How to Have a Green Christmas

Maybe this year you're dreaming beyond a white Christmas. How to have a green Christmas will help you make this holiday eco-friendly in several easy steps.

Live Tree

A live tree certainly evokes the season with its pine-fresh smell, and families often enjoy the annual ritual of picking out the perfect tree. Before strapping that seven-foot Douglas fir to your roof, however, consider the following:

PROS

Biodegradable
Can be chipped into mulch, compost, or wood chips
Wood can be repurposed to make fences or for use in building
Christmas trees trap more carbon dioxide than other tree forests
Smell terrific
Can buy or rent a living tree, which is planted after the holiday

CONS

Very few truly organic trees exist
Trees can be loaded with pesticides
Trees might be trucked across the country, adding to fuel costs
Need to be watered regularly
Shed needles that will need to be cleaned up
You will need to organize how you recycle your tree after its use and likely transport it yourself
Not every community provides recycling options

Artificial Tree

Artificial trees are another option to consider. They can be shipped right to your door and don't need to be watered or pruned. The key things to consider when deciding on an artificial tree are whether you have room to store it and if you can find a tree that hasn't been shipped from overseas.

PROS

Can be used year after year
Less expensive
Don't dry out
Good for urban dwellers
Can be put up earlier in the season

CONS

Made mostly of plastics and metals, including lead, that are not biodegradable
Often shipped long distances, as most are made in China
Need to be stored every year
Not as aesthetically pleasing

Step 4: The Lights
- Not only will your choice of lights and their power source make an environmental impact, they'll slash your energy bill, too.
1. Switching to LEDs (light emitting diodes) is 90% more efficient than incandescent lighting. LEDs don't get as hot as traditional lights, lowering the risk of fire, and if one bulb goes out, the rest of the string still works. They last longer, too.
2. A slightly more expensive option is solar-powered lighting.
3. Set lights on a timer to save energy. This will also eliminate the need to run around turning off lights in inclement weather or late at night.
4. The smaller the bulb, the lower the energy cost.
Step 5: Household Decorations
- How you decorate around the house is important, too.
1. Use seasonal fruits as decoration, which you can eat afterwards, or are at least biodegradable. Pomegranates and gourds are good choices.
2. Seedlings or potted evergreens are another option. When it's time to take down decorations, you will have a tree to plant.
3. Decorate with bulbs. Amaryllis plants are always popular at Christmas, and they can be potted after the holiday.
4. Wreaths don't have to be made from evergreens. Make your own from fabric remnants, tree ornaments, or shells. Or buy one that can be used year after year.
5. Try pulling a few branches from your Christmas tree to decorate around the house.
6. Use family items you already have to decorate: a child's first shoe as an ornament, an old circle skirt to put around the tree, hair ribbons to decorate wreathes.
7. Other found objects like pine cones, horse chestnuts, and leaves are great natural touches.
Step 6: Giving Green
- There are myriad ways to give green and choose gifts that will keep on giving.
Cut Back
1. The swiftest way to eliminate waste is to give less.
  - A 2005 survey by the Center for a New American Dream showed that 78 percent of Americans wish the holidays were less materialistic.
2. Consider picking names at Thanksgiving or at another time when your family is assembled. Each person is only responsible for giving one gift.
3. Determine an upper limit on cost and stick to it. This should reduce the overall number of gifts.
4. Consider only giving gifts to the children in your family.
Think Outside the Box
1. Giving experiences, like a subscription to the opera, a tennis lesson, or dinner at a chic new restaurant are excellent alternatives to packaged material gifts.
2. Transfer your gift-giving energy towards buying toys for local kids through Toys for Tots, or stocking your local food pantry.
3. Donations to a favorite cause are always appreciated. If family members are so inclined, you might organize a Habitat for Humanity project—sometimes just being together is the best gift.
4. Other outside the box gift ideas:
- - Personalized coupons for a car wash, a massage, or a movie night.
    Cooking lessons.
    Membership to a local museum or non-profit organization.
    Season tickets to a sporting event.
    Open a savings account or buy a stock for a kid in your family and teach him how it grows.
    A month of diaper service or babysitting for new parents.
    A hot air balloon ride, river rafting ride, or a day of cross-country skiing.
    A yoga class, pilates class, or gym membership.
    Gift certificate for a facial, pedicure, or other spa service.
    Housecleaning for a month.
    Membership to a local food co-op or other group that will deliver locally grown fruits and vegetables.
    Herb garden.
Encourage Green
- Giving environmentally focused gifts will spread the word this season.
- NOTE: You don't want loved ones to feel like you are trying to convert them. And remember, your nine-year-old Wii-obsessed nephew probably doesn't want a compost bin for Christmas.
1. Energy-saving compact fluorescent lights.
2. A reusable lunch bag.
3. Compost bin.
4. Reusable food storage containers.
5. Recycling bins.
6. Canvas grocery bags.
7. Reusable travel coffee mug.
8. A basket full of non-toxic, organic cleaning products.
9. Copies of An Inconvenient Truth.
10. A subscription to an environmental magazine, like E.
11. Water-saving showerhead.
12. A bicycle—for commuting.
13. Reusable razor.
14. Automatic thermostat control device you can program to turn the heat off at night.
15. Rechargeable batteries and charging station.
Step 7: Giftwrap Matters
- Now that you've found the perfect gift, be sure its wrapping matches your eco-conscious theme.
1. Skip wrapping paper whenever possible. Wasting an entire roll of paper disguising a new bike, for instance, is a real waste.
2. Try hiding gifts around the house and then giving kids clues as to where they are—if a gift is well hidden, it needn't be wrapped at all.
3. Recycle magazines, fabric, newspaper, or paper bags into wrapping paper.
4. Get even more creative by using old maps, posters, kids' coloring book pages, or sheet music to wrap gifts.
5. Make the wrapping part of the gift by using scarves, kitchen towels, or tablecloths. A canvas bag can hold gifts and be reused for grocery shopping throughout the year. A tin full of cookies can be used again. A pair of earrings could be placed in a wooden box used later to store buttons, jewelry, or safety pins.
6. Reuse bows.
7. If you must buy wrapping paper, buy giftwrap printed on recycled paper and save it for next year.
Step 8: Holiday Houseguests
- Houseguests may make an impact, but it doesn't have to be an environmental one.
1. Install water-saving devices in your toilet and shower.
2. Point out recycling containers to guests when they arrive so they will know where to dispose of what they use.
3. Consider giving carbon-offset gift certificates to those who travel to your home for the holidays.
Conclusion
- Now that you've learned a number of helpful hints to go green this Christmas, why stop there? Try to keep going green in the year ahead and spread the word to friends, family, and co-workers. Many of the gift suggestions, above, are equally apt for birthdays or anniversaries. And activities like composting and recycling are fruitful in every season.
Resources for How to Have a Green Christmas

Categories

Introduction

Step 1: Going Green in Baby Steps

Step 2: Holiday Cards

Step 3: The Tree

Live Tree

Artificial Tree

Step 4: The Lights

Step 5: Household Decorations

Step 6: Giving Green

Cut Back

Think Outside the Box

Encourage Green

Step 7: Giftwrap Matters

Step 8: Holiday Houseguests

Conclusion

Resources for How to Have a Green Christmas