Green Christmas: How to Celebrate the Holidays With an Eco-friendly Christmas
By now everyone has heard about the value and importance of being "green." Yet Christmas, one of the biggest holidays for retail, still generates unnecessary trash, uses precious resources, and creates quite a large footprint. It is not difficult to find ways to celebrate a green Christmas, but just requires a bit of creativity.
The most important thing to consider when planning an environmentally friendly Christmas is priorities. Visiting out-of-town friends and family is important, and already creates a large carbon footprint due to out-of-town travel. Find other ways to cut back on your impact, by exchanging eco friendly Christmas gifts or using green Christmas trees. Consider a living Christmas tree, which is delivered in a pot, remains alive through the season (don't forget to water it!), and is picked up after New Year's Day.
Green Christmas cards and recycled wrapping paper are both great options for a Green Christmas. Consider re-using paper already in your house, rather than buying new wrapping paper, a waste of both paper and the plastic it is wrapped in. Make your own cards with supplies at home, or buy cards made of recycled paper. Green Santa has plenty of Green Christmas gift ideas, or use your creativity to make presents for loved ones, rather than buying more products packaged in plastic. DIY ideas abound; try searching the Internet for simple crafts, bake a batch of homemade cookies or bread, or start seedlings for an indoor house plant. Browse thrift stores, used book shops, or consignment stores for treasures. People usually appreciate homemade Christmas gifts much more than mass market ones, and the planet will appreciate your consideration as well.
Green Christmas decorations can be homemade, or reused. Use LED Christmas lights to save energy. Celebrating a Green Christmas is well worth the extra effort and thought, and will save you some green cash as well.
