Holiday Planning: 12 Ways to Be Green Over the Holidays
Get eco-friendly when holiday planning with these green tips. They're easy, economical and they'll totally match your wreath.
- Deck the halls with LED lights. They take up a 10th the amount of energy as regular Christmas lights.
- Trim your tree with natural and recycled items. Remember popcorn strings? Or if you're feeling crafty, try making your own ornaments, like these made from used lightbulbs.
- Bring reusable bags with you when you do your holiday shopping—you'll save the earth and look totally responsible.
- Do some shopping online (Standing in long store lines is so 1998 anyway). Save gas, money, packaging and the environment. Plus, pretty much every site has free shipping right now. It makes holiday planning a lot easier!
- Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, American household waste goes up by more than a million tons a week. Save a tree (or six) by finding creative, earth-friendly ways to wrap your gifts this year.
- Fill your kids' stockings with green toys.
- Send tree-friendly e-cards; you'll save paper and postage. Americans send (and then toss!) more than 2 billion holiday cards each year—yikes!
- Turn down your thermostat by three degrees (or buy a timer thermostat that regulates the temperature for you). It'll save energy, and you can rock that cute new sweater indoors without sweating your boobs off.
- If you're traveling by car this holiday season, save energy by making sure your car is tuned up and ready for winter driving. Driving on under-inflated tires can decrease your gas mileage by as much as 5 percent.
- The real vs. fake tree debate rages: some folks use artificial to save trees and others use real to save the landfills. The greenest alternative? Neither! This year go green by renting out a live tree in a pot. The fabulous firs can later be planted in city parks or school yards.
- When you're done with your Christmas tree, be sure to mulch it! Many cities now offer mulching services (or you can DIY!) To find out what's available in your area, check out Earth911 and punch in your area code.
- For more earth-saving tips, check out Nickelodeon's Big Green Help.
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