Here at DreamBank HQ we’re always talking about cool things to do, great places to go, and amazing things to see. So when we bumped into this awesome post over at Trifter.com, we knew we wanted to share it on our blog. This post is 2 years old, so things have changed a little since then. It’s a bit easier to head to space, or so I hear. It’s also worth getting carbon offsets to match all these amazing things to do, just to keep it greener.

I’ve personally done #’s 1 and 10, leaving me with all that’s inbetween to catch up on. Which have you done, and what would you add to this list?

10 Most Incredible Things to Do Before You Die

by Nelson Doyle on 06/10/07 at 3:21 pm

With Father’s Day being celebrated by most countries this Sunday, June 21st, I’m seeing gift guides pop up all over the internet in time for the big day. I particularly liked posts about what to do with Dad that didn’t break the bank, but also showed you were thinking of spending time with him:

• Go for a picnic
• Take him out for a game of golf, tennis, bowling, something you can do together and he’d enjoy
• Check out a museum/market/community event together
• Clean out the garage, help finish off that wood working project, re-string his tennis racket, or anything that needs doing that you know he’ll appreciate.
• Indulge together: go to the races, the casino, the spa, a nice restaurant

While browsing the web I saw not only great ideas, but also some posts from recipient fathers who weren’t too thrilled with the trinkets they recieved. It really makes me feel good knowing my dad won’t be making one of those posts about me, and here’s why:

I decided to take all our family recipes and make a cookbook. Not just because food is something that is universal and tangible, but because my dad want’s to learn how to cook, and last year I got him cooking lessons. Most importantly though, our family is from Argentina, so if he wants to taste some of his mom’s home cooking, he has to fly for 16 hours! That’s when I decided to immortalize our family’s delicious morsels by self publishing a cookbook. I’m writing it in English AND Spanish (our family either speaks one, the other, or both), and I’m also doing all the food photography for it. I did a bit of searching on the internet, and found www.tastebook.com, that makes self publishing cookbooks pretty simple and painless.

So, what are you doing for Father’s Day? Any cool gift ideas!?

Things We’re Spending Money On:

• Chocolate
• 99cent music downloads
• Movie/Video Game rentals
• Home Entertainment Systems

• Restaurant meals
• Purebred dogs
• Theatre tickets
• Vacations
• Brand Names
• Upscale CoffeeCompiled from sources here and here.
  

The Last 10 Years Of Spending

APPAREL: Casual dressing
The bad news just does not stop for the apparel industry. Average household spending on apparel plummeted 17 percent between 2000 and 2003, after adjusting for inflation. While some of the decline is due to falling prices, casual lifestyles are also to blame–making it less important to dress up no matter what the occasion. Dress-up clothes have been some of the biggest losers within the apparel category. Spending on men’s suits fell by a painful 28 percent between 2000 and 2003. Spending on women’s dresses was down by a heart-stopping 48 percent.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES: Wine drinking
The aging of the population is driving drinking trends. Although average household spending on alcoholic beverages fell 1.5 percent between 2000 and 2003, only beer took the hit, down 8 percent during those years. In contrast, spending on wine rose 4 percent. The best customers of wine are householders aged 45 to 64, an age group now expanding with the large baby-boom generation.

ENTERTAINMENT: Cocooning
Americans are spending a growing share of the entertainment dollar at home, with cable or satellite television service absorbing 21 percent of the entertainment budget–up from 17 percent in 2000. Spending on cable service rose 23 percent between 2000 and 2003, after adjusting for inflation. Spending on television sets was up an even larger 32 percent as households snapped up flat-screen, wide-screen, and HDTV-capable units. In contrast, average household spending on most out-of-home entertainment categories (movies, clubs, sports) fell during those years.

GROCERIES: No cooking
Fresh prepared food ranks a lofty fourth among grocery items on which the average household spends the most, following chicken, milk, and cheese. Average household spending on fresh prepared food grew by an impressive 20 percent between 2000 and 2003, after adjusting for inflation. In contrast, overall spending on groceries fell 3 percent. Behind the increased spending on fresh prepared food is the growing need for convenience among busy, two-earner families. Other categories of prepared food also made gains, with spending on frozen prepared meals climbing 14 percent, on prepared desserts 12 percent, and on prepared salads 3 percent.

HEALTH CARE: Biting the bullet
Out-of-pocket spending on health insurance climbed 19 percent between 2000 and 2003, after adjusting for inflation. In 2003, the $1,252 devoted to health insurance was the seventh-largest expense for the average household, up from ninth place a decade earlier. In 1993, the average household spent slightly less on health insurance than on electricity. In 2003, health insurance spending was 22 percent greater than spending on electricity.

