Green Blog

Bologna is a normal sized city in Italy with a population of nearly 370,000. Bologna is situated in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy which is in the north of the country. Its strategic position at the crossroads between the north and south of Italy make it a major stopping place for travellers in Italy and Bologna has one of the biggest and busiest train stations in Italy.

Bologna was first settled more than twenty centuries ago which indicates that it has a wealth of historical sights for visitors. Some of the most interesting sightseeing suggestions for Bologna are explained below.

The National Art Gallery in Bologna is known for its wide range of art collection and its museum has a collection that pertains chiefly to the art from the region of Bologna.

This Gallery keeps the works of prominent Italian artists like Titian, Raphael, Giotto and El Greco among other pieces. The National Art Gallery collects an entry fee of 4 Euros between 9am and 7pm.

Neptune’s fountain is located in the centre of the old city of Bologna and aside from being a sightseeing attraction in its own right; it’s a good place to grab a coffee at one of the nearby cafes.

It was constructed in the middle part of the 16th century. The four cherubs and sirens situated on the four directions of the fountain encompassing the bronze statue of Neptune show the four corners of the earth.

Artefacts from Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy are exhibited in the Bologna Archaeological Museum. The Etruscan civilization artefacts which date back to pre-Roman culture also find place in this Museum. This Museum is kept open between 9am and 6.30pm with a fee of 4Euros.

The Basilica of St Petronio is one of the oldest and most attractive buildings in Bologna. The Basilica was originally built in the 14th century and is the fifth largest basilica in the world.

When it was initially being constructed, it was intended that this basilica in Bologna be much larger; however, the Pope issued a decree ordering that the size of the building be scaled down so as not to exceed the basilicas in the Vatican.

Italian renaissance art is one of the country’s prime tourist attractions. For information about where one can view this art please read our page about things to do in Bologna.

The season of Christmas lights is upon us. Streets and homes and entire communities feel festive and joyful. Families are searching for their Christmas decorations. As each year passes the Christmas decorations become more cherished. That is, except for one. Older Christmas lights are being replaced as fast as you can say “Jack Frost”. Out with the old and in with the new is the Christmas lighting exception to the old rule.

At first glance it seems as though Christmas lights and Christmas decorations rarely change. We still use the same wreaths, garlands, mistletoe, stars and angels that out grandparents did. We still hang Christmas lighting from the edges of our roof tops. One of the special things about Christmas is the cherished continuity. It always feels the same. However, in reality Christmas lights have undergone a metamorphosis.

Historically, Christmas decorative lighting was cumbersome. It was heavy and fragile which is always a bad combination. Each individual light was hand screwed into the string of lights. One burnt out light bulbs caused havoc. Each bulb had to be individually tested to find the offending bulb. Each year multiple replacement bulbs were required. In short old fashioned strings of Christmas lights were beautiful and joyous but often a big fat hassle.

Recent lighting technology has made advances in all of the ways we use lighting in our homes. Innovations in Christmas lighting are no exception. These days energy efficient LED lights make up the vast majority of Christmas lights on the market today. These new fangled Christmas lights are durable, light weight, use very little energy, do not create heat, and best of all are very reasonably priced. These lights are just as beautiful as their predecessors but cheaper and more durable.

Given their light weight and small size, these wonderful new LED lights are perfect for creating single standalone focal pieces such as light stars. The addition of a three dimensional light star to your Christmas lighting scheme will be dramatic. Light stars are reasonably priced and come in many sizes.

The season of glorious Christmas lighting is upon us. Embrace the opportunity to decorate your home for the festive season. Feel free to experiment with Christmas lights schemes.

Go to Christmas Lights to find out more about solar xmas lights.

The holidays are almost here so it’s time to put out the Christmas lights and put your home in a festive mood. There are lots of different holiday light options you can choose from. Your holiday decorations can be green and earth friendly. Here are some ways you can decorate your home and still be green.

