Sustainable Holidays

Season’s Greetings! This chapter of CHI’s Clean Blue Green program offers suggestions for a more ecologically sustainable holiday season. Most of us look forward to enjoying Christmas, Chanukah, New Year’s and other winter celebrations, but in our modern commercialized world, this can also be a time of unnecessary excess.

According to Zero Waste Canada, a Vancouver-based advocacy group, Canadians throw out a total of 540,000 tonnes of wrapping paper and gift bags during the festive season. The group also states that the average Canadian generates 50 kilograms of garbage at this time, 25% more than during the rest of the year.

In addition, it is estimated that the excessive use of holiday lights in the U.S. accounts for 6.6 billion kilowatts of electrical consumption per year. There is no figure for Canada as a whole, but Statistics Canada numbers show that 42% of households in Alberta reported using the brighter LED holiday lights in 2015, up from 31% in 2007. This waste of energy contributes to global warming and light pollution, especially if lights are left on overnight. Unnatural nighttime light also disturbs the natural cycles of wildlife, including causing migratory disruption in birds.

Thankfully, just as the Grinch couldn’t steal Christmas from the village of Whoville, the basic underlying theme of coming together joyfully during the darkest days of winter endures. It will always be a time to celebrate family, friends, food, fun & sharing abundance with those less fortunate. Simple pleasures like feasting and sharing music, singing, dancing and walks in nature feed our souls during the short days and the dark stillness of Winter Solstice time. We can choose to be free from societal pressures about buying a lot of non-recyclable, synthetic and overpackaged stuff, which puts unnecessary stress on ourselves and our planet.

Everyone has their favourite holiday traditions, and the following are some possible eco-alternatives:

CHRISTMAS TREES

Most artificial X-mas trees are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is toxic to produce and toxic to breathe off-gassing in your home. Real trees bring you indoor forest bathing by exuding natural phytoncides (wood essential oils) that can enhance health. If you don’t like the idea of cutting down a live tree, a potted Norfolk Pine or other conifers can be substituted to be re-used the following year or transplanted in Springtime. Our family often finds our Christmas trees in the ditches beneath powerlines, or one can also arrange cut or blowdown branches tied together in a bucket of water to form a “tree” that can be decorated.

IPhoto by: Kristin Lofgren / How to Grow Norfolk Island Pine, Your Living Christmas Tree

GIFTS

The best present is presence, but for those of us who also enjoy gift giving, there are many alternatives to big box store purchases. You can reduce your footprint by shopping locally and supporting small businesses, artists, craftspeople and your community’s craft fair. There are many gentle-on-the-Earth gifts to be found such as beeswax candles or food wraps and aromatherapy products such as soaps, essential oils, creams, salves, bath bombs etc.

There’s also pottery, wooden and knitted items, and delightful Christmas cards made by children etc. Speaking of children, our extended family gives gifts only to the kids, with books being a big focus rather than screen-oriented gifts (there are many excellent books to be found new as well as in second-hand book/thrift stores or kids’ consignment shops). One of my young niece and nephew’s favourite gifts is a homemade “craft kit”.  For example: give a seashell with a hole in it and a colourful string and beads with which to create a window hanging.

Photo by: Gillian McMillan Blog - The Original Hornby Island Potters

DO IT YOURSELF

A unique and thoughtful handmade gift is very special to receive, and the ideas are endless! These include: knitted or sewn Christmas stockings and cards made of recycled paper, evergreen wreaths, preserves in jars decorated with fabric and ribbon, baked goodies and truffles made of fair-trade chocolate, and tea blends made from dried herbs and flowers from your garden.

Other ideas include making a fat block bird feeder using crunchy peanut butter, suet, wild birdseed mix etc., or Epsom bath salts with essential oils and food colouring in a mason jar. For kids’ gifts, one can make dolls or wooden blocks or other toys. For teenagers or young adults, one can make velvet hair scrunchies or knitted headbands etc.

One year my daughter and I made an illustrated festive season songbook together and gifted many printed copies to family and friends. We take them out every year and sing together around the table after Christmas dinner.

This year on a CHI friend’s suggestion, I am going to be making Christmas crackers using empty cardboard rolls from toilet paper, recycled Christmas tissue paper and ribbons, and then fill them with handmade paper crowns, sweets, and a joke, fortune, quote or blessing, and for kids perhaps a pretty little shell or a gemstone (something other than a plastic toy).

If you do choose to purchase a practical gift from a bigger store, or one that promotes healing, such as an essential oil diffuser, this presents another possible option. One inspiring family has found a happy medium by gifting one another one useful bought gift and one homemade gift.

Lastly, if shopping or crafting is not your thing, there are some wonderful “experience” gifts to be given, such as concert tickets, gift certificates for massage and spa time, restaurants, travel experiences, or even cleaning or other services. Last but far from least, a charitable donation made on someone’s behalf for wildlife protection or people in need etc., is a very heartwarming gift and gives hope for the future, especially for someone who already has plenty. And, of course, there are also many lovely holiday gifts and cards that support different worthy organizations. 

GIFT WRAPPINGS

There are several options to help cut down on the amount of festive gift wrap going into the waste stream. One can reuse store-bought gift bags and wrapping paper year after year, especially if using ribbons instead of tape. Last Christmas, I was very heartened when my three adult children used three different kinds of alternative paper wrap: newspaper comics, brown paper bag paper with plain string and blank newsprint paper with a little bit of colourful embellishment. Old paper maps etc., can be used as well, and all of these options can be reused or recycled.

For zero waste wrapping, re-usable Furoshiki or Japanese wrapping cloth can be used to wrap around a gift and then tied in a knot or a bow. Traditional cloth or any other kind of cloth can be used, including Christmas-themed fabric, often found cheap in the remnant bin at fabric stores. My sister likes to wrap gifts in a tea towel which is a gift in itself. 

Regarding non-plastic scotch tape, there is washi tape made from rice paper and which is biodegradable. For natural, non-toxic ribbon, cotton string or hemp twine can be used and is lovely with a sprig of greenery. Incidentally, raffia ribbon is made either from natural, harvested leaves of a particular species of a palm tree made of wood pulp (and hopefully dyed with vegetable dyes) or it is made of plastic. All kinds of ribbons can be re-used again and again.

GREEN HOLIDAY FEASTING

Lastly, for cutting down on festive kitchen waste, you can avoid using paper plates and napkins, and plastic cups and utensils by requesting that your guests “go green” and bring their own dishes, cutlery and cloth napkins. They can wash their dishes chez vous or take them home to wash. This also eliminates a lot of the clean-up for the hosts! 

You can also ditch the use of polluting aluminum foil and saran wrap by opting for beeswax food wraps or glass or stainless-steel containers for leftovers. For roasting, instead of tin foil, you can use a cookie sheet on top of your large Pyrex bakeware. Bon appetit!

Wishing you all a very Merry environmentally-friendly Holiday Season!

Kristin & the crew at CHI