10 tips for a low-waste holiday season

Don't be trashy this holiday with these tips for reducing your family's environmental impact.

Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the holiday season. That’s equivalent to 25 million tons of garbage, or 1 million extra tons per week. Here’s 10 tips to reducing your environmental impact this holiday season:
 

1. Prioritize “experience” gifts over physical gifts. Thing like concert and sporting event tickets, gift certificates for restaurants or museums, or memberships help create memories rather than garbage. We love massages, music lessons, and theater tickets, in case you were wondering!
2. Cut down on your wrapping paper or skip it all together. Re-use and recycle newspaper and brown paper bags, old maps, or scraps of fabrics to give items a second life. If you must get paper, look for recycled wrapping and avoid paper with metallics (those can’t be recycled).
3. Compost your tree or try a potted one. Oregon company The Potted Christmas Treerents you a potted tree and then picks it up for replanting in watershed restoration projects. 
4. Think about purchasing secondhand gifts. It’s very trendy right now!
5. Keep gifts simple and thoughtful. One special and quality item is better than five cheap ones that will be out of favor in a few weeks. 
6. Make a gift of investing in someone’s future. Contribute to a child’s savings account, education IRA or give them a U.S. Savings Bond. 
7. Have the conversation with your friends and family about your goals for reducing your holiday waste through low waste gift giving or skipping gifting all together. Need some help broaching the subject? Writer and Vancouver mom, Leah Payne has some great tips and advice on her blog“What if others aren’t on board? Troubleshooting low-waste gift giving.”
8. Turn of your holiday lights during the day or consider setting them on timers to come on only during peak hours of enjoyment.
9. Consider sending e-cards or choose recycled content holiday cards. Again, avoiding ones with metallic features because those can’t be recycled. Paper Cultureuses 100% post-consumer recycled paper and plants a tree for every purchase. 
10. Make a gift of a charitable donation in someone’s name. This is our favorite for a large extended family. See my blurb below as an example and customize it for yourself!

 
“Dear X: As we head toward the holiday season, we would like to respectfully request no gifts this year. We would like to reduce our environmental impact and focus on experiences, not things. We would be so honored if you would like to divert any gift giving funds in our name to Save the Children. One of the world's top-rated charities, Save the Children is on the ground in global crisis situations making a tangible difference in the lives of children caught in those struggles. Please use this link to donate to their Global Action Fund. Thank you, and may your holidays be filled with peace and joy!”
 
Don’t be trashy: #creatememoriesnotgarbage