A Green Christmas

Noone, but no one you say, wants a Green Christmas. We all want a white one. Well the fact is you can have both. In some cases, green isn’t all bad..
Green living, as most of you will know, is making the most of what you’ve got, wasting little, and working for a cleaner environment while still having those things that are important to you.

What on earth is a “green” Christmas, and how can you have one, and still have all those lights and tinsel and the sparkle of the holidays and still keep it green?

Easily accomplished if you think green all year and let it carry over to your holidays as well.

For a lot of us, the holidays are a time to spare nothing when it comes to giving a gift to someone we care about, but the truth is that many of our gifts will spend their life buried in the back of a closet.

Look around you at the malls and store, the web sites and the individual resellers, all of whom are seeking to send you home with a pile of gadgets that you probably don’t need and some of your recipients won’t use.

Many people are slowing growing aware of the fact that its possible to green up our life and still give a great holiday gift to a family member or friend, just by using a little creative thinking.
“Greening” up your holiday can be a very powerful statement to the world around you about who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish.

Going green doesn’t mean giving horrid gifts, not wrapping them or having no lights on your tree.
Quite the contrary. A green Christmas means using your imagination and making it shine, just in a different way.

Rather than purchasing something thats brand new and just been made and imported from somewhere else, try out a gift that you found on ebay, or in an antique store.
Recycling gifts for a “green” Christmas, doesn’t mean giving someone else the recycled fruitcake that Aunt Ida gave you last year.
It can mean offering something to someone that you know they love, and still reusing goods that are already out there.
One of my favorite gifts was a “green” gift.
Someone went to one of my favorite china stores online and bought me an antique bone china cup and saucer.
Not only was it a thoroughly thoughtful gift, designed for someone they knew appreciated recycling, but it was a gift that they knew I would appreciate since I have a penchant for older things and Love china passionately.

A green Christmas means not breaking the bank, but purchasing gifts that are made of recycled materials, are perhaps used, such as my china cup, and will be wrapped in recycled paper materials.

Green Christmas gifts for someone you know might include:
A gift certificate from a used book store makes sure that you use books which have been pre-read.. many larger stores such as Hastings books sells used books in their repetoire.
An antique that they’ve wanted is a recycled gift
A hand made scarf or something you’ve made yourself such as a picture frame or something hand made by a local craftsperson in your area, if you’re too busy or not crafty yourself.
Another brainstorm might be, rather than offering them an actual gift, share something more than just a present, give them some time….

Buy them a massage, or a few hours at a spa, or even an afternoon at a ball game or a few hours of free babysitting, or give your kids yourself, take them skating or hiking or camping.

This Christmas, whether it rains, or snows, or you live in the desert and its ninety degrees, think green Christmas.
You’re not only saving money, you’re saving the world.. or at least, a little piece of it.