It’s A Very Green Holiday!

Dec. 21, 2014

You’ve got to admit that the holidays, as much as we love them, take a whole lot of energy from both people and things. But, there are ways to be more environmentally friendly every year and you’ll be surprised to find it doesn’t take much effort at all to have a green holiday. Here is a trio of ways to do just that.

WRAP IT UP

It’s a given that gifts made locally and gifts made from recycled sources save on transportation costs, which in turn helps reduce use of fuel products.

But once you’ve got the gifts, wrapping them can potentially use a lot of resources and create a lot of waste; Christmas wrap is actually one of the biggest sources of trash each December.

100 percent recycled wrapping paper is a great way to get started on the right foot. There are terrific sources for beautiful papers available both locally and online; just look for the recycled symbol on the wrap’s packaging.

After it’s been torn off the presents (if it’s not too mangled) you can iron it to use again next year or shred it in a simple office shredder and use the shreds to ship packages instead of non-recyclable Styrofoam peanuts.

Another option is to wrap a present in a present, using things like pretty scarves or witty T-shirts as the wrap for the gift inside.

If you find your shelves overloaded with Christmas cards, never fear–you can recycle those, too. Just cut the pretty printed side into gift tags for next year’s holiday gifts.

If you’re really worried about contributing to consumerism, you can also gift experiences instead of things, such as classes, trips or subscriptions to music or film streaming services, which need nothing more than a card or thoughtful note.

GREEN HINT: Avoid foil, glitter and laminated wrapping papers entirely, as they generally can’t be recycled.

TWO TIMES THE TREE

Faux trees are great, as long as you reuse them every year. Live trees are even better if they’re trees that you can plant afterward. Ask your local garden center or landscaping company if they have live evergreens available. You can choose a ball and burlap tree or a container tree; Blue Spruce is a great choice.

The only trick is planning. You have to get the tree only a week or so before Christmas, dig the hole before the ground freezes and make sure you keep the excavated soil to fill the hole when you re-plant the tree on a mild day after the holidays. If the ground’s too frozen, you can try to keep the tree indoors or in your garage for the winter, but, generally, only smaller trees survive this approach, as bigger trees tend to last about a week to 10 days in indoor conditions before they start to deteriorate.

If you’re set on a traditional cut Christmas tree, you can opt to dispose of it in an environmentally friendly manner. If you have a big yard, a tree laid on its side can serve as shelter for birds and small animals in the winter months and can then be chipped and turned into mulch for your garden (or perhaps a community garden) in the spring.

Local organizations can also use your old tree for various purposes like Traverse City’s Parks and Recreation Department, which recycles the used trees into mulch for nature trails. The same process is usually offered by the City of Petoskey, which uses the mulch for local parks, so check your local town resources.

GREEN HINT: Birdseed bells, suet balls, popcorn on a string and orange slices can be tied to your used Christmas tree outdoors to help feed wildlife.

PASS IT ALONG

An abundance of gifts can be fun, but don’t forget that Santa’s generosity also offers opportunities to share your good fortune.

Once you get a glossy new smartphone, computer or gaming system for the holidays, that old one suddenly seems a lot less appealing, but just throwing it in the trash is not the best idea when it can still be useful.

Give your old tech gear a second life by passing it on to a kid, teen, co-worker or person in need. You may have upgraded your computer to accommodate work software or a graphics-heavy game, but it’s probably still perfectly good for someone with less demanding technology needs. A grandparent who is unfamiliar with smartphones might be just fine starting with an older, simpler model.

If you can’t locate someone personally who might benefit from your old electronics, consider donating them to a local charity such as Goodwill or the Women’s Resource Center.

This works for clothing, coats and toys, too. Don’t give away things that are too worn or broken to reuse, but keep in mind that one man’s trash can be another’s treasure, especially for those who are less fortunate this season.

You can also check with your local recycling company to see if they can properly recycle the electronic components.

GREEN HINT: Got a new mobile phone?

Don’t pitch your old one. You can often remove the SIM card and use it solely as a portable digital music player and a camera without all those phone charges.