Talking About Green

Dreaming of a green Christmas? Most of us look forward to the holidays, but our garbage men don’t. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, they lift about 25 percent more trash into their trucks than usual. Packaging, wrapping paper, ribbons, and wasted food add one million tons to the nation’s garbage during these weeks. Perhaps trimming our holiday “wastelines” could put less emphasis on some aspects of gift-giving, without creating Grinches. Most of us have entirely too much “stuff” anyway and are watching our budgets.

Wrapping Paper — Isn’t your only option. An eco-friendly alternative is available at your fabric store. I bought various Christmas fabrics 30 years ago and sewed simple gift bags of all sizes that my family is still using. They’re perfect for huge toys, shirt boxes, and weird-sized gifts. Look for fabric on sale after Christmas.

Christmas cards — Are not mailed as much as decades ago. It is nice to know that someone is thinking of you during the holidays, but an email or phone call can be just as personal as snail mail. Just don’t skip Grandmom if she enjoys receiving cards.
Here’s a “green tip” to prepare for next Christmas by using this year’s cards. Simply cut off the front or even a small portion of them, and you have dandy gift tags.

Excess packaging — Can lead to “wrap rage” and even injuries when buyers attempt to open those infuriating plastic clamshell packages. Not to mention that the stuff is eternal in landfills. But there’s hope—just in time for the holidays. Amazon.com just announced a multi-year “Frustration-Free Packaging” initiative to eliminate hard-to-open and excess packaging. It’s only offered for 19 of their best-selling items at the moment, but it’s a start.

If you hate spending fifteen exasperating minutes with scissors, knives, and whatnot, trying to open your latest must-have, complain to the manufacturer. E-mail them and ask that they use an environmental and user-friendly form of packaging.

LED holiday lights — Are the latest trend, even for New York’s famous Rockefeller Center. LEDs use 80 to 99 percent less energy than traditional incandescent lights, last up to 10 times longer, are cool to the touch, shatterproof, and less of a fire hazard.
What can you do with your old “Ghost of Christmas Past” white-light strands? One company will recycle them for free and email you a 15 percent discount coupon for LED lights from their website, http://www.holidayleds.com/

Kudos — To Faye Keenan and her creative seamstress friends at St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Yorktown. They are turning old mattress pads and fabric remnants into quilts for the homeless, and Faye adds, “we’re also keeping all of those recyclable materials out of the landfill.” Now that’s the green Christmas spirit! Phone 898-2999 to help.

Attention shoppers — Parents breathed a sigh of relief when the federal government established safety standards for toys last August. However, toys containing lead may still be sold—until February 2009. There are also conflicting reports about the chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA) that’s in many polycarbonate baby bottles (with “PC” or number “7”) and formula cans. Canada has already banned this chemical in baby products. Avoid warming food in such containers since heat can release BPA. Instead, use safe alternatives such as glass or bottles labeled “BPA-free.”