Celebrating a Green Christmas: How to have an Eco-Friendly Holiday

by: Viktoria Lukas
2009-12-09

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Christmas is always the time for giving and with global warming and environmental issues a hot topic these days, why not, this time of the year, do something selfless for the environment? With all the decorations for holiday cheers, Christmas is definitely a perfect time to give recycling a go. Here are a few tips on how to make your Christmas eco-friendly:

It ain’t Christmas without a Christmas tree

Different versions of the famous Christmas tree have emerged through the years and with environmental consciousness a recent new trend, eco-friendly Christmas trees are definitely the rage.

Old phone books can make unique trees which can grace any home or office. Apart from old phone books, old magazines with enough sleeves will also do.

The first step is to turn the phone book to the back cover and then fold the top right corner of the back cover to the center of the book. Remember that the fold should be neatly pressed. Continue this process with each of the pages in the book, as well as the front cover, making sure that the folding is consistent throughout so that the shape of the tree is even all the way around. Then, using paper clips clip the front cover to the back cover at the top, middle and bottom. Doing so should help you achieve the shape of a full tree.

Afterwards, you may spray or paint the phone book tree with a low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) or zero-VOC paint. You may also use natural paints and finishes that are readily available in the market today. These natural paint products are made from natural raw ingredients such as water, essential oils, natural minerals and plant resins.

As a finishing touch, tack your favorite recycled trimmings on the phone book tree and light it up with LED (Light-emitting diode) Christmas fairy lights. LEDs use as little as 1/160th the energy as the traditional Christmas lights that we are used to yet they look equally festive.

Deck your halls with eco-friendly Christmas wreaths

Eco-friendly Christmas wreaths are now the rage in hotels and business establishments. In lieu of expensive, store-bought hollies and Christmas wreaths, you may opt for something that you yourself can do with old newspapers from your backyard.

Cut the newspapers into poinsettia shaped leaves and afterwards, spray each leaf with zero-VOC spray paints in Christmas colors. To make the newspaper poinsettia leaves solid and not easily susceptible to tearing, you may afterwards apply zero-VOC varnish on each of them, sprinkling glitters before doing so. Assemble the newspaper leaves on a wreath ring made of twisted newspapers and add old ribbons from last year’s Christmas celebrations. Hang it on doors for eco-friendly Christmas cheers.

Make an eco-statement through your gifts

An eco-friendly Christmas will not be complete if you don’t wrap your presents the eco-friendly way. One way of wrapping your presents tastefully in old newspapers is through wrapping them creatively and neatly. Make use of vegetable stamps to stamp out Christmas symbols on your newspaper gift wrappers. Vegetable stamps are potatoes or carrots carved with an embossed picture with ink made from natural food color. You may also use raffia as your gift ribbons or, if you want your ribbons to be of use after the gift has been opened, use hair ribbons or yarn bracelets to adorn your eco-friendly Christmas gifts.

Light that lantern up

Filipino homes are incomplete minus the traditional parol or Christmas lantern. A family may organize their own parol-making project using recycled and second-hand materials. Grocery bags can be used as well as old bottle caps. A papier-mâché lantern is also ideal especially if you have enough scratch papers or old newspapers stacked useless at home. Plastic cups and other non biodegradable materials like plastic soda bottles and toiletry receptacles can also be painted and assembled beautifully to make an eco-friendly Christmas lantern to adorn a traditional Filipino home.

With the threats of global warming, we must be conscientious at all times. Recycling not only educates us on the value of reduction but also the benefits of being resourceful during the time of economic recession and ecological downturn.

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Related Topics: christmas/new year |