December 2007 — VOLUME 5 ISSUE 12
Green the festive colour this season
While white graces the surrounding landscapes this Christmas, going green should be the real issue on our minds.
The holidays are the worst time for waste, from what we do with our festive trees to what we wrap our gifts with. According to the Recycling Council of BC (RCBC), Canada generates about 345,000 tonnes of waste annually just from gift wrapping and shopping bags. They point out that if everyone in Canada wrapped just three gifts in reused paper or bags, it would be enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks.
Using recycled paper creates 74 per cent less pollution and saves trees, water and energy, so keep gift bags and reuse them next year, as well as bows, tags, cards, tissue paper and boxes. Another novel idea is to wrap gifts with newspapers or magazines—it’s original, and will save money and a few trees.
When it comes to waste, consumer packaging is one of the biggest. RCBC notes that it makes up half of our garbage in volume and one-third by weight. But there are many ways to go green this Christmas and consider the environmental impacts the festive season has on planet earth by remembering to reuse, reduce and recycle.
Choose gifts with minimal packaging, or as Robert Lillienfield, author of Use Less Stuff proposes, buy gifts that don’t have to be wrapped at all.
“Tickets to concerts, museums, or sporting events, gift certificates, house plants, or even gifts of your own time,” he suggests, instead of giving the horde of customary boxed items.
“Green gifts” are becoming more available, such as the ones found on www.ecotoytown.com. Paint sets made from natural plant extracts; recycled-wooden toys, hemp Frisbees and dolls. These make for a great choice of gifts for the kids on your list.
Instead of buying plastic ornaments for your tree, Lillienfield suggests having the kids make decorations out of things you already have such as paper-chains, popcorn-and-cranberry strings, or decorating pinecones. And remember, when choosing your festive tree that farmed or potted trees are actually more environmentally friendly than artificial ones. Artificial trees cause pollution when being manufactured due to their contents and are generally produced outside of Canada. Locally farmed trees support the economy.
Kamloops also offers a convenient and environmentally friendly Christmas tree disposal program where trees are recycled into wood chips when the holidays are over.
“We open up approximately 10 additional drop-off sites throughout Kamloops where trees are chipped and composted,” confirms Jaimi Garbutt, Environmental Educator for the City of Kamloops.
Garbutt also suggests using light emitting diodes (LED) for lighting trees or illuminating your home—they last 10 times longer and use 95 per cent less energy.
Try sending E-cards online instead of buying Christmas cards. There are even websites where you can personalize your card with a photo. But, if you prefer the sentimentality of paper cards buy cards made from recycled paper, or make them yourself from materials like photographs and magazines.
Christmas is a time of giving, and by going green this holiday season you will provide Mother Earth with the ultimate gift.
For more information on recycling programs in B.C. visit www.rcbc.bc.ca
Site designed and maintained by: PeaksMedia.com