December 6th, 2008

Spend a Cozy Winter Evening Off the Grid

Posted by Alan Shannon

Ever consider taking your home “off-grid” for an evening? Well, short, cold winter days provide an ideal opportunity to celebrate the season, shift your schedule into neutral and save a little energy (with an added potential bonus of creating a romantic atmosphere).

For starters, turn down the thermostat, don a warm sweater and brew a hot cup of tea. Next, unplug your refrigerator and appliances for a few hours. Finally, turn off all the lights and opt for candles or oil lamps. Whether during dinner or while reading in bed, nothing gives cause for reflection and relaxation like burning candles or an oil lamp.

Chicago artisan candle maker Margo Breznik recently shifted from petroleum-based paraffin to soy and beeswax when creating her much sought after luminescent creations. Scented or unscented, pillar or square, Breznik’s candles are as green as possible and are even packaged using recycled materials and vegetable-based inks. You can see them at her company’s website, Tatine.

According to Breznik, “Beeswax is derived from a totally natural process using no chemicals…[and] makes the cleanest, greenest, most natural candles on the planet.”

Both Breznik and long-time Midwestern candle producer Waxman Candles, based in Lawrence, Kansas, offer an illuminating selection of beeswax candles. Beeswax candles not only smell good, their scent perhaps reminiscent of Italian hill town chapels or Notre Dame at Christmas, but they also help support beekeepers, generally small, family-owned businesses.

Moreover, bees are an essential component of the environment, responsible for the pollination of nearly every flower on the planet.

If you’re looking for something more substantial, try a pewter lamp crafted by the Danforth family in Vermont. Imbued with contemporary sensibilities, the sophisticated lamps created by these New England artisans aren’t your Founding Father’s lamps. Instead, look for clean, sinuous shapes, refined designs and a luster that the family’s 18th century, founding lamp-makers would have found impossible to achieve.

While the oil burning lamps don’t use the most earth-friendly fuel, it could be argued that using them on occasion instead of lamps fueled with electricity generated by coal-burning power plants is eco-friendly. And just a few years down the line, it’s likely that olive and other more earth-friendly oils will be available for such lamps.

And if their attractive design and warm glow aren’t winning enough, the fact that the pewter-makers recycle all unused materials and choose recycled packaging, including cornstarch loose-fill which instantly dissolves in water, should excite any greenie. The company also counts itself as a charter member of Vermont Business for Social Responsibility while practicing an art and craft that has nearly disappeared from New England—and America.

When you’ve snuffed out the candles and you’re prepared to reconnect to the grid, check out eco-friendly, electric lighting options here.

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