[bc_video video_id="6286656493001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] Looking for some eco-friendly gift ideas? Why not look at giving the gift of Travel! Here are some of my favourite eco-destinations and top eco-travel tips. Canadian trips to give: There are tons of eco-options within Canada, so you’ll be supporting local and being conscious of your travel footprint! Algonquin Eco-Lodge The Algonquin Eco-lodge is a wilderness enthusiast's dream, so if you have an adventure seeker you’re gifting for this would be perfect! You can visit summer or winter. It has over 40km of groomed trackset and wilderness trails inside Algonquin Park but also offers cross-country skiing, dog sledding, snowshoeing, and canoeing. Trout Point Lodge:  The Trout Point Lodge in Nova Scotia continues to uphold sustainable practices and win awards for its green innovation, they even compost organic waste in the resort’s garden. It’s a great rural escape for your friends or family looking for a calm getaway. Spirit Bear Lodge: Spirit Bear lodge in BC. This rare bear – like a white brown bear, but not a polar bear- is heading towards extinction, but the lodge tourism is helping to fun their conservation, so you can experience rare wildlife in a luxury setting and support a good cause. 1 Hotel Toronto If you’re more of an urbanite- look for hotels that are committed to staying green. 1 Hotel Toronto has set a precedent for what you can do in an urban setting. It’s diverting over 85 percent of waste from landfills with its on-site composter, 3,300 plants, locally sourced cuisine, and they even reuse old kitchen oil and grease to create biofuel. International Eco Trips Costa Rica: Costa Rica is at the forefront of sustainability aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. Deforestation has been reversed and more than a quarter of the land has been turned into protected parks. You can find plenty of eco-lodges here like the Playa Cativo Lodge that generates 100% clean electric energy by hydropower and is steps away from a national park. Azores Islands: I also love the Azores islands off the coast of Portugal. It’s comprised of nine volcanic islands and is one of the most sustainable tourism destinations in the whole world with four of the islands having been designated as UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. There are many sustainable hotels from just $100 a night including the Santa Barbara that overlooks the grand beach and is built using upcycled material with food grown on the property. You can even have a meal in Sao Miguel cooked in a volcano! Eco-Friendly Transportation Options A lot of people lean towards train travel instead of air travel, but the airlines are really committed to going green by 2050 and newer technology is rapidly improving, so it’s really not that simple. Flights account for around 2.5% of global carbon dioxide production at the moment. In October Google flights started reporting the CO2 emissions from each plane so you can make the best possible choice when you are picking your flight. You can even search for the lowest emissions. As a general rule, the shorter the distance from home you travel, the lower the carbon footprint, but you can also offset your CO2 emissions in a number of ways: 1. Many airlines like Qatar have a voluntary offsetting program where they offer you the option to pay to build wind farms in a remote area of India to power small towns. 2. There is also a company called Trees for travel that has a CO2 calculator that determines how many trees need to be planted to offset the emissions of your travel and the cost is similar to a good cup of coffee at about $4 a tree. A trip from Toronto to Cancun including the hotel will cost about 6 trees. Our planet has space for an additional 1.2 trillion trees, so I can really get behind this initiative! 3. You can also fly economy, choose an airline that uses cleaner technology, and fly direct. 4. Travel is never going to be totally eco but with a few tweaks, we can do our best to travel better and have a more eco-friendly holiday season!

[bc_video video_id="6286657258001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] Gifting green! Here are eco-friendly tech gifts that strive to protect our environment and planet earth. Although small changes can seem futile, it’s the tiniest of things that can make the biggest difference, especially when done in large numbers, so what better time than now? 1. Gifts to reduce food waste/ cost Zwilling French & Save System:  We often waste food because we buy too much, cook too much or don’t store it correctly.  The solution: preserve your groceries for longer with the Zwilling Fresh & Save System. [caption id="attachment_248455" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Starter 7-Piece Set[/caption] This is not your typical bulky food saver system. It comes with zip closures and a compact, quiet vacuum pump that pulls the whole set together. Nutritower: Let’s take things up a notch and talk about the rise of harvesting your own food indoors! The future of food has arrived with the Nutritower! Sixteen million people picked up gardening during the pandemic. Indoor gardening systems have grown by 500%. [caption id="attachment_248457" align="aligncenter" width="239"] Nutritower[/caption] Nutritower is one of a kind. The only indoor vertical hydroponic gardening system with centre column lighting designed for maximum yield in a small space. Comes with - 4 x energy efficient Fluorescent lights, 32 growing pots, filters, baskets watering system etc where you can grow the very things we are throwing out the most. 2. Green gifts for pets PetSafe Eatwell Meal Automatic Pet Feeder: Now, what about reducing food waste for pets? Instead of food on the floor, or overfeeding, the PetSafe Eatwell Meal Automatic Pet Feeder will:

