It’s always great to see what people do with our products. Anne Moore is no exception. Hailing from Nebraska, Anne is a chronic scrapbooker whose favorite gift is taking our products like our Cigar Paper Journal and making scrapbooks for her friends. She loves the Cigar Paper journal especially because she grew up in Kentucky at a Tobacco farm.

I’ve had many great conversations with Anne and during this last holiday I asked her if she’d send me a scrapbook. In typical “Anne” fashion she told me, “Well Aaron, I’d love but I just sent them to all my friends."

“Oh well” I thought. Exactly one week later, Anne calls me excited and lets me know that “she’s made all these scrapbooks for her friends and not one for herself”. Fast forward a couple months later and here we are. I’ve got this great scrapbook and I asked if I could put it on ecopaper.com.

Anne was of course kind enough to send me this. I'll update this with some better pictures but until then you  get the idea I can’t even tell you how exciting it is for me to see the creativity people use with our products and it really justifies the mission we’re trying to accomplish. So thanks Anne. 

We’re going to send you a free Cigar Paper Journal. Thanks for all the great talks and thanks for letting me share your scrapbook to the world.

Energy costs are sure to shoot up again as we turn on those heaters and try our very best to keep the winter chill outside the house. Nobody can stop the snow from falling but keeping warm in your home is easy and affordable with these simple tips.

Hot Tips for Winter

Thermostat

The thermostat regualtes the temperature in our homes during these cold winter months. Cranking the thermostat a few degrees definitely hikes your energy bills a few degrees higher too. This could leave you warmer but certainly puts a gentle breeze in your pocket.

Putting a sweater on or slipping a pair of slippers could certainly keep the cold weather out when you’re inside the house. If you live in those cold winter states where snow seems to have no end you might also consider placing a few kerosene lamps iinside the house. This could cut your energy bills by providing extra lighting in the house while giving off heat at the same time.

Replacing your thermostat with newer more efficient ones could also cut energy bills. Newer thermostats allow you to schedule when you’re heater turns on without you constantly checking on the meter. This also gives you a more accurate reading on your home’s temperature and allows you to adjust it to your desired levels.

Insulation

Insulators keep off the heat during the summer and keep it inside the cold winter months. iInstalling them in your house could not only save you money during this winter but all year long. Insulators are only effective when they are properly installed. Plugging all leaks where heat may escape can make them even more effective.

Another cool trick is to insulate your piping systems. This would decrease heat loss to the air and keep the hot temperature of water going to your faucet or shower.

Maintaining the Heating System

Sealing leaks

Most of the heat generated by your heating system is lost through your windows. Placing thick curtains could act as insulators that keep heat inside and cold air outside. Placing plastic on your windows could also serve as insulation and allowing natural light to come in. Placing weather strips on your window's edges also ensures that no warm air leaks out your home.

Placing a rug to seal the area between the floor and the door could be an easy way of plugging that leak. If your door opens to the inside placing some rugs outside can help keep the winter weather at bay.

Serve food warm

Keeping your body temperature warm is easy by just simply drinking a cup of coffee or a warm glass of milk. Serving a warm bowl of chicken soup can jack your body temperature a few degrees higher. Body heat is lost through the air and keeping a few layers of clothing can keep the heat from escaping your body.

Maintaining your body temperature is easy by following these simple tips. These save you a few hundred dollars during these winter months and stop you from clicking that thermostat a notch higher.

Christmas will never be complete without presents, and creating special boxes from old greeting cards could be a fun and creative way of showing our loved ones how much they mean to us. These one of a kind boxes are also an excellent activity for children and anyone who wishes to recycle.

Materials Needed

Old greeting cards, Ruler, Scissors, Adhesive tape. Stapler, Pencil, Glue

Simple Steps in Creating a Gift Box

Step 1 Create the box pattern

Measure the present's dimensions, to get the ideal length, width and height of the box.

Step 2 Create one continuous surface

Ordinary greeting cards have a limited surface area and multiple greeting cards must be used to create even one small gift box. The total number of cards may depend on how big the present is.

To create one continuous surface, place the greeting cards side by side. Make sure that all the outer and more colorful portion of the greeting cards faces one side, and the inner side which usually contains the greeting cards message on the other. Use tape to temporarily attach the greeting cards together, creating one continuous surface.

Step 3 Marking the box's sides, base and cover measurements

The Base

Mark the desired measurements into the greeting cards. Be careful to make the marks in the inner portion of the cards making a square in the process. Extend the square by one inch on all sides, mark this extended portion, this will be used to join the sides of the box.

The base acts as a support for the present and be built more sturdily. You could use greeting cards which are thicker to provide ample support for the gift. If a thicker greeting card is not available, a good way of making the base sturdy is to create another base to double the base's thickness.

The Sides

Mark the side's measurements into the greeting cards. Extend the sides measurements by an inch and mark these extensions clearly. Repeat this process 4 times to form the 4 sides of the box.

