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Top Green Skiing & Snowboarding Tips

   1. Find Sustainable Skis and Snowboards
      Independent companies like Colorado's Venture Snowboards, which has converted its entire operation to run on wind power, sometimes have the greatest freedom to put green principle into practice. Support companies like these that are making a genuine effort to be sustainable. Also, look for innovatively green gear like snowboards made of bamboo, and skis made of Paulownia. Both are examples of good equipment that doesn't rely on the traditional timber that's used in most of the millions of skis and snowboards made and sold every year. Other options are buying used gear, or boards and skis made with timber approved by the Forest Stewardship Council. And, of course, if you don't head to the hills every weekend of the winter, renting gear is the greenest way to go.

   2. Get to the Slopes Greenily
      If there's accessible public transit nearby, great-but unfortunately, most ski resorts do not seem to be located in metropolitan downtown areas. However, many ski and snowboard shops like Emilio's in New York City run shuttle services straight to the slopes from the city. Call the ski shops in your city and inquire about such trips. And for East Coast skiers especially, some train lines will drop you off well into free resort shuttle bus territory. If not, your best bet is to carpool, which is getting increasingly easier to do, thanks to handy Facebook apps and resort innovators like California's Kirkwood, which provides its own carpool service, the K-Pool.

   3. Go Cross Country
      Cross country skiing is a woefully underappreciated mode of skiing (or snowboarding)-it can be intense, serene, and beautiful simultaneously, and it's the greenest way to ski. No chairlifts, no heated lodges, no blasting snow machines-just you and the great outdoors, and fields of untouched powder. You'll need a pair of telemark skis, and some skins to attach to the bottom of your skis for traction when hiking. If you're a snowboarder, things are little trickier, but only slightly. You'll have to opt for either snowshoes or what's known as a split board in order to traverse your prospective mountain. But with the proper gear, and proper knowledge of the backcountry areas, you've literally got hundreds of thousands of pristine slopes to yourself (though, just to be safe, it's always best to use the buddy system and go with a friend or two).

   4. Look for Groundbreaking Green Gear and Skiwear
      There's a lot to choose from out there-from futuristic solar powered ski suits that unintentionally doubles as a warning beacon to anyone downhill from the wearer, to a green, vegetable-based snowboard wax. Or keep yourself warm with organic outdoor wear when you hit the slopes. And these are just some suggestions to get the gears turning, there's plenty more eco-friendly, US-made outdoor clothing out there.

   5. Head to Green Resorts
      Some resorts are making big strides in the environmental arena: Massachusetts resort Jiminy Peak installed a wind turbine that generates a third of its electricity demands. The popular Wyoming resort Jackson Hole is now offsetting 100 percent of its energy use with wind and other alternative energy offset purchases. Aspen has been an award-winning, renowned green leader for years. Others are still plodding ahead into ungreen territory-Colorado's Copper Mountain is one of the more egregious, cutting down acres of National Forest for enlarged parking lots, and is doing little, if anything to preserve a habitat that's home to dozens of endangered species. But how do you know which resorts to snub, and which to support?

   6. Join the Ski Area Citizen's Coalition
      Help keep an eye on eco-offending resorts and reward green innovators by participating in the nonprofit Ski Area Citizen's Coalition online community. Their annual Ski Area Environmental Report Card keeps tabs on the environmental impact of resorts nationwide and in Canada. The group deserves the credit for outing the flagrantly ungreen like Copper-it's the lowest graded on their list, coming in with a big fat F. SACC is an important group for any environmentally concerned skier, snowboarder, or conservationist. Join up and rat out the forest razin,' emission spewin' culprits of the resort world.

   7. Recycle/Donate Used Equipment
      Keep your old gear out of the landfill by turning it over to the Salvation Army, or an organization like SWAG, where they can put your stuff to good reuse. Some companies like Grownskis, will gladly take back your busted old skis and remake them into one-of-a-kind furniture. Or, you can take a cue from the more extreme riders and skiers, and keep beat-up gear for practice purposes in the offseason: snowboarders use old boards to practice tricks on trampolines, and adventurous diehard skiers sometimes take battered skis on summertime expeditions for rock skiing. Only do either if you are considerably better at the sports than I am (read: for green experts only).

