Dreaming of greener holidays

This year, I've made a personal commitment to making this holiday season a bit greener than the last. I've participated in the holiday season in the past, knowing that I'm having a negative impact on the environment, but ignoring the consequences. So, here's my plan...

1. Stay out of the malls! Shop locally and support the downtown community. I'm also going to go to craft-fairs and markets. This will mean that I will have to plan ahead to get all my shopping done early to avoid the last minute panic dash to the mall. (It's probably going to make me less stressed in the long run too)

2. No more useless gifts! I'm not going to by "stuff" for the sake of a present. I'm going to by thoughtful and meaningful presents. This might also mean that instead of buying a big item I'll buy tickets to a concert or restaurant gift cards. For the people on the list that I'd normally buy smaller gifts for, instead of giving a trinket, I'll bake some cookies or make Irish cream. Maybe I'll even knit something.

3. No more paper! I'm not wrap any of my present. I might put a bow or ribbon to dress it up a bit. If I get really ambitious, I might sew a gift bag out of scraps of material. So, if you get an unwrapped present from me this year, it's not because I'm lazy, it's because I love you.


Those are my three goals for this year. Nothing too extraordinary, or innovative. Simple stuff. There's lots of other things that we all can do this year too.

- serve local produced and/or organic food and beverages

- buy a Christmas tree that you can plant in your yard in the spring

- instead of buying gifts for people, make a donation in their name to a local charity

- use only LED lighting

- purchase carbon offsets for your extra emissions created over the holidays