A Greener Holiday

Originally we were going to write our Blog this week surrounding Thanksgiving, but then we had a rather interesting conversation about “Going Green” for the holidays and we decided we needed to share with others how you too can have a Green Holiday Season!
So, how does one go about “Going Green” for the holidays? Or, better yet, adopt this as a way of life
- Stop buying and using wrapping paper! - According to Stanford University, if every US family wrapped three gifts in re-purposed material, the gift wrap saved would cover 45,000 football fields… That is 13,500,000 feet of wrapping paper!! Now imagine each of those families did away with the wrapping completely! There are so many greener options that can be used instead of paper!
o Go completely paper less – put presents out unwrapped, use bath towels, sheets or pillow cases to camouflage the gifts
o Re-Use Boxes – local stores end up throwing out TONS of cardboard boxes around the holidays, shoe boxes or even cigar boxes for smaller gifts
o Use Gift Bags – Most people will re-use the gift bags (or you can ensure you give gifts in gift bags who you know will!)

o Re-Use the old newspapers or comics! - Use the comics for the kids, and the news for the adults – perhaps even wrapping your sports loving friends in the Sports Section
o Paper Grocery Bags - can be cut up and used to wrap gifts (logo side down) you can even have the kids decorate their own wrapping paper!


- Instead of the normal Holiday greeting cards - send e-cards to all, or even give verbal cards!

- Re-Use your Holiday cards from the previous year as gift tags! – cut the covers off and punch a hole in the corners, with a little string or tape you have a new gift card tag!

- Give electronic gift cards instead of actual gift cards! – Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon and many more – Check out link below for numerous e-gift cards! http://www.giftcertificates.com/shop/category.aspx?category_id=155&eGiftCards=1

- For those who celebrate the holidays with a tree, think about instead of purchasing a cut tree, buy a live tree in a pot (roots and all) Decorate that for the holidays! After the holidays are over, instead of throwing the dead tree away, you will be able to either re-plant this tree in your yard (or local park) and enjoy it for years to come!

- Instead of eating leftover until you are ready to be sick at the sight of turkey, think about giving your leftovers to those who do not have enough to eat! Your Best bet on this would be to Google local homeless shelters in your area and call to find out if they accept donations of prepared food (some may not because of food safety and sanitation concerns) but if they do, store your leftovers in your fridge at 40 degree or cooler and drive them over as soon as you can!

- Save Energy and use LED Light’s instead of standard holiday bulbs.

Here is a website with tons more information on how to celebrate your holidays a bit greener:
http//planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/green-holidays.html

Let’s all start making a difference today, break those old habits and make Mother Earth your best friend. Spread the news and forward this on to everyone you know….just don’t print it

Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a wonderful holiday weekend.
~Rebecca Procops & Tony D'Alessio

Save Money With Lights

Working in a lighting company for more than 5 years, I have learned a lot about lighting and now understand many different terms such as LED, Lumens, CFL, output/input...etc.

However, although I understood the ‘concept’ of them, I didn’t actually feel they mattered much to my real life, as my mom was the one who took care of purchasing our home supplies.

Then I started living by myself…and I quickly realized every penny counts, especially when it comes from my own pocket. :-)

The first thing that matters the most to me is the electric bill. So a few weeks after moving into my own place, I started looking for Compact Fluorescent lamps to replace all of the Halogen lamps (I do this apparently because I’m working in a lighting company ). Moreover, since I listen to the benefits of using LEDs every day, I ended up purchasing a $40 LED lamp with the equivalent to a 60W halogen lamp for my bathroom, because they don’t get hot and are ok for damp location!Although I spent that money, and the effort to change the lamps, it was worth every penny, because compared to the month I was using Halogens as my lamp source, my electricity bill reduced by around 7%.

