Going green,and living environmentaly friendly has become a catchy trend. Everything from hybrids,organic cotton clothes, and reuseable shopping bags. But whoever thought that cutting down a tree would be the green thing to do. According to an article on msnbc, scientists say that cutting down a tree is actaully more environmentaly friendly that buying and using a fake on.
In terms of fake trees petorleom is used to make the plastic in them, and a lot of carbon dioxide is used transporting though. Because most real christmas tree and grown on a tree farm, just so they can be cut down, there is no effect on deforestation.
National Geographic also has a lists of ways to have an eco-friendly Christmas.
I know my family always gets a real tree. Something about having a fake one with a pin glade plug-in isn't the same. Also for the past two year my family has been using newspapers and magazines to wrap our presents. We use new ribbon and everything, but wrapping paper always seemeed like such a waste. Plus the presents always look really neat under the tree with all the black and white.
Any one else's family have special holiday traditions that have to do with being green. Whether it be re-using gift bags or stringing up less Christmas lights?
7 comments:
I love real christmas trees so this is refreshing to see! I'm a big fan of the reusing gift bags..i mean why not? They are usually cute and can definitely be used to regift. There is so much we can do to help this "going green" craze. I work at Caribou Coffee and we have these reusuable sleeves for the coffee cups. They are so cute..some are sweaters or khaki or just bold colors. Anyways think about how much paper we would save if we all had a reusable sleeve?
I thought this post was really quite interesting and really made me think about my family's traditions. I had never really thought about applying the green movement to Christmas Decorations or Decor but I can see now what a simple change yet great impact it can make if more people would join the movement. I definitely think looking into greener ways of celebrating christmas will be a great addition to my holiday to-do list this season.
My parents have always made a green effort during Christmas. Since I have a larger immediate family(7 people), my mom has reused gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbon, and bows. Also, we put up the same decorations every year. Decorations that have been handed down from my grandparents, making them sentimental. Although we have a fake tree, we have had it for many years. We don't buy one every year so I guess in that way we are going green and saving money. Also, my dad has recently hung LED lights up outside, which has saved a lot of energy.
I agree with Maureen - LED bulbs are certainly an important step towards an eco-friendly Christmas. They can also save a busy family hundreds of dollars in the long run.
Take a look at this segment about LED bulbs featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show Earth Day Special: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090422-tows-green-home-improvements
When I saw Angie's comment about Caribou Coffee, I couldn't help thinking of this cute ceramic 'paper' coffee cup. I put this on my Christmas list. It's a cute and clever way to save our environment:
http://www.organize.com/i-am-not-a-paper-cup.html
My family has always had a real christmas tree. In fact, I thought everyone got real ones. Since coming to Marquette, it seems like most families have fakes. Which is really depressing to me. Its nice to have some scientific evidence to back up my support for real christmas trees!
My family has never used wrapping paper, ever. I know they make more ecofriendly kinds now but when I was little, they were hard to dispose of properly. So we stocked up on gift bags. We have them in all shapes and sizes. We use the same ones every year. Not just for christmas but for birthdays and other holidays too. We've never had to buy new ones!
I really enjoyed reading this article and the corresponding follow up on National Geographic. I actually never thought about which option was more green between having a fake tree or a real one. Without reading the article I would have guessed that fake trees would be more eco-friendly since they don't involve cutting down trees but then I do understand all the energy that must go into producing them.
I really like your tradition about reusing newspaper as gift wrap. Not to mention eco-friendly, but it is also budget-friendly. Especially with how the economy is these days I can imagine how important it is to cut corners and reusing newspaper as giftwrap would definitely be an option.
When I was younger we would always make our own Christmas ornaments. I never realized until now, how some of them are completely eco friendly! For example, when we were really young we'd decorate pine-cones. We also made gingerbread ornaments that we'd put on the tree. This website has a few more tips on how to make some eco-friendly choices around Christmas time.
http://www.greenyour.com/node/13845
As I student, I also find myself using lots of newspaper to wrap presents for friends. And at home we never throw away a single bag or bow!
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