Leave a smaller impact on the environment this holiday season....

Did you know…..

The holidays have a tremendous impact on the environment each year.

· We Americans throw away, on average, an extra MILLION TONS of garbage each week between Thanksgiving and New Year’s….

· Most wrapping paper is not recyclable, which means it ends up in land fills

· 8,000 tons of wrapping paper is used each year – that’s 50,000 trees!

· If everyone sent one less card, it would save 50,000 cubic yards of paper

· Glitter and microplastics have become a serious threat to marine wildlife

But it’s not all gloom and doom, there are simple ways to produce less trash, use less glitter, plastic, and wrapping paper, and still have a beautiful holiday!

All of the ornaments on our Festival of Trees donation this year were handmade by a group of 11 and 12 year olds with materials easily found around the home and upcycled into decorations. As an added bonus, they got to go play in the woods to look for some of the items, which serves the dual purposes of finding holiday decorating materials and … getting outside and connecting with friends and family.

Being green doesn’t require a massive life overhaul… or taking all the fun and beauty out of the holiday season.

If we all just did a few little mindful things this holiday season, they all add up.

Have a wonderful holiday!

P.S. Here is what we used to decorate our tree this year:

- LED lights, which use up to 95% less electricity than regular bulbs and last up to 200,000 hours

- No glitter on these pinecones! We used glue and Epsom salts. Something almost everyone has around the house (just be sure NOT to use a water based glue)! For various colors, add food coloring to the salts and allow to dry before applying.

- If you use Mason jars in your home for drinking glasses, you may have some extra lids lying around (we sure did!). Take an old flannel shirt or some holiday fabric to cover the lids and decorate to your heart’s content.

- A garland out of recycled bags? Why not? It keeps them out of the landfill – and on your tree instead.

- Cranberry garlands are easy to make and are a beautiful, classic addition to any tree.

- A bag of cinnamon sticks can be had for under $15 on Amazon these days. We added dried holly berries, coconut shell buttons, and hemp and butcher twine to make little log bundles.

- Felted wool acorns were surprisingly satisfying to make. Seeking acorn tops outside made for some pleasant walks together!

- It can be a challenge to get rid of old books these days. Why not give them a new lease on life and turn the pages into ornaments? The options are endless….

- Instead of plastic-coated metal hooks, we opted for organic hemp and butcher twine.

What’s in your closet, pantry, basement, garage, backyard, office, wrapping room, or your imagination that could land as an upcycled tree ornament? The possibilities are infinite! The kids had a great time coming together to make ornaments, we enjoyed the time together, and spent a lot less on ornaments this year!