reen Mountain Energy Offers Tips on How to Have an Environmentally Friendly Holiday Season AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--While the winter holiday season brings good cheer for most people, it also brings a lot more solid waste to the landfill, increased electricity use and harm to the environment. The amount of household garbage in the United States generally increases by 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, from 4 million to 5 million tons, and electricity consumption increases by 27 percent. 12 Tips for a Greener Holiday Season Here are ways you can reduce your environmental impact this holiday season – an eco tip for each of the 12 days of Christmas: 1. Choose cleaner electricity Give yourself an early holiday gift by signing up for cleaner electricity products from Green Mountain Energy Company for your home or business at www.pollutionfree.com, or call 1-866-473-3689. Many Texans are able to choose the source of their electricity. Now is a great time to make the switch to Green Mountain Energy® electricity and start the New Year off with clean electricity. Green Mountain Energy electricity products are sourced using renewable energy resources and are cleaner than the typical power that most Texans buy today. Clean energy is derived from any natural, non-fossil fuel resource that continually replenishes itself over time. Sources of clean energy include the wind, water and the sun. By purchasing Green Mountain Energy electricity, consumers help to reduce their share of pollution from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. In fact, over a one year period the average Texas household buying Green Mountain Pollution FreeSM electricity can help eliminate about 1,700 pounds of CO2, the equivalent of not driving their car over 2,000 miles. 2. Purchase the Gift of Green Buy your friends and loved ones the Gift of Green this holiday season from Green Mountain Energy Company through its innovative new BeGreen product. It's a great, earth-friendly gift for only $9.95! For each Gift of Green that you purchase, a tree is planted on behalf of a designated friend or family member, which offsets some of the CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming. An average tree will absorb more than 650 pounds of CO2 over its lifetime - as much as not driving a car about 740 miles. The recipient of the gift will also receive a plantable ornament that will grow into fresh cilantro. The Gift of Green also comes with a recycled paper card describing the environmental benefits achieved through planting the tree. To purchase the Gift of Green today, go to www.begreennow.com. (Customers will receive an email confirmation of the purchase, but the “gift of green” ornament won’t arrive until after Christmas.) 3. Offset your carbon footprint While at www.begreennow.com, you can calculate your carbon footprint and purchase BeGreenSM to help offset some of the CO2 emissions created by your household’s daily activities, like electricity use, driving, air travel or home heating with natural gas. 4. Give the gift of energy efficiency The best way to reduce your electricity bills and your household’s average carbon emissions is to reduce your electricity usage. This holiday season give your friends and family the gift of energy-efficient products to help them save on electricity bills. Many of these products can be found at www.greenmountain.com/powerperks. 5. Consider these light tips Use timers for holiday lights to limit their use to only six hours a day. Switch out standard light bulbs and replace with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). CFLs use 66 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs. 6. Send e-cards Send online electronic cards instead of printed greeting cards. Or, make a phone call instead! If sending holiday cards, look for ones made of recycled paper. Avoid cards with glossy, shiny or gold foil coatings since these cannot be recycled. Save the cards that you get in the mail, cut off the front pictures, and reuse as "postcards" next year. This saves on postage, too. 7. Recycle/reuse gift wrap Wrapping paper is often used once and thrown away. Use wrappings that can be reused one or more times, such as gift bags, before they are recycled. Better yet, avoid using paper entirely by using reusable decorative tins, baskets or boxes. If you do buy wrapping paper, look for the kind made of recycled paper. Finally, unwrap gifts carefully and save wrappings for reuse next year. If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields! 8. Purchase eco gifts Look for gifts with an environmental message or benefit: a nature book, a refillable thermos bottle, a canvas tote bag, a battery recharger or items made from recycled materials. Choose solar powered instead of battery powered products. Or better yet, gifts that require no power at all. 9. Use reusable bags When shopping, bring a reusable bag such as a personal tote bag and avoid coming home with an armload of plastic shopping bags. 10. Use edible items for tree trimmings For tree trimmings, try edible or compostable items like popcorn or cranberries on a string, gingerbread cookies or items made from "found" objects around your home. 11. Conserve energy During the sunny days, open shades and blinds to light and heat the interior of the home. Keep the cold out by sealing air leaks in your home with caulk and weather stripping. 12. Close the fireplace when Santa’s not around Close the flue in the fireplace and block the hearth to prevent heat loss when not enjoying a fire. “It’s easy to have an environmentally friendly Christmas; in fact it is easier than most people think,” said Paul Markovich, senior vice president of Residential Services for Green Mountain Energy Company. “We encourage Texans to enjoy a greener holiday season this year and give the Earth a gift, as well.” Here are some Web site links that provide tips on how to save energy and help reduce global warming: * Energy Star energy efficient appliances (http://www.energystar.gov/products/) * Energy Efficient Windows (http://www.efficientwindows.org/) * Consumer Energy Information (http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/) * Power Smart (http://www.ase.org/powersmart/index.html) * Energy Efficiency: First Things First (http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid195.php) * Tips from StopGlobalWarming.org (http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_actionitems.asp) * http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/home.html Additionally, the carbon footprint calculator at www.begreennow.com helps individuals determine their CO2 emissions from major sources: home energy consumption and transportation by car and plane. This website also allows individuals to take action by offsetting their carbon footprint. Green Mountain Energy Company was the first retail electric provider in Texas to offer cleaner electricity products to residential and commercial customers in the state. The company has been serving Texas residential and commercial customers since 2001 when the state of Texas opened the retail electricity market to competition.
