Of green Santas and an energy-efficient New Year's Eve

What a fashion statement! A green Santa?

Since I haven't much to write today before I tramp up the street to see family, I will simply post this photograph, which the good marketing team at Montreal's Greenlite sent me from Friday's light giveaway in New York's Times Square. The message is pretty simple: As 2008 opens before us, you can choose to be Naughty (continue those energy-wasting habits of yours) or Nice (invest in some energy-conservation activities that could benefit the environment). Maybe you'll see a green Santa yourself next year!

The folks running the annual Times Square New Year's Eve festivities plan to start the year right: The Waterford crystal ball, which people have now watched drop atop the square for 100 years, has been outfitted with light emitting diodes. Greenlite estimates that the ball will be lit this year with the same amount of power it would take to run three clothes dryers. Now, about all that neon... I'd love to see some gutsy advertiser take a stand.

Wishing you a Christmas day bright with joy, no matter how you celebrate it.