Will You Go Green This Christmas?

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The shopping is done, the tree is trimmed. The gifts are lying under the tree in wait of their owner. The guest list is ready for the big dinner.

Christmas is all about reliving and rejoicing meaningful traditions. It is also about giving and doing something for the greater good. Something that fills your soul with content and a sense of fulfillment.

Every year, during this time, I ponder about the years gone by, when I was a child celebrating the holidays with my parents and compare it now to celebrating it with my children.

Then I dream of the future, where ideally, I want to see myself enjoying a naturally beautiful Christmas with my grown children and their families. But this pure image is shadowed with an immediate dark thought of how this is even going to be possible some 20 -30 years from now. With environmental conditions deteriorating dangerously each year, I honestly can’t imagine what it’s going to be like.

The USA produces 25% of additional waste during the holiday season. That’s about a million tons of extra waste weekly between Thanksgiving and Christmas! That’s shocking to say the least, as it affects our earth, our health, and our future on this planet.

I don’t mean to dull your festive vibe with these heartbreaking figures, but if you are truly looking to do something meaningful with your Christmas this year, read on for some real green alternatives.

Ditch the Plastic

Plastic has got to number one trash found in landfills. It takes the longest to decompose ranging from 10 to 1000 years! Ditch the plastic whenever and wherever you can.

Store leftovers in glass containers that will last you a long while and not leech dangerous chemicals into your food (yes, plastic containers do that)!

Wrap presents in recyclable gift paper and not that gaudy shiny plastic wrapping plastic found everywhere. Avoid giving presents made from plastic.

This year think of natural décor ideas for your home. This is quite a challenge as décor stores are filled with plastic.  But you could come up with some novel handmade ideas using old photo frames, pine cones, some fallen twigs and watch your Christmas décor come to life.

Use natural branches and pine needles to make wreaths. Tie them using jute threads and adorn the wreaths with recycled materials you find in your home.

Reuse and Recycle Your Christmas Tree

The debate says that fake trees are sustainable as they don’t allow for cutting down of real trees by the thousands. But the truth is a plastic Christmas tree has to be used for 20 years before it can be called more sustainable that a real one.

Made from plastic and other petroleum-based products, it takes five times more energy to produce a fake tree. Each year, thousands of plastic Christmas trees end up in the landfills. This surely can’t be too sustainable can it?

An alternative to this can be to use a natural tree. Real trees are quite obviously a sustainable resource. Christmas tree farms are used only to cultivate trees, as the land isn’t good for anything else to be grown. It takes long for a tree to grow and usually more seeds are sown than trees cut each year. The resources used to produce 1 tree is also very low compared to the resources used in producing plastic trees.

Do your bit and buy your tree from local farmer. This will be your act of giving to your community this year. Not to mention saving on transportation fees. Once its home, keep it in a nice large pot and water it daily like you would any potted plant. Don’t stand it close to heat sources.

I love my trees and can’t stand the thought of dumping a perfectly alive tree just because Christmas has passed. So, I have my eyes on two kinds of trees-ones which were grown in a pot or ones with a ball of earth and root. My plan is to keep the beautiful tree alive and fresh as long as I can. Maybe even till next year, who knows?

Recycle your Tree

If this is not an option for you, you can always look into recycling your trees. There are many collectors in Texas who will pick you trees and turn it to mulch. This can be donated to your local farms or community gardens or you could use it as compost in your own garden. You also have the option of renting a tree instead of buying one. Tree rentals in Texas will deliver the tree, do the decor and pick it up after Christmas. You won’t have to worry about the tree at all!

If you don’t support the idea of cutting down trees, which will truly be the most ecofriendly way, there are so many beautiful ideas online you can incorporate into a DIY tree made from loose branches, or other natural material.

Eat Consciously and Sustainably

Let’s admit it. For most of us, holidays are for eating. Not that I am stating there is anything wrong with it, but we can surely make an effort to be a ‘sustainable’ eater. Use this opportunity to reduce your food waste.

Make a list of groceries you will be needing for your cook and stick to your list. Make calculated quantities of food with a small quantity of backup. Keep food wastage to a minimum. Use the leftovers for next morning’s breakfast or even lunch!

