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Curbly Recession Busters: 12 Ways to go Eco-Festive this Christmas and Save Bucks!

by on Dec 5, 2008

You might want to think of these eco-friendly decorating tips, as gifts to Mother Earth. With them we can all be as green as Christmas trees this holiday season and, in the long run, save some cash while we’re at it.

  1. Celebrate with a small, potted living Christmas tree that you can plant after the holidays and enjoy for years to come.
  2. Instead of buying new ones, reuse or remake your old Christmas decorations.
  3. Swap your old decorations with friends, family or neighbors. (They’ll be new to you!)
  4. Decorate with edibles like using fruit for centerpieces. String cranberries and popcorn for garland or mini wreaths, which you might not eat, but they’re biodegradable and a fun family project to make.
  5. Search your yard or local park for acorns and pine cones or your local beach for seashells to turn into ornaments. (Also makes for a fun family outing.)
  6. Buy low impact, biodegradable and energy efficient products. In other words, eschew plastic and energy hogs!
  7. If you do need new Christmas lights, go LED. And for outside lighting needs, consider going solar.
  8. Turn your Christmas tree’s lights off when you’re not at home. Better yet, buy a low-cost, plug-in-able timer to eliminate unnecessary burning of lights. This goes for the outdoors ones as well.
  9. Save paper by sending electronic greetings, buy cards made of sustainable or recycled paper, or use parts of last year’s cards as embellishments for this year’s cards. Use last year’s cards to make gift tags, book marks, Valentine’s day cards or gift ‘pillows’.
  10. Wrap gifts in newspaper or even fabric, such as fancy scarves, tea towels or small table clothes, or use reusable gift bags.
  11. Skip wrapping tape altogether and tie packages with ribbon or decorative cord, which can be reused from year to year.
  12. Need a Christmas tree skirt? Consider making one out of an old bridesmaid’s dress!

For further eco-friendly Christmas ideas, head to Earth 911 and treehuggingfamily.com.

 

 

 

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