green holiday

Last Of The "Best Of" For Going Green Over The Holidays!

Here's our last installment of great tips for going green during the Holiday season.  We hope they sound inspiring and exciting! (First and second installments here.)

7.  Give gifts made with recycled/repurposed/upcycled materials, or necklace vintage items.  Lots of beautiful options are available on etsy.com. (Click on the image at right to check out this great necklace.)

8.  Give reusable batteries and chargers along with battery-powered toys or other gifts.

9.  Reusable bags aren’t just good at the grocery store…!

christmas_tree10.  Buy a locally grown tree (most you’ll see for sale do come from tree farms close by).

- Choose a live tree with roots and dirt ball still attached, then plant it in the yard after the holidays.

- Or, go with a cut tree and recycle it after Christmas at a local facility, which will likely produce mulch.

11.  Give the gift of conservation - Adopt an Acre in Africa, Australia, Costa Rica, or the Appalachians.  There are many other organizations with similar offers and eco-conscious online gift shops.  For fair trade items, one of my personal favorites is Ten Thousand Villages.

12.  If public transportation isn't an option, plan your errands around your daily schedule to cut down on xmas_lights_car separate car trips.  Relieve congestion on your local roadways and save some money at the gas station this winter!

See if you can tell a difference in the amount of trash you throw out this season…and in how much money you save on wrapping paper and gift tags, gifts, paper/plastic dinnerware, gasoline, and food! 

…And have a happy, safe, and GREEN holiday! 

Love,

Erika & Green Guru

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12 Ways to Have a Green Holiday!

Though the season can get hectic, there are lots of easy ways to cut down on a typically very resource-intense time of year.  Here are some of my own favorites – which not only help me feel conscientious, but can also make the season more fun! I hope you enjoy, and Happy Holidays!  -- Erika

wrapping_paper

1. Unwrap gifts carefully and salvage any wrapping paper and bows to use for next year.  Fold carefully and store – it’s a fun surprise every year to find “new” wrapping paper in your supplies that originally came from someone else’s house!  For recycled gift wrap, check out The Gift Wrap Co. and Green Field Paper Co. 

2. My mother always saves the holiday cards she receives, cuts off the front pictures and uses them as gift tags the next year.  She uses some of these tags on family gifts over and over for years on end!  They can even look much fancier than store-bought gifts tags. 

ChristmasCard

3. Send beautiful, animated holiday E-cards (try Paperless Post, Jacquie Lawson, or the Nature Conservancy!) – or if this feels too impersonal, look for cards that are made of recycled paper and can be re-recycled (meaning not too many baubles and crazy decorations attached).  Check out Pear Tree and Green Field Paper Co., among many others - even Amazon has a selection!

Check out the next set of tips!

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