Green your holidays to win a $500 Walmart gift card!
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I’ve been missing in action for a few days due to our move, but trust me when I tell you I haven’t been idle. Today’s giveaway is one that will make someone’s holiday season just a little bit brighter, and hopefully, a lot greener.
Nickelodeon and Walmart have teamed up to offer a holiday tips contest hosted by the ElevenMoms. I don’t know about you, but Nickelodeon was one of my favorite networks when I was growing up. Who can forget the slime in “You Can’t Do That on Television?” And right now, my daughter loves the shows on Noggin and Nick Jr., so I’m very thankful for this great prize for one of my readers. So what does the winner get?
A whopping $500 Walmart gift card
Want to win this awesome prize?
- Leave a comment with your best tip for making the holidays greener. Your tip must be relevant, or it will be deleted and won’t count.
- Each person can leave up to 3 tips. One tip per comment please.
- Make sure your tips are good, because I will be selecting the 10 best tips. The authors of those 10 tips will be placed in a random drawing for the $500 gift card.
- A few of the best comments will be posted at the ElevenMoms site.
- Contest will close at 11:59 p.m. CST on December 12, 2008.
The gift card will be mailed out on December 17, so the winner will have only 2 days to respond with their mailing address before a new winner is selected. The winner will be selected and notified on December 13, so watch your inbox.
I can’t wait to see your tips!
*Most of the ElevenMoms are running contests and we will each pick a winner for a $500 gift card. You may enter more than one giveaway, but you may only win once. If a single entrant wins more than one contest, an alternate winner will be chosen.
Need some ideas?
Throughout this week, Green Your Decor focused on greening key aspects of the Christmas season, including:
- The Great Christmas Tree Debate: Is real or fake more eco-friendly?
- Light up your holidays in energy-efficient, eco-friendly style
- Deck your halls with sustainable decor
- Don’t compromise your green lifestyle when entertaining for the season
- Since you’re giving green gifts, be sure to wrap them in eco-friendly ways
{ 578 comments… read them below or add one }
Since the greenest thing to do is use the stuff you already have, I’m keeping and using my incandesent Chrismas tree lights but I’m greening it by only lighting them on Christmas day when we open the gifts per Danish tradition.
All year long whenever we receive a gift in a bag or box, we always saved them. By Christmas time we have enough bags, boxes, and sometimes even tissue paper and labels to reuse to wrap our presents.
My mother in law started this long before I was in the family. She reuses the wrapping paper, and she is very proud of it. There is one piece of wrapping paper that has been used for 12 xmas in a row. Now it a game who can not rip the paper so she can reuse it.
beths last blog post..Very Random Free Stuff
Instead of using tissue paper, we use the paper from the shredder, and if we want color I just throw the funnies from the news paper in the shredder, for smaller bags, I shred the envelopes from holiday cards.
beths last blog post..Very Random Free Stuff
We’re big into composting, so we throw our tree in the backyard to provide shelter for the birds all winter long, then we compost it in the spring. You can also compost Kwanza mazao and vibunzi.
Jenn (The Green Parent)s last blog post..Eco-Friendly Toy Review: Natural Pod
Well the first thing to do is get new lights if you use them- they have some great energy saving led bulbs at walmart- save you money and are safer for the enviorment. Walmart also has solar lights for outside you can get- save on electric bill which is great. Recycle what you have- paint over ornaments- making something new out of something old. As far as wrapping paper..think what do you have around the house magazines..newspapers…pillowcases with bows and ribbons to close- a huge sheet for the bigger items> saves money and is cheaper. Instead of buying things… use what you have. Do you need a tree skirt>>>how about an older baby quilt that can be repurposed-..See what you can repurpose before you go out and spend money on things you may not need and really cannot afford to buy
For holiday dinners and parties, use only non-disposable utensils, dishes, and platters to reduce waste. Make it a grand affair & encourage family members and friends to pitch in a little elbow grease & help with clean up (dishwashing, drying,etc.) and packing up leftovers in reusable containers (like tupperware) Make clean up fun by singing carols, telling stories or jokes, etc. Don’t forget to use wine charms (these can be easily hand made) on wine glasses so that they can be reused throughout the evening.
I’m interested in LED Christmas lights, which are 90% more efficient than regular Christmas lights. According to a U.S. Department of Energy study, if everyone replaced their conventional holiday light strings with LEDs, at least two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity could be saved in a month.
Another good tip is to send recycled Christmas cards or e-cards.
There is a good article on Ideal Bite concerning this.
Stefs last blog post..Taking some Me(me) time.
One small tip for me goes back to the wrapping paper. How often do we have those odd size pieces left over from the roll? I know for myself I ALWAYS do. So I started collecting those little peices and putting them away. Then at holiday time I frame them. That’s right, I said it, I frame them. Done well, they can make awesome holiday wall decorations. For example I have two peices of red wrap with gold design and two peices of just plain gold (actually used for a wedding present). I arranged them in an alternate patern 2X2, and put them in an antiqued wood frame. It looks beautiful.
