Happier holidays: simple ways to celebrate the season in sustainable style

IT'S THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY hangover: waking up on January 1 amid piles of crumpled wrapping paper, heaps of presents that may never be used, and mounds of quickly spoiling leftovers. The mistletoe's gone brown, the gay apparel is stained with eggnog, and all that's left is exhaustion and a wellspring of guilt--not to mention a mindboggling amount of waste.

Americans toss away an extra 2 billion pounds of garbage weekly between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, says Robert Lilienfeld, co-author of Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are. "From an environmental perspective, consumption--whether of material goods or energy--poses the greatest threat of anything we do," he declares. "So making more with less during the holidays has enormous impact."

Being environmentally conscious also reduces your holiday stress. Cutting back on the overdoing and overspending helps keep your immune system strong and winter-cold-resistant. It also brings more personal value to a celebration that can feel generic and hollow.

"I think of environmental consciousness as taking a step back and focusing on the season," says Sarah Roberts, director of communications at the Center for a New American Dream, which promotes conscious consumerism. A recent poll by the group found that 77 percent of Americans would like a more simplified holiday season. "You have all your friends and family around, so take advantage of that and spend time with people rather than focusing on gift giving," Roberts adds.

Do yourself and the earth a favor: Before you decorate your home, wrap your gifts, and set out your buffet, consider these paths to a happier holiday.

o tannenbaum

EVERY YEAR, roughly 35 million Christmas trees are cut down and sold, serving as a major source of holiday waste. Does that mean you should hang your ornaments on the coat rack?

"Don't feel guilty about buying a tree," says Deborah Gangloff, executive director of American Forests, a nonprofit conservation organization. Holiday trees are grown as a sustainable crop; in fact, 1 acre of Christmas trees produces enough oxygen to support 18 people, and provides habitats for birds and wildlife. Buying an artificial tree isn't a better choice, since most faux foliage is made from earth-toxic PVC.

"The very best thing you can do is buy a live tree--not a cut tree, but a live tree, with a root ball," Gangloff advises. Live trees can be found at most nurseries and some tree lots. When you're done with it, plant the tree in your garden. This requires some forethought, particularly in colder climates where you'll need to break up the ground for planting before it freezes; you'll also need to keep a live tree moist, and indoors for no longer than a week. If that's not possible, purchase your cut tree from a tree farm that shuns pesticides and chemicals.

Unhappily, the vast majority of holiday trees end up in landfills, wrapped in plastic and trailing tinsel. Never dump your tree at the curb for the garbage collectors. Instead, take your de-decorated tree to a collection center, where it will be recycled--for example, ground up as mulch for use in city parks. To find one of the more than 3,800 centers that accept old trees (some curbside pickup), visit earth911.org or call your city's public works department.

deck the halls

DECORATING FOR the holidays is a great opportunity for personal expression, yet many people fall back on petroleum-based strands of tinsel, a plastic Santa Claus on the lawn, and old-fashioned lights that blaze from November until Groundhog Day. "We waste 40 percent more energy during Christmas than during the rest of the year by burning lights and doing extra driving," says Lawrence Axil Comras, president of Greenhome.com.

Look for energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs, which burn just as brightly as regular tree lights but use 5 percent of the energy and last up to 100 times longer; they're available at greenhome.com and at some hardware stores.

Rather than filling the house with store-purchased trinkets--which typically are mass-produced, easily broken, and destined for landfills--make your decorations personal and/or biodegradable. Fashion winter squash and pomegranates accented with fragrant cinnamon sticks and nutmeg into wreaths and centerpieces. No time? Buy a biodegradable wreath made from birdseed for your front door; browse for one at backyardbird.com.

Let meaningful souvenirs and photographs take the place of glass and aluminum ornaments. "I use photos of people--I cut them out and glue them on a block of wood," says Comras, who also saves mementos (like a ping-pong ball from a game he won, or the logo from his favorite baseball cap) and transforms them into ornaments. He even recruits unwanted packing materials and Styrofoam: "If it looks like snow, I'll put it at the bottom of the tree."

the best gift

MOST OF THE PRESENTS you'll buy in December will be quietly discarded before the bills arrive in January. Skipping gifts altogether may be too Scrooge-like but a meaningful medium can be found. First, ignore the siren call of the mall on the day after Thanksgiving--the busiest shopping day of the year--by observing International Buy Nothing Day. (Visit ecoplan.org/ibnd/ib_index.htm for details,) Then consider ways to avoid a shopping hangover while coming up with ideas for gifts that might actually be appreciated.

"Historically, handmade gifts were the ones more cherished," says Comras. "As manufactured goods became available to the masses, the idea of a store-bought gift gained ascendancy--but that era is now coming full circle."

For many, a return to handmade gifts has put the fun back into the holidays. Sarah Roberts and her co-workers plan an annual party for crafting scented soaps as stocking stuffers. "People use and keep homemade gifts because there's a memory associated with them," Roberts says. As an alternative, gifts of service (e.g., car washing, dog walking, foot massaging) have no environmental impact and plenty of personal significance.

