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Clean Wisconsin provides easy tips on how to stay Green during the holidays
Kermit the Frog might think it's only natural to be green during
the holiday season, and maybe you can too by making a couple of
easy changes to reduce spending and waste. For many people the
holidays signify stress and over-spending. This year you can
take a couple of easy steps to enjoy the holidays more and
reduce the impact on our environment. Between Thanksgiving and
New Year's Day, 5 million extra tons of trash are produced in
the U.S., not to mention the extra energy used during this
period. Below are some simple ideas on how to help you to remain
green during the holidays.
Gifts Ideas:
1) Purchase gifts that are consumed like food, beverages, mixes,
sweets.
2) Purchase recyclable gifts like books and magazine
subscriptions.
3) Purchase consumable gifts like candles, natural body creams
or soaps.
4) Purchase gift certificates to the person's favorite
restaurant, book store or clothing store. You are giving twice
with a certificate. Once when the person receives the
certificate and again when they use it.
5) Give an "experience" like a massage, tickets to the theatre
or music event, day at the spa, movie tickets, etc. This works
for kids too. Kids love going to the movies or a music event.
You could also share this experience and go with the person.
6) Purchase a membership to an environmental organization like
Clean Wisconsin that helps the environment year round. (Visit
www.CleanWisconsin.org or call 1-608-251-7020).
7) Get together instead of giving gifts. The holidays are a
great time to spend time with friends and relatives. Instead of
exchanging gifts, spend some quality time together.
Wrapping Ideas:
1) Buy recycled gift wrap. There are few options for recycled
gift wrap, but www.smithandhawken.com has three varieties.
2) Make your own gift bags and reuse them.
3) Wrap gifts with brown grocery bags and decorate them. This is
a great family activity. Kids love drawing, stamping, coloring,
etc on the packages. Other materials could be used to wrap the
gifts too - i.e. comics, newspaper, etc.
4) Reuse ribbons and bows.
5) Use your holiday cards from the previous year as gift tags
for the current year. Cut portions of the cards out, hole punch
and add ribbon. This could be a family activity.
Holiday Cards:
1) Purchase cards on recycled paper only.
2) Purchase cards with a purpose. Most charities sell holiday
cards where part of the proceeds goes directly to the charity.
3) Make
your own cards. Again this could be a great family
activity - get the kids involved.
4) Send electronic cards to as many family and friends as
possible. If Americans sent just one out of every ten holiday
cards electronically, it would save over 30,000 trees.
Decorations:
1) Purchase your Christmas tree from a vendor that uses
sustainable forest practices. Or buy a potted tree and plant it
after the season.
2) Go artificial. It can be used year after year, doesn't leave
a huge pile of needles on your carpet and it help protect our
forests.
3) If you need to purchase new decorations for the tree this
year, use biodegradable decorations like cranberries and
popcorn.
4) Use compact fluorescent/ LED light bulbs. Or use small bulbs
on outside lights. Smaller bulbs equal lower wattage which
consumes less energy and gives off less heat, making the lights
safer. Also purchase light strands that are wired in parallel
which have separate circuitry. With separate circuitry if one
bulb blows the other bulbs will continue to shine.
5) Use a timer on your outdoor and indoor lights.
The holidays are a great time of year. Most people are in such
a mad rush to get things done, buy gifts and entertain that they
don't take the time to enjoy the moments with friends and
family. The holidays are meant to be enjoyed and with some
thoughtful changes, you can create memories with your family and
be a more environmental-friendly consumer. Being green isn't
difficult during this holiday season. A couple of simple changes
can help you reduce stress, create lasting family memories and
protect our natural resources.
Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy organization,
protects Wisconsin's clean water and air and advocates for clean
energy by being an effective voice in the state legislature and
by holding elected officials and corporations accountable.
Founded in 1970 as Wisconsin's Environmental Decade, Clean
Wisconsin exposes corporate polluters, makes sure existing
environmental laws are enforced, and educates citizens and
businesses. On behalf of its 10,000 members and its coalition
partners, Clean Wisconsin protects the special places that make
Wisconsin such a wonderful place to live, work and play. Phone:
608-251-7020, Fax: 608-251-1655, Email: info@cleanwisconsin.org,
Website: www.cleanwisconsin.org.
About the author:
Rebecca is the Public Relations Manager for Clean Wisconsin. She
has 10+ years of marketing, public relations and writing
experience. www.cleanwisconsin.org
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