December Tips

We all think of "green" for the holidays. We want to hang the greens, but we also worry about spending so much "green." Unfortunately, so much about the holidays involves waste - so we challenge you to be as green as possible in all your celebrations. Here are some specific tips on limited waste from www.blessedearth.org

• Skip paper cards. If everyone sent just one less card per year, we could save 50,000 cubic yards of paper.

• Reduce the trimmings. If every family reused just 2 feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet!

• Wrap in reusable material such as cloth bags or reusable gift bags. If every household in America wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

• If you must use wrapping paper - buy the kind made from recycled paper and make sure you recycle it when finished. So often we rip it off and throw it away and it takes up room in a landfill.

• Switch to LED holiday lights. They cost about $8 more per strand than standard bulbs, but use up to 100 times less energy and will last about ten years when used indoors.