HOME FURNISHINGS: Lawn mowing
Despite the rise of homeownership, average household spending on home furnishings, supplies, and services fell between 2000 and 2003, after adjusting for inflation. One bright spot is the lawn and garden category. Spending on lawn and garden supplies–the fifth-largest household furnishings category after major appliances, laundry and cleaning supplies, decorative items for the home, and sofas–rose 14 percent during those years, after adjusting for inflation. Spending on lawn and garden equipment grew 11 percent.

INFORMATION: Cell phoning
Spending on cell phone service more than doubled between 2000 and 2003, after adjusting for inflation. In 2000, the average household spent just 16 percent as much on cellular service as on landline service. By 2003, the figure had jumped to 51 percent. The youngest householders (under age 25), in fact, spend more on cell phone service than on landline service. The cell-to- landline proportion stands at 64 percent among householders aged 25 to 34 and declines with age to 23 percent among householders aged 65 or older.

PETS: Empty-nesting
As baby boomers become empty-nesters, household spending on children is falling while spending on pets is rising. No household type spends more on pets than empty-nesters, which may explain why average household spending on pets rose 23 percent between 2000 and 2003, after adjusting for inflation. In contrast, spending on toys, games, hobbies, and tricycles fell 23 percent during those years. Spending on day care centers declined 15 percent, and spending on children’s clothes diminished 12 percent.

RESTAURANTS: Sitting down
Of the $1,832 spent on eating out by the average household in 2003, fast-food restaurants captured a 47 percent share and full-service restaurants took an almost equal 46 percent share of the total (employer and school cafeterias, vending machines, and mobile vendors account for the remainder). But there are differences in how households allocate those eating-out dollars depending on the presence or absence of children at the table. Single parents and married couples with children under age 18 devote the smallest percentage of their dining-out dollar to full-service restaurants (29 to 38 percent). Couples without children at home, most of them empty-nesters, spend the largest share at full-service establishments (60 percent). Make your reservations now: as millions of boomers become empty-nesters, full-service restaurants will be booked.

TRANSPORTATION: Shifting gears
The share of transportation spending devoted to new trucks (a category that includes sport utility vehicles and minivans) climbed from 9 to 14 percent between 2000 and 2003 as the average household boosted its spending on this item by an enormous 51 percent, after adjusting for inflation. In 2003, the average household spent more on new trucks than on new cars, used cars, or used trucks–a reversal of the pattern in 2000. Reasons for the reversal include falling prices for used vehicles because of a market glut and growing consumer preferences for trucks over cars. With gasoline prices rising to record levels and likely to stay that way, expect more change in vehicle-purchasing patterns.

All-in-all, it seems people are spending on little luxuries, things that will cheer them up and still pertain to their interests (gadgets, entertainment, apparel, etc.).  Daphne Kasriel published a great post about the “lipstick effect”, where people purchase small luxury items to make up for the restrictions they are placing on their old, more luxurious spending habits.

For more great info about trends, Trendwatching.com is an excellent resource. Also, Google released a trending tool to see what people are buying and selling online- pretty neat to play with, if you have something in mind to search for, and are only looking for online stats.

My head is spinning - I’ve been looking through the world wide web trying to find great alternative wedding gift ideas; so naturally, I thought the best place to start would be the worst wedding gifts people have received. It turns out, there are quite a few places dedicated to listing the things you received from family and friends at your nuptials. Now it just may be my naivety speaking, but some of the things on those lists didn’t sound so bad to me - so clearly the old adage that “one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure” still rings true.  Some of the ones that made me laugh..

• A bottle of vinegar vegetables
• A dollar store picture-frame with the price tag still attached
• A book titled “Why Men Love B*tches (must not have been a friend of the bride!)

But this takes the cake: “A friend gave us a framed invitation to her own wedding which had happened 5 months before”.

Compiled by The Post Gazette

Some other great lists of horrible wedding gifts can be found here, here and here.

So with it being such a hot topic and a slippery slope from awesome to awful- what’s a wedding guest to do!?

Just doing a quick google search for Alternative Wedding Registries shows that there are options out there for couples getting married who don’t want to pile up more “stuff” (and risk getting a hideous gift and then having to display it to avoid offending a relative).  So with options like DreamBank, The Alternative Registry, Changing The Present, and many other alternatives to traditional gift giving are becoming the next big thing in gift giving: they’re more personal than just handing over cash in an envelope (which, according to Bride.ca often gets stolen), and they cut down on the possibility of recieving a “worst gift”.

