A green holiday benefits the environment and your wallet. In many cases, choosing a green Christmas option also saves you money. One important way to increase the green factor of your Christmas celebration is to scale back on decorations, entertainment and gifts. This reduces the amount of waste produced and energy used to create and ship items that may eventually end up in the back of the recipient’s closet. Make your Christmas celebration green as a gift to yourself and Mother Nature.
Step 1
Purchase a potted Christmas tree instead of cutting one down. Plant the tree outside the following spring. Recycle the tree if you choose to go with a cut Christmas tree. Check for a local tree recycling program, which will turn them into mulch or other usable material.
Step 2
Decorate the tree with LED lights instead of traditional lights to save energy. Limit the time that the lights are turned on to save more energy regardless of the type of lights used.
Step 3
Choose simple decorations that have a green element to them. Consider using items from nature, such as pine cones and berries, to decorate the tree. Look for decorations that are made from recycled materials, or make your own decorations from materials at home.
Step 4
Choose green gifts for the people on your list. Recycle items into new gifts for a green gift option. For example, cut up old flannel shirts into squares and sew them together as a quilt.
Step 5
Find environmentally friendly ways to wrap gifts. Use the comic section of the newspaper as a recycled gift wrap option. Place gifts inside a reusable cloth bag instead of wrapping paper. Use a colorful page from a magazine to wrap small gifts.
Step 6
Make your own Christmas cards by recycling cards from previous years. Cut out the pictures from past Christmas cards. Glue them to recycled paper to make new cards.
Step 7
Use additional recycled Christmas cards to create gift tags. Cut squares out of the cards, centering a picture in the square. Punch a hole in a corner of the square. Use a ribbon to tie the gift tag onto the present.
