Make sustainable holiday choices when you are shopping, traveling, sending cards, decorating, and choosing gifts. When you save energy and resources, you protect the environment and safeguard health both now and for the future.
1.Use LED Holiday Lights
LED lights can last up to 10 times longer, use 80% less energy than traditional incandescent festive lights. They are also more durable and shock resistant than other lights because they do not have moving parts, filaments or glass. Find them at your local hardware store, and don’t forget to recycle your old lights.
2. Bring your own bag
It’s basic, but it’s easy and important. The key to bringing your own bag is to not forget them, and bags that stuff into little pouches are great for that. Also, say “no thanks” to all the tissue paper, ribbons and stickers that retailers so often include with your purchase, especially around the holidays.
3. Re-charge it!
Every year more than 15 billion batteries are produced and sold worldwide, and many are alkaline batteries that are thrown out after just one use because they aren’t recyclable. Replace your alkaline batteries with rechargeable ones. Newer models can charge in as little as 15 minutes! It saves you money and helps the environment at the same time.
4. Make Your Gatherings Zero Waste
Instead of disposable tableware, serve food on real, reusable dishware. Borrow dish sets and utensils from friends, or go thrift store shopping for a special holiday set. Decorate the table with gourds and squash, bowls full of apples, or other seasonal fruits and veggies. Prevent food waste: Ask friends to bring containers for leftovers.
5. Wrap it & Pack it Eco-Style
Get creative and choose a reused/reusable alternative like comics, posters, maps, blueprints or calendars (all recyclable), fabric, reusable paper or cloth gift bags, bandanas, etc. For shipping, replace foam or bubble wrap with balled up newspaper or magazine pages.
6. Choose Re-cyclable and Re-cycled Holiday Cards
Make sure your holiday cards can easily be recycled by choosing cards without any non-paper embellishments like foil or ribbon, and look for cards that contain post-consumer recycled content. Or, give the trees a break this holiday season by using e-cards from various websites.
7. Try an Alternative to Cut Trees
Instead of cutting down a tree, decorate a favorite houseplant or buy a live tree that can be planted in after the festivities.
8. Plan for Green Dining
Plan your dinner party menu to include seasonal, organic food from local farms. Find local food suppliers and markets for your produce. Another easy way to make your meal eco-friendly is to make mostly, if not all, vegetarian dishes. When it comes to leftovers, don’t let them go to waste! Invite your guests to bring reusable containers to take home any leftover food, or let them borrow your own reusable or recyclable containers. An online search for “holiday leftover recipes” will give you a plethora of creative ways to make your leftovers shine.
9. Go for Eco-Deco
When planning a party, avoid streamers, balloons and other decorations designed for one-time use. Create centerpieces from what you have, like pottery pieces, glass ornament balls, fresh fruit, pine cones, squash, gourds and fallen leaves. Buy local, organically-grown flowers, widely available in Boulder County, or choose potted plants to provide a year-round green.
This information, valuable to looking after our planet was brought to the forest through www.ecocycle.org (Building Zero Waste Communities)
