Have an Eco Friendly Christmas in 2012

You might be surprised to learn how much waste is generated during the holiday season. But think about it.. when your family wakes up on Christmas morning and everyone rushes out to the tree and tears open their gifts, all of that wrapping paper, tissue, ribbon, and waste gets shoved into a garbage bag and taken out with the trash. Now imagine that happening in every single house in your neighborhood, and beyond that your city... that's a whole lot of garbage produced in just one day and, if you think about it, for really no good reason. There are many options for using and recycling packaging materials. Or you can just skip it altogether. Honestly, will your son or daughter enjoy the latest video game any less just because it didn't come wrapped in festive Santa paper? We don't think so.

These statistics were found at www.RecycleWorks.org, a great website from San Mateo County, featuring tons of info about reducing, reusing, and recycling, articles, facts and figures, and tips on how to use less stuff and save energy.

From Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste increases by more than 25%. Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons - it all adds up to an additional 1 million tons a week to our landfills.

In the U.S., annual trash from gift-wrap and shopping bags totals 4 million tons. (Use Less Stuff, 1998)

1.9 billion Christmas cards are sent to friends and loved ones every year, an amount that would fill a football field 10 stories high, and requires the harvesting of nearly 300,000 trees.

38,000 miles of ribbon is thrown out each year - enough to tie a bow around the Earth.

At least 28 billion pounds of edible food are wasted each year - or over 100 pounds per person.

Half of the paper America consumes is used to wrap and decorate consumer products.

Each year, 50 million Christmas trees are purchased in the U.S. Of those, about 30 million go to the landfill.

If each family reduced holiday gasoline consumption by one gallon (about twenty miles), we'd reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one million tons.

Christmas trees are an age-old tradition and one of the cornerstones of holiday decorating at home. But the debate has raged for years about the environmental impact of growing, harvesting, and disposing of real Christmas trees.

However, many tree farms, especially those in Oregon, the number one Christmas tree provider in the US, have transitioned into eco-friendly and sustainable methods of raising and delivering trees. And most cities have adopted recycling programs for Christmas trees after the season has ended.

An artificial tree, on the other hand, will ultimately end up in a landfill and they are often made of toxic materials that are not biodegradable.

Some families choose to buy a small tree from a local nursery and keep it potted until it is too large, at which time they plant it in their yard or in the forest, and then start again with another small tree.

Making the best decision for your family can be difficult. But in the end, whether it's real or fake, buy American and explore recycling options for both in your area.

Buying your loved one a handmade gift is an excellent way to support artisans and cut back on the mass-produced junk that clutters our lives and our planet.

How many time have you purchased some lame gift from a megastore just to fulfill your obligations at your family's holiday get-together? Chances are, the person receiving it won't care about it anymore than you do and it will just be a waste. But a handmade, one-of-a-kind gift from an artist is a whole other story, and is much more likely to be cherished and appreciated.

We love ETSY for finding one-of-a-kind gifts, often made with recycled products, handmade by artists. Check it out at www.etsy.com!

Re-gifting is simply the practice of hanging onto unopened gifts you don't want and giving them to someone else, saving yourself money and reducing waste.

The only drawback is the drama that occurs if the person who gave you the gift or the person you re-gifted it to finds out!

Also it could mean a box of hard ribbon candy being circulated through the same family for years and years!

There are a million and one options for creating your own packaging and wrapping for gifts. And the only limit to making your own wrapping and cards is your imagination.

Here are links to a few websites that can jump start your creativity and get you thinking recycled green!

Cards Direct - Personalized, printed cards.

Great Green Woods - Recycled holiday cards

Treehugger.com - Designer recycled wrapping paper

wikihow - How to make your own pop-up card

Of course, you could always just send an eCard!