Even though many people dream of celebrating a White Christmas, celebrating an earth-friendly "green" Christmas is fast becoming the ideal for more and more people across the globe. During the season of holiday excess, it is easy to lose sight of treating our planet with the tender loving care she deserves. If you are searching for ways to ease the burden we place on the Earth, here are some great steps to take.
- Shop Locally. Not only will you be putting your hard earned dollars back in to your neighborhood, it will also reduce the amount of gas you use when driving from store to store while searching for the perfect gift. If you are planning on shopping with your family or a group of friends, turn the day into an adventure as you wander the shops in your city by creating a scavenger hunt list and letting everyone have some fun while they shop.
- Choose Recycled Gifts. Many small businesses and individuals create some amazing crafts using recycled items. Not only do these gifts keep items out of our landfills, they usually come with an interesting story that you can share once your gift has been opened. If you are the do-it-yourself type, you may want to consider making gifts from recycled items yourself.
- Ditch Batteries. Discarded batteries quickly become an environmental hazard, even if you opt for rechargeables. Instead, choose board games, books and other items that will stretch a child's imagination while reducing waste.
- Decorate for Nature. When decorating your home for the holidays, take a little extra time and decorate outdoors, as well. You can spend an afternoon crafting edible ornaments and garland to help feed local wildlife. Birds will flock to feed on suet, peanut butter and a variety of seeds and berries while squirrels will go crazy for corn, nuts and larger seeds. The entire family can then spend time watching the animals that come to feast on your decorations and learn more about your local wildlife.
- Choose Life. Instead of spending money on an artificial tree that is made from petroleum products, decorate with a live tree. While a fake tree may be used over and over, once its shelf life has "expired", it will forever take up space in a landfill. Live trees can be turned into beneficial mulch or simply placed outside to provide shelter for a variety of animals through the cold winter months. Bonus-live trees actually smell like Christmas!
- Handcrafted Cards. Instead of spending money on greeting cards, make your own. Old magazines, calendars, scrap paper, fabric scraps, etc can all be repurposed into unique holiday cards and gift tags.
- Recycled Paper. When choosing wrapping paper, choose those that are made from recycled materials and avoid metallic papers. Metallic and foil papers are made using heavy metals, making them difficult to recycle or reuse.