   8. Buy SkiGreen Tags
      Many resorts offer skiers and snowboarders the option to buy a SkiGreen Tag along with their lift ticket, with the intent of neutralizing the amount of carbon you end up contributing on any given ski trip. All proceeds from the tag's purchase go towards wind energy offsets, and according to the SkiGreen website, each one bought is the equivalent of taking a car off the road for 150 miles. Driving more than 150 miles roundtrip for your ski day? Easy. Get two. Just have your carpoolers chip in.

   9. Do Not Ski in Dubai
      Okay, so I'm just using the indoor ski resort in Dubai as an example for opulent, unnecessarily un-green resort destinations. Yes, it's a fascinating novelty. But yes, it's a nauseatingly unnatural resource hog aimed at giving the super rich a cheap thrill that will inevitably elicit head-shaking and murmurs of "What the hell were we thinking?" when Dubai's oil bubble eventually pops, which it inevitably will. Ski local, and avoid uber-luxury resorts. Also, while heli-skiing or cat skiing (chartering a helicopter or a snow cat mobile to drop you off on a remote mountain) seems awesome, bear in mind that it has a tremendous environmental impact.

  10. Offset the Big Trips
      That said, diehard skiers will no doubt head to more exotic locales at some point. When you do, consider offsetting your travels with renewable energy purchases, like those from Carbonfund.org. While it doesn't mean you should make a habit of extravagant trips, and there's still some controversy over carbon offsets-the funds still go to an invaluable service: supporting and developing alternative energy sources. The very alternative energy sources that we'll need to see more of, if we hope to continue skiing into the 2100s.

Source - http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/skiing-snowboarding/skiing-snowboarding-tips.html

Holiday Wrapping Paper and the Environment

I don't think there is anyone who hasn't had a moment's pause when disposing of all of that wrapping paper the day after Christmas. What a waste. This year, why not try wrapping smaller gifts with fabric. There are thousands of Christmas fabrics available that can be cut with pinking shears (so they don't ravel) and used to wrap smaller gifts.

These decorative wraps can be used year after year. The average bolt of cotton fabric is 42" to 45" wide, and many seasonal fabrics are very reasonably priced. Fabric makes a unique and impressive presentation when used to dress a gift, and it is also good for the environment.

What can you do In the car to help be green??

Keep your tires properly inflated. Driving with your tires at the proper inflation can improve your efficiency by up to 3%. That's a savings of $30 to $70 depending on how much you drive, and can reduce greenhouse gasses by 1.42% to 0.69 percent. Under-inflated tires alone cost the country more than $3.5 million gallons of gasoline each day.

Observe the speed limit. As a general rule, assume that each On average, every one mph increase over 50 mph reduces your fuel mileage by .1 miles per gallon. That's one mile per gallon less for every 10 mph over the speed limit you drive. Depending on your driving style and how fast you drive, you could waste 20 to 70 cents per gallon.

Relax. Avoid hard or "jackrabbit" starts and stops. Aggressive driving can reduce your gas mileage by 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent in the city.

Reduce excess vehicle weight. Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your trunk. Each 100 pounds can reduce your economy by 2%

Keep your car properly tuned. A well-tuned car can run 4% more efficiently than one that is out or tune or has failed its emissions test.

Check and replace air filters regularly. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your fuel economy by as much as 10%

Don't idle. Idling for just 10 minutes per day can waste as much as 22 gallons per year. At $3.00 a gallon, that's $66 in your pocket.

Oxygen -VS- Nitrogen
Oxygen leaks out of tires faster. Nitrogen maintains tire pressure longer than oxygen. The oxygen molecules in compressed air are smaller and leak out three to four times faster. NitroFill? generators filter the air we breathe through technically advanced membrane fibers to separate it from oxygen and water vapor.

The Benefit of Nitrogen in Tires

Increases Safety
- In 7 million miles of truck tire testing, nitrogen inflated tires lasted longer.
- Tire failures were reduced by 50%
- Tread life was increased by 25-30%

Improves Performance
- Improves steering
- Improves handling
- Improves braking
- Reduces chance of tire failure

Saves Time, Money, and Tires
- Dramatically slows pressure loss from permeation
- Improves fuel economy
- Reduces tire oxidation
- Eliminates interior wheel corrosion
- Reduces running temperatures
- Decreases false alarms and activation of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems

Click here to visit NitroFill.com for more news, information and video clips.

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