In my last blog, I had already ventured into the green Christmas territory. I know some are thinking, “Oh no, not Christmas stuff already!” but for others, such as a few of my relatives, Christmas cannot get here soon enough. Here are a few more ideas for greening up your Christmas (and I don’t mean with garland!):
Here’s an idea that might be hard to grasp – don’t buy gifts just for the sake of buying them. It seems as if most of us have way more than we need anyhow, so if you want to show appreciation this holiday, consider a homemade gift. If you are attending a Christmas party, bake cookies. For friends and family, you may want to consider something a bit off-beat like concert tickets or a voucher to take a class. You can also give a gift certificate to a spa or restaurant. For more green gift giving ideas, check out the TreeHugger’s Holiday Gift Guide.
Another big green concern about Christmas is gift wrap. I know that, for our family at least, every Christmas, someone always brings out at least one huge plastic lawn bag to put all the gift wrap and boxes in. First of all, see if the cardboard from the gift boxes can be recycled. As for the paper, I know most people like to tear into their gifts, especially the kids, but consider carefully opening gifts and reusing the paper next year. And, definitely reuse gift bags if at all possible.
Reusing paper is especially easy if you have a large item. Just take what you can from the reusable paper and use it to wrap smaller gifts next year. If you can’t really reuse the paper, try to purchase gift wrap that is recyclable. If you want to get really creative, make your own gift wrap. This is easy to do from butcher paper, brown paper bags, and even the comics from the Sunday paper. You can use craft supplies to dress this paper up to look nicer than any store bought paper.
Just remember this year that Christmas can still be a great time while implementing green ideas!
Other recycling blogs:
Recycling Denim – Part 1
Recycling Denim – Part 2
What to Do with Trash
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