trees – Happymomblogger

Beauty is seen through the eyes of the willing. Young children find beauty in almost anything but as adults our hardships throughout the years have taught us to be more judgmental. This year, let’s open our eyes to the brilliance of nature around us and appreciate one of the best things in life – trees. Trees are magical, whimsical, and even comical. But most importantly, they breathe precious life into our atmosphere, helping us live better and more at peace. When I stand in front of a tall and majestic tree, I breathe in her invigorating fragrance and it enlivens me and makes me realize that there are more important things to life than what we already know of.

Every year marks the important event for trees around the world and that event is the Share A Tree campaign. Hosted by Green Is Universal (http://www.greenisuniversal.com/) and Arbor Day Foundation (http://www.arborday.org/), the Share A Tree campaign will help the Arbor Day Foundation plant trees all across the United States in our national forests, state forests, and state parks. Two places in which trees will be planted is in Michigan’s Mackinaw and Ausable State Forests. For every digital tree shared before the end of December, the Arbor Day Foundation will plant a real tree and for every 25,000 shared, Green is Universal will donate $5,000.

What is Share A Tree? It is a virtual forest where people can visit the site, decorate a tree and easily share it on social media. Included in the forest are about 40 trees that were drawn by celebrities like Al Roker, Dolvett Quince and Meredith Vieira among many others. You can create your own virtual tree or share a celebrity’s tree – the choice is yours and you can do this as many times as you want!

The Arbor Day Foundation efforts are to plant Jack pine trees to improve the habitat of the endangered Kirtland’s warbler. This neotropical migratory songbird’s breeding habitat is almost exclusively confined to young, dense Jack pine stands in the area. Today, Kirtland’s warblers are found in only ten counties on Michigan’s northern lower peninsula and four counties in the upper peninsula. Efforts by the Arbor Day Foundation’s replanting partners have increased the number of singing males from less than 200 to more than 1,900, bringing the species back from the brink of extinction.

Click here to decorate and Share a Tree!

One of my favorite celebrity trees is the one made by Lauren Koslow from Days of Our Lives. Now that’s what a tree should look like! So full and abundant and colorful. On the Share A Tree site (http://www.greenisuniversal.com/) you can find many wonderful decorated trees created by celebrities. Some are simplistic and modest while others are extravagant and intense. You’ll have a lot of fun just checking out all the different trees created by these well-known celebrities.

As we are asked, “where would we be without trees?”, that is like asking how can we breathe better and cleaner air? Trees are inherently one of the most important aspects of nature and without them, we wouldn’t have a strong ecosystem. Not only are trees immensely beneficial to our environment, but they are also a valuable part of living on Earth. They create wonder and beauty in our minds and hearts. They give children the room for imagination. They give bibliophiles a comfortable place to read. But most importantly, trees can live thousands of years and thrive for many future generations. They tell stories and they give hope to many.

The goal for Share A Tree is to reach 100,000 trees by December 31st and for every 25,000 trees shared, Green is Universal will donate $5,000 to the Arbor Day Foundation. So be sure to check out the Share A Tree website to decorate your own tree, share it, and then go back and do it 100 times over until Arbor Day Foundation reaches their goal. It’s simple, fun to do, and you’re helping the environment with a worthy cause just by sitting in front of your computer and doing a much needed good deed. Sometimes we may ask ourselves what we can do to help others. Well, the Share A Tree campaign is probably one of the easiest ways to help and it doesn’t cost anything.

For more information about the Share A Tree campaign, please visit Green Is Universal: http://www.greenisuniversal.com

Disclaimer: In sharing this campaign, Happymomblogger received a gift from Green is Universal and the Arbor Day Foundation.

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on “Happymomblogger” remain unbiased and unpaid and are the sole decision of the author. The opinions of these product(s) were not influenced in any way, shape, or form. As always, please read the ingredients carefully when trying new products.

Please read the labels and ingredients carefully and follow all manufacturer’s instructions (if any). The products selected for the giveaway were generously donated by the companies/PR to help readers learn more about their products. The winner’s choice in using/consuming these products are entirely up to the winner and will not hold the author and her family liable nor the companies/PR liable. These products are made with non-toxic ingredients but always be safe with what you use and consume.