Use natural Christmas decorations: You can make your home festive with live evergreen wreaths and other cold-weather plants like holly trees and mistletoe. Natural decorations are environmentally friendly, won’t end up in a landfill and add an sophisticated touch to any house’s decor. There are lots of holiday decorations that do not use electricity at all.

Use LED Christmas lights: LED (light-emitting-diode) Christmas decorations cost a little more new but they offer large energy savings over regular light bulbs. You can save up to 60% on your electric costs for Christmas lights if you switch to LED decorations. Don’t forget that there are lots of things to consider when purchasing LED Christmas lights. Some hardware stores are trying out Christmas light trade-in rebates to help entice people to switch to LED Christmas lights.

Reuse decorations you already own: By using Christmas decorations again and again you are keeping lots of wires out of your local landfill and being smart about using resources. Try to avoid purchasing all new holiday lights each year. One of the greatest ways to save money is to go shopping in your own basement!

With a little planning you can decorate for the holidays and still be environmentally friendly. As long as your Christmas lights are in adequate condition it should be safe to use them all year. Remember that your choices today can be a great gift for tomorrow’s generations. Many of these green decorating ideas will put more “green” in your wallet that you can spend on Christmas gifts!

Searching for more great holiday decorating ideas and tricks? Check out our site for all sorts of diy home repair articles for Christmas or any time of the year!

A mountain of Christmas gifts and goods make their way out of outlets and into homes each Christmas season. Unfortunately, not long after the festivities subside, many of those often well-intentioned gifts move on to mounds of landfill.

Slowing the migration is as easy as setting your family the Green Christmas Challenge to send as little as possible to landfill this Christmas. Inspired by the target of a approximately empty wheelie bin, you will all make decisions that generate less waste.

Many actions help with celebrating a green Christmas, like choosing locally-grown foods to reduce food miles, switching to LED eco Christmas lights and donating gifts to charities. The massive amount of food, plastic and non-recyclable waste is the primary environmental problem, but it is an easy one for households to tackle.

Sit the team down before Christmas and speak about methods of reuse, reduce and recycle. Here’s some ideas to get you started

Good for the environment plastic-free picnics

Disposable plastic plates and cups are comprised of petrochemicals, so pollution is created in their manufacture and when thrown-away they sit in landfill forever. reusable plates that you wash up or use palm leaf plates, a stylish plant alternative. They add a chic eco friendly style to your festive table and can be put onto your garden as mulch, rather than in the bin.

Trim a living tree When Santa arrives in his carbon-neutral sleigh, surprise him with a live Australian Wollemi pine tree. This recently discovered prehistoric tree is now obtainable in nurseries. A potted Wollemi can grow with your family to be trimmed year after year. Or, why not make it a tradition to find a lovely Eucalyptus branch that can be composted when the Christmas festivities are over.

Wrap it again

A great way to stretch the budget and save piles of waste is to wrap presents in newspaper, magazines and even junk mail. For kids use the comics, for car lovers use the motoring pages. wrapping, place gifts inside reusable shopping bags, or sew cloth bags from festive Christmas material that your family can re-tie with ribbon annually. For an additional special Green Christmas touch, Earth Greetings make gorgeous post consumer waste wrapping paper with Australian Christmas designs printed with vegetable inks.

Detour past the bin

Ask, is this Christmas gift prone to end up in the bin within a couple of weeks? If yes, select something else. The old saying quality not quantity is a good friend of the planet. Even the cheapest items use the planet’s limited resources, energy and water to manufacture. Instead of buy a risky gift, regard a gift voucher or make a donation to a charity on behalf of the person. Should you receive an unsuitable gift, pass it straight on to a charity like the Salvos.

A green Christmas gift for your garden

Food scraps make up a huge portion of rubbish and once in landfill they generate methane, a concentrated greenhouse gas. Compost at home instead and turn leftovers into fertiliser for your garden. The Bokashi composting bin is a popular system that sits conveniently in your kitchen.

