How to have Environmentally Friendly Holiday Celebrations! (November and December Post)

When gathering with family to celebrate holidays, it is sometimes a stressful time to organize everything and make it a pleasurable experience. But, in straining times, we sometimes try to do the easiest thing, in order to stress less. This is what creates the environmental problems during holidays.

For example, using "green" wrapping paper or old newspaper wrapping paper may not be easier than buying a new roll of it, but it is much better for the earth. Little decisions like this help immensely with this fight for a clean environment.

On top of using these wrapping papers, it also is helpful to reuse boxes or shirt boxes to wrap presents in! Shirt boxes can get to be expensive if you are buying a lot of clothes. Not only does saving shirt boxes save the environment, but it also can save you a lot of money.

Aside from gifts, a big part of the holiday season is decorating. For this, many experts in sustainability say that you can recycle decorations from year to year. This is not only common but obvious so most people do it on a regular basis. However, some people may want to change it up every once in a while. For that, it is recommended to make your own decorations! There are lots of DIY websites that can help you make anything from garland to paper snowflakes.

One of my favorite ideas that I read about is giving green gifts. One big sustainable gift idea from 2018 was metal straws. Not only is it a green gift and can help cut down on straw waste, but it is also a big trend for this year and is sure to bring a smile to the gift receiver! Some other ideas for green gifts could be, energy saving books, mass transit passes, compost bins, or gardening supplies! There are endless possibilities with this category which is why it may excite me so much.

These are all highly recommended books on "green living"

One of the main reasons we strive to help the environment is so that we can get outside and actually enjoy what we're trying to save. With this, any gift that contains something to help someone get outside is always a great idea! Every year I get a few new things to help me camp, hike, kayak, or use my slackline.

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Hope you enjoyed this month's post! If you have any questions about having a "green" holiday celebration, feel free to email me or send me a message with the contact form.

Thanks for your support and help with these posts!