How to Have a Green and Eco-friendly Christmas

Buy less stuff this Christmas. Reducing our use of the planets resources is the ultimate in living green.

Buy fewer Christmas cards, or only send ecards this year. Reuse any Christmas cards that you receive by making crafts from them, or at least recycle the cards in a paper recycling bin.

Buy and make green gifts this year. Make food gifts, crafts, or support local artists and authors by buying their works of art and their books.

Give a charity gift this year. Support a poor family or person this year by buying them something they need, in the name of the gift recipient you choose. Most people are delighted by a gift that helps someone in need.

Tree farm

Pick the right tree. The debate goes on about which is better for the planet, but I come down on the side of living trees from Christmas farms. Oregon, where I live, is a top producer of Christmas trees, and Christmas trees are a renewable crop. So, while buying a live tree may not be a perfect solution, it's better than buying a plastic tree that takes forever to decompose and helps to clutter up the landfill.

Trees should always be recycled so, after Christmas, follow the guidelines set up by your local recycling places for properly recycling your Christmas tree.

Holly

Choose green, eco-friendly lights and decorations. Solar Christmas lights are wonderful, for example.

Decorate with natures bounty if that's a feasible option where you live. Get creative with your found pine cones, seed pods, rocks and sea-shells. Remember to take only enough for your needs.

Christmas gifts

Use green gift wrap and recycle what you do use. I wrote a whole article about green alternatives for gift wrap which you can find listed under resources below.

Examples of green gift wrap include reusing any gift bags and wrap that you've received in the past, and using gift bags made from fabric that can be used over and over.

Buy local food and drink. Support your local farms, winery, dairy, and tree farms. This helps your local economy and means less use of fuel to ship the products across the country.

Don't waste food either. Use up or freeze all your holiday meal leftovers.

Reuse gift wrap

Recycle and reuse everything that you can this year. Keep your gift wrap and gift bags and ribbons to use again, or recycle them. If a gift doesn't please you, give it to someone who'd enjoy it or donate it to your local charity.