Yes, we know the term “natural” is not the best to use, but we liked the alliteration.

Celebrate this Christmas season by reducing your environmental impact. Whether you seek out eco-friendly gifts and decorations or choose to serve an earth-conscious meal to friends and family, there are many ways to cut waste and fulfil the dream of a green Christmas. Start small and over the years, you’ll be able to cultivate traditions that honour the earth as well as your guests.

1. Consume less.
That is the easiest way to green your Christmas and your life the rest of the year. Sounds weird coming from a company selling things but it’s the truth. Eliminate the unnecessary purchases. Only buy gifts that count. We all have people in our lives who we can cut off the gift list and it doesn’t hurt any feelings; spend time with them instead, share an event, instead of a gift. The landfill, and your pocketbook will thank you. Or perhaps think about a charitable donation. And for when you do want to buy gifts, consider the eco-footprint of the products you choose.

2. Reduce your waste.
Avoid buying food or presents with excessive packaging; try to not accept a plastic bag every time it’s offered, and use rechargeable batteries – not disposables – for all toys, electronics and other battery-operated gifts. When offered a box with your purchase, decline; it’s all just extra packaging.

3. BYOB.
A day of shopping can result in a day of carting around plastic bags filled with gifts. Remembering to bring your own shopping bag, helps to limit the number of plastic bags heading to the landfill at the end of each shopping day.

4. Shop online.
If you can’t find what you want from a one-stop-shop up the road or around the corner, then a case can be made for shopping online. A day of Christmas shopping can accumulate a lot of mileage on the car. And e-commerce warehouses use one-sixteenth of the energy of a retail store. Avoid days of driving and enjoy the vast selection available online, all while in the comfort of your jammies.

5. Rethink the way you wrap.
Instead of non-recyclable gift wrap, get creative with what you have around the house. Try using old posters, glossy magazine pages or even plain brown Kraft paper which the kids can colour on for a personal touch. For smaller gifts, consider wrapping them in a scarf or cloth napkins, making the wrapping part of the gift. Fabric also makes creative and beautiful wrapping that can be reused for crafts or other activities by the person receiving the gift. If you just aren’t ready to give up the beautiful seasonal designs of wrapping paper, then try a recycled version of wrap and bags.

6. Think about those Christmas cards.
Approximately a billion Christmas cards are sent world-wide every year – that works out to around 30 cards for every man, woman and child in Canada. When its all over, use them for kids crafts, or put them in with the recycling, not the garbage. If you are a card-sender, perhaps think about photo cards that can be cherished for longer than the season, or buy a card from recycled paper.

7. Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.
While it may not instinctively seem like chopping down a tree, only to toss it away weeks later, is the most environmental choice for a holiday tree, it sure is close. The greenest way is to decorate an indoor plant or a tree in your yard, but if you are deciding between the fresh cut or the artificial tree, the fresh cut tree wins hands down. While artificial trees do have that whole reusable angle working for them, they don’t have much else. Take into consideration that every tree in the artificial forest is petroleum based and not biodegradable. A real tree, preferably one from a local tree farm is much preferable. While it may have a short life, even for the few years it is alive, it is absorbing carbon dioxide and doing its part to keep our air clean. Although, if you’ve already made the investment into a fake tree, keep using it for as long as you can.

8. Recycle your Christmas tree.
When you are finished enjoying your freshly cut Christmas tree don’t just toss it on the curb. Make sure you take your tree to a recycling facility where it can be turned into mulch. Many local charities offer tree mulching by donation during the first week of January. Look for one in your neighbourhood.

9. Illuminate with eco-friendly Christmas lights.
The time has come to make the switch to LED Christmas lights. They not only shine as bright and look as pretty, they will reduce your energy bill too. And maybe, you’ll get featured on one of those great BC Hydro Power Smart commercials.

10. Throw an eco-friendly party.
If you’re hosting Christmas dinner this year, plan to use reusable dinnerware and cups, as well as cloth napkins, to reduce the waste your meal creates. Or, opt for recycled content and biodegradable disposable options if the clean up is too intimidating. Also consider the food you are putting on the plates. Cook up a truly sustainable Christmas meal filled with locally-sourced and organic foods. You’ll delight both your guests and the earth by serving green Christmas meal choices.

We’ve compiled this list from life experience and a multitude of sources, including authors Gil Deacon, Adria Vasil, and the experts at treehugger.com.

Tags: eco-friendly gift-giving, eco-friendly gifts, green christmas

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 11:15 pm and is filed under "Little Bits" Blog, Green Learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.