Can an evergreen tree get any green-er? Why, yes it can.

This year, the famed [tag-tec]Rockefeller Center Christmas[/tag-tec] tree is receiving the green treatment. Instead of old fashioned lights, the tree will be decked with energy-saving LEDs. The towering tree will be lit up with 30,000 multicolored LEDs (although, they are all green at heart). This simple replacement of lights takes the electricity consumption down from 3,510 to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day.

Also, one of the buildings in Rockefeller center is topped with 365-panel solar energy array that will generate electricity from the top of the building. This is the largest privately owned solar roof in Manhattan.

To top it all off, when the tree is taken down in January, it is cut and used to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. That’s a whole lot of green for one tree. Good thing it’s 84 feet tall!

Each day in December, I am going to profile a different gift! You excited? Me too! Keep checking back for some great “feels so good to give” gifts.

“Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide.”- “The Great Divide” by Hanson.

Confession time: Hanson is a band I have loved for 10 years. 10 years of going to concerts and 10 years of buying CDs, singles, T-shirts, posters and keychains. Yes, I was one of those crazy girls. But I must say, following this band has given me pride, especially lately.

First, Hanson released a single off their album The Walk entitled “The Great Divide,” where proceeds went to AIDS relief in Africa (lyrics are above). Did they stop there? No. For their The Walk Tour, they partnered with Toms Shoes. Toms Shoes is an amazing shoe company. Each pair of shoes that is purchased, a pair is donated to a child in need. Hanson sold Toms Shoes at each one of their concert dates. Hanson also held one mile walks in each city to raise awareness about the plight of kids in Africa. To top this, they did these walks barefoot.

All of this was leading up the 50,000 shoe drop in South Africa with Toms Shoes. Last week, Hanson went to South Africa to see all their hard work realized. They visited schools and put shoes on children’s feet.

It is amazing what people can do. Hanson is a family band with children of their own, and they are using their music & celebrity for something good. We love that here at KIWI. We applaud you, Hanson, for not being Paris, Lindsay, or Britney. I knew there was a reason I loved you guys from the start!

For more information visit Hanson.net and Toms Shoes.

Pictures from Hanson.net gallery.

With all the traveling coming up, sometimes finding a babysitter in a strange city is hard. That’s why I was so excited when I found out about SitterCity (and why it’s our pick of the week).

Spending the week at Grandma’s in Chicago sounds like a great idea. But what to do with the kids when all the adults have to leave? Call a sitter, or look up one online! SitterCity has a searchable database of all the babysitters, nannies and child care professionals in a certain area. Just type in your zip code and begin your quest for the perfect sitter.

Worried about the sitter’s credentials? SitterCity has:

• A four-step screening process
• Access to background checks
• Comprehensive sitter profiles
• Sitter video interviews

What’s even better? Leaving for a while and do not want to put your dog/cat/bird/snake in a kennel? SitterCity has a pet sitter database, as well. It’s a great resource and just takes one more thing off of that long list of things you have to worry about. Membership is required, but a small price to pay for piece of mind. What’s also great? You can give a membership for a gift. (Check two things off that list of things to worry about!)

To remember why we celebrate Thanksgiving:

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” - Thornton Wilder

And a little something from KIWI:

(Isn’t that the cutest turkey ever!)

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

- President John F. Kennedy

So, I know this has happened to everyone. Here it goes: After running from work to practice to dinner, you are standing in the check out line and you realize you left your trusty canvas bag at home. Now you are stuck with the dreaded plastic bag. Of course you didn’t bring your canvas bag with you. At the beginning of your day, stopping at Whole Foods to grab milk and bread was not on your list of things to do that day.

And so the story goes. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. My purse is too small/stuffed with things to carry what I am purchasing and my canvas tote is all too conveniently located in my kitchen. What to do?

A new company flip & tumble has the answer to the plastic bag predicament. flip & tumble have designed a reusable bag built to carry anywhere. In four easy steps, the bag becomes the size of hand-held ball. The 24-7 bag is so compact, it can be carried with you 24-7, hence the name! You just scrunch, flip, flip and tumble away until your bag is the size of an orange. In their words, they “are committed to making the everyday a little less so.”

Convience and eco-friendly can rarely be found in the same sentence, but the 24-7 bag fits the bill. According to their website, one reusable bag can “easily save 1000 plastic bags in its lifetime.” What’s even better? Send your 24-7 back to flip & tumble, and they recycle the bag for you.

For more information, visit flip & tumble’s website.

I’ve been a bag blogger lately! KIWI has been crazy. First I was in Seattle for the ALIVE! Expo and then in San Francisco for the Green Festival. Updates and fun, new products to follow, of course!

Promise, pinky swear, cross my heart– New blogs coming this week!

Congratulations to Jenny Bowen and Half the Sky! Jenny will carry the torch in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, helping to share the Olympic spirit with China’s orphans. She was selected as one of the 8 foreigners living in China who were picked to carry the Olympic Torch.

According to China Daily “262 people from 47 countries and regions vied for the eight available slots and another 245,000 voted with their mouse. Altogether, 1.5 million people comprising 156 nationalities visited the campaign webpage.”

Many of you may recall that Jenny Bowen was KIWI Magazine’s first “Mom with a Mission” in our September 2006 issue. She’s the executive director of Half the Sky, an organization she founded in 1998 in order to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects of orphaned children in China. I began to support HTS when I returned from China with Maylee in 1999. Jenny and her group have been an inspiration to me and to all adoptive parents. She is doing what we wish we could have done—helping the children that we weren’t able to bring home with us.

Jenny is hoping to have 8 children from HTS programs from 8 provinces run with her. She said in a recent email to her supporters:

“I do not yet know if I will be permitted to run with the children. That
will be up to the Olympic Committee. But you can be sure of one thing:
Whether or not I am allowed to run WITH the children, the world will know
that I am running FOR them.”

We now have an extra special reason to watch the Olympics. Jenny, we will be cheering for you and all of China’s children!

-Maxine Wolf
CEO & Publisher