Christmas is my favorite time of the year. The world seems a little kinder, a little happier, and a little more hopeful. Over the years I have been trying to make each Christmas a little greener. I hope that the ideas below help you add a little green to your holidays.
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Lights
 Out with the old and in with the new -- that is, LED lights. Today there are many sizes and shapes of LED lights that you should be able to find one that is right for you. Not sure of what to do with the old holiday lights. Check out Environmental Lights, which is a great resource for recycling your old holiday lights.
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Trees
Living Christmas trees provide beauty and continue to give by reducing greenhouse gases when planted outside after the holiday. Or maybe a fresh-cut tree is more to your liking. You can buy a fresh-cut tree from a local tree farm and then recycle or compost after the holiday. You will be supporting the local economy and saving old-growth trees by buying a tree from a managed tree farm.Traditional tree not your style? Try this -- buy or gather tree branches paint them white or red or purple. Tie the branches together with twine, yarn or ribbon and place in a basket or other container. Decorate like you would a regular tree.Eco-Chic fresh-cut tree with LED lights, seashells and other nautical ornaments.
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Garland
Nostalgic -- sometimes old is new so string some cranberries and popcorn just like grandma did.
Upcycled -- string handmade paper beads with some of that white styro popcorn. The stryo looks like that old fashioned ribbon candy and looks fancy when paired with handmade paper and colored beads.
Reuse -- string wine corks with old reclaimed wood beads -- perfect for the wine lover.
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Green Wrap
Hopefully these statistics will convince you to reduce, reuse and recycle your holiday gift wrap and ribbons. There is a huge spike in waste disposal between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day -- about a 25 percent increase. Included in that waste are gift-wrap, wrapping ribbon, and holiday cards. Consider reducing the waste load this year by wrapping your gifts with stuff that can be used again or has recycled content that can be recycled again:- Place gift in a reusable shopping bag (two gifts in one)
- Leftover wallpaper
- Scrap fabric tied with a paper rolled ribbon
- Old maps
- An old sweater tied with some scrap yarn
- Cereal or other bright colored food boxes
- Reusing old gift bags
- Reusing old gift wrap
- Old jewelry strung with hemp or leftover ribbon makes a great bow
- Gift tags can be made from any scrap cardboard, old holiday cards, colorful boxes
Here's an idea for all those Christmas cards. Instead of Gingerbread houses why not make Christmas card houses and use them every year. If reuse is not your bag there are plenty of options for buying eco-chic gift wrap and ribbon:
Gift boxes
· 100 percent recycled paper -- Nashville Wraps
· 100 percent recycled fibers -- Ecobutterfly
Wrapping paper
· 100 percent recycled paper -- Green Field Paper
· Recycled and biodegradable -- Nashville Wraps
· Biodegradable flower seed wrap -- Realgoods
Tissue paper
· 100 percent recycled -- Nashville Wraps
· 100 percent recycled -- Sweet Organics
Ribbon
· Hand-twisted ribbon -- Ecotwist
· Biodegradable ribbon -- Sweet Organics
Tape
Since most tape is made from acetate and is not biodegradable, Eco-Chic suggests using other methods (non-toxic glues or wrapping paper with hemp ribbon or twine instead of taping). There is one tape that is made of cellulose but it's not easy to find in the U.S. -- available at Green Earth.
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