Rather than asking friends and family members what they want, ask them what they want to do. "We often give tickets to shows or concerts--it has a certain intimacy," says Allen Hershkowitz, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "One of our sons is a pianist, so we get him tickets to concerts to stimulate his mind and soul. Another son is into sports so we buy him tickets to sports events. We try to avoid material things if at all possible."

This is particularly useful for senior acquaintances. "A lot of older people have a lot of everything--what is there left to buy?" observes Roberts. "So if you plant a tree in their name, it's special."

If you must whip out your credit card, antiques are eco-friendlier and more distinctive than new purchases. Comras recalls a particularly successful choice: an antique rotary phone he gave to a history buff. And don't be reluctant to "re-gift" unwanted trinkets, perhaps by hosting a white elephant exchange party; you may not want that set of designer poker chips, but your friend the gambling buff will love it. Finally, a nice added touch to electronic gifts is to include rechargeable batteries.

Gonna wrap my heart in ribbons

IF YOU TAKE THE TIME to come up with personalized gifts, it's a shame to use generic wrapping paper, particularly when you're trying to think green. "The paper industry has one of the largest ecological footprints in the world," notes Hershkowitz. "Using recycled paper is a very, very important thing to do during the holidays; you reduce forestry, water, energy, and global warming impacts."

Take those Christmas cards: A 10 percent reduction in the 750 million greeting cards sent annually could save about 30,000 trees, according to the Environmental News Network. And if every house in America reused just 2 feet of ribbon this year, the resulting 38,000 miles would tie a bow around the planet, states The ULS [Use Less Stuff] Report.

Certainly, you can reuse paper and ribbons, as well as replenish your wrapping supplies from companies that utilize recycled materials. But why not expand your gift-wrap horizons? Create your own from discarded fashion magazines or the Sunday comics. Product designer and developer Douglas DeVivo plunders old atlases and vintage newspapers he finds at local library sales and flea markets. "You end up with a colorful collage of wrapping paper you've hardly spent any money on," he says. "People hate to tear it open--it's generally better than the present!"

Out-of-date maps may be as near as your glove compartment, or check out necartographics.com for stationery and gift boxes made from government topographic maps. Or bypass paper altogether. Colorful dish towels, sheets, or scarves work as wrappers (or the presents themselves), and swap meets are filled with vintage boxes and tins that may be as unique as the gift inside.

here come a-wassailing

OVERCONSUMPTION extends from the mall to the buffet table. "The amount of food waste at holidays is enormous," says Lilienfeld.

The easiest way to avoid the waste is simply to cook less. Organic chef Akasha Richmond advises doing some math before turning on the stove. "Who is going to eat more than 6 ounces of protein total in a holiday buffet? Most people won't. So calculate," she says. Three to 4 ounces per person per side dish is generous, while a 9-inch pie can satisfactorily serve eight.

To indulge, Richmond suggests upping the quality rather than the quantity. "Don't make so many things, but make what you do make the best," she explains. "Get the best chocolate, and serve one fabulous chocolate dessert, rather than two or three."

Be judicious when serving yourself as well. "The moment you put food on your plate, it has no value," Lilienfeld points out. "What remains on the serving tray can be used again." Have a plan for what to do with leftovers; e.g., pick up the ingredients for turkey soup (celery, carrots, onion, parsley, garlic, and noodles) when you buy the bird so scraps won't spoil before you can return to the market.

Instead of fueling the garbage can this year, give some of your abundance to others. Send extra food home with guests. Although food drives and homeless shelters won't take your leftovers, they greatly value unopened food donations, as well as volunteers.

"In our home during the holidays we make a point of reminding our children how fortunate they are, and we often discuss income disparities," says Hershkowitz. "We give gifts of food and clothing to people who have less than we do in lieu of taking more for ourselves. During times when materialism seems to be celebrated so aggressively, educating our children about the less privileged people in this world is most urgent. And it's a very satisfying thing to do."

10 ways to trim your HOLIDAY WASTELINE

1. There's no place like home for the holidays when you're trying to save gas. Pretend that you're a tourist visiting your own town.

2. Turn down the heat before guests arrive. You'll save energy, and once they're all gathered inside, their body heat will warm up the room.

3. The smaller the lightbulb, the lower the wattage and the less energy consumed.

4. Faster film speeds, such as 400 or 800, reduce the use of flash and extend camera battery life.

5. Consolidate purchases into a single shopping bag, rather than accumulating new ones at each store.

6. When e-shopping, choose items that won't require excessive packing materials. (To start, visit ecomall.com or greenshopping.com.)

7. Call the Plastic Loose Fill Council's hotline at 800-828-2214 to find local businesses that reuse packing peanuts.

8. When in doubt, give someone a gift certificate or make a charitable donation in his or her name.

9. Old clothes and jewelry make great dress-up togs for tots.

10. Score 33 more suggestions in Robert Lilienfeld's article "42 Ways to Trim Your Holiday Wasteline" at use-less-stuff.com.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Weider Publications
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