Kenny Rogers is suing Capitol Records, claiming the company has not properly paid him for digital downloads, ringtones and other uses of his songs. Rogers, in the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Nashville, Tenn.According to the EPA, Americans generate 5 million tons of trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – 25 percent more than a six-week period at any other time of the year.
Spread holiday cheer through eco-friendly methods. Jodi Helmer, author of "The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to Make a Big Difference," offers these tips:
•Use eco-friendly packing materials to mail gifts. Mail your holiday gifts in boxes padded with recycled newspaper or the leftover paper in your shredder. You can also use real peanuts and include a note asking the recipient to feed them to the squirrels after the box is unpacked. Styrofoam accounts for up to 25 percent of the waste in our landfills.
•Use gift bags instead of wrapping paper. After you tear the wrapping paper off a holiday gift, it ends up in the recycle bin, but gift bags can be used over and over again. Look for gift bags made with recycled content or buy plain paper bags and decorate them with recycled holiday cards.
•Buy a cut Christmas tree. Almost all cut Christmas trees were grown on tree farms, which means that their stock is replenished yearly and forests aren’t depleted. Cut trees are a much greener choice than artificial trees and you can recycle your cut Christmas tree.
