A Greener Holiday

Originally we were going to write our Blog this week surrounding Thanksgiving, but then we had a rather interesting conversation about “Going Green” for the holidays and we decided we needed to share with others how you too can have a Green Holiday Season!
So, how does one go about “Going Green” for the holidays? Or, better yet, adopt this as a way of life
- Stop buying and using wrapping paper! - According to Stanford University, if every US family wrapped three gifts in re-purposed material, the gift wrap saved would cover 45,000 football fields… That is 13,500,000 feet of wrapping paper!! Now imagine each of those families did away with the wrapping completely! There are so many greener options that can be used instead of paper!
o Go completely paper less – put presents out unwrapped, use bath towels, sheets or pillow cases to camouflage the gifts
o Re-Use Boxes – local stores end up throwing out TONS of cardboard boxes around the holidays, shoe boxes or even cigar boxes for smaller gifts
o Use Gift Bags – Most people will re-use the gift bags (or you can ensure you give gifts in gift bags who you know will!)

o Re-Use the old newspapers or comics! - Use the comics for the kids, and the news for the adults – perhaps even wrapping your sports loving friends in the Sports Section
o Paper Grocery Bags - can be cut up and used to wrap gifts (logo side down) you can even have the kids decorate their own wrapping paper!


- Instead of the normal Holiday greeting cards - send e-cards to all, or even give verbal cards!

- Re-Use your Holiday cards from the previous year as gift tags! – cut the covers off and punch a hole in the corners, with a little string or tape you have a new gift card tag!

- Give electronic gift cards instead of actual gift cards! – Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon and many more – Check out link below for numerous e-gift cards! http://www.giftcertificates.com/shop/category.aspx?category_id=155&eGiftCards=1

- For those who celebrate the holidays with a tree, think about instead of purchasing a cut tree, buy a live tree in a pot (roots and all) Decorate that for the holidays! After the holidays are over, instead of throwing the dead tree away, you will be able to either re-plant this tree in your yard (or local park) and enjoy it for years to come!

- Instead of eating leftover until you are ready to be sick at the sight of turkey, think about giving your leftovers to those who do not have enough to eat! Your Best bet on this would be to Google local homeless shelters in your area and call to find out if they accept donations of prepared food (some may not because of food safety and sanitation concerns) but if they do, store your leftovers in your fridge at 40 degree or cooler and drive them over as soon as you can!

- Save Energy and use LED Light’s instead of standard holiday bulbs.

Here is a website with tons more information on how to celebrate your holidays a bit greener:
http//planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/green-holidays.html

Let’s all start making a difference today, break those old habits and make Mother Earth your best friend. Spread the news and forward this on to everyone you know….just don’t print it

Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a wonderful holiday weekend.
~Rebecca Procops & Tony D'Alessio