Guest Post: Celebrate Holidays the Eco-Friendly Way

September 1, 2010 by Brenda
Filed under Featured Posts, Green Living, Guest Posts

For those of you who like to be super-organised, here is our first post of 2010 thinking ahead for the upcoming holidays.

Celebrate Holidays the Eco-Friendly Way

For most people, the holidays are an all-out, over-the-top, smorgasbord of spending, eating, and yes, throwing away. Sadly, the season that fills us with hope, joy, and resolutions for a brand new year also fills our garbage cans with an exponentially higher amount of trash than any other time of year. And despite your best intentions to cut down on trash and stick to your eco-friendly sensibilities each year, you often end up throwing in the towel as you run out of time and options in the hectic rush of shopping, wrapping, and attending holiday events. But if you really want to keep the holidays green and come out of the whole mess guilt-free, then try following a few simple steps that will not only diminish your holiday carbon footprint, but may even make your life a little easier.

Practice the three Rs. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” is not only a mantra for your daily life, it can be a godsend during the holidays. Use this time to clean out your closet and donate usable items to local shelters. Or use scrap fabric to make quilts or festive pillows. Even better, practice a fourth R: Re-gift items that have been given to you if you won’t use them and you think a friend would like them more.
Wrap it up. Forego the shiny holiday paper (which is non-recyclable) and opt for something that doesn’t promote deforestation or burgeoning landfills. Try 100% recycled paper wrapped with reusable ribbon or biodegradable string, then make it festive by tying on some seasonal flair like pine cones or bits of evergreen branches gathered from the forest floor. Or take a day to get crafty by sewing up bags of organic cotton, bamboo fiber, or hemp silk to wrap your gifts in. That way, recipients get two gifts in one.
Leave the trees in the forest. If you’re against cutting trees for paper products, then you should be equally appalled by the thought of millions of trees being cut down, gussied up for the season, and then dumped without a second thought. Fake trees are not only a way to celebrate the season without denuding a forest, but they are a gift that keeps on giving, each and every year.
Get LED lights. Some of the latest advances in energy-saving lights come in the form of light emitting diodes (LEDs). If you choose to decorate your home with these hallmarks of the season, at least get the option that uses the least energy and set them on a timer so you’re not wasting electricity day and night. And if you really want to keep it green (and you live in a sunny climate) consider solar-powered Christmas lights.
Send green wishes. Instead of sending out glossy cards that can’t be recycled, send your friends and family wishes for a happy holiday season on recycled card stock. And if you want to turn your cards into gifts, choose seeded paper that they can plant in their gardens come spring to grow wildflowers.

Kyle Simpson writes for Christmas Songs, your comprehensive resource for the best in holiday music.

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