In all the Christmas frenzy it's very easy to waste, waste, waste which is bad for your pocket and bad for the planet.
An average family throws out an extra five big bags of trash at Christmas ... multiply that out, and that's over 500 million extra bags of trash going to landfill over Christmas in the USA alone!
Luckily it's incredibly easy to go green at Christmas and to save money whilst your at it, which has got to be good!
These 20 easy tips for a green Christmas will get you started ...
... and if you're looking for more Christmas ideas check out the hundreds of links from other bloggers at the bottom of this post and feel free to share your own ...
20 Easy Tips for a Green Christmas
- Buy Christmas trees with roots so can plant in the garden and use again next year
- Recycle last year's Christmas cards into gift tags
- Wrap presents in gift bags made from fabric scraps
- Use brown paper for wrapping as it involves fewer dyes
- Forage holly, fir cones & pine to make your own decorations and wreaths
- Carefully plan meals ... including how to use up leftovers ... to reduce waste
- Use less energy by turning thermostat down a tiny bit every day throughout December - if the change is gradual you won't notice the difference
- Make your own gifts using materials you already have
- Give your kids tiny tokens of your love as stocking stuffers rather than tatty toys they won't play with beyond Christmas day
- Make your own Christmas cards from old card
- Plan baking in December so it goes in oven at same time as your every day meals
- Use locally produced seasonal food that hasn't been shipped half way round the world
- Buy all your fruit and veg free from plastic packaging
- Buy locally made gifts to reduce air miles but do also look out for fair trade gifts that provide producers in developing countries with a living income
- Give a "green gift" such as trees and wild flower seeds
- Don't go overboard with the tree lights & use small LED lights wherever possible
- Reuse and recycle everything you can from your Christmas waste
- Use rechargeable batteries to reduce dangerous chemical waste in landfills
- Make your own fabric napkins rather than using paper ones
- If you're short on crockery & glasses ask guests to bring them rather than using plastic
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