Get a Live Christmas Tree (plant it in your yard in the spring), decorate it with recycled ornaments (used christmas cards, paper, bows and ribbons make great designs) add LED lights that use 80-90% less power and stay cool to the touch so they won’t singe the tree and make sure to only turn it on when you are in the same room with it to enjoy your “Green” tree.
Have a Locovore Thanksgiving or Christmas. A locovore meal is a meal cooked entirely from ingredients that are produced, grown, or raised as close to your home as possible. No boxed or canned items, and no frozen turkey from across the country. Most food that you buy in your grocery store has traveled many miles to get there which is extremely harmful to the environment. Preservatives are commonly used to keep foods fresh longer, which can potentially be hazardous to human health. Not to mention the pesticides and chemicals used which can be damaging to both the environment and your family. In addition, money spent at a local business means the majority of that money stays in your local community which helps boots the economy. Communities and families will reap more economic and health benefits.
Eat local this holiday!
We never wrap any presents from Santa. Why waste all that extra wrapping paper? The gifts that we do wrap we keep the paper and re-use it. That saves so much paper. When it reaches the end of it’s life, we recycle it.
Another thing we do is we use a timer for the lights. That way they aren’t being turned on before it’s dark, or being forgotten and left on all night. It helps save electricity, yet still gives you the option of having that decor up.
This is so wonderful. The funny thing this blends in perfect with what we were planning to do in a couple of weeks. A few of my friends and I decided to get together to take a bus,yes a bus and go to the grocery store together and buy all our Christmas baking supplies with cloth bags of course but the trick this year is no bake treats so I’ve been looking for fudges and cookies that require no baking. I just thought this would be a fun way to do our part in a small way but have a good time doing it.
After Christmas (sometimes right before if the price is right) I get christmasy fabric since it is usually marked down a lot. I then use it for wrapping. It does not not rip and can be used over and over. (You can even wash it if it gets grimy.) I usually tie it closed with left over ribbons (I use them over and over too!) The idea works the rest of the year with other types of fabric also.
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I save my gift boxes each year and reuse them. I also reuse ribbon and some gift paper.
Since I am new to green living-I do a few things. First, I recycle old holiday cards by using last years cards as holiday postcards (I cut them in half) I end up saving on postage as well… I re-use wrapping paper and gift bags whenever possible, because I hate to see such pretty paper being thrown away if it’s still ok to use. The wreath and tree will be put out back and composted for our garden in the spring and I don’t decorate much in the way of lights etc… Basically we have lights on the tree, kept on for a few hours each evening. This year we will be buying the LED lights to save on energy -they may cost more up front but provide a significant cost savings in the long run. Also I will compost household garbage/food waste from the holiday meals if at all possible. (coffee grinds, fruit peels etc…) It seems we always eat more during the holidays, and if I can cut back on some of the actual waste and compost it that will be great for us, the environment and our garden. Also, our walkway gets slippery and using commercial ice melters is harmful for pets and the lawn/grass. I didn’t realize this until I started reading green blogs. I will be using sand this year perhaps along with kitty litter, but I am still researching green alternatives on this. This site has been very helpful in my quest to become more “green” in my way of thinking, thanks for the opportunity to win!
One other thing I tried to do this year was make a gift basket for each of my daughters filled with environmentally friendly and organic products.
Ive found that when I wrap a gift in something that goes with the gift,it is good for everyone,like a kitchen items I would wrap in a festive kitchen towel,can be resued over an over,an bath items would be wrapped in a nice bath towel,get the picture,theres lots of things to use to be creative,handerchiefs,golf towels,an really people appricate the thought that you took to find something to wrap the gift in,that can be reused again an again
Buy gifts from thrift stores or off of Craig’s list. This works especially well with my young kids. They don’t know the difference, and I can get them great stuff for not much money. No wasted packaging or materials for new toys!
Marisa Ms last blog post..#32 What to do with your "icky" water
I save boxes and padded envelopes for several months before Christmas to reuse for shipping stuff to family members. Mine and my husband’s families are so spread across the country– I end up shipping a huge number of packages for Christmas.
Marisa Ms last blog post..#32 What to do with your "icky" water
Here’s my third tip! For those I can’t find good used gifts for, I am helping them to get on the road to being green (my family thinks we’re a little on the crazy side for all the green things we do) by buying them things like reusable bags and CFL bulbs. In the long run these things will save them money as well as helping them to go green.
Marisa Ms last blog post..#32 What to do with your "icky" water
My family sometimes uses newspapers for wrapping christmas gifts and birthday gifts. We used to buy the newspapers before we subscribed online to the town newspaper. Now we just have our other family members save their newspapers because it works just the same as wrapping paper. And we use envelopes that we got as junk mail and cut them up for name tags. We also use the same tree decorations that our kids make for us since they were little. Also for the adult presents if the present is little you can use a paper bag that you got from the grocery store.
