Americans throw away 25% more trash during the holiday season, Thanksgiving to New Year’s, than any other time of year.
Here are some suggestions of things you can do to decrease your environmental impact during the holiday season include:
1. Shop Local
2. If sending holiday cards choose recycled paper
3. Look at eco-friendly alternatives
4. Choose gifts that will be used (ex. coffee, chocolates, candles, soaps, tickets to aquariums/museums/concerts, gift cards, state park pass…)
5. Make homemade treats like jam, cookies, breads, favorite recipe book…
6. Wrap gifts in reusable bags or boxes or wrap with pages from magazines or newspapers).
7. Reduce mail order catalogs being sent to you by calling the company’s 800 number and ask to be removed from their mailing list.
8. For the people in your life who don’t want more stuff you can donate money to non-profits or sponsor planting mangrove trees or sea turtles on their behalf…
“If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet. If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. The 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high. If we each sent one card less, we’d save 50,000 cubic yards of paper.”
You can recycle Christmas lights at: https://www.christmas-light-source.com/pages/christmas-lights-recycling-program