How to Green Your Holidays
You can be festive and eco-friendly at the same time, if you follow these suggestions.
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Make your life more eco-friendly with the green living tips in this Howcast video series. The environment will thank you!
You Will Need
- Heritage meat
- Heirloom fruits and vegetables
- Locally produced foods
- Cloth napkins
- Energy-efficient lighting
- Consumable gifts
Steps
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Step 1
Serve heritage meat
At holiday dinners, serve heritage meat – meat from animals raised on sustainable or organic farms that comes from less common breeds. Heritage turkeys, pigs, and cows are just a few of the choices available. Most are antibiotic- and hormone-free, plus they're more flavorful.
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Step 2
Prepare heirloom crops
Use heirloom fruits and vegetables in your side dishes. It will help preserve varieties not mass-produced by industrial farms.
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Visit eatwellguide.org to find farms and markets near you that sell heritage and heirloom foods.
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Step 3
Buy local
Buy foods and beverages that have been produced locally.
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Step 4
Eliminate paper products
Eliminate as many paper products as you can: Use cloth napkins; mop up spills with dishcloths; wrap gifts in old newspapers or magazine pages; and send e-cards or recycle last year's holiday cards into postcards.
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Step 5
Save energy
Save energy by using LED lights on your holiday displays. If you're giving a battery-powered gift, include a rechargeable battery and charger.
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Step 6
Green your gifts
Green your gift-giving: Give consumables, like food or movie tickets, or a coupon for a personal service; make a charitable donation in your recipient's name; spruce up a thrift-shop find; or give something that helps the environment, like a grocery tote bag.
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Buy your gifts locally to spare the environment the emissions used in shipping.
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Step 7
Cut down on gifts
Cut down on gifts altogether by agreeing to give only to the children in the family; organizing a Secret Santa, where everyone picks just one person to give a gift to; or suggesting a group outing in lieu of exchanging presents.
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According to one environmentalist, if every American family saved and reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of trimming saved could tie a bow around the planet.
