A Clutter Free, Eco Friendly Christmas

There is a good article in National Geographic about the waste we generate at Christmas. "Between Thanksgiving and New Year's day, Americans throw away a million extra tons of garbage each week, including holiday wrapping and packaging, according to Robert Lilienfeld. Lilienfield is co-author of the book Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are.

So why not recycle holiday gift wrap?" Why not indeed? Better yet, why not find ways to avoid using it in the first place?

Salt on the Street is a church organization that serves the homeless. Every Saturday night they set up in a parking lot downtown. They pull in trailers full of donated clothing, shoes, camping gear and blankets. These items are all spread out on tables and the homeless people choose what they want or need. Teams of men fan out and look for homeless people under bridges and where ever else they can find them and invite them to come in for dinner, clothing and to hear about Jesus. My son and his friends serve on these teams from time to time. While this is happening the church people are setting up a buffet line. They serve dinner and someone gives a sermon. The Mission Statement of Salt on the Street : "We exist to reflect the love of Jesus by loving and feeding those on the street."

Look at the suggestions I've made and see what might work for your family. Think up your own ideas for a clutter free and more meaningful Christmas and add them to the plexo below.

Parents are concerned about spending money on expensive plastic toys which don't last long and that may have toxic paint on them. Solve all of these problems with Handcrafted Wooden Toys. Attend a craft show or a farmer's market and look for a local craftsman that makes wooden toys. Look in the phone book or look online to find the nearest wooden toy merchant. Handmade wooden toys are generally heirloom quality, built to last and free of toxic paints and dyes. Chances are your child will be able to pass their wooden toys on to their own children some day. A great investment!

I have several friends who make beautiful Fabric Gift Bags to use as Christmas wrap. If you have even basic sewing skills, you can make gift bags out of remnants you already have, or you can pick up great fabric on sale at the fabric shop. This might require a small investment at first but you can put the bags away and use them year after year. You'll be keeping all that paper, ribbon and tape out of the landfill and eventually you will recover the cost.

My husband participates in community theater and this year they did a Christmas musical production. You may have seen him as the Scary Fairy last Halloween.
This time Don appears as Santa Claus, handing out gifts to the children. Later on he sings White Christmas, Elvis style, with four elves for backup. The audiences loved it! This was a great experience and a great way to make memories, not only for our family but for everyone who participated, and all who saw the show.

Who could forget It's a Wonderful Life at Christmas time? It is our family's favorite Christmas movie. Get your family together and invite some friends over for a Christmas movie night with your favorite Christmas movie. Serve popcorn and hot apple cider. It won't cost hardly anything but it will be a fun evening with no clutter and memories will be made.