Published again :)

Have a green celebration!
By Veronica Khoo (my new byline haha :P)

THE season of giving and sharing is here, so why not do our part and give back to the environment by reusing and recycling? I’m sure you are aware that our Mother Earth is suffering. So let us stop torturing her and do our part to prevent further harm.

Before I reveal what I’m doing this Christmas, let me forewarn my friends and family members that I’m not trying to be a cheapskate here. Please, look at the bigger picture. All I’m trying to do is to contribute my share to help our home – the world.

So here goes, the four simple ways, which you could do too, to preserve our environment:
1. Donate books: I’ve organised a little book donation this Christmas and have successfully donated boxes full of great reads to an orphanage. It’s a win-win situation here. First, the books donated have been saved from being thrown away. Second, no new books need to be bought. Save paper, save energy, save the environment! Third, the children get to read new stories!

2. Reuse wrapping paper: To those who are receiving presents from me, I’m unashamed to admit that your presents will be wrapped using my previous Christmas gifts’ wrapping paper which is still in good, beautiful condition! (If you know me well enough, you’ll know that I open my presents very gently and carefully.) Don’t worry if the paper’s a little creased, because once you’re done wrapping, it’s hardly noticeable. Anyway, if your friends or family members care about the environment, they will understand.

3. Reuse presents: Yes, I’m guilty as charged. I give away gifts that I don’t use. Don’t get me wrong. I give away useful, practical gifts. Just that, I happen not to use them. For example: new bottles of perfumes and cosmetic creams (I have one too many of those) as well as books (I don’t really dig chick lit and romance).

And just so you know, they are all new and branded. Come on, don’t stock up all your unused things in your storeroom pleeeease. And don’t keep telling yourself you’ll be using them one day, because most probably, you won’t. But if for certain reasons, you have to buy new presents, try getting them from an eco-friendly store!

4. Use only one plastic bag: Yeah... I’m still trying to remind myself to take my recycled shopping bag with me whenever I go out. But if I happen to forget, I make sure I remember to use only one plastic bag. And I’m happy some others are practising it too. Just the other day when I was at a cashier, a lady in her early 40s in front of me rejected a plastic bag and told the cashier she already had one. She then took her newly bought things and placed them all into a big plastic bag that already had some other purchases. She did it with such pizzazz that she made the act of recycling superbly stylish. Kudos to you, lady!

For the link http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/12/21/lifefocus/2795145&sec=lifefocus

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