• Allow you to fill up 5 one portion sections and set a timer for when you would like your pet fed.
• What a great worry-free way to make certain your pet is always fed on time
• Great for portion control and establishing eating routines
• Made of recycled material

[caption id="attachment_248458" align="aligncenter" width="223"] PetSafe Automatic Feeder[/caption] Instachew Smart Space Leash:  Something like a dog leash is a great example of a small item that can have a big impact overall if it never needed to be replaced. The Instachew Smart Space Leash is said to be the last dog leash you’ll ever buy. It is an APP-enabled retractable leash that can be used during the day or night. The Smart Space Leash connects via Bluetooth to control lighting functions as well as an activity tracker. [caption id="attachment_248459" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Instachew Smart Leash[/caption] 3. Smart Tech Larq Water Bottle: A reusable water bottle that can filter and self-clean! World's first portable digital water purification system. It neutralizes bacteria for your peace of mind using innovative non-toxic mercury-free UV-C LED technology to sanitize water and clean the inner surfaces of the bottle by neutralizing bacteria and viruses. [caption id="attachment_248460" align="aligncenter" width="266"] Larq Water Bottle[/caption] You will have fresh water in 60 seconds. Works at the touch of a button and self-cleans by intelligently activating every 2 hours to keep your bottle fresh. Apple products: iMac, New iPhone 13, IPAD, Apple Mac Air use recycled material and future proofs your investment with more powerful chips. Won't have you running for replacements every year. The key is to buy the things you use most often, with thinking about the longevity, even if it requires a bit more investment it will save you in the long run. If you are buying gifts, buy rechargeable products.  Battery operated is okay but go one step further and purchase rechargeable batteries/packs. Recycling programs: Canon has changed its ink system for printers, so there’s less waste and cost on the consumer. Places like Best Buy and Staples have a great trade-in program.  There are also drop-off centres in every municipality, resell or donate your old stuff. YouTube karaoke & lyric videos, mp3 music, and apps from your smartphone, tablet or computer.   All of our product suggestions are independently researched and sourced by Cityline. However, if you purchase something through cityline.tv, we may earn commission. Thanks for visiting us!

[bc_video video_id="6286657445001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] Here to answer your eco-friendly holiday questions! Question 1: I want to avoid wrapping paper altogether and really go green with my gifts this year…do you have any suggestions on what other ways I can wrap my gifts? Do I ever! Canadians will create over 540,000 tonnes of waste in gift wrap and shopping bags each year! To put that into perspective that’s the weight of 4.5 CN Towers! Think of the weight of just one CN tower! My go-to trick for zero waste wrapping? Make the wrapping part of the present, use something that the giftee can keep and make use of! I’ve got a gift wrapped in a produce bag here, I love produce bags. Now when you’re out shopping, you won’t grab a plastic bag! Gifting a zero-waste lifestyle! These sponge cloths make a great wrap for wine and spirit bottles. Just going to tie some twine to hold it in place, add a sprig of pine and voila! And these sponge cloths will eliminate any and all paper towel use in your home, they last 6-12 months and then you compost them! Question 2: Hey Cityline, can you help? I saw a fun video online that showed gift wrapping with no scotch tape? I thought this would be fun to show your viewers This is for everyone this holiday season, I challenge you this year to not use any tape! The first thing that I love to use is a silk scarf that can become part of the gift. I'm using a silk scarf from Silk Labs which is a lovely Canadian company. You are going to take your gift and put it in the center of the scarf and fold the scarf over each side and fold in the corners then tie the loose ends in a bow! If you’ve got a bigger item that needs a bit more coverage, try to opt for compostable and recyclable materials, such as burlap, jute, twine, old maps or newspaper, or a magazine! Who doesn’t love a brown paper package all tied up in string? It’s one of my favourite things! It’s about having fun and doing what we can to not contribute to that 540,000 tonnes of garbage that's created every holiday season. Question 3: Hi Cityline can one of your experts show some decorations using things I can find in my backyard or around my house? I want to make some fun ones with my kids. Thanks! It is so fun to use things around the house and one of my favourite things to make is dried oranges to create an orange slice garland. To do this you are going to thinly slice your oranges and lay them flat on a baking rack. Bake at 200 degrees F for two hours. Once they are dried you can hand them on your string and tie them around the tree!