I know people who want to change their Christmas decor just about every year. Wouldn’t it be great to donate old, but well taken care of, ornaments, nutcrackers, artificial door swags, centerpieces, Christmas books, movies, etc to local schools who could have a holiday rummage sale and put those funds to good use in the school districts.
It would be a new and wonderful holiday tradition for everyone.
Make Christmas ornaments out of pine cones .
Shilo Beedys last blog post..Chefdruck Musings Contest
We have always saved the boxes, tissue paper etc that any gifts come in. Also, those fancy “gift bags” that we receive…we also save those too. For Christmas, I often use the Sunday comics to wrap a gift in a pinch (if I have run out of wrapping paper or I just can’t fathom buying another roll for just ONE more present…you know how that goes??
Also, just making homemade ornaments (cookie dough ornaments are a lot of fun and make really ADORABLE looking ones!!)
My favorite Green Tip for the Holiday is one of my family traditions that my parents started over 20 years ago when i was a little girl.
We always buy a Christmas Tree with the bulb so we can plant our trees in our yard and watch them grow every year.
I love finding birds nest in the spring, happy in their new “tree home”,a tree that once was bringing us joy in our home:)
I replaced all my old Christmas lights with LED light strands, which are reputed to be 90 percent more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs. Live Christmas trees or rosemary bushes planted in pots and pruned into the shape of Christmas trees have made delightful Christmas trees in recent years, and I plan to do the same again this year. My mom taught us to save the best pieces of wrapping paper each year and reuse them again the next holiday season, which is something I have done since my late teens, saving me cash and making less waste for the landfill.
Don’t wrap presents. If possible, make all of your presents!
I am making most of my presents this year. at least for the ladies. I have saved jars and bottles and I am making organic body butters, foot salves, salt and sugar scrubs for them all. I bought what I could at local shops (free trade) and what I couldn’t find local I found also free trade online. I can’t wait to see what they say! I have always been prissy but not always crafty!
I am even making my 4 nieces lip balms. they will love that.
This year, I grabbed gifts for my two daughters at a toy exchange we held at my church. Everyone brought outgrown toys and household items, and I ended up going home with a scooter in great shape that will be perfect for my 7-year-old. No packaging to worry about, no new items entering the junk stream — it’s the ultimate in holiday recycling. (Not to mention extremely frugal.)
Shop or swap Christmas decorations with your friends. Instead of buying new, get together with your friends and see if they are interested in a trade. There tree you’ve always admired could look really nice in your house!
We use a fake tree to save the trees, and have found fabulous recycled ornaments. also, we use the bulbs less, and keep the tree off for most of the day..only keep it on for an hour or so every night. Thanks for the contest, happy thanksgiving.
Zoe Lees last blog post..New Clothes, and A Challenge….
Last year my son and I used all the tissue paper that came in the boxes from presents to make a wreath. We cut the tissue paper into strips, used a wire hanger bent into a circle, and tied the strips all around the hanger until it was fun. We re-used materials and made a pretty decoration in the process! dcadmar at gmail dot com
We re-use either left over Christmas cards or ones people have sent us and paste a picture of my son on the front of the card, cut it in half, and write our own message on the back. It looks really nice with a christmas-y border around our son’s picture, and the cards get to be re-used again.
dcadmar at gmail dot com
I re-use my Christmas Cards as name tags on my bags or presents. I have also re-used my cards as gifts. Throughout the year I’ve yardsaled picture frames and placed the cut out card inside the frame with added items. For example, one card had santa in a bath tub. i opened one of my squish pillows and took out some of the guts (small white squishy beads) sewed the pillow back up and added the “guts” to the inside of the frame. It made the picture 3-D. Like santa had a bath with bubbles.
Great ideas on the site thus far…
Happy Holidays!
Instead of buying gifts for everyone, adopt a needy family! It’s a great way for an entire family to participate and help those in need and help the environment by buying green alternatives for the adopted family’s wish list. In the process you educate all family members by letting them know that each item purchased is a green alternative and give them recycle tips as part of the gift . In the end you can end up educating two families.
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A follow up tip: deliver your gifts from Santa unwrapped, but use a red or green pillow case that you already have in the house. That way there is still an element of surprise, but you don’t need to use wrapping of any kind.
Ana Connells last blog post..California Real Estate Facts
Styrofoam peanuts for packing gifts and shipping them are obviously bad for the environment–instead my daughter and I have fun popping popcorn and then when we’re done we use the un-oiled, un-salted popcorn for sending our presents to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They feed the popcorn to their guinea pig and birds.
We drive a lot for the holidays. Rather than drive everywhere once we get to my parents’ house, we walk places like the park, the grocery store, the coffee and breakfast place about a mile away. It cuts down on our emissions a bit and also helps the kids who usually aren’t too keen on being in the car after the drive to get there.