The Contest:

We want to hear from you! Send us a picture  of the worst wedding gift you’ve ever received & an explanation of why it was so bad (if it’s not obvious). Next week (June 12, 2009) we’ll pick the best of the worst, and give you $50 towards your Dream Gift on www.DreamBank.org!

*note, this contest will only run if we receive at least 15 entries.

Leave the photo&explanation as a comment on the blog, or tweet it to @DreamBank on Twitter

We were looking through our previous blog entries here at the DreamBank HQ and Dawn pointed out that this post was really fitting for the beginning of June. Summer is here for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and with it comes the feeling of re-evaluating goals and digging up forgotten dreams. So with that in mind, here’s a re post of some good advice.

Blogger Peter Clemens of The Changes Blog has an excellent post entitled “Learning to Dream… Again”. I encourage you to read it – and be inspired by it.

I think most of us can relate to Peter’s desire to allow himself to dream again. Many have a true passion that we discard along the way, for any number of reasons. Sometimes it’s because others don’t support us or because it seems that goal no longer fits into our lives - or as Peter mentions, because we stop believing our dreams are possible.

Life sometimes has a way of clobbering our hopes, and the ups and downs can frequently be exhausting. Eventually you find yourself modifying your dreams to something more… realistic - but less inspiring.

But Peter offers some great advice:

“When I analyzed my own thoughts, I found the problem was that I would quickly discount my dreams as mere fantasies because I could not immediately imagine how these dreams would become reality. But the truth is, just because our minds don’t immediately know how we will accomplish something, it doesn’t mean it is impossible. “

While we often talk about planning when it comes to a goal, but not knowing the entire linear path of how you will get there, is also OK. You may know you want a job in the arts, for instance, and part of the journey can be in exploring the field to see what fits and what doesn’t. There is no crystal ball in life, and even with all the planning in the world, your journey to your dream may not go exactly as mapped out. It’s important to trust yourself and the process. In cases like this, allowing yourself to believe that you can achieve something, is more important than figuring out the nuts and bolts of how you will make it occur.

While checking out a few blogs, I found this on letter on Idea Drunk, which had originally been published in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. It’s from an 84 year old man who’s dying and is accepting his death. I’m not going for morbidity, but you can really learn a lot about how to live your life to the fullest from those who are nearing the end of theirs. Dawn tells me it’s been floating through the net for some time now, but it’s still a good reminder to embrace our mortality.

If I had my life to live over,
I’d try to make more mistakes next time.
I would relax, I would limber up,
I would be crazier than I’ve
Been on this trip. I know very few things I’d
Take seriously any more.
I would take more chances,
I would take more trips, I would scale more
Mountains, I would swim more rivers,
And I would watch more sunsets. I would eat
More ice cream and fewer beans. I would have
More actual troubles and fewer imaginary
Ones. You see… I was one of those people who
Lived prophylactically and sensibly
And sanely, hour after hour and day after day.
Oh, I’ve had my moments
And if I had to do it all over again, I’d have
Many more of them.
In fact, I’d try not to have anything else, just
Moments, one after another, instead of living
So many years ahead of my day.
I’ve been one of those people who never went
Anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water
Bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, and a parachute.
If I had it to do all over again, I’d travel
Lighter, much lighter than I have.
I would start barefoot earlier in the spring,
And I’d stay that way later in the fall.
And I would ride more merry-go-rounds, and
Catch more gold rings, and greet more people,
And pick more flowers, and dance more often.
If I had it to do all over again.
But you see,
I don’t.

With this time of year full of young people graduating, couples getting married or welcoming a child into their family, it seems like a great letter of advice for everyone, regardless of where they are in life.  I know reading this has made me ignore the little voice in my head that always tells me to be more careful, or that I can’t do something, or that I should put it off till later. Carpe Diem!

So I was doing my usual web surfing stint when I noticed that people are starting to throw parties now that Spring has sprung. I must confess I’m thrilled that we’re all outdoors BBQing it up with friends & beers, that kids are smashing pinatas and dancing like its 1969.. or what-have you. Happiness is contagious, and what better way to bring happiness about than sticking a bunch of like-minded people together and having them boogie?

