Autumn is my favorite season. Here in Oregon, it’s rainy and cool, but not too cold. The trees look amazing, the air smells crisp and everything is cozy. Here are some nice, eco-minded ways to kick off the 2011 fall season…

Clean up the land: National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is this Saturday, September 24, 2011, and there’s plenty you can do to help. NPLD is an annual national effort to improve and enhance public land. This year, more than 180,000 volunteers are expected at more than 2,000 sites across the country to celebrate public spaces by planting trees, removing trash, building trails and bridges and restoring water resources. NPLD is an excellent opportunity to help the environment as you explore amazing outdoor spaces with your friends and family. Find an event near you.

Learn to make bread: With the days getting longer, cooler and dark, nothing is better than a bowl of soup and a slice of delicious homemade organic bread. Homemade bread is SO much easier than you may think too, plus your house will smell wonderful.

Snag an organic pumpkin: Plan a trip to your local organic pumpkin patch – fun for the kids and totally necessary for spooky Halloween jack o’ lanterns.

Ban excessive stuff: Get ready to ban Black Friday and celebrate Buy Nothing Day instead. I’ll post more later on this, but here’s last year’s primer. Better yet, start planning ahead for a homemade Christmas or other winter holiday event with some amazing homemade gifts.

Get outside for a fall nature walk: It’s getting chilly but everything looks so much better in Autumn. this is absolutely the best time of year to see nature. Bonus, a fall nature walk gives you a great excuse to warm up with some Fair Trade, homemade organic hot chocolate and maybe a sweet fall treat afterward.

Plant a tree: Anytime is a good time for tree planting, but Autumn is a really good time. Plus, this isn’t just fun, it’s a way to help the planet breathe a little clearer. Get some tree planting ideas.

Fun fall crafts just for the kiddos:

• DIY Recycled Luminaries
• Create some AMAZING Autumn Conker Crafts – seriously, you will faint. These are so cute.
• Make a recycled autumn tree collage.
• Place a recycled bag leaf bouquet on the table.

It’s been a little crazy around here trying to get last minute Halloween stuff sorted out (I’ll post pictures of Halloween later), but since November is almost upon us, it’s probably time to start discussing Thanksgiving. We don’t go very fancy at my house for Thanksgiving. Usually we just hang out, cook some food and munch. However, if you are going to be holding a more formal Thanksgiving day meal, then holiday place cards are a nice touch.

You’ve got two choices when it comes to place cards – buy them or make them. It’s better, and more fun to make your own, but if you do purchase some look for place cards made with non-toxic, recyclable and reusable materials. You want to buy place cards that will either recycle in whole or that will suffice for the long haul and all sorts of events. Basically, you’re not looking for just turkey shaped place cards that only work for Thanksgiving. Here are some options:

Bird Cheese Markers – these aren’t meant to be place cards, but I think they’re an awesome idea for marking seats. The markers from Beehive Kitchenware will stand up nicely if you place them in a small personal sized pumpkin pie, or another sturdy object and they’ll look so cute. Made with lead free pewter with stainless steel tines. Comes with additional standard paper labels so you can write your own or print from your computer. Best of all you can use these forever, for all sorts of cool parties.

Reclaimed Slate Coasters – These fun coasters are made with reclaimed chalkboards from Franklin Elementary School in Quincy, Illinois. Your child (or you) can use these as little place card coasters, decorating them with pretty leaves and names. These coasters also features reclaimed wine cork feet to keep them from slipping and scratching the table.

Autumn Leaf Plantable Place Card – I don’t like the bow, but I do like the idea of using these pretty leaves as place cards. Luckily, the person who makes these seems open to ideas, so you could go no bow and choose different colors. You can write the names of guests on these, use them to mark seating and then later plant them in your garden to grow wildflowers. Or send them home with Thanksgiving guests as little plantable favors.

Make homemade eco-friendly place cards:

Really, you can make homemade place cards out of so many natural and/or recycled items that your possibilities are endless. Be creative. Here are a few ideas to get you going…

• If you need take-away favors and place settings, I love the idea of using small recycled cans as little herb pots. If you get started now, you’ll have nice little herbs in time for Thanksgiving. You can have kids decorate the cans and add people’s names.

• Gather recycled wine corks. Make a small slit in the top of the smaller end and stick a slip of recycled heavy weight card stock into the top for labeling.

• Cute idea for using tiny pumpkins or gourds for place markers.

• Gather dried fall maple leaves for nature-perfect place card settings.

• Really adorable recycled turkey place card holders.