Ok, this might not even count, since I haven’t used them other than at Whole Foods, but I really hate doing the dishes after Christmas dinner, and compostable cutlery really helps with cutting down on landfill waste while still providing the ease of no clean up. I’m still trying to convince my mom that it’s the way we need to go this year…
My first tip for making holidays greener is related to gifting: don’t gift a thing, give a gift of time or service! There’s no trash involved - no packaging - and it comes from your heart, which makes it all the more valuable.
Barbs last blog post..Siblings
If you really feel you need to give something physical as a gift, go shopping at your local thrift stores with your giftee in mind. You will find some amazing things, often brand new, and that are unlike the gifts that everyone else is getting.
If you’re crafty, you can upcycle the gift; often just a simple tweak can make something so much more unique and suited to the giftee.
Barbs last blog post..Siblings
My third tip is to use packaging that can be reused by the giftee. We throw away amazing amounts of packaging each holiday season, often paying for boxes that will be tossed (hopefully recycled) the moment the gift is removed. Put some thought into your packaging, which can actually be a gift in itself!
Barbs last blog post..Siblings
We try and recycle wrapping paper whenever possible. Especially for large objects that are wrapped. As long as the kids don’t tear it apart too much!!! We also use wrapping paper as “padding” when we mail things rather then buy and use tissue paper or bubble wrap. We just keep the ripped up wrapping paper that we can’t reuse in a bag and then just take from it when we need to ship something out that needs a bit of padding.
You can also look for other ways to “wrap” a gift such as with a scarf or a blanket.
When you are giving an edible gift (and even some non-edible ones like bath and body products) use a container that can be reused over and over again rather then a plastic left over dish that will be thrown away. If you are giving homemade baked goods, like cookies, why not put them inside a personalized cookie jar. Not only will you keep the plastics out of the landfills but you’ll also be giving another great gift that can be used over and over and over again.
Rather then toss out broken decorations use them to create new decorations. Take the ornaments or decorations that are broken, remove “usable” pieces and give them to kids on a snowy day to create new ornaments to hang on your tree or to give as gifts.
Tip#1: Put your Christmas lights on a timer. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gone off and accidentally left them on overnight. A timer prevents that and keeps energy usage down!
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Tip#2: Shop online. Save gas.
Kristens last blog post..Black Friday *Cell Phone* Giveaway!
Tip#3 Don’t use paper/ribbon bows on your gifts. If you must, use fabric reusable bows!
Kristens last blog post..Black Friday *Cell Phone* Giveaway!
to save in the holidays, i like to bake homemade goods such a cookies, brownies, and cupcakes. i pack them up in reusable tupperware or cookie tins and then wrap them up in colorful pages pulled out from a magazine or even the sunday comic strips! it is so much fun to put it together, very frugal and the recipients love receiving something different, unique and made with love.
My first green tip/ things I am doing this holiday is buying a reusable tote (only a 99c one) and giving presents out in those instead of gift bags. 75% cheaper for me and ever lasting for them.
My second tip is to use and make do. We are loaded with decorations / holiday dishes/ fancies/ odds and bods and always find an excuse for more. Cap it off, refuse to spend and consume less at the Holidays and retailers will get our message.
Lastly, give green, give gifts made from organic/ easily sustainable eco sources, such as Bamoboo clothes and kitchen utensils, even furniture. Also look for products that are made using post consumer recycled wate - I recently got my son a book that was made from 100% recycled materials. - Have a look, Walmart sells great eco - friendly stuff, it’s not just the posh high end baby boutiques.
I have a huge family, which includes 5 daughter in laws. All year long I collect up free samples of everything from pot holders to shampoo, perfumes and books. There are freebies all over the web and Walmart has several all the time. Then I make up baskets for them for Christmas. The girls just love getting their baskets since they never know what I’ve found over the year! Plus lots of these samples are really nice fragrances or hair care products that they couldn’t normally buy. When they get into them there is always much swapping , trading and bartering going on! Plus- its always fun to throw them a curve—like the newly wed who will get Luv samples this year! LOL
Rhonda Masons last blog post..Jenny-O Oven Ready Turkey
Use brown paper bags and design with markers, etc. instead of wasting trees with wrapping paper.
I collect samples like crazy!
Well ever since I can remember my parents had us open our Christmas presents very neatly because they saved the Christmas paper from year to year. This not only taught me tolerence in life but it taught me at a early age about taking care of things. I do not save the christmas paper as an adult, but I save the tissue paper, bows, ribbons and boxes to be used from year to year. thank you
I recycle my wrapping paper every year
I am making our entire lifestyle greener. For the holidays in particular, I’d plan to change our Christmas lights over to LED’s
LED lights. I can’t get past the wrapping paper without looking cheap? I need help with that one.
1. Have a Living Christmas Tree in a pot that you can transfer back outside after the holidays. No need to cut down a tree and its very sturdy!
2. Make Christmas Dinner tres Elegant and eat while basking in candle light! (keep away from small kidlets) It makes Christmas Dinner so much more special and saves a bit of electricity!
