HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

If you had a fresh-cut Christmas tree of other living holiday decorations, don't forge to compost or recycle. Find a drop-off site near you at http://christmastree.org. And I hope you recycled your wrapping paper!

Put reusable decorations away neatly so you can find them easily next holiday season and won't have to buy new ones! Try wrapping strings of lights around the cardboard cores from wrapping-paper rolls or paper-towel tubes to keep them tangle-free.

Take advantage of post-Christmas clearance sales and stock up on gift bags for next year so you can reduce the amount of wrapping paper you need. Recycle the Christmas cards you received by cutting off the covers to use as gift tags next year.

Today is a perfect day to take stock of how green you are living and set some personal goals for a greener year. Walk through your house and make a list of opportunities in each room, then do the same with the garage, yard and workplace.

Stay tuned here for more tips on just how to do that!

Wishing you all the best in 2010,

Valerie