[bc_video video_id="6286656587001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] If you need to wrap your gifts this holiday season, there’s still a way to be more eco-conscious. Here are 4 of my favourite eco-friendly DIYs. Opting for brown paper packaging means you can recycle it. Most wrapping papers contain metallics or plastic fibres so they cannot be recycled. And many are so thin that they contain no valuable paper to be recycled so they are simply landfilled. DIY 1: Custom Stamped Paper For this DIY you will need:

• Craft paper
• Lint Roller
• Craft foam
• Baker’s twine
• Skewer stick
• Scissors
• Ink pad
• Optional paint and/or puffy paint

Step 1: Cut the craft foam into 8 pieces approximately 1 x 2.5 inches each. Step 2: Cut tree shapes out of them. Take the skewer stick and make some tiny holes in the trees. Cut a piece of baker’s twine. Step 3: Add the foam to the roller: Position the trees so that their stumps point to the handle. Wrap the twine around and through the trees so that it looks like a hillside or a walk. Step 4: Press the roller onto an ink pad and roll until it is completely covered with green ink. Step 5: Roll it onto your paper. Let the ink dry. DIY 2: Draw With Paint If you’re not a fan of the stamped look, worry not! Pre-wrap your gift in craft paper and get creative with paint, a paint pen, or even puffy paint for a look that you can still recycle! DIY 3: Paint Chip Garland If you’re like me you always have paint chips on hand, so why not upcycle them into some unique garland. For this DIY you will need:

• Paint Chips
• Twine
• Hot Glue
• Light Bulb Stencil
• Craft Paper

Step 1:

• The first thing we are going to do is draw out the light bulb shape - you can use your stencil or freehand if you’re more of an artist – on the paint chips. You can make the shapes larger or shorter based on how many colours you want to incorporate.

Step 2:

• Carefully cut out your shapes.
• Hot glue your twine to the back of each bulb, evenly spaced.

Step 3:

• Wrap the gift with craft paper and then wrap with your DIY garland. You can also use a marker to draw the garland.

DIY 4: Wrapped Shapes! We have these paper shopping bags that we can use as gift wrap- especially when you have awkwardly shaped items. It’s a starburst wrap! For this DIY you will need:

• Craft Paper
• Thread
• Sewing Machine or Needle
• Optional Shredded Paper

Step 1: Start by cutting out two identical star shapes from your upcycled shopping bag. Make sure they are big enough to accommodate the size of the gift you’re wrapping. Step 2: Sew up half your star Step 3: Add in your gift and your optional shredded paper stuffing if you want a fuller star. Step 4: Sew up the rest of the gift and add a tag or write the name on the paper.    

[bc_video video_id="6286602850001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"]   For a bit of festive fun, here is how to make our own DIY Succulent trees! Here's what you'll need:

1. Chicken Wire
2. Wire Cutters
3. Pliers
4. Sphagnum Moss
5. Pencil
6. Succulent Cuttings
7. Various Decorations

Step 1: The first step is to build your form out of chicken wire. Step 2: Then you’re going to fill the form with sphagnum moss. Step 3: Then you’re going to use your pencil to make room for your succulent cuttings. Step 4: Next, you’re going to pin your succulent cuttings into the form. Step 5: Finally, you can add ornaments, toppers, etc. On this one, I’ve added a star.