Purchase LED Christmas lights for your tree and/or outside! They use just a fraction of the electricity and last so much longer! They also don’t get hot, so no little fingers will be burned on hot regular Christmas lights.
We switched a couple of years ago!
Each year we keep the Christmas cards that we receive and recycle them to make Christmas postcards for the next year. We cut off the front of the card (where the picture/photo is) and use the back to write a Christmas message to a friend or family member. Add a return address and a postage stamp and you’ve got your postcard all ready to mail. It costs less (postcard rate) than sending a card in an envelope, it recycles our old cards, its more personal than an email greeting, and it helps teach the kids about recycling/repurposing.
Stop at the Christmas trees stands and or Lowes and ask for the scraps to use as decorations instead of buying the more expensive greens.
Skip the wrapping paper…it just ends up in a pile on the floor anyway.
Kimberly/Mom in the Citys last blog post..Q&A About Boys (Part IV): Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D.
We buy a try that we can plant after the holidays, we moved into our house 6 years ago and its been fun watching the trees grow!
Here are some great ideas for gift wrapping alternatives.
* Scarves, handkerchiefs or bandannas.
*Old posters and maps.
* Pages from a child’s coloring book taped together
* Old sheet music.
* Newspapers .
* Last year’s holiday paper.
* Wallpaper scraps.
* Home-sewn cloth bags.
* Fabric scraps.
* magazines and catalogs.
* Sunday comic pages.
* A present in a present (for example, a hat in a matching scarf, jewelry in a wooden box, cookies in a reusable tin or cookie jar, barbecue grill utensils or picnic supplies in a tablecloth, kitchen gifts in towels or all-purpose cloths).
* A plain box decorated with leftover glitter, paint, markers, etc.
* A cake pan, basket or a wooden box.
* Reusable decorative bags. Hollywood box
* Purchase wrapping paper made from recycled paper.
or …* A “Hollywood box:” individually wrap or decorate the top and bottom of a box with a “bling” lid & encourage the recipient to reuse the box.
Instead of buying foam peanuts use Dry, popped popcorn , then include a note explaining that birds can eat it, or the ducks…great for a family outing!!! how fun
reuse paper and ribbon if possible.
dispose of your tree in a pond or lake. Makes great bedding for fish.
Wrap gifts in fabric, reusable cloth bags, pillow cases, or baskets.
cut the bottom branches off a real tree that you bring home and make your own wreaths out of them.
I am buying an artificial Xmas tree this year from the thrift store. It is
my way of staying green for years to come.
I hate to buy wrapping paper, bows, and tags. What a waste of money! I like to wrap gifts like small ones in like an awesome dish towl. It’s really getting two gifts. I choose towls in rich fabrics..and better yet I like to go to a fabric store in town and get some on sale and make my own towls. For the tags you can get scrapbooking circle tags(silver) and insert a picture of you or your children. That way they know who its from and it could double as a picture ornament for next years tree. For lil girls gifts I use hair things as bows. And for boys ….lets face it they don’t care about bows!
Beth G.s last blog post..Day #4 of Mom Generations’ Gift Guide and Giveaway!
Designate a certain hour every night to turn the holiday lights on. That way you can gather and enjoy them together and not take advanage of them. You will surely see a diffence in your energy bill.
Beth G.s last blog post..Day #4 of Mom Generations’ Gift Guide and Giveaway!
I now use newspaper to wrap gifts, and tie it with a festive ribbon. It saves SO much wrapping paper, and we reuse the ribbons every year!
Obviously recycle all those boxes and packaging from Christmas day presents. Probably more trash goes out the day after Christmas than any other day of the year…wouldn’t surprise me at all. Time to get organized and separate all the trash.
Beth G.s last blog post..Day #4 of Mom Generations’ Gift Guide and Giveaway!
I post items that I no longer want or use on freecycle and ask for thins that I want, recycling is the way to go instead of buying new
I save the Christmas cards that I receive each year. I cut off the front cover and use it as a Holiday postcard to send to a friend the following year. Write a short message on the back, address it, cut it to 4″ x 6″ so i only costs $.27 in postage.
I always try to recycle as much as possible, and the same goes for the holiday season. I use more reusable christmas bags than paper, but if I do use paper, try to save what I can. I use an artifical tree, so no real trees have to die (but I only started this as my kids got older).
We use LED Christmas lights which use only 1/6 the electricity of normal Christmas lights. It saves both electricity and a little of money!
Make your own doggie gifts. Download a dog biscuit recipe on the internet, get dog bone cookie cutter from Michael’s, and make homemade dog biscuits for your friends/relatives’ dogs.
I save the colored comic pages from the Sunday paper to use for wrapping paper. Everyone wants to see what fun I’ve wrapped up for them.
We have two artifical trees=one small and regular size. The small tree is decorated with canday canes which get distributed after the holidays.