• Gather fallen pine cones. Clean well, then coat with clear, non-toxic glue and sprinkle evenly with glitter. Place small name slips of recycled paper between the cone spaces.

• Use homemade organic flour dough to form place holders in any shape you choose. You’ll have to use a permanent marker or paint to get the name on though. This is a good project for the kids though.

• Make homemade organic sugar cookies (maybe in leaf shapes) and decorate them with names. Place one near each table setting. Use this organic sugar cookie recipe.

What other ideas for homemade place cards do you have?

We don’t go nuts over Thanksgiving at my house. We get together and cook a meal, but nothing too fancy or formal. That said, everyone’s idea of Thanksgiving is different. Whether you’re hyper casual like at my house or extra formal, there’s still room to be green. I’ve got some ideas below that can help you out, no matter your Thanksgiving style.

Watch this space for more ideas as November continues…

• Throw a Green Thanksgiving Event

Eco-friendly Thanksgiving decor and crafts:

• Natural Thanksgiving Decor
• Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving Place Cards

Planning your Thanksgiving day menu:

• Save money on organic food for the holidays
• Homemade Organic Honey Oat Bread
• DIY Healthy Organic & Fair Trade Hot Chocolate
• Organic Cooking Know-How – 18 Green & Healthy Cookbook Ideas
• Need organic pumpkins? Learn where to find them.

General green Thanksgiving resources:

• Celebrate Green – a must have holiday book.
• Plan a Thanksgiving tree planting celebration.

Today, (Sept 22) is officially the first day of fall. That rocks since autumn is my favorite season. Here are some ways to super charge your green-living skills this autumn.

1. Celebrate our nation’s public lands on National Public Lands Day. This event, which falls on September 25th, is an excellent opportunity to help the environment as you explore some amazing outdoor space with your friends and family. NPLD is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance public land and last year 150,000 volunteers joined in. Around the country, these 150,000 people celebrated by planting trees, removing trash, building trails and bridges and restoring water resources. Find an event near you.

2. Make something adorable, eco-friendly and/or recycled for Halloween! Check out these sweet creations:

• Acorn Pumpkins – cutest thing ever!
• Recycle your old milk jugs into adorable and useful Spirit Jug ghosts that shine bright for incoming trick-or-treaters.
• Felt Pumpkin People – I think these would make excellent Halloween party favors. Felt is eco-friendly (if you get the right type), soft and ultra cute.

3. Warm up your space and save energy. Your home should be properly weatherized for autumn and winter in order to save money, keep your family comfortable and save our resources. However, not everyone can afford to make the best weatherization changes. Luckily the the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) offers a Weatherization Assistance Program for low-income families.

Over the last 3 decades this program has provided weatherization services to more than 5.5 million low-income families. How the program works is, “Weatherization service providers install energy efficiency measures in the homes of qualifying homeowners free of charge. These are not expensive upgrades—the average expenditure limit is $2,826 per home—but they are effective, and energy savings pay for the upgrades within a few years.”

The criteria varies from state to state. You can see if your income is eligible by visiting the DOE. Keep in mind that there’s also a waiting list for services so the sooner you contact your state agency and apply the better.

4. Get ready to ban Black Friday. I’ll post more later on this, but here’s last year’s primer.

5. Head outside for a fall nature walk. It’s getting chilly but this is absolutely the best time of year to see nature. Everything looks amazing. Plus a fall nature walk gives you a great excuse to warm up with some Fair Trade, organic hot chocolate afterward.

What are you doing to celebrate fall?

Autumn is the best season hands down – in my opinion – to get outside. The weather is cold, but not too cold. The trees are gorgeous and there’s a nice smoky scent in the air. Plus we have plenty of fun fall holidays to celebrate. All in all, autumn is a great time to have fun and practice green living skills; before the major winter holiday season arrives.

Check out the links below to learn more about how to have an eco-friendly autumn. Also watch this space – as the season continues, I’ll add more helpful tips related to green fall living right here.

GREEN HALLOWEEN TREATS

• Green Halloween Edible Treats for 50¢ or Less
• Eco-Friendly Non-Edible Halloween Treats for 50¢ or less

HAVE A GREEN HALLOWEEN!

