"It's the Most Wasteful Time, Of The Year....With the Kids Jingle Belling and Everyone Telling you "Be of Good Cheer"

Ok, so I changed a few words around, and I can't say for sure that the holiday season is the most wasteful time of the year but If I had to bet....that's where my money would be.

Think about it, we spend our hard earned money on decorative wrapping paper just so our kids can tear it open in an instant. Do they really care if the wrapping paper was pretty or not? Not usually. Here is a good idea for saving trees, reducing waste and teaching kids about caring for the environment. You can use old newspaper to wrap gifts as well as paper bags from the grocery store. Of course we recommend you use your own cloth bags for grocery shopping but If you have a few paper ones laying around you might as well use them. If you are overly concerned with making the paper wrapping look nice, you can paint fun pictures on them.

It's inevitable, you will probably get a shirt from your Aunt again this year that wasn't even in style 5 years ago. If you do, save the box or gift bag, even if you are going to return the shirt. Odds are, you will need a box just like it. *Sorry pack rats, this is not an excuse for you to just collect more stuff:)

You will go to enough parties and functions over the course of the year where you shouldn't have to buy hardly any boxes.

If you do need to buy wrapping paper, look for eco friendly wrapping paper. Use 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW) content when you can, to minimize your contribution to the landfills. Try to buy processed chlorine-free (PCF) paper products, these products do not use bleach or chlorine bleach to alter the final product.

Call me a non-traditionalist but Holiday cards are a tremendous waste especially if it is coupled with a gift. 9 times out of ten your card will be tossed in the trash (hopefully recycled) the minute you leave the holiday party. If the card serves as your gift, send a nice photo or photocard instead that will be kept and treasured for years to come.

One more tip, instead of topping a gift off with a decorative bow, use a nice flower. It looks great, is not as wasteful and will be a great conversation starter. I'm expecting emails from angry gardeners on this one but our goal is to eliminate waste even if it is something as small as a bow. You can also put gifts in baskets that you know they will reuse and not dispose of. If your giving lotions or candles (natural - I hope) you can spice up the presentation by tossing lemons into the basket or whatever fruit or garnish might be appropriate.

The key in all of this is to slow down the demand for wasteful or non environmentally friendly products. If we buy less, they will produce less and be forced to adapt to more eco friendly practices.

If you have any more eco friendly holiday tips, feel free to email them to us and we will share them.

Happy Holidays!