5 Ways to Have a Merry Yet Sustainable Christmas

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The holiday season is the most festive time of the year. There is the gift giving to look forward to along with the kiss under the mistletoe, decorating gingerbread houses and drinking eggnog. After Christmas, there's New Year—the time to leave the past behind and start anew. Most people look forward to coming up with resolutions and following them.

All of these are fun and exciting especially when you have a full house this holiday season. But, the holiday season comes with spending and other activities which are wasteful and harmful to the environment. Even in the comfort of a house and lot for sale in Bulacan, you and your family can be guilty of posing as a threat to your community and the environment. Instead of contributing damage to the Earth, why not try to become an eco-warrior? Encourage family members and friends to have a merry yet sustainable Christmas.

Adopt a new tradition with these eco-friendly lifestyle choices.

1. Give homemade gifts

The great thing about handmade gifts is that they are highly customized. As the giver, you are the one responsible for looking materials to create the stuff you give out to your loved ones. You can avoid harmful chemicals or wasteful production practices. You are in charge of what to use and how to use the materials you need to make your present. With this in mind, you can minimize your waste and consumption even if your goal is to give something new.

There are several ways to make homemade gifts. You can look for inspiration on the Internet. You can also come up with ideas to improve or personalize store-bought items. If you wish to create something from scratch, it’s best to use organic and naturally-sourced products and ingredients. These are less destructive than their commercially-produced counterparts. Another green method of making homemade gifts is to reuse and upcycle. Give a new life to items you think are junk by decorating them or adding a new feature to enhance its components and quality.

2. Decorate using real trees, twigs, and wreaths

The great thing about fake decorations is that they last for a long time. You can use the same thing over and over while still looking new and fresh. Unfortunately, supporting manufacturers of fake Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands means that you are using twice the resources needed to cut fresh pine trees. To produce the decorations, it uses large amounts of PVC which takes a lot of valuable resources to make. On top of that, companies transport the decors from factories to stores. The transport vehicles burn a lot of fuel that adds to the fake Christmas decors already high carbon footprint.

This year, opt for a real Christmas tree especially if you aren’t looking for long-lasting decorations. A fresh pine tree is biodegradable. As long as you dispose of it properly, you won’t be adding to the Earth’s accumulating junk pile. You can even re-plant it. That way, you won’t have to buy a new one next holiday season. Don’t forget about other naturally-sourced decorations. Not only do they add to the natural feel to your home. They are also cheap. If your home is near the woods or a park, you can gather twigs and a few greens you can use to create a centerpiece, a wreath or small decors that complement different parts of your home.

3. Replace burnt out bulbs from your festive fairy lights

Nothing says Christmas than your several meter-long blinking lights on the tree. Your idea of a Christmas tree is almost complete, but a few bulbs don’t light up. Before you decide to throw it away, you should check if the fuse is still working properly. You can do this by taking out the fuse and looking inside. If the fuse is functioning, then you need a bulb tester. The tester gets rid of the hassle of identifying which are busted bulbs. All you must do is to hold each bulb against the tester to see if it lights up. With a bulb tester, you can find out which ones to replace. Bulb testers are available in most hardware stores.

4. Create a new recipe using leftovers

The holiday season also means there is a lot of food on the table. With Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve feasts, there is bound to be pounds of turkey, savory slices of meat, creamy sauces and decadent cakes on dining tables. Since these are celebrations, no family is going to be stingy and frugal with their food selection. It leaves a lot of people with leftovers. Every year people dump millions of food and fresh produce in the trash which shows how much effort and money goes down the drain.

To avoid wasting food and money this year, you should try to salvage as much as you can from the dishes you prepared from your banquet. Keep untouched cold cuts, cheese and other desserts on the fridge. Leave a plate or a few slices of what you made for a family member who might get hungry after the festivities. It avoids spoiling the rest of the dish. Most of all, it leaves you with something to work with for the next day. You can use dips and sauces for salads. Leftover meat is perfect as a protein-source for sandwiches, wraps, and other recipes. There are a lot of things you can do with holiday leftovers as long as you keep an open mind to the possibilities.

5. Switch the lights off before heading to bed

Though part of Christmas is turning on the lights, you are better off unplugging them before you sleep. Leaving electronics and lights switched on the entire nights consumes a lot of energy. You might feel like Scrooge doing this, but doing it goes a long way. Once it becomes a practice, you won’t have to remind yourself to unplug lights on the tree, on your windows and the ones outside.

Christmas is fun and magical. The decorations, activities and other festivities make it the most awaited holiday. However, it is also the time when people become wasteful. Instead of contributing to Earth’s degradation, it’s time you revolutionize how you spend Christmas. These tips can be your guide in making lasting changes.