Day 118 - Dear Santa

Creating an Eco-Friendly Wish List

This is yet another post about How I'm Planning to Green Up My Holiday Season.

We all know it's better to give than receive, but we're gonna talk about my wish list before we handle the gift list. After all, mine is relatively short and I already have it made out. (Trying my best to stick to The Compact has helped me to differentiate between items I truly want or need vs. the desires du jour.)

I have only one criteria for the items on my list. They must all, in one way or another, help me to further reduce my ecological footprint. I know, I know, it's an oxymoron to say I'm going to BUY things to REDUCE my footprint. I know this. I live this. I preach this. Hubby does not. If I tell him that I don't want anything for Christmas, he will go out and buy me something that eats baby seals, drinks petroleum and farts methane. It will be payback for not being more specific.

And speaking of specific, you should know that hubby and I don't beat around the bush when it comes to "wish lists". We know our spending caps and we each create our own List of Demands. Not only do we name names, but we give model numbers and manufactured suggested retail price. Should there be any error in our estimations, it is assumed that monetary surpluses will go towards chocolate or Starbucks gift cards. That's just how we roll.

So, back to me and my list:

1. An Oster Toaster Oven - Surprisingly eco-friendly -- Once you get over the fact that it's partially made of plastic. This little appliance, which draws only 1500 watts, will keep me from having to use the full size, energy-sucking 5,000 watt oven at least twice a week. Also, Oster manufactures in the USA so I don't have to worry about the import issue.

2. A Drying Rack - Did I tell you that I can't hang a clothesline here? HOA rules only allow us to put a clothesline in an area of our property where it would sit directly in the shade of the pine trees. It's not worth ruining all my clothes with pine sap, just to avoid the dryer use. However, with a small drying rack I could air-dry all my winter sweaters, thereby reducing my energy use AND making my sweaters last longer.

3. A Smart Strip - Have you heard about these? Ten outlets work together, autoswitching your devices on/off automatically, to save you money on your electric bills. I could plug our TV, DVD and cable box into this power strip. Then, whenever the TV is turned off, all the other items are automatically turned off too.

4. Slippers - Keep my tootsies warm while I've got the thermostat turned down.

5. A Big Cast Iron or Stainless Steel Skillet - I want to get rid of our jumbo-sized non-stick skillet before it starts to flake off teflon into our food. It may not be 100% about the environment, but it's definitely better for me and my family.


That's it folks. There is nothing else I really want and hubby should be able to get all this for under $200. He would actually move UP on my list if he could find all these items used, but I'm pretty sure he'll just head straight for Amazon. Especially if I email him the list and provide the links.


Savings:

Each of these items will help me to reduce my impact. I won't pretend that the initial purchase isn't damaging -- it sure is. Especially if it comes packaged in Styrofoam or plastic wrapping. But again, Hubby will not let me get escape the holiday season without presents, and, let's face it, I'm not that big of a martyr.


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

Nothing difficult about this at all. It's a freakin' list of gifts I'm requesting - How could that possibly be difficult? Now, if Hubby doesn't follow the list, then there'll be some difficulty!