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Planning an Environmentally Friendly Holiday Season
By Kristin
Urbauer
Every year, the holidays create an immense amount trash, both in your
home and on a larger scale. Between all the gifts, wrapping paper and
accouterments, cards and envelopes, and Christmas trees, the impact is
much larger than you might imagine. If you are concerned about the
environmental impact you are having this holiday season, you can follow
the simple suggestions below.
After Christmas, take your tree to a Christmas tree recycling site. Most
communities offer this type of service and should begin advertising
information about it sometime shortly before Christmas. You can often
receive free wood chips from these sites in exchange for bringing in
your tree, so it's a good deal for anyone with a green thumb who may be
able to put these to good use.
Alternatively, you could consider buying an artificial tree. Though some
people prefer the real thing, artificial trees have come a long way in
recent years. If you go this route, take the time to shop around and
choose a tree you will truly enjoy having in your home. Don't be afraid
to consider some of the more expensive ones either. After all, think of
the money you will save when you're not buying a live tree year after
year!
Packaging is another area which contributes greatly to waste this time
of year. To help avoid this, save wrapping paper to be reused next year,
along with bows and ribbons. An alternative to traditional wrapping is
fabric bags, decorated according to the holiday. These types of bags are
available online or at your local "green living" or natural food stores.
At the very least, don't put all your packaging in the trash can.
Collect it and take it to your local recycling center (if you don't
already recycle on a regular basis).
Greeting cards offer a variety of creative alternatives. Instead of
throwing these away, you can save them for next year, or cut out
pictures from them to use as decorations throughout the home. You can
also use greeting cards from previous years to create your own personal
greetings this year! Finally, consider electronic greeting cards in
place of traditional ones - they cut down on both the physical and
monetary waste typically caused by greeting cards.
When you go to buy gifts this year, put a little "environmentally
friendly" thought into it. Consider buying recycled gifts, natural or
green gifts or more long-lasting items that will not quickly add to a
landfill somewhere. Avoid items with copious amounts of packaging and
then avoid copious packaging yourself when wrapping or sending them.
Lastly, plan ahead and bring your own bags when you go shopping this
year.
An even better alternative to gift-buying is gift-making. Personal,
homemade gifts are often treasured by friends and family members.
Consider recipe collections, homemade videos or a personally framed
photo. If you are interested in some type of hobby, use your skills to
create gifts. Scrapbooks, knitted items, embroidery and woodworking
crafts are all great ideas for holiday gifts. Children can create their
own coupon books, offering services to the recipient such as doing the
dishes, walking the dog, or taking out the trash (or free hugs -
grandparents think these are good coupons).
Finally, gift-giving doesn't have to involve the exchange of physical
goods. Perhaps your friend would love a donation to her favorite charity
or non-profit organization. You could also buy memberships to a local
museum or zoo for families with young children. The ideas are really
limitless. Be creative and you can come up with the perfect gift for
everyone on your list without wrapping a single item!
Though the holidays often mean lots of waste, it doesn't have to be that
way. Use the suggestions above to get started on a more environmentally
friendly holiday season. You may very well come up with your own
creative, waste-free strategies to celebrate. Being kind to our
environment shouldn't come to a standstill at this time of year and with
a few simple changes you can still participate in a special, meaningful
holiday celebration without participating in the trash generating
activities that all too often accompany it.
About the Author:
Kristin Urbauer lives in Lincoln, NE with her husband and 4 children.
She runs a residential cleaning service, Kristin's Cleaning, and has
written many online articles on house cleaning and organization. Visit
http://www.kristinscleaning.com for more information on her cleaning
services.
Kristin also maintains several blogs and websites, including her blog at
http://www.besthousecleaningtips.com which you can visit for more ideas
and suggestions on getting your home clean and your family organized,
during the holidays and after. |
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