The Top

Mark the top's measurement into the greeting cards and extend the sides measurements by 2 inches. You may want to choose cards hich have the brightest colors to make the top of the box more attractive.

Step 4 Cutting out the sides

Secure the greeting cards using the tape or staplers, place the tapes inside the inner portion to leave the outer box clear. Using another piece of paper and gluing it over the inner portion of the box is also a good ay of securing the greeting cards in place. Cut out the sides by following the markings. A square shape is then formed after cutting the greeting cards.

Step 5 Joining the sides of the box

Fold the inner lines leaving an extension. Attach the sides of the box to the base using the extensions. Join the extensions securely using glue and staples.

Step 6 Creating the box cover

Be sure to follow the cuts in Step 4. Pull the extensions downward in the outline of the covers edges. The extensions of the top cover are noticeably larger than the extensions of the sides and base, this gives the normal appearance of the box covers.

You would also notice that the edges of the extensions go beyond the length of the sides. Insert them into the next extension, this serves as an anchor holding the extensions firmly in place. Use a combination of staples and glues to hold them tightly in place.

It’s that time of the year again when families gather and give thanks for all the good things which have happened over the past year. It is always a good idea that we should not only celebrate this occasion with lots of food and gifts but also take note of how we could save our environment by being eco-friendly at the same time.

Whether you are preparing for that dinner or planning to send some gifts to friends and family, here are some useful tips on how you can make your Thanksgiving a very special and Green one.

1. Choosing the Green Turkey

Having a Turkey for dinner is one of the iconic symbols of a thanksgiving celebration. Choosing the perfect Turkey which has been raised naturally however is essential for celebrating a Green Thanksgiving.

The center of attention for most of us is the turkey. The Sierra Club recommends "heritage turkeys." Most of the turkeys you'll find in supermarkets are Broad-breasted Whites, which have been industrially bred since the '60s to produce a big breast quickly and cheaply. "Heritage turkeys" is a collective name for several breeds which take longer to raise, but are reputed to taste better. Plus the biodiversity of the breeds makes for a healthier, more environmentally-friendly bird. Green Daily

2. Greeting Green

Sending out letters and cards says that people are special. Taking time to write down your thoughts tells how important these people are especially during the thanksgiving season. Use recycled papers and materials that not only show you care about people but also about the environment.

Green greeting cards are both stylish and economical plus they also show the creative side of you, making these cards special and unique. New eco-friendly materials used to produce paper have become popular as a medium for putting down greetings and are quite stylish compared to traditionally made paper.

Recycling reduces wastes and costs, and save the environment from further cutting down trees for producing new paper. Some examples of these alternative materials which are being used are bamboo, hemp, kenaf, banana stalks, and organic cotton.

3. Dressing Green

Dressing green is not difficult; people don’t have to go to extremes just to show that they are eco-friendly. Dressing green simply means using materials which are naturally found in the environment. Using fur has long been shunned by society as these means killing thousands of animals which have pushed them nearly into extinction.

Choosing and buying clothes which are made from natural materials is not the only way to go green. Part of being green is recycling and one way of recycling is keeping your clothes and reusing them for more than one occasion.

4. Drink Green

“Green” drinks are becoming more popular as people look for natural ways of keeping themselves healthy. Carbonated drinks or sodas for example use large amounts of resources to produce. Packing and processing for example uses great amounts of energy like fossil fuels in order to keep their machines going.

Natural drinks however, like lemonade or juices only require water and fruits to produce. With the rising costs of healthcare it is important that people take in natural and healthy food to maintain optimum health. Offering “Green” drinks could also save you dollars as they are relatively cheaper than sodas or ready to drink beverages.

“Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks. We have a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. Come along and you'll be made welcome. Just say, "are you green?" and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It's a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network.” Green Drinks

5. Plan Ahead and Avoid Waste

A lot has been said on how we should take care of our environment. It might sometimes seem overwhelming as we consider the scope of what needs to be done. Every journey starts with a single step and a simple step in caring for our environment is starting it at our own homes.

Thanksgiving is a season for appreciating all the good things which we enjoy in life. It could also be an occasion for learning on how we could preserve our natural resources for future use. Planning your dinner and knowing how many people would be visiting could decrease wastes and leftovers after dinner.

6. Share a Ride

Thanksgiving is a time for visiting families, sharing a ride could save huge amounts of fuel. This could also provide you and your friend’s additional time for conversations and updating them on what has happened during the past year.

Commuters can take advantage of many carpool benefits. Perhaps one of the most important benefits to commuters is that carpooling saves money. Sticker shock at the gas pumps has many people trying to cut down on the amount of fuel they use -- joining a carpool is a great way to share the energy burden. Other vehicle-related savings shouldn't be overlooked either. If you have a long commute, the wear and tear on your car can really add up. howstuffworks