ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
HOLIDAY GIFTS AVAILABLE FROM ADIRONDACK COUNCIL VIA PHONE &
SECURE INTERNET
Items Range from Less than $10 to around $200, Including Children's
gifts; Scenic Calendar, Poster Map and Local Adirondack Furniture
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Monday, November 26, 2007
ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. - Holiday
gift givers can find environmentally conscious choices for friends
and loved ones by visiting the Adirondack Council's online shop
for everything from singing loons to an educational children's
book, to organic cotton "Forever Wild" T-shirts and
hats, to locally made, authentic Adirondack folding chairs.
Items start at less than $10. You can find them by clicking here.
"There is something for everyone in the family available
through our on-line store," Houseal said. "More and
more people are looking for ways to give meaningful, long-lasting
gifts at the holidays. They don't want to spend their money on
lead-painted toys from overseas, unwanted fruitcakes or mass-produced
consumer goods. They want to give gifts that express their concern
for their families, for the environment and for the future. They
want the simple gesture of buying something to be an act that
benefits all of society."
Houseal noted that visitors to the Adirondack Council's website
will gain access to several unique gift opportunities including
locally made furniture, a 2007-edition map of the Adirondack
Park illustrated by renowned nature artist Anne E. Lacy, or a
Clean Air Certificate allowing the buyer to purchase and extinguish
a "pollution allowance" that could otherwise be used
by a power company to avoid environmental cleanup.
"The showpiece of this year's environmentally friendly selections
is the folding, native-cedar Adirondack chair made by Old Adirondack
Furniture in Willsboro," Houseal said. "It is made
from local Adirondack cedar trees that were certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council as 'sustainably harvested.' The chairs
are lovingly crafted, one at a time, in an Adirondack workshop
where the wood scraps are recycled into animal bedding and reused
and even the packaging is recycled. FSC has also certified the
manufacturing process.
"Natural cedar has all of the insect-repelling qualities
that allow pressure-treated lumber to last so long outdoors,
but contains none of the chemical pesticides and preservatives
of most pressure-treated lumber," Houseal said. "They
are light, but extremely well-made and should last for decades.
Each chair has the Council's 'Forever Wild' logo burned into
the seat back and carries the FSC-certification stamp to prove
it is an environmentally friendly product. Best of all, the sales
benefit both a local business and the Adirondack Council's conservation
efforts." (Price $230).
Houseal noted that the Council's plush baby loon toy not only
resembles a rarely-seen loon chick, but also plays an authentic
loon call, recorded by the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology.
Each carries a tag around its neck explaining how acid rain is
destroying loon habitat and causing mercury contamination in
all fish-eating birds.
Perhaps the biggest bargain offered by the Adirondack Council
this season is a "Clean Air Certificate" that allows
the buyer to retire a ton of acid-rain-causing air pollution
in the name of the recipient. The suitable-for-framing Clean
Air Certificates cost $50. The cost of buying, and then retiring,
a ton of air pollution from a "pollution allowance broker"
would cost an individual or group about $500 at today's market
prices.
"We want to get as many of these pollution allowances off
of the market as we can," Houseal said. "We are willing
to retire them at far below market prices, just to give people
a chance to play a personal role in stopping pollution. It feels
very good to take away the right to emit a ton of pollution from
a Midwestern coal-fired power plant. The buyer feels good and
the recipient of the Clean Air Certificate has proof of a good
deed that he or she can hang on the wall and admire." So
far, the Adirondack Council has retired more than 7,400 tons
worth of sulfur dioxide air pollution allowances.
Among the Holiday Gift items at the Council's shop
are:
- A 2007 edition, 35-by-43-inch
illustrated map of the Adirondack Park, containing 11 detailed
illustrations of Adirondack ecosystems around the border, with
each plant and animal species labeled for easy identification;
originally produced as a classroom teaching aide in 1995, popular
demand spurred a 2007 update; illustrations by Anne E. Lacy;
($25/$40 laminated).
- The Everything Kids Environment
Book ; the latest in a series of outstanding Adirondack and environmental-themed
kids' books by renowned artist and author Sheri Amsel; 130 pages
of cool environmental information, activities, experiments and
games ($8).
- A 100-percent, organic cotton
T-shirt emblazoned with the Adirondack Council's eye-catching
"Forever Wild" logo; sizes S-XL ($10).
Founded in 1975, the Adirondack
Council's mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild
character of the Adirondack Park. The Adirondack Park is the
largest park in the contiguous United States. Its wild, natural
beauty is a sanctuary for wildlife and people. The Adirondack
Council is the leading voice for Adirondack conservation, showing
the world how people and nature can thrive together.
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