• National Costume Swap Day
• Enter the 2010 ChicoBag & Green Halloween Bag Design Contest
• Do You Need an Organic Halloween Pumpkin?
• NEW 2010 Fair Trade Trick or Treat Kit
• Recycled Autumn Holiday Cards, Invitations & More
• Halloween Costume Add-Ons: Less Toxic Halloween Skin and Hair Products
• Eco-friendly Halloween costumes for kids
• Adorable Halloween Goodies

PLAN AN ECO-FRIENDLY THANKSGIVING

• Natural Thanksgiving Decor
• Throw a Green Thanksgiving Event
• Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving Place Cards
• Save money on organic food for the holidays

COZY DISHES & TREATS FOR AUTUMN

• Homemade Organic Honey Oat Bread
• DIY Healthy Organic & Fair Trade Hot Chocolate
• Homemade organic candy corn sugar cookies
• Organic caramel apples

GENERAL GREEN AUTUMN RESOURCES

• Celebrate Green – a must have holiday book.
• Plan an autumn tree planting celebration.

[hot chocolate image via Flickr user insidious_plots]

Over the weekend I had some unsavory characters smash in both my front car windows, steal my cell phone, and some other stuff, so I had to take the weekend off entirely from work to fix these issues. Yay Portland right? I hate how crowded and busy and apparently crime ridden this city has become. In any case, I’ll be MIA until after Thanksgiving, trying to catch up at work and actually get Thanksgiving together.

That said, if you stop by, that’s why I’m MIA AND I hope that everyone has a wonderful, non-stressful, and fun green Thanksgiving day. Try to get out into nature and skip that Black Friday madness. I’ll be back with fresh posts after the holiday.

If you’ve gathered up all the organic holiday food for your green Thanksgiving; or at least planned the menu, it’s time to start thinking about decor. There are plenty of natural decor ideas you can use that won’t turn your Thanksgiving into a big footprint event. Following are some great ideas.

Festive Pumpkin Flowerpot – awesome and easy. Plus this will look amazing on your Thanksgiving table.

The most adorable little holiday bowl of chestnuts, which doesn’t sound like much but it’s simple and adorable.

Make your own fall wreath with a twist. I.e. not all leaves. Very cute and excellent instructions.

Flower & Spice Table Toppers – one of my favorite Thanksgiving crafts for years now. So professional looking, but easy, and nicely scented.

This cornhusks project via Martha Stewart is pretty darn unique. I’ve never seen it. The nice thing is that the leaves are of course food-safe and can even be color tinted. See full instructions with leaf template.

This last craft is a cheat, not really natural but I love the nature theme of these Thanksgiving Place Card Holders, and you could use recycled scrap fabric for them.

Thanksgiving is a busy time of year. It’s a little nuts but you can still keep it green. Following are some ways you can celebrate without compromising your eco-ethics or too much more of your time.

Get sane: Traveling during the holidays is a nightmare. It’s more expensive, it’s stressful, and it keeps your emissions nice and high. Staying put at home is a great way to cut stress and save gas and resources. Ah sanity.

Get real: Real cloth napkins and cloth tablecloths, actual reusable dishes, and banning paper or plastic toss away cups is a great place to start. If you don’t have special holiday dishes and want some low cost options check out your local thrift store. Not only can you find great sets of dishes but you can donate them back after the holiday. NO dish storage!

Get organic: Organics don’t have to cost more. If you’re concerned about costs split them with all family members attending or buy the most important organics first, then others if you can afford it. For example, an organic turkey should be top priority. Organic onions and spices are cool, but you’re not getting as big a pesticide punch with them, so the turkey, apples for pies, and dairy are bigger deals.

Get flowers: Organic flowers for your table are a pesticide free, beautiful option. If you go local they don’t even cost much more than conventional flowers. Many co-ops offer a flower section where you can pick and choose your favorite stems – much cheaper than buying a ready-made bouquet.

Get vegetarian: Skipping the turkey, ham, bacon bits, and whatever other meats you like at Thanksgiving, is a great way to keep your holiday green. For veggie meal ideas visit a great vegetarian Thanksgiving menu planner.

Get the commercialism out: Vow to skip Black Friday. In fact there’s a real honest to goodness event called Buy Nothing Day that you can join up with if you want to skip the madness. Why shop til you drop the day after Thanksgiving? Why not have a more peaceful day? I’ve been doing Buy Nothing Day for years – hit them up on Facebook if you’d like to get involved.

Get natural: Plan decor that’s eco-savvy and natural or made with recycled goods. Decorating with fall leaves is a good start – later we’ll look at a few more green Thanksgiving crafts.

Get greener place cards: If fancy is your game plan this holiday then you need pretty place cards. Of course go for eco-friendly Thanksgiving place cards.

Get thankful: Try making a homemade gratitude journal with the kids with recycled goodies. If you want something extra special try the WishFrame. Family and friends can write what they’re thankful for on little slips of paper then tuck them away in the WishFrame.

What are you doing to celebrate a green Thanksgiving?