Packaging-free paradise

Picture a paradise where Christmas morning is free of mounds of discarded plastic packaging. It takes a little bit more thought and effort. Locally made and hand-made Christmas gifts are to be over-packaged. A trip to the local Farmer’s Markets assist you stock up on fresh festive food with minimal packaging.

Rather than talking rubbish; this Christmas, your family will soon be asking is this for landfill, recycling or composting? And the joy of reaching your challenge will bring good tidings to all.

Biome Eco Stores is a chic retail outlet with a conscience. Firmly committed to eco friendly principles, Biome offers a unique and meaningful green Christmas collection for gifts and decoration.

Although we didn’t administer to adapt all things we want to look in the North Island of New Zealand, like for sample the art deco town of Napier, the Waitomo cave or the Waikaremoana lake, after having drove bottom to top through this island over 3000km I assume we got enough to place together our top 10, thus here we go:

1. the bubbling and smelling evidence of the earth’s powerful forces in Rotorua, despite its distinct smell of farts..sorry I meant sulphur, and the “Sacred Water” of Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (27k south - entrance $35) packed with interesting thermal features from the Champagne Pool to the mineral terraces despite we missed the foreseeable lady Knox Geyser which goes off like a Switzerland clock every day at 10.15 (with a little manmade trick using some soap, cheeky);

2. forget about New Chums beach (Whangapoua/Coromandel), rated by someone one of the top 20 beaches in the world, what??, and the much photographed Cathedral Cove instead lose yourself in the pristine and secluded Whale Bay, near Matapouri along the Tutukaka coast, and you will see why I felt like taking off all my clothes and jumped in the water, not quite, I tried but the water was too cold even for immerse one foot;

3. the thunderous Waikato River and its Huka falls another proof of the unstoppable power of the nature. Crossing the footbridge I could feel my feet shaking;

4. Te Papa, this interactive museum that overflows with Maori treasures and enthrals the visitors with insights of this land’s history. If the history doesn’t shake you up try the Earthquake house and I loved also the natural exhibitions with all native species on displays and a colossal octopus which eyes were bigger than a football ball (plus it’s free);

5. relax our body and mind at the numerous thermal Spas around NZ. The Polynesian Spa, overlooking lake Rotorua ($20 each), is voted one of top 10 spa by Conde’ Nast but we preferred our private pool at Taupo De Bretts Pool (only $10 with access to all pools whether you stay at their campground). However we were less thrilled when we overheard the “party” going on next door.. ouch;

6. climb the giant dunes at Te Paki stream at 90 Mile seaside and “surf” our way down for what it was presumed to be a high-speed ride to the bottom. Didn’t rather work that way really likely because instead of using the conventional hired body board (the shop was closed) we made our own one out of a kellogg’s box and a 1-dollar k-way jacket; that was piece of a tournament between Chris and I but no one of us succeeded and we ended up cover all over of sand in and out our clothes, don’t’ request me how;

7. dig frantically all over Hot Water seaside for our own natural hot pool (we caught the well-being bug). Theoretically, you ought to do it 2 hours previously or after tide, precisely what we did other than the just thing that seeped up was in practice icy water ..umm not confident what went wrong, perhaps we should have asked for a tiny aid to make this fascinating natural wonder works;

8. unwind in the Coromandel Peninsula missing out time and mileage following the coastal road to the deserted glittering beaches such as Hahei and the 8km stretch of Waihi beach and enjoying infinite picturesque views like the one over the Coromandel Harbour, Bowentown and Matakana island;

9. go walkabout at Mt Maunganui, a popular kiwi holiday’ spot overlooked by the massive hill “The Mount”. There is a great walk up to the summit and to the rocks on the joined Moturiki island, both offering spectacular shots over the sandy Bay of Plenty, or stroll along the long golden Papamoa beach;

10. the loop to the sleepy Matauri bay, north of the Bay of Islands, with its beautiful white sand beach and crystal clear water even if the locals seem not really tourist-friendly.

Before you travel anywhere, make sure you visited John Driuers’ great free travel guide, and travel tips