Published on November 26th, 2007 | by Stephanie Evans

Green Holidays

Annual holiday celebrations are among the most joyous times of the year—and they can also be the least environmentally friendly. Even those of us who are careful about wasteful acts the rest of the year can get caught up in the chaos.

Let’s unwrap some ideas for keeping your celebrations greener . . .

Replace older holiday lights with low-power versions.

Start a family tradition of wrapping gifts in the colorful holiday newspaper supplements (then recycle the wrappings).

Choose gifts that will not ultimately add to the waste stream, whether they’re consumables like food or candles, handmade crafts, donations to a favorite charity, or electronic gift certificates to online stores.

Plan shopping trips in advance so you don’t make extra trips to malls or grocery stores.

If you decorate a tree for the holidays, consider buying a live tree and planting it after your celebrations are done.

Less is more. Politely (and well in advance) agree not to exchange gifts with adult friends and relatives, and instead to do something meaningful together. Buy each child fewer gifts, but better ones.