Ready to have some fun this holiday season and keep the health of the planet in your celebrations? Here are 5 actions you can take this week to kick off your sustainable holiday season:
- Check out this great article by our friends at Sustainable Baby Steps– we love their underlying message of all eco-friendly holidays: simplify.
- Do not purchase individually bottled beverages– we often lean towards convenience when it comes to celebrating. Who wants a celebration to be challenging? Because there is so much to do and our calendars are full, we might decide to just do what is easiest and skip what is best. Limiting your use of plastic all year long is really important – especially at the holidays, where there are large rates of consumption in general.
- Creating a gift-giving list? See how many of those individuals you can shift the focus from giving an item to giving a memory. You might be surprised to find that 100% of the consumed goods you would give can be replaced by the gift of your time.
- Still going with the giving of an item? Support local businesses! Can you give a gift certificate to a locally owned spa or restaurant? Is there a locally owned artisan shop where local artists can be supported through your purchase?
- Skip disposable plates and utensils– telling someone to just throw it away is really silly – where is this “away”? Away no longer exits – so using cloth napkins, the good china, pulling dinnerware from other homes to meet the needs are all great ways to limit trash and build community.