Buy gifts that provide an experience…such as tickets to a ball game, a ballet, the theatre, a movie, or a musical event. The only material portion is the ticket, which can probably be recycled!
I make my own ornaments and It’s great to do with the kids!!
recyle everything possible, especially the wrapping paper.
We re-use ribbons, wrapping paper, greeting cards, etc. for my scrapbooking- then they last forever and bring back special memories!
Go holiday shopping with the re-usable cloth bags-not just for groceries, but for all your gifts as well.
Use the special LED lights for your tree and outdoor decorating. They use much less energy and last longer (I think they also look brighter too!)
All our Christmas lights are led bulbs. We only put the Christmas lights on when we are home and shut them off before bed. The outside lights we put on in the evening, but they are on a timer and they shut off by 9:00.
Thanks so much for this wonderful and generous giveaway.
Recycle all your paper and cardboard. Cut your holiday cards into gift tags for the next time!
Save money by starting early and jumping on sales as soon as they arise throughout the year. By the time Christmas comes, you’ll already be set!
Instead of always buying live wreaths and tablescapes I always go to walmart or home depot to get the leftovers from their christmas tree lot. They always cut the bottom limbs off each christmas tree and they will give them to you for free. I make my own wreaths as gifts and my whole house is decked out with boughs.
LED christmas lights!!! And if you make them blink you will use even less energy!!
GIVE GREEN GIFTS!!!
Quite a few people in my family are getting programable thermostats for Christmas this year!! Its the gift that keeps on giving or SAVING!!!!
buy energy saving LED holiday lights, you can decorate with lights that use 90 percent less energy than conventional holiday lights
I always like to get a living tree and replant it .
I end up using newspaper to wrap gifts, always oncluding some funnies and recycled bows!
I’ve been making my holidays greener by not using any Christmas lights this year. I figured it is a good idea to not use them since they’re not really necessary and it just uses up more electricity.
using a real christmas tree, no plastic. then taking it to be shredded for mulch. using recycled cards and recycles newspaper for wrapping gifts.
putting all lights on timers.
My best green holiday tip…use a fake tree! Don’t buy a live (or dead) tree.
I save and reuse all gift bags and boxes.
I make the holidays greener by making homemade holiday cards with recycled paper! It’s so much fun and kids love it. Making recycled paper is easy and you can get really creative with it. You can email me for directions or you can google directions how to make it. Make recycled paper with bits of glitter in it, and scented oil so your paper is lightly scented with a holiday scent such as “gingerbread”. Then use markers to draw pictures and holiday designs on the outside. Use buttons, glitter and otehr embellishments to decorate the outside of the cards, and write your message inside the card. Instead of using envelopes, tie a ribbon around the card to close it and hand the cards out by hand. They’re pretty and eco-friendly! The kis will love getting involved too.
Thanks so much for this very helpful prize!!
Practice the 3 Rs — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
SHOP SALES!!!!
I sew up simple gift bags from Christmas themed fabric. They can be sized to fit all gifts and reused year after year. They look pretty, too.
Decorate with greens from your yard. Pine boughs and holly can be used with a few fresh flowers from the grocery store to make a beautiful display that can be composted after the holidays.
I stopped using traditional wrapping paper a couple years ago. Now I use things like the comics section for kids gifts or a dish towel for small gifts. I don’t use traditional bows either. I have used twine to tie the packages up. I will decorate with pieces of pine that I gather from the woods and pinecones from the forest floor.
use cartoons from paper as wrapping paper
I RECYCLE EVERY XMAS CARD I RECIEVE. I CUT OUT ELEMENTS AND MAKE CARDS FOR THE TROOPS FOR THE NEXT SEASON.
I reuse my boxes and bows, and gift bags every year.
Thanx for the contest.
for decorations this year: use washed out mountain dew bottles to make yourself a tree and wreath. when wrapping gifts in boxes: instead of buying tissue paper, use shredded paper (confetti size) from your shredder. if you have a fake christmas tree: for garland use actual popped corn. for ornaments, use christmas cookies.
Use pincones and greener from your yard to make a holiday wreath and other decorations for your home. You can paint the pincones red and gold for more holiday cheer. Thanks for the contest!
Making sure I recycle all my cans and bottles from holiday get-togethers
and we reuse our bows/ribbons on our gifts
We decorate newspaper or use the holiday comics section to wrap gifts.
Recycling is the only way to go now- to save money and the earth!
I use past Christmas cards as name tags on gifts. I also use “used” bows,
Christmas ornaments and trimming from the tree to decorate and
“customize” my gift packages to friends and family!
All year long the kids come home from school with tons of their art work and work sheets that just get thrown away. I was thinking instead of buying Christmas cards to send out just turn the kids school work into Christmas cards. You would save on paper waste yet at the same time you could show off how well your kids are doing in school.
find pine cones in your neighborhood and us a paintbrush to put glue just on the tips. Roll in glitter and tie bright ribbons on the end (or glue). Place in a bowl in the center of the table.
