Christmas is bearing down full force these days. Along with the parties and the treats and the annual photo with Santa, I am thinking about the environmental impact of all this celebrating. When you consider the presents, the packaging, the gift wrap and the energy (both electrical and emotional) that go into the holidays, you can see how quickly it all adds up. The ubiquitous sea of wrapping paper left over after the party is over is just one example of the environmental impact the holiday season can have.
In an effort to reduce my impact I am doing a few things to make the holidays a little more sustainable. Call them new traditions for a greener Christmas, if you will.
Our gift wrap stash
Toy diaper bags I made from my own pattern
I remember moments like these, not the gifts
How about you? What green holiday traditions are you adopting? I’d love to hear some more ideas!
This post was written as part of the Green Moms Carnival on Green Holiday Traditions. For more fabulous posts from green bloggers, visit The Green Phone Booth on December 10.
I keep missing this Carnival. Argh! Great piece Amber. I especially like your fabulous work with those toy diaper bags!
We make a concious effort on giving gifts that are useful. So my husband’s siblings and their families get a years membership to the National Trust (a society that preservers England’s and Wales’ heritage building and coast and gardens) giving them free entry for one year. Lots of family memories to be made. We have a very small list to give to people anyway and often it is just a bottle of wine or a box chocolates. Dharma’s two little friends who I give pressies to get a game each from Oxfam (a British charity) so the money goes to a good cause.
For us Christmas is all about kicking back, relaxing, spending time together. I don’t buy masses of food, don’t go in the holiday craze at all. I love this holiday too much for me to want to get stressed. It’s all about giving and for me it is giving time to my family.
.-= Mel´s last post ..Happy Birthday to my little (not so little) girl =-.
I hear ya. I’m on my way at this moment to pass some of my kids gently used toys and pajamas to another blogger Mom for her son. We often wrap stuff in recycled brown paper and have the kids paint their hands and decorate the presents with handprints. I like giving baking, too, although sometimes that does get out of control from a stress, back-pain point of view.
.-= Allison´s last post ..**************Can’t Win =-.
Great ideas!! I re-use wrapping as well. One of the things I’ve started doing too is using gift boxes from the dollar store. There’s no wrap to throw out, and they’re great for storage of smaller items.
.-= Mess Buster´s last post ..Reducing Christmas Morning Clutter =-.
I’m big on reusing gift bags. Saves me money and saves me the hassle of trying to hit the malls for bags. (However, the majority of them seem to have a baby theme so perhaps not quite appropriate for Christmas…unless I try to say it’s all about baby Jesus or something)
I have quite the stash of Christmassy gift wrap from previous years so fingers crossed I don’t have to buy any for years to come. And my need for Christmas cards is pretty much nil since Victoria is all about crafts and has created oodles of cards that I plan on using
.-= Carrie´s last post ..Follow Friday: Just when you think you’re a bad mommy… =-.
We use the reusable gift bags too. We actually have a yearly competition to not give someone back their own bag. I’m trying to do homemade gifts too, though with 3 kids I’m finding it’s hard to make enough time to sew/knit/bake.
.-= Summer´s last post ..For The Want Of A Meal =-.
I just posted about this very same thing!
We do some of the things you have listed, we also switched to LED lights, shopped before Thanksgiving (to avoid the horrible congestion on the roads and in stores), and have our thermostat turned way down. That’s not specifically a holiday tradition, but it is that time of year
.-= Dionna´s last post ..Outside Snacks at Movie Theaters =-.
I forgot to ask if you (or anyone reading this!) are interested in participating in a blog carnival on parenting tomorrow, 12/8. The post need only relate to parenting in some way – other than that it is wide open to interpretation
Just visit my site and use the Mr. Linky widget tomorrow!
I am trying to meet other bloggers
.-= Dionna´s last post ..Outside Snacks at Movie Theaters =-.
I have been doing most of these things for years. Another great way to recycle is to cut up the Christmas cards you received last year into gift tags for this year.
You are such a rock star – and I need a much bigger freezer.
I also reuse the gift bags. Husband thought I was being kinda cheap, but it seems so wasteful to wrap everything or buy new bags. And with two kids, we’ve racked up quite a collection of gift bags for holidays and birthdays.
.-= TheFeministBreeder´s last post ..Growing Up Poor, White Trash =-.
Great post! We’ve started wrapping presents using seed paper (can later be planted and wild flowers grow) and also saving santa sacks. You can find these items at http://www.greenplanetparties.com, along with more sustainable ways to participate with gift giving and stocking stuffer ideas this year.
