We never had a tree before buying our house, because our apartments were too small. For our first holiday, I insisted on a real tree. My family always used real trees. It was a family experience to pick out a tree and cut it down, and enjoy the pine scent in the house. The next year we had a puppy and kitten running around the house, so we weren't sure how to set up a tree without getting things knocked down or crawled up. Our solution was to buy a plastic tree and hang it from the ceiling. Yep. It was actually a lot of fun, and the pets never touched it, and we got a lot of compliments/jokes from family and friends. This year, I decided to do a bit of research on real trees vs. fake and which is better for the environment. I was a little worried that "murdering" trees would be the worst option. Plastic lasts for years, and live trees have to be regrown. Well, according to this article, http://yhoo.it/4vOvYg , real trees win. As long as you get them from a local sustainable tree farm, they are much better than all the polluting work that goes into making plastics. What am I going to do with my plastic tree? Well, I'll still use it this year. I already bought it, the harm's already done. But when it's time to get rid of it, I won't be buying another.
Do you send out an annual greeting card? Switch to email to get rid of the paper waste. Not many people hang onto cards for more than a few weeks anyway. Instead of buying plastic or paper decorations, go outside and find fallen evergreen branches, pine cones, or any other bits of nature to brighten up your house. Go to a local plant nursery and have a bouquet of seasonal branches and flowers put together. Upgrade to LED lights, and please remember to turn them off every night! I shiver in fright and disgust at the inflatable lawn ornaments people leave running all night long. Your energy bill is already being exhausted by turning on the heat as nights get colder and colder. Speaking of that, run a space heater in one room at a time, or wear slippers and sweaters and cuddle under blankets to keep your heating bill down. As we speak, I'm wearing about five layers, including fingerless gloves so I can still type. Lol.
What about how you wrap your gifts? I hate it when I see mounds of wrapping paper tossed right into the trash after Christmas morning. I recycle it all at my house, but I can't control what happens at other people's houses (though sometimes I try!). Still, re-use is always better than recycling, which is why I like using gift bags. I'll reuse those year after year, until they start to look pretty shoddy. This site, http://bit.ly/foqDdy , has a few other great ideas, including making fabric gift bags (great for a fabric hoarder like me!) or using last year's calendar to wrap gifts in. This http://bit.ly/8t23md site is useful too, with ideas like wrapping gifts in other gifts, like wrapping a wine bottle in a colorful kitchen towel.
Of course, local vs. imported plays a big factor in gifts. Speaking of wine, there are dozens of local wineries to choose from, with unique flavors and styles. You also know what I'm going to say about local artists and crafters! Or... don't give "stuff" at all. Gift cards, cash, or even better, donations to charities. This site http://www.charitygiftcertificates.org/ lets you buy gift cards, and the recipient can use the gift cards to donate to 100+ reputable charities. Even better, go down to any local non-profit place like a soup kitchen, food pantry, humane society, battered women's shelter, or other organization and make a direct contribution to your own community.
That's the end of my preachy post. I don't mean to be pushy, but if we all do our part, we can collectively make a big difference! Use your canvas tote bags while shopping, some stores give you discounts; even Starbucks says on their website that they give a 10cent discount if you bring in a reusable travel mug! Enjoy the holidays and don't get stuck in the snow!
Listening to: The Cure
Pics: Our upside-down Christmas tree! That's it today, as I seem to have lost picture files from our first holiday in the house :(
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