According to the UCC (Union of Concerned Scientists,) between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, we generate 25 percent more landfill waste than during the rest of the year and buy enough greeting cards to fill a football stadium 10 stories high! We have given you green tips in previous years about greening up your holidays, so we won’t deluge you with all of them again.
Just a few:
- BYOB: Bring your own tote bag to carry gifts, avoiding the waste of paper and plastic bags.
- Creative gift wrapping: If each American household wrapped three gifts in reused materials, enough paper would be saved to cover 45,000 football fields! Reuse old wrapping paper, gift bags or boxes, and Sunday comics, or make cloth bags in which to present your gifts.
- Gift certificates: Offer to do yard work, shovel snow, babysit, walk the dog, or cook dinner.
- Donations: Make a donation in someone’s name to a charity he or she would appreciate.
