It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Unfortunately, all the celebrating can add up to a lot of waste. Americans toss nearly 3 billion pounds of trash over the holidays. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With a little forethought and planning, you can reduce your carbon footprint and still enjoy a very merry season. Make this season truly green with the following tips for sustainable holiday practices.
Buy Less
Instantly green up your holidays by taming your shopping list. When it comes to fashion, shop your closet first. You almost certainly have many lovely things in there that you’ve forgotten about.
As for gifts, buying less isn’t meant to be a Scroogeian order. Gift waste is a real problem. Gift returns result in some 5 billion pounds of extra stuff ending up in the landfill each year. Letting gifts gather dust — or worse, throwing them away unused — is not in the spirit of the holidays. Passing along a gift to someone who will actually use and appreciate it is thoughtful, practical, and kind to the planet.
Many of the people you’re buying for might be relieved to shop less as well. Suss out friends and relatives and see if they’re open to a different form of celebration, such as Secret Santa or a pets-only gifts exchange, or maybe kill two birds with one stone by holding a holiday baking session with the whole gang. Create precious memories and delicious homemade gifts in one fell swoop! Yet another option to reduce gift waste is to offer your friends and family experience gifts rather than physical ones. A show, concert or visit to a museum can be much more memorable than another non-recyclable trinket.
Wrapping paper is one of the biggest culprits of holiday waste. It is often not recyclable due to containing metallic elements. But even plain paper wrapping often ends up in the trash, with over 2 million pounds of the stuff finding its way into the landfill each year. An eco-friendlier option is reusable cloth bags. Or get creative and use glossy magazine pages, fabric or other reusables like mason jars or cookie tins. Old-school plain brown paper tied with string and a sprig of greenery is yet another beautiful, seasonal, and sustainable idea.
As for cards, the 1.3 billion greeting cards that go through the mail each year generate a huge amount of carbon emissions. If your holiday card list is full of people you don’t really know anymore, it’s worth taking a hard look at it and sending electronic greetings instead. For physical cards, seek out 100% recycled and 100% recyclable materials.
When it comes to decor, it can be tempting to buy new every year. Resist the urge. Also resist the urge to buy plastic. Instead, use natural decorations, perhaps even clipped from your own back yard. If you do go with artificial, save and reuse next year. Alternatively, you might host a decor swap with friends. At the very least, find a reputable place to recycle unwanted decorations. For example, many hardware stores and grocery stores offer Christmas light recycling at this time of year.
Buy Smarter
You may want a different outfit for every party, but that doesn’t mean the whole thing has to be brand new. Fast fashion is a terribly polluting industry, and Americans throw away over 80 lbs. of clothes every year. Consider renting, shopping consignment, or swapping with friends or family members instead. Also, keep in mind that one quality little black dress is extremely versatile when paired with different accessories like a cute scarf or statement jewelry.
In the gift category, discard the idea that you must buy new, from-the-store presents for everyone on your list. Get creative, literally, and consider handmaking some of your gifts this year. This goes for decorating too. There are tons of tutorials out there for making elegant DIY garlands, wreaths, and table decor, as well as thoughtful, personal gifts.
Next, rather than getting a cut tree, consider a potted one that can be planted in the spring. Or skip the indoor tree altogether and decorate outside with edible ornaments for our feathered friends, giving them the gift of sustenance to last through the winter.
When shopping for anything, always begin with consignment and thrift stores. They are a treasure trove when it comes to scoring holiday-themed decor, clothes, and sometimes even gifts, all at a fraction of the cost of new!
Sustainable consumption is essential for our future. It takes a change in mindset, but once you get into it, doing things the eco-friendly way becomes a fun challenge that the whole family can enjoy!
Author’s Bio: Sue Seabury is passionate about sharing tips on greening up your life. She is a regular contributor to The Pearl Source blog.
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