How are you having a "Green" Christmas?

Question

We skipped the outdoor lights, and instead, made woven willow "ornaments" rolled in peanut butter and birdseed for the birds, then strung cranberries and popcorn, and decorated a shrub outside for the birds to eat. We are pooling money for one large gift instead of several small ones....everyone in my husbands family is forgoing presents for each other to buy my in-laws a vacation, saving lots of landfill waste on unwanted gifts, giftwrap, and gas driving around to malls. What are you doing?

Answer 1

What am I doing?  I'm going to follow your excellent example.  

I also refuse to kill a tree for Xmas or string lilghts on it.  A small potted or artificial tree is adequate. Cranberry and popcorn garlands strung together, ornaments that have family history, ribbons and bows look much nicer than lights.

I also tend to give gift certificates to adult friends to take advantage of the apres Xmas sales.  I only give gifts to kids because a big part of it for them is the excitement of Xmas.  Adults should have grown out of the whole Xmas consumerist shtick by now.

Answer 2

i'm not going to even touch my car during the holidays, all public transportation or walking! no xmas tree or lights either! also since i'm going to be out most of the time (at friend's house) i won't be able to use any electrical appliances at home while i'm out.

Answer 3

Blinding the neighors and getting a couple new reindeer hides to keep me warm this winter. Get the old lady a new "George Foreman" Steak cooking grill.

Answer 4

That's very generous, but have you calculated the "waste" that your in-laws will generate during vacation?

As for my family, we have absolutely no concerns over a "green" Christmas.  Lights, gifts, wrap, driving, shopping...

'Tis the Season!

Answer 5

We don’t wrap presents we place them under the tree (we have had for 10 years) on Christmas morning. For your big gift think bicycle, electric car (golf cart), kayaks or solar panel. The golf cart or bike can be used on errands or on a short commute. We live in a rural area and our daughter needs a car so it will be a Prius. Don’t let the negative comments from people posting bother you. The ornaments idea is great we will try it.  Here goes 3 links for green gift link. http://www.brainwavestoys.com/home.php?c...  and  http://www.mrsolar.com/

And  http://www.siliconsolar.com/  

Think about taking a cloth shopping bag with you instead of receiving plastic or paper. Your vacation idea was great. We live in Myrtle Beach and a lot of families give amusement park, Water Park or museum passes

Have a Merry Christmas

Answer 6

We are reusing a "fake" plastic tree that I gave my little brother when he was a boy 25 years ago, but somehow got given to my children.  It is small enough that one strand of lights suffices.  We are not putting up outdoor lights.

We are staying home and giving simple gifts with reused wrapping paper.

Some of the gifts are aimed at keeping down heating costs and saving natural gas resources, i.e. making warm fleece robes, getting slippers to wear in the house while we keep our furnace set low.

Our children are old enough that one toy each is sufficient - less of the packaging.  The bulk of their gifts are books which will go on their shelves for years to come, or creative crafts, or a family activity, a family zoo or museum membership are being discussed as gift ideas.  

I asked for a bike tune-up for Christmas to make my cycle in a little smoother.  Any other gifts will probably be home improvement/yard improvement items for our new (old) home.