Recycle gift bags, wrapping paper, tags…anything that can be kept another year!
We have a shredder that I use very regularly. I shred old school papers,flyers,mail,etc. & use for packing instead of tissue paper. Its also reusuable, and often enough comes out to be pretty colorful, LOL!
We’ve had to replace alot of our broken Christmas string lights, so I’ve slowly been adding LED lights. They are safer and much cheaper to use overall, they don’t get very hot and they use alot less electricity. (perfect for REAL tree afficianados like my family) They also last alot longer than traditional lighting. I was able to buy quite a few sets after Christmas last year at Walmart, which is perfect because this year money is very tight!
Instead of stringing up lights outside and making the electricity bill go up, plus wasting our country’s electricity resources, we string popcorn and peanuts in the shell on yarn and wrap that around the evergreen tree outside. The birds and squirrels love it and we get free entertainment!
LED lights are on my list to buy this year too. Be green by saving your hard earned green (dollars)
I would suggest re-using wrapping paper, or just tying the gift up with a bow from holiday baskets from past years. I usually save the baskets from past gifts and I can these re-use them later.
Also, rather than buy a gift, making cookies or some edible goodie makes a great gift also, and is often appeciated even more so because of the time and effort that you make.
For $1.00, buy a green recyclable shopping bag to use as gift wrapping this year; tie the handles together with red ribbon to complete traditional Christmas colors :).
My Tip #2: We have completely stopped buying new Christmas decor. For the past 5 years we have set aside a day in November when our extended family gets together with all of our boxes and boxes (and boxes and boxes!) of Christmas decorations. Then we mix and match and swap and trade. Its a lot of fun, a great family bonding time and we get “new to us” holiday decor each year without spending anything. Several of our friends have started this with their families and everyone has a great time.
We’re buying a small living tree to decorate indoors - and after the holidays, it can be planted outdoors.
LED lights are brilliant. They use little electricity and last nearly forever.
We try to cut down on wrapping by using gift bags with tissue that can be reused.
We love using natural decorative elements - pine roping, pine cones and real holly lend a traditional atmosphere and make the house smell great, too!
I like to use “at hand” items for decorations. I have a couple of evergreen trees in my backyard and I’ll use pinecones that have fallen and trimmings to make wreaths and decorations. I have a small pine in my front yard that we decorate instead of cutting a tree to put in the house.
My tip is to turn the heat off overnight, and turn off the christmas lights overnight.
November 29th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I have always saved ornaments from years gone by and take them out and paint the ones that are plain or change the pictures on the already painted ones. I also use my pinecones from my tree and make beautiful wreaths by spray painting them. They have lasted for over 10 years. I just repaint, and they look like brand new. Also, I design my own Christmas cards with recycled paper photo copy them for 5 cents.
As far as lights, I still use the ones from 2000. I make sure to pack them carefully and they still work. To save money on electricity I only put them on for 2 hours a night, from 8-10 when people are driving around to see all the beautiful displays. Christmas items made from the heart go a long way and have so much meaning.
Save money and trees when sending holiday cards. At most photo card websites you can also get photo card postcards. They are cheaper to order and will cost less in postage since you will only need a postcard stamp. They will also save paper by eliminating the need for an envelope!
just like we switch lightbulbs, switch your xmas lights to energy saving LED lights…or even solar powered outdoor lights.
Save money and paper when wrapping gifts. Instead of buying gift boxes recylce the boxes you receive samples in (WalMart sample boxes are great for this) or boxes that products you buy come in. To save money and paper on wrapping paper use paper grocery bags and wrap the gift in it, print side in, then use stamps or stickers to decorate the paper.
I skipped out on the xmas lights this year, to save some electricity! Instead I’m decorating with figurines and tinsel
Instead of buying gifts that cost the environment a lot to make and package, give homemage gifts. It will save you a lot of money, it will use less packaging, and they usually mean more to the person who receives them. Get your kids involved in making them.
Rather than rip into gifts we carefully unwrap them and reuse the paper for years to come.
recycle bins
LED lights, reusable wrapping paper, do your baking in “off-peak” electrical hours!
Pattis last blog post..Happy Thanksgiving!
I recycle my wrapping paper , bags and boxes
I plan to put my gifts in reusable “green” bags so all my gift recipients can go green when they shop after the holidays!
I recycle all of my Christmas cards and make postcards out of many as possibe. I have replaced my lights with energy savers and us lots of real greenery for the smell and decorative effect. I can compost it later.
I use pine cones that I found at a local cemetery wired up in sets of three with some dollar store ribbons (usually a Plaid or check). I hang them down my staircase, on my mantle, from my over the table chandeleir and around the french doors. Festive yet frugal.
I go out in my yard and snip evergreen boughs and bittersweet from the bushes. I stuff these in old urns I have outside.
