Dreaming Green For The Holidays
Did you know that there are ONLY 86 days to Christmas, 82 days from Chanukah, and and 87 days to Kwanzaa? It’s time to get out there and shop, shop, shop before it’s too late!
Or at least that’s what the big box stores would have you believe. Every year the holiday merchandise hits the store shelves earlier and earlier in an effort to get us all to part with our hard earned dollars. This year, the holiday aisle at my local big-box store made its debut just after Labor Day! One can only imagine that frenzy that most kids will be in come holiday time after almost four months of looking at holiday whowhos and thingamabobs each week.
But let me ask you this. When did the big box stores get to decide how we will celebrate our holidays? When did holiday spirit start to take a backseat to the holiday aisle?
Well, I for one want to take back the holidays this year and celebrate them how I want to, not how the big box stores dictate. I want to decorate my house, send holiday greetings, host holiday parties, and exchange holiday gifts in a way that emphasizes the joy of the holiday and not the joy of shopping. In other words, I’m dreaming GREEN this holiday season and I wonder if you’d care to join me.
Let’s all pledge to make out holidays a little greener this year, for the sake of our families, the planet, and our sanity! Do you have to give up all of your favorite treats and traditions? ABSOLUTELY NOT! There are plenty of ways to celebrate with style without wreaking havoc on the planet or your wallet. Try one or try them all. And be sure to grab one of the banners below (copy and paste the code) and post it on your website or blog. I’ll post a Dreaming Green Blogroll with links to all participants.
Here’s how to celebrate your favorite holidays with green spirit:
- Decorate with low-energy light bulbs that last longer than traditional bulbs but use 80 to 90% less energy. And invest in timers that automatically shut off your lights before you go to bed.
- Skip the paper cards and send e-cards or set up an online holiday slide show or photo album at sites such as Photobucket or Flickr.
- Get creative with gift wrapping. Use old maps, the Sunday comics, or your children’s artwork to wrap gifts or use gift bags and decorative boxes that can be reused from year to year.
- Compost your Christmas tree or Kwanza mazao and vibunzi
- Save bows, ribbons, holiday cards, and other decorations to reuse next year.
- Purchase a reusable menorah or kinara and use soy-based candles to light your way.
- Prevent waste by realistically anticipating the amount of food your family can eat and compost any leftover food scraps.
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15 Responses to “Dreaming Green For The Holidays”
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- Dreaming Green For The Holidays | Go Green Living 29 09 08
- Dreaming Green For The Holidays | Go Green Magazine 29 09 08
- FilterForGood 19 12 08
“Well, I for one want to take back the holidays this year and celebrate them how I want to, not how the big box stores dictate.”
Amen!
I like the flickr slideshow idea!!
Right on! I’m all for taking back the holidays!
Every year the holiday merchandise hits the store shelves earlier and earlier in an effort to get us all to part with our hard earned dollars. This year, the holiday aisle at my local big-box store made its debut just after Labor Day! One can only imagine that frenzy that most kids will be in come holiday time after almost four months of looking at holiday whowhos and thingamabobs each week.
I have already explained to my 2 kids that christmas this year wouldn’t be like the previous years. I’m almost tired of christmas b/c the stores seem to be putting out decorations and such earlier and earlier. It makes no sense to me!! But I love the ideas posted, please keep them coming so I go green!
We’re actually going away for the holidays this year! The last few years have been so hectic, we all decided we wanted a break. We’ll still decorate the house (though no tree) and make cookies, but we’ll leave behind the rest of the brouhaha. We’re really looking forward to it.
I was so delighted when my mother-in-law came awkwardly up to me the other day about cutting back on Christmas this year. She was rather taken aback by my enthusiasm for the idea. We did that years ago on my side of the family, and I think it makes for a better holiday. More focus on family, less on stuff.
Oh, if I could *every* day realistically anticipate how much we would eat! Streaky kid appetites and my Italian upbringing conspire to make me the over cooker. And not in a too-done way! Great post. I agree that you don’t have to give up on the celebrating and holiday fun to be more conscious of the earth.
love it, we green our gifts each year as well as our wrapping, but this year I am looking at even more ways to green in Christmas. Here is Texas if I can’t have a white Christmas, at least I can have a green one!
Great idea! I love that you call it reclaiming the holidays from the big box stores.
Great ideas, Jenn. For gift wrapping alternative, another fun idea is to use pillowcases or other mismatched bedding. As a total alternative to giving gifts, I offer this story: last year, my aunt sent an email to everyone in the family saying that she wasn’t going to give gifts for Christmas. Instead, she said, she took her Christmas money, donated it to a homeless shelter and gave us the gift of her time volunteering there. She pledged to go one day a week to volunteer for every person she was going to buy a present for! Now that’s not only green, but loving and truly in the spirit of the holiday!
Every year the holiday merchandise hits the store shelves earlier and earlier in an effort to get us all to part with our hard earned dollars. This year, the holiday aisle at my local big-box store made its debut just after Labor Day!