Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Holidays are a time of giving, feasting, celebrating, and generating a big old mess. Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, Americans create an extra one million tons of waste each week and throw away enough ribbon to wrap around the center of the Earth and tie it with a bow the size of the United States. Fortunately, you can make small changes without losing any holiday cheer.

Driving

Santa makes a list and checks it twice so he only has to make one trip on Christmas Eve (granted, it's a long trip). Do the same when you go shopping — write your list before you leave and do as much as you can in a single go. You can also shop online or by catalog and save yourself driving at all.

For holiday parties, carpool or take public transportation with your friends. You'll get more time to gab and save money on gas.

Bagging

Instead of ending your holiday shopping with a pile of plastic bags big enough for your kids to jump around in, take reusable bags with you. They hold more and don't end up in a landfill.

Giving

Recycling isn't just for Aunt Emelia's fruitcake. Give that gift you never used from last year to someone else (just not the person who gave it to you). Give slightly used items to charities, which helps clear out clutter. If you buy new gifts, look for products made from recycled materials.

If much of what you are buying runs on batteries, get rechargeable batteries. And remember the battery charger: get one for your family and one for whomever you give battery-powered gifts.

Chances are the people you know already have too much stuff, so rather than buying quantity, buy quality. The gifts last longer, are more appreciated and generate less packaging. Gift cards are another good way to go. People get what they like and you wrap less.

Living gifts are another option: seeds, house plants or potted plants to be planted outside in the spring. Gifts of food, events — like tickets to the theatre or the big game — or personal services also reduce holiday waste, not to mention saving you time on wrapping. Speaking of which....

Wrapping

Wrapping gifts doesn't mean wasting a ton of paper. Put gifts in reusable decorative boxes, gift bags or Christmas tins. Cut the pictures off old Christmas cards and use them for gift tags.

As for cards, buy cards made from recycled paper, or send e-cards, which use no stamps, require no gasoline to deliver and arrive faster.

If you love to wrap, use color comics from an old newspaper, old maps, stock reports or want ads (picked with the recipient in mind). For a Christmas project for the kids, have them color or stamp plain paper bags, and then use the bags to wrap relatives' gifts. Remember to save any ribbons or bows you get this year to reuse next year.

Decorating

Buy decorations that last for years. And invite your children to make decorations — they create wonderful holiday memories that will embarrass your children immensely when they are teens (be sure to reminisce in front of their friends).

Instead of using old-fashioned incandescent Christmas lights, which lose a lot of energy as heat, buy LED lights. They cost more, but they use a tiny fraction of the energy that regular bulbs do and last for up to 20 years with proper care. Use a timer to control when the lights turn on and off.

Cleaning Up

Once you've survived the holidays,it's time to get rid of the mess. Start with the paper. If you have pieces you can reuse, save them. If your town recycles wrapping paper (and not all do), recycle the rest. Save any reusable ribbons, bows, gift bags, cards and other materials for next year. Save bubble wrap for shipping and take foam peanuts to a mailing store.

Other things to recycle (check your local program):

• Bottles
• Cans
• Aluminum Foil
• Plastics
• Cardboard

Recycle your tree, wreaths (remove wires first) and other living decorations. Most communities have programs for tree recycling, so check yours out, too.

Store decorations carefully so you can use them again next year. And please get the decorations down by January 15. After that, the neighbors start whispering about you behind your back.