Guest Post
The holidays are one of those times that people look forward to every year. Families especially get excited about the holiday season. Many families get to enjoy some extra time together, participate in some of their favorite holiday traditions and see some extended family that they might not have seen since the last holiday season.
The holidays can be a difficult time for families who are trying to live in an eco-friendly way. There are many common traditions associated with the holidays that are extremely wasteful and harmful to the environment. Families who are passionate about living green and incorporate their way of living eco-friendly into their holiday traditions. These are simple ideas that any family can use to make their holidays fun and earth-friendly. Here are six tips for having a green holiday.
Go for artificial plants
A real Christmas tree is obviously damaging to the environment and can waste a lot of water. Instead, eco-friendly families can find some great looking fake Christmas trees and other holiday plants to decorate their home with. This is a great way to protect the environment and have some great decorations to use year after year.
Create a fake fireplace
A real fireplace can create a lot of waste and produce a lot of smoke which is extremely damaging to the environment. Families can still enjoy the feeling of a fireplace without all of the waste. Families can decorate a space in their home to look like a fireplace, or have a yuletide log video playing on the TV with frontier internet.
Plan for the right amount of food
Most holiday hosts will try to make as much food as they possibly can to include everyone’s holiday favorites and make sure that everyone is full and happy. This can create a lot of wasted food and can mean that hosts are wasting excessive energy in the kitchen. Instead, hosts can make the right amount of food for each guest and allow for a little bit of leftovers for the next day’s lunch.
Make the holiday gifts from scratch
DIY holiday gifts have become an extremely popular way to not only save money, but also to celebrate the holidays in an environmentally friendly way. Anyone can create some special gifts for their family and friends from found items, like making a batch of cookies or some homemade lotion.
Use energy-efficient lighting
Lights are placed all over the home in traditional holiday decorating, but these lights can consume a lot of energy throughout the season, especially if families leave them on all night long. Instead, opting for energy-efficient LED lighting will help families waste less energy but still have their holiday lights.
Establish a new holiday tradition
Many holiday traditions involve spending time with family and giving gifts. Families who want to create a more eco-friendly lifestyle can try adding some new holiday traditions to their list. Some of these traditions can include volunteering at a soup kitchen or donating items to charity.
We have been using artificial trees for a long long time. (cos we don’t get much of the real stuff here)It’s great when we just lug out the tree from the store on a Nov night, and the whole family starts decorating it. It’s an annual affair!
Thanks to allergies, we always use fake trees. I didn’t realize it until we pulled out the lights today, but the hubby actually bought energy efficient lighting. I will have to give him major kudos for making our holiday greener. Great tips!