Holidays with less waste
The holiday season brings good cheer, fun festivities, cherished memories, and usually lots of trash heading to the landfill.
According to Stanford Researchers, between Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve Americans create about 25% more waste compared to the rest of the year.
You can help reduce the amount waste the holidays create without losing out on the good cheer with these tips for a more sustainable holiday season.
sustainable shopping
Finding ways to reduce waste while shopping can be complicated when factoring in packaging, transportation of godds, and still trying to find that just-right gift.
With a little creativity, we can find ways to make sustainable shopping simple.
Gift Experiences
There’s no rule that says your gift has to be a thing. Why not gift an experience?
The experience can be big or small. It could be a gift card to a restaurant they’ve mentioned wanting to try, tickets to a theatre production, a pass to local museum, or a membership to Indian Creek Nature Center.
It can even be an experience with you! After all, there’s no greater gift than the gift of time together.
Shop Local
Shopping online with a warm cup of cocoa while wearing your favorite holiday pajamas is really convenient, but it also comes with lots of packaging, much of which can’t even be recycled.
Instead, get out the door and visit local shops, such as the Creekside Shop. This boosts the local economy, reduces waste and energy costs from transportation, and usually you’ll find rare gifts you can’t find anywhere else. Plus, you can still wear those pajamas if you want.
Buy Secondhand
New isn’t always better. There are tons of things that for one reason or another people move on from well before the item is worn, broken or outdated.
Everything from books and toys to board games and jewelry make wonderful secondhand gifts. There is also plenty of fun secondhand decorations available in Noel’s Attic at Nature’s Noel each year.
sustainable gifting
It’s an unspoken holiday tradition. After the thrill of family members ripping open their gifts, someone comes around with a garbage bag to start collecting the wrappers. Soon the bag is stuffed full, tied off and set outside to await delivery to the landfill.
There are plenty of alternatives to traditional wrapping paper that remove the waste but preserve the joy of opening a gift.
Gift Bags
Reuse your gift bags, and encourage those you share gifts with to do the same.
After the holidays, simply removing any stickers or other identifiers of who the gift was to or from, fold it flat, and store it until next time. Bags with holiday designs are fun, but solid colors or nondescript patterns can allow you to reuse the bag at any occasion.
Reusable Wrapping Paper
Love the tradition of wrapping presents? If you have a sewing machine and basic sewing skills, you can make reusable wrapping paper from fun fabrics bought at your local quilting shop.
When using the reusable wrapping paper, don’t forget to share that it’s reusable with the one opening the gift so they don’t accidentally throw it away.
sustainable decoratng
From the lights on the roof to the wreath on the front door, decorations have long been part of the holiday tradition.
Whether you put up your decorations in December or the day after Halloween, you can fill your home with holiday joy while minimizing waste.
Buy a Real Tree
According to the Nature Conservancy, buying a real tree is better for the environment than buying a fake tree.
10 million fake trees are purchased in America every year with 90% of those needing to be shipped from China, increasing their carbon footprint. Most of these millions of fake trees are made from non-recyclable materials that are eventually headed to a landfill.
Getting a real tree supports local tree farmers, who plant 2 to 3 new trees to replace each tree sold. Even though your tree is cut down, your purchase helps support the maintenance of healthy forests. There are also ways you can sustainably dispose of your real tree.
Pinecone Ornaments
Take a nature break to stroll outside and collect pinecones.
Pinecones can make beautiful ornaments for the tree, add holiday charm to decorations on your door or fireplace, or be tied to a present with twine for a festive and natural touch.
Evergeen Decorations
Replace the plastic decorations with handcrafted decorations created with real evergreens.
Every year, volunteers with the Friends of the Nature Center handcraft wreaths, kissing balls, and centerpieces using freshly harvested evergreen branches. These one-of-a-kind creations are sold at Nature’s Noel on the first Saturday of December.