Green for the Holidays

Green Holiday Tips

Facts at a Glance

“Oh, Christmas tree…”

Artificial trees can consume significant energy and petroleum-based materials during their manufacture.

Today nearly all of the trees sold at seasonal Christmas-tree lots are grown on tree farms. So choosing a cut tree doesn’t hurt forests; however, potted trees and large plants are nice options to cutting down live trees.

Recycling fresh trees after Christmas can make a huge difference in reducing holiday waste. Instead of taking up space in the landfill, trees can be ground into wood chips, which can be used to mulch gardens or parks or to prevent erosion at a local watershed.

According to one U.S. Department of Energy study, if everyone replaced their conventional holiday light strings with LEDs, at least two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity could be saved in a month.

“Give the gift of life…”

By giving gifts that can be “experienced”, like tickets to a concert, baseball game or a certificate for a special “date night”, you can minimize wrapping and still win points and create memories with the receiver.

Give the gift of “You”. Give a gift certificate for your time to child sit, or pet sit. Or you can offer to share your talents, such as photography, financial planning, hairstyling, or a few hours of tutoring. For kiddos you can give them the gift of a “Picnic in the park” date, a camping trip or plant a tree in someone's name. Another creative gift would be to make a family recipe book from the favorites you’ve collected and pictures of the family members the recipes come from. Creating a personal scrapbook for a loved on or even making a calendar for the coming year using your own photographs is a nice personal gift that will also serve as a memory keeper.

When purchasing gifts from mainstream stores, buy ones that are durable; not over-packaged; and are energy efficient. If the gift requires batteries, use rechargeable batteries. Try not to buy products made of tropical woods like teak, rosewood, or mahogany. You can give gifts that are unpackaged or minimally packaged, without unnecessary plastic wrap or cardboard backing and give gifts that carry long-term warranties that are repairable.