Congratulations to ash who has won the final copy of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch. Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway. I hope the winners enjoy their books and if you didn't win, I highly suggest you purchase a copy or, better yet, add it to your Christmas list.

And now is the moment for my last green gift idea. Make homemade goodies! There are so so many things you can make for a sweet or salt lover. From squares to savoury cookies to spiced nuts to bark. Or, how about trying your hand and jams or pies? In my opinion, these are the best gift of all. I love being in the receiving end of homemade treats.

Click here for ideas for other gifts from the kitchen!

First off, the second winner of A Good Catch never claimed his prize, so that copy is up for grabs. All you have to do is sign up to receive my Green Living blog to your e-mail inbox and you are eligible to win Jill Lambert's A Good Catch. Click on the word e-mail under the icon at the top left side of this page (it looks like this ). Good luck!

I must officially be in the festive spirit, as I just can't get Christmas off my mind. Maybe it's because I went to see Stuart McLean's Christmas show on the weekend, or maybe it's because I haven't even thought about going Christmas shopping yet (probably the latter). Regardless, in my quest to green-ify my Christmas I thought I'd share some of my findings with you.

- Use LED, energy-efficient lights to decorate for the holidays. LED lights use 80 per cent less energy than old school tree lights - they also last longer.

- Make your own tree decorations. This year I'm going to dry out some clementines and stick cloves in them. Not only will they feel traditional, they'll smell amazing. You can also make pretty decorations with cinnamon sticks. Tie them in bundles and attach a wire (under the tie) and make a loop - hang from tree! If you are more of a crafter, there are plenty of ideas for other homemade tree decorations here.

- Get creative and make your own Christmas cards. Use recycled paper, old wallpaper or wrapping paper scraps, cardboard from cereal or cracker boxes, bows and ribbons and your imagination. Everyone is impressed with homemade cards. You'll also save a bundle of money!

- With the recession and attempts to greenify, I'm opting to give some homemade gifts this season. It's easy to make bark, squares, cookies and flavourful nuts in the comfort of my own home. I'll then package them in pretty boxes or jars.

I'd also love some more ideas, so if anyone has some great ones to share, please do so here!

Congratulations to this week's winner of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch. This week's prize goes to (more...)

You can truly go green in every aspect of your life, if you so desire. My sister sent me her Christmas list the other day, and low and behold, she asked for an eco pan! I knew that such things existed, but I'm quite happy with my kitchen hand me downs that I've never thought about eco-friendly cookware for more than a minute. My new bible, Ecoholic, applauds my sister's desire to go green with her cookware, and has even got me second guessing mine. Apparently, many-a-non-stick pans are pretty dangerous to our health. If you overheat your non-stick pan, toxic fumes are released right under your nose ... literally. In fact, it's such a concern that the Environmental Protection Agency has asked that manufacturers totally phase out non-stick pans by 2015.

Never fear! As always, there are options. Safe cooking options include: Stainless steel; cast iron; light-weight titanium; copper and aluminum; and glass. I also just discovered that if you make a trip to any kitchen supply store (like The Bay or Home Sense), you will find plenty of eco-friendly pot and pan options there!

Want more info? Check out our article on safe cookware.

Don't forget to enter my contest to win a copy of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch. I'm picking the last winner tomorrow. I'm still waiting to hear back from last Friday's winner, luken. If luken doesn't get back to me tomorrow, I'll put the book back in and pull another name on the 19th!

This week's winner of Jill Lambert's A Good Catch is (more...)

The winner of the first book giveaway was Karen of Edmonton, Alberta. Congratulations Karen! I sent the book off today. Please let us know what you think of it and if you make any of the recipes out of the book. I still have two more books to giveaway. Click here to find out how you can enter the contest. I will draw a name for the (more...)