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Green Your
Holiday
Tips to save money and prevent waste
Add some locally raised food to your holiday feast to support local farmers and save fuel.
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Staff photo
This the season to spend … and spend some more. Why not break the cycle? Here are some easy ways you can save some money and prevent waste.
• Add local foods to
your holiday feast.
Support local farmers who grow sustainable meat and produce. It helps save fuel, supports your community – and it tastes better, too. Find locally raised turkey, chicken, ham or beef near you
at www.picktnproducts.org.
• Recycle your
old cell phone.
Getting a new cell phone as a gift? Not sure what to do with the old one? You can drop off that old phone at several major retail stores as part of cell phone recycling programs. Each year, 130 million cell phones are thrown out, weighing approximately 65,000 tons. Recycling your old phone prevents hazardous elements like mercury, cadmium and lead from ending up in landfills. To find a drop-off spot near you, visit www.earth911.org. Enter “cell phone” and your ZIP code into the search fields, and nearby locations will
pop up.
• Cut energy use.
Take a New Year’s pledge to reduce your home energy use
by buying energy-efficient light bulbs. Installing only six compact fluorescent light bulbs will save the average American family $60 per year. If there’s a fire in your fireplace, turn down the thermostat. Lowering the temperature even five degrees can take 10 percent off your energy bill.
• Buy energy-saving LED holiday lights.
LEDs (light emitting diodes)
use 90 percent less energy than conventional holiday lights, and they can save your family up to
$50 on energy bills during the holiday season. These lights are available at many major retailers.
• Recycle your
Christmas tree.
Ninety-eight percent of Christmas trees are grown on farms, not in forests, and each year 10 million Christmas trees end up in the landfill. Many cities offer programs to turn your tree into mulch or wood chips. Check with your city or visit www.earth911.org. Enter “Christmas trees” and your ZIP code into the search fields, and recycling locations
will pop up.
• Make your own wrapping paper.
Most mass-produced wrapping paper is not recyclable and ends up in landfills. This year, wrap presents with old maps, the comics section of the newspaper or children’s artwork. If every family wrapped just three gifts this way, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields, according to the Sierra Club.
Related Artilces - Kitchen Tips for an Energy-Wise Holiday
Story by Rebecca Denton
