Dreaming of a green Christmas…
With everyone going green lately and working to reduce their impact on the earth, it’s a good idea to also consider ways to reduce our impact during the holiday season. There are a lot of things we can do to reduce our impact, even at the holidays. Changing your lights from the standard strands you’ve been using for years to LED Christmas lights is one good way. You can even look into recycling the old ones instead of just throwing them away. You can also buy a Christmas tree that can be re-planted when you’re done with it — which not only reduces the negative impact on the earth, it improves the earth a little bit. If it can’t be re-planted, you can have it turned into compost which can help fertilize the earth. Using decorations that are more natural is always a good idea as well. There’s nothing quite as charming as a tree trimmed with strands of popcorn and cranberries. We did that a lot when I was a kid. Then after Christmas, when we took the tree down, we would put the strands on the trees outside for the birds and squirrels. We always used cotton string to thread the garlands and secured the strands when we put them outside, so the animals couldn’t take them with them and choke or get tangled up in them. Using wrapping paper that’s recyclable is always a nice thing to do as well. That way it can be recycled instead of thrown away. Many wrapping papers out there are non-recyclable, so it does make a difference. Or forgo the wrapping paper and use something else, like newspaper or pretty fabric that can be reused. Greeting cards made from recycled paper are a good idea as well. Personally, I find that the cards made from recycled paper have a touch of character that you don’t get in a lot of other holiday cards anyway. Since misery loves company, carpooling with friends when you hit the mall for your holiday shopping is a good idea. If everyone did their Christmas shopping with a friend or two, think of how many parking spaces that would free up. No more cruising the lot for an hour to snag a spot a mile from the entrance. When you host your annual holiday party, don’t do paper plates and plastic utensils, use the real thing. Is loading a dishwasher really that much work? If it is, make sure the dishwasher is empty and ask your guests to put their used dishes in when they’re done.