When I was a kid (and I’m not that old.. being the youngest at DreamBank HQ does have it’s perks- like I can tune out when they start making ’70’s references), we used to come up with all kinds of ways to celebrate: old school home made games would entertain us for hours. No Nintendo Wii’s, No Blue-Ray, No Go-Carting and expensive gimmicks. Just a circle of friends with one person running around in a circle shouting out various poultry names (a la “Duck, Duck, Goose”).  But even though we didn’t have much “stuff” to play with, I remember that party cleanup always sucked: ribbons, streamers, balloons everywhere, wrapping paper from gifts that I would never use (because it wasn’t the right outfit on Barbie, dontcha-know). As I look at how other mom’s have been dealing with that age-old dilemma of cutting down on things their kids don’t really need, while teaching a valuable lesson, all the while juggling a million other things; I’m amazed. Mothers really are super heroes.

We wrote in the past about giving valuable gifts.. and I’m glad to say lots of others have had some great ideas.

Over at Simple Sprouts, Mother Mar came up with the great  gift solution for her 5-year-old boy’s birthday. She asked everyone who was attending to give $5 instead of a wrapped gift. Her son then was given half of the money to spend on whatever gift he chose for himself, while the other half, which she and her husband matched dollar-for-dollar was then donated to a charity of their son’s choosing. What a great way to go, she’s cut down on wrapping paper, useless spending, and also taught her child a valuable lesson about social responsibility as well as saving for something special - not bad, not bad at all! On the same vein, there is Echoage which concentrates on group giving and sends the receiver half the money from all contributors and then sends the other half to a charity of the reciever’s choosing. It’s focus is children’s birthdays to teach them about the value of helping others.

While over at DaddyTypes, Regifting is on trial: do or don’t? Is it okay to recycle what you (or your kid) don’t want by giving it to someone else (who quite possibly won’t want it either)? He mentions the pro’s and cons, and other possible solutions, like book swap parties - where every attendee brings a book (but it could be anything - I’ve been to cookie/baked goods ones) and they trade it up. This way everyone goes home with something, and hopefully something they actually want. And no point in wrapping paper here, as everyone needs to know what they’re choosing.

Of course my natural response would be shouting “DREAMBANK” at the top of my lungs - but that’s not to say there aren’t some other great ideas out there. I love these two that I just mentioned, and I’ve seen some great other gift giving suggestions for kid’s birthday parties over at the Berkeley Parent’s Network, in a post called “Alternatives to Birthday Present Excess”

Suite 101 talks about Birthday Party Greed in their article “How To Put An End To Children Wanting Too Many Gifts”.
These ideas don’t just apply to children’s parties either - they’re great for adults who are always pondering the deeper social etiquette implications surrounding gift giving. For graduations, housewarmings, talk-like-a-pirate day, (”Arrrrrr!”) or whatever you come up with - cutting down on wasteful spending just makes great sense.

On the flipside, parenting.com did a great post on Really BAD Mother’s Day Gifts. If you ask me, anything someone doesn’t want is a really bad gift. What do you think?

With Mother’s Day just around the corner (May 10th), it seems fitting to write about how you can show Mom you appreciate her without taxing the planet. A lot of people go straight to the florist without first thinking about where their flowers are coming from. Were they sprayed with pesticides? Did they travel across the globe before arriving here? Do they support sustainable initiatives? I know it seems like a lot to think about when all you want to do is just buy a pretty bouquet, but it’s these thoughts that make all the difference in the world (literally).

So while cruising the net, I came upon Beyond Organic’s “Sustainable Flowers: From Farm To Bouquet” which explains that nearly 70% of all cut flowers in the USA are grown abroad. That seems a frightening thought - the roses I’m giving Mom have travelled more than I have recently! And the chemicals used to grow them may not only make Mom sneeze, but probably didn’t do wonders for the fragile ecosystem in which they were used.

After a little research, there seems to be a few certifications out there to make navigating the flower fields a little easier: Fair trade, biodynamic, or Veriflora, a certification system created especially for the floral and potted plant industries. In order to achieve Veriflora certification, a grower must meet meet standards of crop sustainability, ecosystem protection, conservation and energy efficiency and fair labour practices, just to name a few.

So where do we find these flowers with all the right passport stamps?
First up, there’s OrganicBouquet.com, they practice what they preach and the website also has a page listing all the different certifications - a nice decoder if you’re trying to figure out what they all mean. Check out Grist’s interview with the OrganicBouquet.com CEO for more info about what they stand for.

Just doing a google search for your location and one of these certifications will bring up florists that are interested in earth stewardship. I checked out EcoFriendlyDaily.com and borrowed some of their tips for Valentine’s Day to suit Mother’s Day.