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The holidays are the perfect time to be more “green”. Around this time of year, when the holiday season is upon us, we’re too busy decorating, buying presents, and attending parties. People spend hordes of money and effort on making their homes just right for Christmas and for buying the ideal present for their family and friends. Neighbors outdo each other by seeing who can put out the most Christmas lights or decorations so that no one within a 50 mile radius can miss their house. It’s an opulent time of year to celebrate and an even harder time to try and be more green.

Well, as I’ve learned more about the importance of preserving our precious planet, each year I try to do a bit more in helping the environment. It’s gotten easier throughout the years as companies are learning how crucial it is to improve the sustainability of our planet by offsetting their manufacturing, using recyclable packaging, recycling their products, and so forth. There are certainly more options out there in what you can buy for people when it comes to environmentally-friendly gifts. You can even buy a tree to be planted to offset all the traveling you’ll probably be doing during the holidays – what with last minute gift shopping, heading to the local market to pick up some sugar that you forgot you ran out of, or picking up extra wrapping paper. You can learn more about planting trees throughout the world at American Forests website: http://www.americanforests.org/.

But honestly, it’s more than just planting an extra tree to help preserve the environment. It’s more about how we can all reuse, reduce, and recycle. Take for instance the Christmas lights. Unless you’re getting LED lights, you’re using up an enormous amount of energy which can be saved for more important things. Most Christmas lights are LED lights so you’ll definitely find a good selection but then how much lights do you put on the outside and inside of your house? This year, I was seriously thinking of putting up some Christmas lights on the outside of our house but then even with LED lights, it’s still wasting A LOT of electricity. And our neighbors literally do try to outshine each other every year – our neighborhood looks like Disneyland fireworks – so bright and eye-catching! But alas, I think we’ll just stick with the Christmas lights on our Christmas tree and especially with a mischievous toddler in the house, I really can’t afford to have lights everywhere.

For many years I try to save wrapping paper and gift bags that I can reuse or repurpose. When I open a gift, and if the wrapping paper is extremely beautiful, I’ll be careful not to tear the paper and save it to wrap someone else’s present. And gift bags are truly too wasteful if you don’t save them and reuse them. I also buy brown recycled gift bags that I can just decorate myself to make it even more personal and fun. And for this year, instead of using the saved tissue paper from previous gifts, I think I’ll shred up my old magazines that I no longer read and use them as stuffing for gift bags and inside boxes. Everyone has some sort of magazines laying around that they no longer need and instead of recycling them, shredding them in your shredder would be a fun and different usage for them. And the more colorful the pages are, the better! And since you’re planning on recycling them anyway, at least they’ll be repurposed for something delightful.

And what about Christmas trees? Is it better to buy artificial trees or real trees? Artificial trees may last forever as long as you continue to like the style, but most artificial trees are made with a toxic material like PVC that can emit chemicals into the air and can be potentially harmful. PVC’s are the leading health toxins that can affect a person’s immune system over time and is especially dangerous for young children. And if you have a large Christmas tree that you’re going to put up for a few weeks and store throughout the year, then there’s always a risk of the PVC leaking into the air. While real Christmas trees are beautiful and can last a long time as well, they are also expendable. I always feel sad for the Christmas trees and pumpkins during the holidays (and turkeys) when they are grown only for the holidays and sold in mass quantities everywhere. But what happens when they don’t sell ALL of the trees and pumpkins? I always think it’s such a waste. Then there are trees called “living trees” where you can replant them after the holiday is over. However, I don’t hear very good things about them because they are hard to grow and it all depends on the climate and the space.

So, when it comes to trying to be more green this holiday season, I plan on using less electricity, less plastic decorations, and more eco-friendly packaging and gifts. I think the recipients of my gifts will appreciate that as well and I’ll feel better too. And it’s also a great time to teach my son the importance of trying to save the planet and help the people.

Happy Holidays!