Green Sprog Tips: 6 Ways I'm Greenifying Christmas

Decorating our tree in 2011.

This year, I'm going to try a few things to have a greener Christmas. I did quite a few last year (here's the roundup) & I plan to keep up with all of them again this year, but there's always room for improvement, so here's my list of new ones:

1. Making an advent calendar felt board--reusable, using felt that's made from recycled pop bottles, thus avoiding the plastic, cardboard & foil in the disposable chocolate ones. Also avoiding the sugar high each morning when he gets his fix...
2. Hand decorated wrapping paper made of reused packing material (newsprint). This isn't necessarily an improvement on the fabric gift bags I sewed last year, but it's a way to use that paper one more time before recyling it.
3. Reduce the number of Christmas cards I send. I still want to send out some real ones to family & a few friends, but this year I'm going to make a nice digital version of our card to email to most people.
4. Baking Christmas goodies myself rather than buying the (usually) plastic-wrapped store-bought kind. I'm hoping to make shortbread, sugar cookies & some peppermint bark. I will try to do some sort of pie too, I think.
5. Going car-free. This year we're hosting dinner at our place, so we don't need to drive to Coquitlam. The money we save on the car booking, I think we may 'invest' in item #6 on this list:
6. Getting a free-range & possibly organic turkey for the big dinner. Not only better for the animals' welfare, but better for the environment because organic meat doesn't involve pesticides in the feed they're given, or the overuse of antibiotics.

What are you doing to make this a greener Christmas for you & your family? Got any ideas to share? Leave a comment & share!


Nothing says “best gift ever” like a gray fox!
 

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