While some of us may be dreaming of a white Christmas, some of us are also dreaming of a green Christmas – a Christmas that honors the earth as well as the birth of the son of God (insert your own religious tradition here, if you don’t happen to be a Christian). Are you wondering how to avoid adding to the mountains of trash in the landfills this holiday season? How to spare your loved ones and the earth herself from exposure to toxic chemicals? How to send Christmas greetings to distant friends and family members without polluting the earth and air?
I probably don’t have the answers to all of your questions, but I can offer you some simple, affordable suggestions to green up your holiday at least a little.
Have a Green Tree
If you already own an artificial tree, use it and keep using it for as many years as you can. If not, consider forgoing a tree altogether, or decorating a tree growing outside your window.
Whatever type of tree you decide to go with, continue using any ornaments you already own but if you buy additional ornaments, consider buying used and avoid purchasing plastic ornaments. Skip the tinsel, too.
If you want to be really green, make your own ornaments from a nontoxic modeling clay or a homemade dough of flour, salt and water. Paint with nontoxic paints. You can also use found items like pinecones (use ones that have already fallen off the tree, don’t pick them), acorns, small stones and the like to make your own ornaments and other decorations.
Send E- Cards
Instead of mailing cards to all your friends and family, send e-cards instead. You can find a variety of nice e-cards online and many are available to send at no cost. You’ll save trees since you won’t use all that paper and you’ll also reduce air pollution since no one will have to drive around to deliver the cards. As an added bonus, you’ll save money; even if you make your own cards out of recycled materials, postage is expensive!
Buy Green Gifts
What this means exactly depends on who you are shopping for and what you want to give them, of course, but start by considering whether you can find suitable items secondhand at thrift stores, consignment shops or on websites like ebay or freecycle. If you’re buying new items, look for reusable rather than disposable products, for locally-made items, for organic products (including food, body care products and clothing) and for items containing little or no plastic. Also look for new items that come with little or no unessential packaging.
Without knowing who is on your shopping list this year and what things they like, I will offer a few suggestions of possible green gifts. Consider items like lamps, clocks and various house wares purchased gently used from local thrift shops; organic homemade muffins or cookies; organic scented soaps or body lotion (made by a local crafter, if you can find one, or made yourself if you are so inclined); and clothing made from organic cotton.
Use Green Gift Wrapping
There are several green options for gift wrap. If you’re neat and organized, you can save the wrapping paper from gifts you receive throughout the year and reuse it for holiday gifts. You can also wrap gifts in newspaper; the Sunday comics make colorful gift wrap, but black and white pages tied up with a red ribbon look classy and Christmas-y, too.
If you want to avoid disposable paper gift wrap, look for decorative containers that can hold gifts and later be reused for other purposes. Examples of containers include jewelry boxes, wooden cigar boxes, cookie tins, decorative glass containers with lids such as sugar bowls and even pillow cases. You can also sew cloth gift bags pretty easily if you enjoy sewing. If you don’t enjoy sewing, you can wrap gifts in a piece of cloth instead of paper, such as a cloth napkin or a silk scarf. Just tie them up with a cloth ribbon. Thrift stores are great sources of decorative containers and things like cloth napkins and scarves, so you can probably purchase the items you need inexpensively and at the same time prevent unwanted items from piling up in a landfill.