Dreaming of a green Christmas
|
|
Frank Bruce (right) and his team of horses ferry Christmas tree shoppers through the plantation located at The Christmas Tree Barn in Rutland Town. Albert J. Marro / Rutland Herald |
Toolbox
By Deborah Lee Luskin Correspondent - Published: December 7, 2008
As commonly celebrated among developed nations, Christmas has become an environmental disaster. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Americans produce an extra million tons of trash, including about 38,000 miles of ribbon enough to tie a giant bow around the Earth. Scientists in Australia calculate that December sales of typical Christmas gifts in that country alone create nearly 3 million tons of greenhouse gases and use enough water to create a small, freshwater ocean. Closer to home, the New York City Department of Sanitation collects 2,500 tons of tossed Christmas trees.
And then there's the perennial issue of excess calories that expand our waistlines. Those calories come with an environmental price tag as well. Conventionally produced calories suck up petroleum products in the form of fertilizer, tractor fuel, processing energy and transportation all the while belching carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Additionally, the health risks associated with obesity require medical treatment. Traces of our medicines are excreted in our urine and contaminate our groundwater. Then there are all those perfectly good clothes in our closet that no longer fit. Buying yet more manufactured goods is another form of overconsumption.
In our frenzy to celebrate a white Christmas with all the trimmings of excess consumption of fuel, water and food, we are seriously damaging the planet. But treading lightly on the earth at Christmastime does not mean we have to forgo festivities, including decorations, gift giving and feasts. The winter holiday season can be festive and green.
Because of the huge amount of trash generated and extra electricity consumed for light displays, municipalities around the world have become interested in managing the environmental impact of Christmas. The French government recently asked its towns and cities to reduce their holiday footprints relative to lighting, public transportation, gifts and waste. Here are some suggestions for similarly reducing your environmental impact this Christmas.
Holiday decor
First off, consider decorations that don't require electricity, like boughs of greens from the nearby woods. But if Christmas just isn't Christmas without Christmas lights, consider purchasing strands outfitted with LED bulbs, which use less electricity. Switching to eco-friendly bulbs for the holiday lights on the Champs-Elysιes reduced the Paris electricity bill by 70 percent. But maybe it's time to rethink outdoor lighting displays entirely. Without light pollution, starlight can be pretty spectacular, especially with snow cover. Rather than blind the darkness, we could celebrate it with moonlit walks. Indoors, we could burn candles instead of lights and create the out-of-the-ordinary atmosphere that makes a holiday special.
If a tree is part of your holiday tradition, try thinking out of the box. Instead of a live tree, consider a potted Norfolk pine or other houseplant. Or buy a live tree to plant as soon as the ground thaws. If you do want a Christmas tree, buy a cut tree rather than an artificial one. A cut tree can be recycled into nature via compost, whereas an artificial tree just becomes trash.
Transportation
If you have access to public transportation, use it. If not, make strategic use of your car. Plan family trips into town, park the car and walk from shop to shop. Limit the number of shopping trips you make by organizing your lists. Buy local gifts, especially for local friends. For friends and family far away, consider staying home and shopping online.
Eco-friendly gift giving
There are two rules of thumb here: First, eliminate excessive gift giving by giving gifts from the heart, not from obligation; second, consider how the gift will be consumed, used, and/or disposed of. Eco-friendly gifts abound. Gifts of service such as a massage, or a certificate for a yoga class are not only environmentally low-impact, but healthful. If you want to give something more tangible, give a gift that will help the receiver to live green. Some ideas include: a battery recharger, reusable shopping bags, a clothes-drying rack or a bucket for kitchen compost.
But most of the recipients on your list probably already own more stuff than they know what to do with, so consider visiting or phoning someone and making meaningful human contact instead of simply handing over a package. Use the time to collect personal stories, share photographs or learn family stories, especially from older family members. Plan an outing to hear holiday music, or attend a service or performance together. Gifts of time and service are more meaningful than any plastic doodad.
Make your gift dollars do double duty by making a donation to a charity in someone else's name. You can buy trees, farm animals, school uniforms, food, shelter, first aid, medicine all kinds of essential things for people in need around the world. Charities make this kind of gift giving easy. It helps restore the balance of goods in the world in a small way and places the principle of charity at the center of the holiday.
Waste management
Reduce, reduce, reduce. Waste management really covers it all: decoration, transportation, gift giving. But here are some specifics.
If you must send Christmas cards, send them electronically. If you must wrap Christmas gifts, do so creatively. Wrap kitchen gadgets in dishtowels; personal items in handkerchiefs, washcloths or organic cotton bath towels. Make the wrap part of the gift.
Reuse last year's wrapping paper and ribbon, if you saved it. Save it again this year. Wrap gift box tops and bottoms separately, and reuse them each year. Use newspapers and twine; the comics make for colorful wrapping. Most radically: Present the gift personally, with no wrapping at all just a kiss.
If you use ribbon, don't use tape. If you don't save your paper and ribbon for next year, recycle it.
Waste management applies not just to gifts, but to food and drink, too. Buy locally produced food, sustainably farmed. While this food may be more expensive, it is also more delicious and often more satisfying. Eat less you'll feel better. Compost kitchen scraps.
Leave no trace
In the backcountry, hikers are taught to "Leave only footprints, take only memories." We can practice this same philosophy of treading lightly on the earth at Christmastime by replacing acquisitiveness with ingenuity-based generosity. The suggestions above emphasize the small, the local and the personal. The rewards are great, both for the planet and the soul.
It's highly possible that thinking green will help relieve the stress that has become part of the holiday frenzy. I'm dreaming of a green Christmas where instead of exhausting myself chasing after "things" I spend more time visiting with my family and friends and enjoying true yuletide peace.
Deborah Lee Luskin is a freelance writer, visiting scholar for the Vermont Humanities Council, and a commentator on Vermont Public Radio. She lives in Williamsville and can be reached at deborahleeluskin@yahoo.com.
ON THE NET
Sierra Club's green holiday tips
www.sierraclub.org/holidays/
42