Every year on Christmas, tons of food goes to waste while millions of unfortunate people go hungry. Our duty to the environment is not only limited to reducing our use of plastic, but it also includes having compassion for other human beings, whether we know them or not. This holiday consider helping out in a community kitchen, or pay for meals at the orphans home.

When it comes to sustainable eating I can say as a mother, I am always worrying about the food I feed my family. For me sustainable eating is something I feel very attached to. Buy local, fresh fruits and vegetables, and have some delicious vegan dishes for dinner. Maybe some vegan lentil loaf?

Be aware of where your food is sourced from. Look for regeneratively farmed turkey. Not the genetically modified, or the ones fed genetically modified feeds. Or even better, skip the turkey altogether and go for warm veggie stews and hearty soups.

Reduce Wastage

Not just food, try to curb your wastage of everything else too this year. Reuse your décor from last time, make new décor using things you find at home like paper, cardboard, cans, fleece etc.

As Texans, we like to live life large. This automatically translates into cooking too much in excess, decorating extravagantly, gifting endlessly and shopping mindlessly. Live life large this time around by saving ‘large’. Shop less and save big. Eat consciously but donate food ‘large’. Burn fewer lights but be as generous as you can be with the environment.

Gift Thoughtfully

Gifting is the most exciting part of Christmas for my kids, and there is nothing comparable to the look on their faces when they rip open the glossy wrappers and curled bows off the gifts. Not surprisingly, all this ends up in wastelands or worse, water bodies.

Do yourself and the earth a favor and don’t waste money buying that dreadful wrapping roll. Make simple and beautiful DIY wrapping papers from fancy old dresses that were waiting to be thrown out.

Sequined fabric, netted cloth, denim, the possibilities are endless. Burlap looks very fancy as a gift-wrapping material and is a natural fabric too. Add to it some jute strings painted in festive colors and you will have a chic looking present too pretty to unwrap.

Now what goes inside those sustainable wrapped boxes is another story. My mom’s side of the family has always been very eco-conscious. I remember in my teenage years feeling like they were always stingy on the gifting. Receiving homemade goodies in recycled glass jars or hand sewn dresses made from my aunt’s old dress wasn’t my idea of a gift at all.

Growing older and wiser, I have come to value this trait immensely. How sustainable they were! Anybody can splurge on a fancy present but the thought process and hard work that goes into a handmade gift is priceless. It is a practice that is going extinct. So, I have made it my mission to teach my children the value of handmade gifts no matter how small. You can too.

Eco-Friendly Gifts

Handmade eco-friendly  candles and soaps are a great gifting option. Put these together in a basket along with eco-friendly hand towels, and you have a beautiful and sustainable Christmas present.

Chocolates make for an excellent choice too. But when you buy chocolate, check if it is a Fair Trade chocolate. Chocolate made through fair trade practices means it is sustainably sourced, and the rightful producers in the origin countries are getting their share of profits.

Give time and experience instead of materials. Spending time with your loved ones is another valuable gift of life that is getting hard to find in this rat race that is our life.

Go on a Family Trip

Time shared with your family is priceless. Kids crave attention from us parents. Sadly, the bond between families is getting weaker and the bond between us and our electronic devices is getting stronger than ever.

Work on your family ties this Christmas and give your children and spouses the gift of your undivided attention and joy. Check out some attractions happening nearby!

Be sure to visit the Space Center of Houston as it has a science and space event lined up on Christmas. Galaxy Lights is an all-new technological experience that will enthrall you with its range of interactive displays.

Austin is celebrating the most wonderful time of the year at the ice rink at the Culture Map Rooftop Rink. Become a part of the fun and remember to purchase your tickets online beforehand to avoid the waiting lines.

Visit a local farmers market with your family to do the Christmas groceries and spread the festive cheer. Being outdoors surrounded with farm animals can be very enjoyable for adults and kids alike.

At the end of the day, I hope we emerge from this holiday season feeling renewed and content. Doing our bit for the environment will generate that feeling within us and will help us, and our coming generations thrive on this beautiful planet. Wishing you all a healthy and green holiday!

To find out more about reducing, reusing, and recycling, as well as how to apply these concepts in your own home, check out these tips.

In need of farm fresh turkey for thanksgiving? Get it from these Texas farms!