As the country begins to enjoy all of the festivities of the holiday season and excitement increases, so does the amount of waste and trash that is created. According to the Ecology Center in Berkeley, California, “Americans throw away an additional 5 million tons of trash – 25% more than usual – between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. This huge excess of waste can; however, be decreased if families take a few creative steps to celebrate the “green” way. Below you will find a sampling of ideas on going “green” this holiday season compiled from a variety of online sources:

- Buy local and organic gifts; these are often much more personal and unique, and you can feel assured that buying from more socially and earth conscious businesses helps to decrease the amount of travel expenses and energy consumption.

- Wrap presents with recycled wrapping paper saved from previous year’s gifts. You can even preserve old wrap by spraying water or water and starch mixture on paper and ironing with a warm iron…just like new! You can also use old maps, children’s artwork, comics, paper bags stamped with holiday stamps, or handmade cloth bags. These alternatives allow you to re-use and can be recycled or composted.

- Re-use gift bags year after year.

- Use handmade stockings made from old sweaters or rugs to “wrap” most of your small gifts. These gifts of love can become keepsakes for your family.

- If you are giving electronics as gifts, look into recycling your old ones. Many stores offer recycling services for old televisions, computers, cell phones, etc.

- Decorating your house with twinkling lights? You can replace your burned out Christmas tree lights with LED lights that use 90% less energy than conventional holiday lights.

- Consider a real Christmas tree from a tree farm. These trees were planted specifically to be used as Christmas trees, so you are not decreasing the forest’s trees. (A plastic tree is created with many chemicals and eventually will end up in a landfill.) You can also research tree farm pesticide and chemical practices to assure you are buying from an environmentally conscious farm. When the holidays are over, recycle your tree by bringing it to a tree drop-off site where it will be recycled into woodchips or mulch. Or, buy a potted tree which can be enjoyed year after year inside or planted outside. If you live where you can put your tree outside, you can turn it into a wildlife cover and food source by decorating it again with natural bird feed decorations and popcorn/cranberry garland. Click here for a tree recycling drop-off site locator:

- Give gift certificates to reduce the amount of packaging you are giving this year. Gift certificates to organic and earth conscious businesses are even better!

- Give a gift of an experience such as concert tickets, museum tickets, State Park vehicle passes, camping stays, cleaning services, home cooked meals, massage/spa services, kayaking lessons…the sky’s the limit, and the gift will surely be a memorable one!

- Give a gift of land stewardship by donating to your favorite conservation organization in the names of your friends or family. Click here to find out how to give to the GTCD.

- Create handmade gifts from items you can recycle from around the house such as Mason Jar cookie and soup mixes, terra cota pot candle holders, etc.

- Cut holiday shapes out of reused paper bags and old Christmas cards for gift tags.

- Give gift baskets of “green” cleaning supplies or beauty products.

- Create ornaments using natural materials collected from plants such as dried milkweed pods, beechnut husks, dried grasses etc.

- Carpool to holiday parties.

- Serve local and/or organic foods when entertaining guests.

Click here for a list of sources used for this article:  green-holidays