Buy Card Green
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, household waste in the U.S. increases by 25 percent, from 4 million to 5 million tons of garbage. In just five weeks, 1 million tons of waste is generated!
Small tweaks to gift-giving and celebrating can make a big difference. Here are some ideas for an eco-friendly season.
Recycle Paper and Save Trees
- Gift Wrap – Turn newspapers and magazines into wrapping paper. Use the funnies for the comedians. The travel section for jetsetters. Or the business section for the career oriented. The Sierra Club suggests wrapping gifts with old maps, children’s artwork, or even cloth, such as scarves or bandanas—citing that if people “wrapped just three gifts this way, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.”
- Greeting Cards – Send tree-free cards that can actually be planted, or create personal cards. The best alternative is to go completely paperless and send emails and e-cards instead. (Extra tip – For gift tags, reuse the fronts of greeting cards already received.)
- Trees – Try a potted tree, and plant it after the holidays. In Canada, companies such as Evergrow Christmas Trees and Carbonsync Christmas rent potted trees – they’ll pick them up after the holidays for return to nurseries or donation to habitat restoration. If the six-foot Balsam Fir or Blue Spruce is tradition, city websites post information about tree recycling programs and pickup schedules. (And be sure to remove all decorations before putting trees out to pasture.)
Reuse the Plastic and Give Green Gifts
- Gift Cards – They're perfect for the hard-to-please but add to landfills when thrown out. The International Card Manufacturing Association cites that in 2006, 16.9 billion plastic cards were produced. If just 5 percent are trashed, 845 million plastic cards end up in the waste pile. Reload and re-gift cards. Or send zeroed-out cards to Earthworks, an environmentally conscious plastics manufacturer and recycler, for use in its Recycled Gift Card Program.
- Gifts – Think green when shopping, and buy gifts that give back to the environment. Many eco-friendly companies offer products composed of recycled materials, from shoes and clothing to jewelry, makeup, and more.
Curb Energy Bills by Limiting Light Use
- Energy – Holiday light displays can be a big energy drain, according to the Alliance to Save Energy. Reduce energy bills and help curb pollution by switching to LEDs (light-emitting diodes). Set holiday lights to timers, so people see them at times that make sense. And to protect against fire, always unplug lights before going to sleep or leaving the house.
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