Suzanne
Hey! Have you been in my closet. I swear we have the same gift wrap stash. I’ve got tissue paper in there we’ve been reusing for 7 or 8 years!
And I also want to comment on cutting back. This, I think is a big one. In an effort to simplify, let’s really simplify and do less of the stuff that doesn’t mean much. Instead, make memories.
Your handmade toy diaper bags are AWESOME! I’m doing the Etsy and craft fair thing this year. This year we also made our own wrapping paper and cards by making potato stamps and stamping blank newsprint and blank cards with paint. We also have a ton of gift wrap and bags like you do that we will re-use.
My news year resolution for 2009 was to make 3 handmade gifts for Christmas this year. I managed to pump out 9 of them (Some with yarn that I received via freecycle*). I also saved EVERY colored comic section from our Sunday newspapers and will be using those for wrapping (as I used some during the years for birthdays too). My mother is a quilter, so I often wrap her gift in a pretty section of fabric that she can then add to her sewing stash.
I just found your blog the other day and I really enjoy it. Thanks for sharing!
* Freecycle.org is an ongoing effort to keep things out of landfills that might otherwise not get a 2nd chance at being used.
We started wrapping gifts with fabric last year. I bought some Christmas fabric and started saving all the fabric bows we are given. We didn’t use any paper at all last year and we have all the fabric to use over and over. It does make me a bit cheap about not wanting to give it away though – ie. I save the reusable gift bags when giving outside the family.
Check out http://furoshiki.com/techniques/ jfor how to tie the fabric.
.-= @childbearing´s last post ..Attitude Adjustment =-.
And remember to use an artificial tree as opposed to a real one. Yes, the manufacturing of artificial trees produces carbon, but cutting live trees down produces even more. Plus, the embedded energy in the live trees is wasted.
And really, the whole kill-a-tree-for-Jesus-thing just doesn’t make sense.
Gift bags are terrific for re-gifting.
I also re-use Christmas cards by cutting off the front of the cards. Then using fancy scallopped scissors around the edges, I glue them back onto some coloured cardstock folded into a new card. Add a bit of sparkle or ribbon, and VIOLA! A handmade Christmas card for next year! The hard part is finding a nice sized envelope. So I find the envelopes before I decide the card sizes.
I get the kids to make stuff for the grandparents, and baking or preserves are always appreciated on both sides!
We try to get experience gifts instead of things. Family pool passes, movie night passes, gift card for a favourite DVD rental place, restaurant gift cards, museum memberships great things like that! They are memorable and can last all year long.
.-= *pol´s last post ..Because you asked… =-.
I love seeing your fabric crafts – they’re so beautiful!
I haven’t used gift wrap in years. Almost all our presents go in the same colorful Christmas-fabric bags that we re-use every year.
I’m guilty of buying many things online and having them shipped, but I suppose if I bought them locally, I’d have to ship them myself anyway. Lots of air miles and gasoline.
.-= Lady M´s last post ..More Balloon, Now with Lightsaber Options! =-.
Man, I have so mush accumulated wrapping paper and ribbon in my house, I think I need to donate some of it. I can’t bear to throw away perfectly good wrapping paper, and I do wonder why anyone needs to buy new paper ever again.
.-= Beth Terry´s last post ..Plastic-Free Organic Essence Lip Balm & Body Cream Give-Away =-.
Beth, use that accumulated wrapping paper to line kitchen and bathroom cupboards – works like a charm. I also use old wrapping paper to make gift tags; as “stuffing” if I’m shipping something I need to protect; and for kids’ art projects.
.-= Diane MacEachern´s last post ..Energy-Efficient Lights and Eco-Friendly Candles for the Holidays =-.
I’ve got tons of wrapping paper too – from back when I used to buy a lot of it. Now I hardly ever use it. Great idea to line cupboards with it Diane!
Amber – your diaper bags are beautiful!! Love your point about cutting back too – it’s easy to go overboard at this time of year and we need to remember that we don’t have to.
.-= Mindful Momma´s last post ..Getting People to Care About Climate Change =-.
I’m using up all the wrapping paper I have but after that I will only use bags, recycled paper (the least of all three!), and fabric.
It’s prettier anyway!
My mom and I are always passing wrapping back and forth.
.-= Lisa @Retro Housewife Goes Green´s last post ..Great Gift Idea! =-.
I am almost out of holiday wrapping paper after deciding a few years to no longer buy it – I creatively wrap with fabric, bandana’s, hankies, comics or in the case of some retro glassware – beer boxes!!I think it’s a blast!!
Those toy diaper bags are amazing! Thanks for sharing your ideas for a green holiday.