1. Buy Local - The less travel your flowers make to get from where they were grown to the vase in your Mom’s house, the better for the planet. Disproportionately large carbon footprints just don’t fit with the sentiments of Mother’s Day. If you’re not in the same place as Mom, try finding an online florist who sources their flowers from local shops near the recipient’s location. Many do this, it’s just a matter of asking.

2. Buy Organic - Would a rose smell as sweet if it was covered in pesticide residue? I think not! Not to mention that the land where it was grown suffered adverse affects to bring you that beautiful bloom. No need for extra guilt, eh?

3. Skip The Wrapping - Chances are, she’s going to put them straight in a vase - so the plastic that they are wrapped in, while pretty, really isn’t necessary. Ask to have them wrapped in recycled newspaper instead: this can look pretty cool!

4. Buy The Whole Plant - if you know that Mom like’s plants/gardening, why not buy the whole plant rather than just the flower? The bloom will last longer, serve as a constant reminder every time she passes by it that you gave it to her, and will be kinder on the planet.

Here are a couple other florists I spotted online that seem to have responsible earth-friendly practices:
In Bloom Floral Boutique
Hatcher Florist
Arena Flowers

But there’s tonnes out there, so as long as you check them out before buying, you should be good to go. Good luck, and make Mom proud!

A while ago a friend pointed me in the direction of Where The Hell Is Matt?, the website of a guy who travelled for 14 months to 42 different countries doing a silly dance. I’ve never been more happy than in the 4 minutes of watching that video: from his silly dance, to the people who are happily joining in, to the wonderful places he’s been, all the while dancing. (Aside: Matt states on his website that he backpacked instead of staying in expensive hotels: This was a labour of love for him. Check out our previous posts on how to travel sustainably)

After watching the video over and over again, I got to thinking about bucket lists (like the movie The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, who escape from a cancer ward to fulfill a life “to do” list before they “kick the bucket”). I’ve had my own bucketlist for quite some time, on a piece of paper that’s been folded and unfolded more times than I care to admit, and stuffed in a little hidden place in my wallet. It’s so much more than a to-do list: it’s a list of dreams. It’s a list of the selfish things I want to do for no one else but myself. I’m sure everyone has one, even if it’s not officially written out like mine is. These lists we make aren’t just things we want to do - they’re also a symbol of hope for us.. something that inspires us to keep on trucking so that we can eventually get to one of our benchmarks and tick an item off our list.

I started to do a little research into Bucket Lists, and came upon Cath Lasons’s blog post: 47 Amazing Bucket List Ideas And Resources . She really had some amazing suggestions - everything from how to create your list to how to complete some of the most popular items on it (most people want to travel somewhere, see something, become someone, etc.)

An awesome website I found that goes hand-in-hand with Bucket Lists is Diddit, where you check off the adventures you’ve had and share them with the online community - not only to have people cheering you on, but so others can be inspired by your actions and discover new things they may want to add to their list, and vice versa. It even merges with GoogleEarth to show you exactly where people are making their dreams come true! It’s inspiring to see all these people going out and living their lives to the very last drop.

.. So what’s on your bucket list? Have you taken things off it or only added stuff? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours ;P

And a few more resources to check out:
1. Your 100 Things
2. The Reaper List
3. 43 Things
In a similar vein, check out Marc & Angel Hack Life Blog for the list of 70 Things To Do Before You Have Children.

In the run up to Earth Day we’re going to blog about recycling! While hanging out on our Twitter Page, I tweeted about this super cool tool from LIME that teaches you how to recycle just about Everything.

Pretty cool!

From there, someone tipped me off about this great video, detailing the life of an aluminum can. While we tend to think “Great, it’s recycled so therefore is eco-friendly”, this takes a look at the amount of energy needed not only to make an aluminum can, but also the carbon footprint created from transporting it all over the world, from its creation to its reincarnation as whatever aluminum cans turn into.

Miles The Can from Natural Step


So if we’re told Plastic is bad, Glass is bad, Aluminum cans are bad… what’s good, or what’s the least-worst?

I’ve started to take my aluminum waterbottle with me wherever I go, and when possible get my drinks poured in there - by reusing the same waterbottle I’m keeping that one piece of aluminum from having to be trucked around and constantly repurposed. That way I don’t feel like I’m contributing to the plastic/aluminum/glass debacle, plus it reminds me to drink water more often! But what about when it’s impractical to carry a waterbottle with you? And what about when you’re purchasing for the home? All I’ve read is that it’s best to buy bulk in those cases, so you’re not repeatedly buying more and more containers, but instead using one container for a large quantity.

What do you think? Any suggestions on how to navigate the beverage container dilemma?