I recycle old christmas cards by making gift tags out of them. Cutting out either a circle, square or rectangle prettiest piece of the card, I use a hole punch and string a thin ribbon or rafia through. Wala a tag!
O SOO many things, use decor from the woods with some old ribbons and homemade paints, use ur trims from the tree ,which should be a plantable one, to make ur garlands and wreaths, then turn to mulch…when we are conscious of not being wasteful, we become very innovative! Thanks for the giveaway!
My favorite way to make the holidays greener is to “wrap” gifts in a cute, reusable tote. I’ve accumulated many over the year and now I can use any extras for this purpose! It saves wrapping paper, gift bags and tissue paper from being thrown away. Also, it is something I know they can use month after month instead of just being forgotten about after Christmas day.
To make the holidays greener, this year I’ve encouraged everyone who is giving a gift to me to shop at indie and local stores, and with businesses that have sustainable practices. This way, not only do I feel better about using/wearing gifts that I receive, but it is a fun way to get friends and family aware of the great green products that can be found.
We put our Christmas trees out at the back of our property after Christmas and it gives the birds some shelter through the winter, then it adds to our compost pile and helps our gardens. Thank you!
I’m getting bigger and bigger on reusing anything that I can, specifically this year its gift bags and tissue paper. I received a bunch of plain white gift bags not too long ago and now those are our go-to gift bags. My daughter decorates them for whatever occaision and they are more personal, and I’m not going out and buying gift wrap!
Casey Hs last blog post..Thankie Thankie!
To make the holidays and every day year round greener I use canvas shopping bags to wrap gifts I give. It saves me from using paper, and I figure that if every person I give one to uses it to shop year round, it can save hundreds ofplastic bags from being used.
Make your own holiday decorations using things you already have and by utilizing things found in nature, like pinecones.
Thanks for this awesome contest. Happy Holidays.
gugel98atgmaildotcom
I upcycle glass jars. I make wonderful smelling (lots of oils!) candles to give away as gifts. They are colorful and burn for a very long time.
I decorate the jars with that bakeable paint that makes it look like stained glass (before I put the wax in). Sometimes I personalize them, especially for family.
Everyone loves a boutique candle but not everyone loves the cost. So this is my green tip.
I decorate a live tree which can then be planted in the spring. We have a whole row of Christmas trees growing along the side of our property. Save a tree, choose a live one.
Re-use whatever you can. Recycle what you can’t re-use. Reduce wrapping etc, by using colored comics, etc. for wrapping paper for kids and those young-at-heart adults who will appreciate it.
After the holidays are over have your Christmas tree put in a lake for fish hiding places but don’t forget to remove the decorations.
I use food for decorations. String popcorn and cranberries into garlands. Use clove studded oranges as decorative and aromatic centerpieces.
We try to save money by giving folks gifts that they actually need so they can save money in their day to day routine, and we spend a lot of time playing board games over the holiday and enjoying each other rather than enjoying stuff we don’t need. We are much more about the memories than the merchandise!
We use LED lights and have them on timers. They are only on from dark until our daughters go to bed, so only for about 3 hours. Noone else appreciates them as much as the little ones!
JLHalsted(at)hotmail(dot)com
Jodys last blog post..Whirlwind
My daughters have an easel and when they have used both sides of a paper roll we re-use it as wrapping paper. The grandparents love it because they have original artwork and it saves me from buying wrapping paper!
JLHalsted(at)hotmail(dot)com
Jodys last blog post..Whirlwind
They best tip for making the holidays greener I can think of is we will be buying a living tree from Home Depot this year that is ready to plant. When we are done with the holidays we will plant it in our back yard. They are really not that much more expensive and you are giving back to the enviroment by planting a tree. Plus we can decorate the tree outside too next year to add to the outside decorations.
tamben7996(at)aol(dot)com
This year, we are using an old hand me down tree (don’t have it yet which puts a damper on the holiday tradition of putting it up the day after Thanksgiving), but, anyways…we will be using a tree with light already on them and instead of going out and buying ornaments; last night my daughters and I made handmade ornaments out of flour, salt, cinnamon, water and vegtable oil: I’ll include the recipe just because they come out so great and make your house smell awesome for days after…we will be using old brown bags as wrapping paper with glue instead of tape to seal the paper.
I think this will be a much greener Christmas than we have ever had!!!!
Okay, here’s the quick and easy recipe:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 TBSP vegtable oil
3/4 to 1 cup water
2 TBSP Cinnamon
add all ingredients together (adding the water slowly)
roll out dough and cut out with your favorite cookie cutters. Place in oven at 250 for 1 hour…should make a few dozen at least.
Enjoy!!!!
Merry Christmas to all!!!!
-barbarabaker
barb at stx dot rr dot com
Barbara Bakers last blog post..Happy Thanksgiving
Just keep doing all the worthy green things you’ve been doing all year. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without. Holiday season is special because of people and how we care about one another. Bake a cake. Set one candle carefully in the window.
Thanks for the contest. Best wishes for happy holidays!