Have A Ecological Christmas

Have a Holly, Ecological-friendly Christmas

Bah! Humbug! Christmas always gets me irritated, and its more then just the grumpy shoppers, constant Christmas music, and the running to and fro. It's the waste! The waste from the paper you wrap your presents in; the waste of electricity from lighting your Christmas tree and yard displays all day and night; and the waste of turkey, stuffing and other holiday foods that people can't finish because they ate one too many chocolate Santas. Where will it end?

Christmas is responsible for a 25% increase in trash over the holiday season in North America. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Christmas is responsible for about one million tons of extra garbage per week hitting your curb and then heading for a landfill. In fact, half the paper consumed in American will be used simply to wrap and package consumer products and then it will be thrown away. We will send 1.9 billion Christmas cards, and I can tell you about the nearly 300,000 trees use to produce those cards who WON”T be having a Merry Christmas this year. Don't even get me started on all that edible food that will get scrapped off a plate and into the nearest waste basket.

But before you get your Santa pants in a bundle, I'm not calling on the canceling of Christmas, I just want people to be a little more Scrooge-like in their holiday attitude. Lets start with wrapping those gifts for your loved ones. You can reduce your ecological Christmas foot print by re-using old newspapers, cloth, or recycling and re-using wrapping paper and gift bags. My father was like a hawk with our presents, always making sure we unwrapped them carefully and saved the paper for the next time. I thought he was just cheap but maybe he knew something we didn't. Another way to reduce your waste is to avoid creating any at all. Look for presents ideas that don't require packaging