Now, who wants some FREE 60W halogen lamps :-)

- KaShing Lin

E-marketing Specialist

Transforming Family Values into Responsible Lighting

With Thanksgiving approaching, our thoughts focus on our families and paying homage to the people that have helped us in our lives.
For the past two decades, I have worked closely with the Wang family who own WAC Lighting. I attended company meetings during the day, but my wife and I have spent many evenings watching Tai, Shelley, Tony and Thomas receive recognition for their outstanding work in the community. The Wangs support a holistic business approach and continuing education, transforming their family values into what we now call Responsible Lighting.
27 years ago, Tony and his wife Tai came to the States with a dream of working for themselves, with their one-year-old daughter Shelley, in-tow. With little savings, they purchased a supermarket and doubled the business within a year through hard work and solid values. They later sold the store and founded WAC. I remember Tai recounted how she unloaded their first 40-foot container, just a month after the birth of their son Thomas. Fiscally conservative and dedicated, they valued integrity and doing things right the first time.
Years later, Tony was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year, recognizing this gentleman for growing a small portable lamp company into a manufacturing leader of track and recessed lighting. Among her many achievements, Tai received Rotary’s Gift Of Life International Humanitarian Award for helping save many lives of Chinese children born with heart defects; the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for contributions to America while preserving her heritage, and the LaGuardia College’s Innovative Leadership Award. Tai has made dozens of expeditions for Alliance for Smiles, helping to provide necessary surgery for children born with cleft lips and palates.
Shelley Wald, WAC’s president, continues to astonish at such a young age. She already won the Residential lighting Industry Leadership Award, spearheads the ALA Young Executives Task Force, and delivers presentations on new lighting technologies. Shelley serves on the Board for the NY Asian Women Center to fight human trafficking and abuse, supports the H Foundation for cancer research, and along with her mother, was honored by Women Achievers Against the Odds. Also achieving success at a young age, Thomas Wang has grown into International Sales Manager based in Shanghai. Thomas attends scores of global events, often sharing his presence with international heads of state and commerce. Recently joining the family is Dirk Wald, Shelley’s husband and a lighting star who is working to expand the company’s endeavors and goodwill.
Under the Wangs’ leadership, WAC has become a true icon for Responsible Lighting, a global maker of energy efficient lighting. As we begin to enter the holiday season, the Wangs continue to inspire us to live with a strong sense of family, spirit, charity, altruism and joy.
~Chris Pica
Public Relations Consultant

In September of 2004 my friend of many years, Tom, and I were sitting in his living room while his parents were at work. Everything seemed perfectly fine until he looked over to me and said, "Uh-Oh", he then waived his hand in front of his face and began to have a seizure. Being alone and in a panic I managed to collect myself and grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911.
Shortly after EMS arrived and took Tom to the hospital. After 2 weeks of painful and stressful testing Tom was diagnosed with Brucellosis, a bacteria that enters the body through unpasteurized cheese, and causes legions to form on the brain. Tom had recently gotten home from a trip with his family to Portugal to visit his sister. Tom was prescribed bacteria fighting antibiotics and seizure preventative medications.

After 2 years of being on that medication Doctors realized that the legions were not only still present but had actually doubled in quantity and size.
Additional testing was done and it was eventually discovered that not only had Tom been misdiagnosed, he had also been wasting the last 2 years of his life taking medications he didn't need. Tom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and has been on medication for it since.

During Tom's time in the hospital getting tested I also learned that a cousin of mine who currently lives in Florida was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Since their diagnosis our families have become much closer and have participated in Walk MS every year.

Every year since his diagnosis Tom, his family, and his friends make a point to attend Walk MS. It would mean a lot, to not only me but Tom and his family, if WAC got involved in the 2012 Walk MS. His team name is Team Chubbs, which was his nickname when he was a little kid. We would both be honored and proud to have WAC be a sponsor for his team.

As the newest member to the WAC family I would love to have everyone here get involved and become educated on the effects of MS. It could serve as a great learning experience and possibly serve as a comfort zone for others to share their stories and experiences.

Information on Walk MS can be found here:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/walkmapregion.aspx

~George Feis - Graphic Design Temp