While we're focusing on giving gifts, teach your kids to "go green" when possible. While no one really loves the idea of regifting, there are a lot of ways you can make the holidays a bit more environmentally friendly.
- Use something other than wrapping paper. Wrap gifts in recyclable bags, fabric, or decorative boxes that can get re-used next year, instead of ending up in a landfill. Or, eliminate gift wrap altogether by giving gifts that don't need wrapping -- gift cards, live plants, etc.
- Instead of buying a plastic tree that will eventually end up in a landfill, decorate one of your outdoor trees for the holidays. If you like having an indoor tree, it's still more environmentally friendly to chop one down which has been grown at a tree farm than to buy a commercially processed polyvinyl chloride tree!
- If you're giving gifts this year, purchase them online when possible, because that cuts down on pollution and gas used on those mega-trips to the mall. Another option is to purchase from vendors who have local warehouses; that keeps the amount of fuel used in shipping low as well.
- Hold a holiday swap meet. Okay, no one likes to re-gift (or re-get), but sometimes it's not such a bad idea. Get together with neighbors and friends for coffee, and have everyone bring one or two items that they've been gifted with but never taken out of the box. While your friend Susie may HATE the Chia pet she got last year, Theresa might know it's the perfect present for her Chia-collecting sister. If you have young children whose toys are only gently used, you can try this as a toy swap as well.
