Easy steps to a greener holiday
December 11, 2008
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Jennifer Wilson-Speedy
EDITOR, YOURHOME.CA
If you’re dreaming of a green holiday, here are some easy ways to make the festive season more eco-friendly.
Reuse and revamp your decorations
Investing in quality decorations and reusing them season after season is one of the best ways to boost your green cred during the holidays.
Making your own is also a great option, for example, by bringing in natural elements such as pine cones or cranberries, which can be composted or returned to nature when they’re no longer needed.
In their self-published book, Celebrate Green, mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell – who are also behind the Seattle-based Green Halloween movement – encourage decorators to perk up holiday looks with everyday pieces from around the home, such as candles, towels and even shirts. For example, they suggest buttoning red shirts over throw pillows and adding a ribbon-adorned evergreen spring for “instant celebration.”
Martini glasses, vases and bowls are also great decorating fodder, as they can be filled with ornaments, candles or elements from nature for a holiday look.
Potted plants, such as the classic poinsettia, are also a quick and easy way to bring in festive cheer, and, with some care, can look lovely year-round.
To incorporate a new trend, or even just spruce up and existing look, try a spritz of spray paint and some ribbon. Suddenly those dingy glass balls, previously destined for the waste bin, are among your most stylish pieces.
Decor swaps are another great way to get new holiday decorations. It’s a chance to host a get-together with friends, cut down on consumption, discover a new-to-you treasure and find a home for those all-too-familiar snowmen without sending them to a landfill.
And when it comes time to trim the tree, the eaves or the windows, consider LED bulbs, which last longer and use less energy than incandescents. Plus, unlike candles or regular bulbs, they don’t generate heat so they’re safer around kids and pets.
When the holidays are over, pack up your goodies with care for the next season. If you had a real tree, check local guidelines for composting rather than sending it to a landfill.
Buy, and use, less
Colwell-Lipson and Colwell say that reducing consumption is “a gift to our wallets, our waist lines, our waterways and our world,” but that admit doing so can be tricky, especially during the holidays.
So they suggest trying the “25 per cent less rule” in which you aim to cut a quarter of your holiday purchases, from decor and gifts to hors d’oeuvres. They say odds are you – and your guests – won’t miss that extra bit.
Get creative with gifts
While fallback presents such as scented candles and bath goodies are sometimes appreciated, these gifts often end up re-gifted (which is eco-friendly, but not much fun) or tossed.
“If we are aiming to be truly green, creating gifts, giving gifts of ourselves of making a donation to a worthy cause, all contribute to the health of the planet as no purchased item can,” Colwell-Lipson and Colwell say.
So consider giving friends and loved ones an experience, such as salsa lessons or a massage. It creates no waste, and, with a little thought, can be a truly unique and personal gift.
Another green gift option is to share your skills. Whether you’re a domestic diva or a handyman, it’s hard not to appreciate a homemade scarf, cookies or a few hours of home repairs.
And for groups, instead of trading small holiday tokens, consider going out for a meal together or hosting a potluck. The time spent together will likely trump the identical and inexpensive gifts often handed out at such functions.
And of course, when shopping, remember to take your reusable shopping bags with you!
Think outside the gift wrap
You can purchase recycled wrapping paper (look for ones that are 100 per cent post-consumer waste), or make your own, but with a little creativity you can also make the wrapping an extension of your gift.
A DVD, CD or game can be stylishly wrapped in a toque or scarf, creating two gifts in one. A tea towel and ribbon can top off a bottle of wine.
You can get similar effects – and build on a theme – with items such as jewellery boxes, oven mitts, luggage or cookie jars.
You can also reuse the paper from gifts you received last year. When reusing gift wrap, A Greener Christmas
recommends ironing it on a low setting to get rid of creases and make
it look new. Editor-in-chief Sheherazade Goldsmith also advises
avoiding sticky tape when wrapping, because it prevents the paper being
reused. Goldsmith suggests using greener – and prettier – options such
as ribbon, upholstery trimmings, twine, raffia, wool or string instead.
And there’s no reason why the pretty bag you received
last year can’t be passed on, just make sure to cut off the card
addressed to you!
Colwell and Colwell-Lipson suggest going paper-free in
wrapping by using the Japanese wrapping technique of furoshiki, which
uses cloth instead of paper.
They say anything from a handkerchief or silk scarf to a sheet can be used to “turn out gorgeously wrapped packages.
“Aside from alleviating waste, these type of wrappings can serve
as a second gift or be passed from person to person in an almost
endless chain of eco-action.”
As for gift tags, those stylish cards you were mailed last year can be clipped and re-purposed into equally attractive labels.
Clean green
Cleaning pro Melissa Maker, from Clean My Space, suggests using your holiday cleaning as a test drive for eco-friendly tidying.
While vinegar, baking soda and a bit of elbow grease can do the trick on most messes, there are also a lot of green off-the-shelf options. Check for recyclable packaging and green certification, such as the EcoLogo.
Maker also suggests giving green cleaners as a unique and useful hostess gift. It will help your hosts clean up when the party’s over, and help them start the New Year on an eco-friendly foot.
Eat locally, and use your nice dishes
The holidays are a great excuse to dust off your grandmother’s silver and dishes to host a fancy soiree. Yes, you’ll have to wash the dishes afterwards, but think of all the Earth-friendly credits you’ll gain by not throwing out a pile of plastic plates, dishes and tablecloths at the end of the night.
As for what you put on the table, search for organic, local and in-season ingredients to help minimize the footprint of your holiday meals. And consider organic and/or local wines or bubbly; there are more options available all the time.
Amy Katz, editor of the Greenpeace Living Guide, also recommends cutting back on animal products, which can require a lot of grain, water and land to produce and create emissions, as well as packaged and processed foods, which also tend to have a big ecological footprint.
Katz says holiday shopping – for gifts or food – is a great time to ask your producers and retailers questions about their practices and sources, drawing their attention to eco-friendly concerns.
“Asking questions and showing concern is one of the best ways to make change as a consumer. Retailers will respond to demand,” she says. “Asking questions will also help you understand what’s really at stake when you make a purchase, eat an apple, [or] sit down to dinner."