ecobites.com

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

This DIY Churn (butter maker) is from a wonderful Himalayan trekking experience, where the lower hills people (Newar) used it to make tasty creamy organic butter.

So now you've got your cow and the milk is flowing in! 

Who says a Christmas tree has to be pine or spruce - or even green for that matter? Use your imagination and create a Christmas tree that is unique.

Rather than buying an artificial tree or a fresh tree that will end up on the sidewalk come January 1, opt to take a walk in the backyard or nature for your own unique tree.

When it comes to decorating the Eco tree, making ornaments and garlands from gingerbread, Christmas cards, popcorn and cranberries is a great family craft project and is better for the environment than plastic tinsel and ornaments.

Still looking for ways of adding color and sparkle to your surroundings this Christmas? Ecobiters have contributed a few tips for DIY quick and easy decorations from whatever is on hand. Generally the inspiration comes from the material itself - recycled paper or cardboard, bright fabric scraps, old clothing and finds from thrift stores or flea markets, yard sales and vintage stores. A seashell collection or interesting shaped natural objects like seed heads, dried flowers, nuts or pine cones or other treasures found on Nature walks.

Typically, people are well versed in hand me downs, second hand clothes, and even things that they have purchased cheaply at flea markets and yard sales and thrift shops. However, the newest term to describe these clothes is recycled clothing.

You can always tell a garment that has come back from the dry cleaners. There’s that faint smell that seems to linger on the item, and in the closet. The smell comes from the solvent used in the dry cleaning process and, chances are, it’s not particularly good for you or the environment.

Perchloroethylene (PERC) is the most common chemical fluid used in dry cleaning. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about 28,000 U.S. dry cleaners use perc, which is the only airborne toxin emitted from the dry cleaning process. Scientists with the EPA say that acute exposure to perc can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headache as well as a loss of coordination, and have identified perc as a “possible to probable human carcinogen.”