Our ideas and suggestions are just the beginning of things you
can do for Mother Earth. The biggest step of all is simply to cut
down on the amount of things -- presents, decorations, and just
plain "stuff" -- you buy.
Gift Giving:
*Make it! Have a talent for baking, crocheting, knitting, artwork. stained glass or wood crafts? What could be nicer than a scarf on ones favorite color made by you?
* Choose or make gifts that are practical and consist of environmentally friendly materials.
* Make a gift basket tailored to the recipient. Home made cookie mix and baking pan, A lovely plant and garden tools, Vintage candlestick and candles. Be creative!
* Instead of exchanging unwanted items with coworkers or extended family, suggest donating to a charity as a group.
*Have a good old-fashioned Yankee swap, exchanging unused items that might be useful to someone else! Think about doing a theme—for instance of you all love books do a book swap.
*Give the gift of an heirloom! Does a niece or a friend admire your mother’s old cookie jar or uncle al’s old trinket box? Pass it on! Put a treat inside!
Wrapping:
* Use recycled or recyclable materials for packaging gifts; reuse a nice tin, box or gift bag
* Use your newspaper's comic section as a cheery, bright, and recyclable wrapping.
* Select uncoated giftwrap that can be recycled and/or burned safely.
* Make gift tags from small pieces of the existing wrap or from old holiday cards.
Cards:
* Many people still enjoy sending and receiving holiday greetings. Consider cutting back your list, choosing cards made
of recycled materials, or even buying them from a charity that benefits the environment.
* If your friends are Web-savvy, skip the Post Office altogether and send cards via email.
Trees:
* Consider a synthetic tree or wreath that can be used year after year.
* Buy a potted tree with roots that can be planted after the holidays
* Decorate with recyclable, compostable, or bird-friendly materials
* Instead of buying new ornaments use family heirlooms or buy them in thrift store.
Lights:
* Trade in your energy guzzling lights for the newer energy saving lights
* Use less lights overall
* Use smaller lights
* Light more candles (but please be careful!)
With Kids:
Get kids involved! Have the kids make gifts for one and other or help you.
They will learn the joy of gift giving as well as learn new skills! Try to incorporate earth friendly ingredients or recycled as well as reusable items.
* Make cards from craft supplies or make cards from last year’s cards and wrap.
* Make homemade cookies or breads and decorate them
* Grow plants or herbs from seeds starting early!
* Plant small seedlings in hand painted pots or recycled pots
* Make ornaments from paper mache and hand paint them (See Planetpals.com for the best paper mache recipes ever including lint dryer clay).
* Make origami ornaments
* Print gift wrap, using nontoxic paints on recycled (and recyclable) craft paper. Use potato prints or rubber stamps.
* Kids love making a good old-fashioned popcorn balls or popcorn tinsel and it can be yummy!
* A no cost solution: Have them write a poem or story and illustrate it! Use a recycled frame and frame it!
After The Holidays:
What you do with your tree, wreaths, ornaments and wrap after the holidays is as important as how you decorate for the holidays.
* MULCH: If you have use of a shredder: Mulch the trees into chips that can be used for landscaping. Many towns will have the sanitation department pick up and mulch trees.
* When tossing decorative trees, wreaths and plants, Be sure to remove
all decorations, including tinsel, before you recycle your tree.
* If you live in a nice climate, plant that Poinsettia, don’t toss it!
* Recycle those gift bags and Christmas cards by putting them away and reusing them next year…or giving them to someone who will.
* Have left over decorations, boxes wrap or unwanted gifts? Keep on giving by donating them to a recycle center, swap shop, freecycle.org, or a thrift store.
* Donate used cards to St. Judes who reuses them to produce new cards,
* Flatten all gift boxes, packaging and cartons and dispose of by recycling. If you are not sure what you can recycle…contact your town.
* Don’t know what to do with it? Post it on Craigslist or Freecycle for free. Someone else might have the perfect use!
Season’s Greenings!
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