Holiday Season Repercussion

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you may choose to celebrate this year is an amazing opportunity to get some down time and relax in the comfort of your home. While all of this is certainly appealing to many, for ecologists its another year of creating excessive waste. Decorations that aren't reused, wrapping paper torn apart then tossed away, exchanging useless gifts and many other holiday-related items are harming the planet.

What You Can Do This Year

It is not possible or enjoyable to eliminate all environmentally harmful holiday items and activities, however, there are many simple ways to reduce your waste production this holiday season.

Picking Out Gifts

As the gift exchaging season is underway, many people all across the globe are carefullly selecting gifts for their loved ones. While thinking of what you might buy, consider how long this item will be used untill it ultimately finds its way to a trash can. Often small and inexpensive gifts end up in landfills within weeks. One way to avoid this likely event, is to buy gifts that can be used many times, like mittens, scarves, shirts, keychains or reusable straws. A perhaps more expensive way to purchase sustainable gifts is by finding eco friendly brands. If you are interested in finding out where you can purchase long-lasting items, I have linked a good resource below. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/gift-ideas/g30188103/eco-friendly-gifts/?slide=5

Wrapping Gifts

Another simple way to reduce waste is to wrap gifts together to minimize the amount of wrapping paper used. Beyond this, you can use reusable gift bags that don't have to be immediately thrown in the trash.

Get Inspired

I aim for these tips to be reasonable and useful, so let me know if you have any additional ideas I can add. Unfortunately I could not upload this post until the Christmas Eve, so please keep these tips in mind for future holiday gifting. With that being said, happy holidays!