The Green Review

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… but not if you’re the planet!
In Canada 545,000 tonnes of waste is generated from gift-wrapping and shopping bags each year, while using over 6 million rolls of tape! Plus, within 6 months, only 1% of everything the average person buys is still in use, the other 99% has been discarded!

So, what can we do?

Decorations

In the US, holiday lights use more electricity than some less-developed countries use in an entire year (Center for Global Development). However, some people believe you need lights and decorations to make the holidays feel special! If this is you, here are some tips on how to decorate for the season and reduce your impact.

• LEDs are 80-90 % more energy-efficient than incandescent lights. Moreover, they last longer and save you money on your electric bill! You can go one step further in energy efficiency and buy solar-powered LED lights.
• Connect your lights to a timer to so they’re only on when you want them to be.
• Avoid tinsel and plastic ornaments - use homemade decorations instead from nature with evergreen branches, pinecones, and berries. Popcorn, cinnamon sticks and cranberries or dried citrus fruits strung together make beautiful decorations! You can even make baked decorations!
• Host a holiday décor swap with your friends, family and neighbours. Get new-for-you holiday gear for free while getting rid of any unused decorations and lights you may have lying around.

Food

Feasting during winter celebrations is always expected. It’s easy to forget about sustainability when planning HUGE meals, however, choosing sustainable options for food can actually improve your experience while helping the planet. Here’s some tips to make your menu more sustainable:

• Support your community and shop local. The food is often fresher with a smaller carbon footprint. While trickier during winter, you still have many options.
• Select organic produce grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers made from fossil fuels.
• Choose grass fed meat - it reduces the amount of grain and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
• Be exciting and try going vegan – one of the most significant things you can do to reduce make an impact!
• Think about how much you REALLY need. Food waste is a huge producer of greenhouse gas emissions, so don’t make too much!

Gifts

For gift giving, it really is the thought that counts. Take an extra second to think about what you can do to be sustainable when gift giving:

• Shop at craft fairs and locally owned small businesses.
• Look for eco-friendly and fair-trade gifts. Buy gifts made with recycled materials and produced locally for bonus points.
• Shop close to home. Take public transportation or carpool with a friend if possible. Avoid multiple trips.
• Give experiences instead of material presents. You can also buy memberships and gift cards.
• If you’re artsy, crafty, or handy in the kitchen, make your own gifts.
• Make a donation in their names. Support charitable organizations in this time of giving!

When thinking of gifts, you also need to think of the wrapping paper. Holiday wrapping paper is one of the biggest culprits of seasonal waste. Instead of buying rolls and rolls of paper get destroyed in an seconds, consider the following ideas:

• Use kids’ artwork, magazines, posters, newspapers, paper bags, and maps for wrapping gifts.
• Re-use delivery boxes, you can even add bows to create that festive feeling.
• Gift bags or baskets are a great option and they can be used year after year.
• If you must buy wrapping paper, buy recyclable or recycled options.
• Limit, or completely avoid, the use of tape. It’s just strips of single use plastic!

Trees

If you celebrate Christmas, or use trees for your celebration, a common question you might have is: What’s better for the environment, real or artificial tree?

Luckily, a comprehensive a Life Cycle Assessment was conducted in 2010 by the American Christmas Tree Association came up with the following recommendations:

• If you go for an artificial tree, you should keep the tree for several years and donate your old trees. To ‘break even’ on production of an artificial tree, it needs to be used for roughly 9 years.
• Environmentally conscious consumers should focus on local trees – as the environmental impact is heavily influenced by consumer car transportation.
• If you purchase natural trees, reuse the tree material as mulch or in other ways to gain  additional  benefits and reduce the impact of the tree before their ultimate disposal and decomposition.
• Consumers who wish to celebrate the holidays with a tree should do so knowing that the overall environmental impacts of both natural and artificial trees are extremely small when compared to other daily activities such as regular driving. You can make more of an effort elsewhere in your life.

It has even been highlighted that, due to the small relative impact these trees have, Christmas tree farms can function as carbon sinks with small shifts towards sustainable farming. While carbon offsets are imperfect; even if emissions are not reduced, carbon offsets still yield an environmental benefit.
So... look for Sustainable Farms in your local area!

No matter what your festivities look like, you’re now armed with ideas to make this year’s celebrations more sustainable and less wasteful.

Happy Sustainable Holidays!