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Creative Ideas for the Holidays from St. Charles County Environmental Services
By practicing some simple, earth–friendly behaviors, YOU can significantly reduce the amount of garbage that gets landfilled this festive season. The options are endless once you start thinking creatively!
Make a commitment not to buy any wrapping paper or ribbons this year. You'll be surprised at how many options you have to make your gifts look great:
- Use old magazines, maps, used bows, old card fronts, and extra photos to wrap gifts.
- Instead of ribbons, consider placing a flower or a sprig of holly on the top as decoration.
- Colorful or patterned boxes or bags are also nice because they look festive without being wrapped.
The amount of cards sold during the holiday season, 1.9 billion, would fill a football field 10 stories high, and requires the harvesting of nearly 300,000 trees! A few creative solutions and purchasing ideas could help drastically reduce that amount while still keeping in touch with your loved ones.
- Cut out old cards and reuse them for gift tags.
- Make cute envelopes from magazines. Click here for directions!
- E–greetings are a fun and informal alternative to traditional holiday cards. Here are some examples of what is available on the internet:
http://www.americangreetings.com/
http://www.yahoo.americangreetings.com/
- If you purchase cards for the holidays, make sure you look for the recycled content symbol, and recycle the cards that you receive.
More than 28 billion pounds of food are thrown out each year - approximately 100 pounds per person. Help reduce the food and paper your family discards:
- Practice portion control. Not every member at dinner can eat 3 helpings of stuffing!
- Get RSVPs and provide a menu along with invitations, to reduce the need to have multiple options available for everyone.
- Use cloth tablecloth and napkins.
- Use last year's holiday cards as place cards.
- Turn the heat down before guests arrive. You'll save energy and your guests' body heat will warm up the room.
- Set up an area to recycle bottle and cans and place food scraps for compost.
- See this no waste party link for additional tips on how to reduce waste at your holiday gatherings.
Most of all, have a safe and happy Holiday Season!
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