It is almost that time again. The season of peace, joy, carolling, shopping, spending and over-consumption. Yes, the holidays. And although we hate to ruin anyone’s traditions we thought we’d come up with some suggestions about how to reduce our impact on the planet while we celebrate.
We realize this is not everyone’s holiday season, therefore, some of our tips may not apply to you, but feel free to adapt them to your own festive times and customs.
A big question at this time of year is what to do about the tree. Which is more environmentally friendly — a real tree or an artificial one? There are arguments to be made on both sides: an artificial tree can be used for many years; real trees must be cut down and shipped, and you need a new one every year; artificial trees are often made with chemicals that pollute and will eventually end up in a landfill; real trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere until they are harvested and can be recycled (mulched, etc.) after they are used.
To make a long story short(er), our opinion is if you already have an artificial tree, then reusing it is the most environmentally friendly way to go. However, if you don’t already have an artificial tree, then a real tree may be your greenest bet, however, try to buy a tree from a farm that is relatively local and limits pesticide use. Farmers’ markets that are still open may feature local growers of trees and Christmas greenery.
Other features of the holiday season include our paper products. We try to get a little extra bang for our buck with Christmas cards. These are essentially useless pieces of paper we send to people to let them know that even though we are bad about calling them, we still consider them friends (at least that is how it is with us). To pack a little extra meaning into these cards we try to buy them from a charity. Lots of organizations make and sell holiday cards, so look for a legitimate charity printing its cards on recycled paper. These cards can be purchased online or in holiday stalls operated by many charities at this time of year. For instance, UNICEF cards and gifts can be purchased from stalls in Ikea stores.
This brings us to our final point. Lights. We can sum up our tips for decking your halls with bright glowing lights in one word (or rather acronym) — LED. These little bulbs use less than one-tenth of the electricity of a regular incandescent bulb, last longer, are less subject to breakage, don’t produce heat (less of a fire hazard), and they can do all the things incandescent bulbs can do (blink, icicles, etc.). They cost a little more up front than strings of incandescent bulbs, but since they use much less energy and last longer they will pay for themselves over a couple years. So, if you don’t want to be the Grinch that stole all the power this Christmas, get some or go lightless.
Let the games begin! Let holiday madness run rampant! But let it all tread a little more lightly on the Earth.
| green holiday tips |
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sophia dore & andrew laursen for metro toronto
Andrew Laursen is an assistant professor at Ryerson University, studying ecosystem ecology. Sophia Dore is an environmental scientist with Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, an environmental consulting company.
