly strongly recommended The Flower Shuttle for all of us Raleigh residents. This organization consists of more than 100 dedicated volunteers who pick up flowers after special events, weddings and funerals (after which they normally would be thrown away) and bring them to those that are living with sickness, terminal illness, poverty and disability.

If you’re a crafty individual like me, check out another list of ways to repurpose a vase from the eBay Green Team. Some of my favorites are as follows:

–Create a new “arrangement.” I love the idea of filling empty vases of different sizes and shapes with marbles, river stones and seashells. It would look so pretty in a window sill or on your dining room table!

–Make a mosaic. All you need is a hammer and a little plaster to create some cute mosaics for your garden.

–Pay it forward. Do you have a green thumb? Brighten your neighbor’s day with a vase of fresh flowers.

Dana and I hope you will keep some of these tips in mind next time you order flowers from your florist. And should you feel so compelled to send us flowers, well, we wouldn’t mind that either…

I’m new to the coffee world, but one thing’s for certain — I’m already hooked. I’m hooked on the caffeine, and I’m hooked on carrying around my green (literally, it’s green!) eCycled® travel mug.

To quote blogger Treehugger who quoted Organic Style, “Take all the people who read this magazine, then persuade them to sip their morning coffee from a travel mug for one week. Result: Enough trees to fill two football fields will be spared the ax. Can’t commit to a week? Switching to reusable cups for just one day will save as much energy as using 1,000 gallons of gasoline.”

Worried your local coffee house won’t fill a reusable mug? Think again. I was inspired by the folks at Treehugger who took the time to call coffee shops around town and make sure they would fill their mugs, so I did the same thing. And what did I find? Not only will they fill them, they’ll even give you a discount!

When I called Starbucks over on Fayetteville Street, they told me customers get 10 cents off if they bring in their own reusable mugs. Bruegger’s will also charge a cheaper price. Even my favorite (and local) spot, The Morning Times, will give you a 5 percent discount! Yum!

Well, I think that does it for this Green Thought Thursday, friends! I don’t know about you, but all of this talk about coffee sure does make me want some… See you at the Times!

As a lover of words and a master of puns, I ask you one thing — to check it out. No seriously. That book you’ve been wanting to read for a while? Check it out. In honor of my new membership at the Cameron Village Regional Library, today’s Green Thought Thursday focuses on why getting a library card is a green (and great) idea.

By checking out books instead of buying them, you will keep countless quantities of paper, plastic and toxic chemicals out of the landfills. In the case of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that’s 759 pages worth (granted many of the pages are printed front-to-back, it’s still a lot of paper)!

The fact is, writes the Daily Green, “many of us are filling our homes with books and other materials that we never, or rarely, use.” And it’s so true. Of the books that you own, how many have you read more than once? I can only name a few from my collection.

So save the extra 15 bucks and take a trip to your local library. Perhaps a good book won’t be the only thing you’ll check out….Did I mention all of the cute librarians? Have fun!

It’s a new year. It’s time for a new way of doing things. This year I have decided (in my uphill battle to finally get organized) to switch completely to paying all of my bills online. Oh what fun!

But seriously….It’s really fun to think about how one simple action, such as committing to paperless billing, can have such a positive impact on our environment. Besides the obvious time-saving benefits of going green with your green, here are a few fun facts I discovered:

– One study reports that a single household ditching paper statements can save up to 24 square feet of forest a year.

– Another study by Javelin Strategy & Research found that if every American household went paper-free,  it could save an estimated 18.5 million trees, reduce solid waste in U.S. landfills by more than 800,000 tons and curb the release of greenhouse gases by 2.1 million tons each year.

– Going green saves you money! According to my own personal calculations, if you have five bills (water, electricity, cell phone, cable, credit cards or whatever) that you pay each month for one year (12 months, for those of you counting) and use one postage stamp per bill (with the going rate of 44 cents each), then you will save exactly $26.40 each year by switching to online payments. Think of how much you will save if you have, say, 15 bills to pay – why, that’s a delicious steak dinner at Ruth’s Chris! I kid, I kid.

But if you’re really still in need of a little inspiration, try calculating how your switch to online bill pay will have a personal impact on the environment. Now imagine the possibilities if everyone followed suit!

Just remember, oh faithful green ones, that when it comes to paper, just say no!