Sustainable Holiday Shopping

When completing your holiday shopping, do you consider the environmental impacts of your purchases? It is important to take into account not only the price tag of the products, but also the environmental and human health costs of these items.

GreenTV episode 110 discusses sustainable shopping with the Green Alliance and the Associate Director of the UNH Sustainability Academy.

The first thing to consider when holiday shopping is if our friends and relatives really need any more STUFF. Why not spend money on an enjoyable experience instead, such as tickets to a concert or sporting event? Another idea is a gift certificate to their favorite salon or even to a local farmers market. This type of present cuts down on waste production during the holidays, and can be even more personal and thoughtful than something from the mall.

Another factor to consider when shopping is how items are packaged. If possible, try to avoid buying products with excess packaging, especially plastic, that will just end up in our landfills, or worse, the ocean. And whenever possible, bring reusable bags to every store you visit instead of accumulating more plastic shopping bags!

In addition to the type of packaging, it’s important to consider what materials the items themselves are made from. Are the gifts on your list made out of recycled or local sources? A great example of this is Earth Tec, which recently opened a store in downtown Portsmouth. Much of their clothing is made from recycled plastic bottles!

You should also think about where you are shopping this holiday season. Do the stores have sustainable business practices? Are they a local company? Shopping locally cuts down on the carbon footprint of the products by greatly reducing transportation costs, and it contributes to the local economy. On November 26^th, celebrate Small Business Saturday by shopping at your favorite local store. Visit their facebook page for more information and to find participating businesses in your area!

For more great local companies, eco-friendly goods, and recommended gift certificates, check out the Blue Ocean Society Holiday Gift Guide. Or even better, shop at the Blue Ocean Society store for marine creature adoptions, clothing, stuffed animals, photo notecards, and more!

In addition, you can join Blue Ocean Society and Historic New England for a Holiday Sale & Open House at the Gov. John Langdon House at 143 Pleasant St. in Portsmouth. A selection of gift items will be offered, including free gift wrapping with any purchase. There will also be refreshments and free tours of the house. These will occur on Sunday, Dec 4^th from 12-4 pm and Thursday, Dec 8^th from 4-7 pm.

For more information about our upcoming events, visit the Blue Ocean Society website. And feel free to add your own suggestions for sustainable shopping ideas or your favorite local businesses in the comments here or on Facebook or Twitter !

Good luck shopping sustainably and have a great holiday season!

Bag It: Is your life too plastic?

Did You Know…?
Over 10,000 plastic bags were found during approximately 1,000 Blue Ocean Society beach cleanups from 2006-2010 – that’s an average of about 10 plastic bags per cleanup!

BAG IT: Is your life too plastic?
Join Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conversation for a free screening of the award winning documentary.

Where: Portsmouth Public Library

When: Wednesday, October 26th, 6:30 pm

Also featuring:
• Announcement of the 2011 NH Coastal Cleanup results!
• Learn how you can help locally
• Free desserts, refreshments, and giveaways!

Desserts kindly donated by Me & Ollies and Beach Pea Baking Co.

More info and RSVP on Facebook

This program series is funded under the Coastal Zone Management Act by NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in conjunction with the New Hampshire Coastal Program.

Check out our other upcoming events here.

2011 Student Cleanup

Students from Nute Middle School at Foss Beach in Rye, NH

Last Friday, as part of the NH Coastal Cleanup, six different local schools participated in our annual student cleanup day! Approximately 500 students, teachers, and chaperones cleaned up Hampton Beach, North Beach, Foss Beach, and Wallis Sands. Over 400 pounds of trash were removed from these sites, including 135 beverage cans, 137 cups/utensils, 137 cigar tips, 172 plastic bottles, 194 lobster traps, 228 straws, 359 plastic bags, 472 food wrappers, 474 pieces of rope, 991 bottle caps/lids, and 17,738 cigarette butts!

Thank you to Nottingham School, Sant Bani School, Hampstead Middle School, Nute Middle School, Dondero School, and Little Harbour school for once again participating in our student cleanup day and making a difference on our local beaches!

Thank you, volunteers!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2011 NH Coastal Cleanup! It was a beautiful day to be on the beach and it sounds like we had many successful cleanups all over the state!

On Saturday, seventeen troops from the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains cleaned up Route 1A in Rye and removed over 1,000 pounds of trash! Here are some great photos of Loudon Cadette Troop #12356.

Another big thanks to the students from Winnacunnet High School who also participated in the NH Coastal Cleanup! Last Thursday they removed about 4,000 pounds of trash from Fox Point in Newington!

New Hampshire Coastal Cleanup - Where Can You Help?

Litter pulled from under the Portsmouth Fish Pier in the 2010 NH Coastal Cleanup by divers from United Divers of NH

The New Hampshire Coastal Cleanup is coming up on Saturday, September 17. Would you like to volunteer? Here are some sites where we could use volunteers. Sign up and find more information at www.signuptocleanup.org!

Site	Start Time
Durham Landing, Durham	9:00 AM
Foss Beach, Rte. 1A, Rye	8:00 AM
Ft. Stark, Wild Rose Lane, New Castle	9:30 AM
Hampton Beach, Rte. 1 A, Hampton	9:00 AM
Hilton Park, Dover Point	10:00 AM
Great Island Common, New Castle	10:00 AM
North Hampton State Beach, North Hampton	9:00 AM
Scammell Bridge, Rte. 4, Durham	10:00 AM
Jenness Beach, Rte. 1A, Rye	10:00 AM
Wallis Sands/Pirate's Cove, Rye	9:00 AM
Odiorne Point State Park, Rte. 1A, Rye	10:00 AM

Poster-Hangers Wanted!

Congratulations to NH Coastal Cleanup poster contest winners Henry Smith (Nottingham School, Grade 8) and Scott Watson (Dover, NH, Age 7)!  If you can spare an hour or so to help us hang up posters around the Seacoast, NH region, please e-mail us at info (at) blueoceansociety.org and we'll make arrangements to get some to you.  Thank you for your help!

Picture by Henry Smith (Nottingham School, Grade 8)

Picture by Scott Watson (Dover, NH, Age 7)

Sign Up Now for the International Coastal Cleanup!

Girl Scouts in Rye, NH at the
2010 New Hampshire Coastal Cleanup

One of the easiest, most fulfilling ways you can help the marine environment is by participating in a beach cleanup.  One hour of your time can make a huge difference to the appearance of a beach, and the impacts of litter on marine life.

This is a perfect time to join a cleanup, as the Mother of All Beach Cleanups - the International Coastal Cleanup - is coming up on Saturday, September 17, 2011. Last year, over 600,000 volunteers participated worldwide - and picked up 8 million pounds of trash!

Here in New Hampshire, over 1,300 volunteers picked up over 6,000 pounds of trash along 19 miles of coastline. Can you guess what the #1 item was, and how many we found? Leave your guess in the comments!

Whether you're in New Hampshire or Nigeria, on the ocean or inland, there's likely a cleanup somewhere near you.  Click here to check out the Ocean Conservancy's  site, which allows you to search for and sign up for a cleanup.

If you're in New Hampshire, I look forward to seeing you on the 17th!