“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”
St. Louise de Marillac
Holiday Eco–Tips
Not surprisingly, this time of year for the holidays is often when the most waste is created! Between wrapping paper that is used once to packaging for toys to gift cards to shipping gifts, this time of year is not very friendly for our planet. During the holiday season, the average US household generates around 25% more waste than usual, enough to fill over 60,000 garbage trucks!
This year consider making some of the following changes:
- Skip using unrecyclable wrapping paper and ribbon (most can’t be recycled): It is estimated that 4.6 million pounds of gift wrap is used in the US every year. Most of that ends up in the landfill. 30 million trees are cut down every year to produce gift wrap.
- Buy this instead – https://www.simplyzero.co/products/compostable-recyclable-holiday-wrapping-paper?_pos=3&_sid=262bb0de6&_ss=r
- Or use reusable bags and bows – don’t throw them away, keep them for next year, do the same with tissue paper.
- Other ideas include: using newspaper, brown paper bags, or fabric. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg-XeJnuaKc
- Gift experiences not toys! Buy secondhand.
- More ideas here: http://beyondplastics.org/holiday-guides/holidaygiftguide
- Send e-gift cards – skip the PVC plastic ones that can’t be recycled. You can even print it out and put in a bag to be opened!
- More information here: https://www.beyondplastics.org/publications/pvc-gift-cards
- Eat leftovers or compost your food waste if you can!
- More tips on avoiding plastic here: https://www.beyondplastics.org/holiday-guides/thanksgiving
- The amount of food waste during holiday gatherings in the U.S. produces approximately 25 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually, about 4-5% of the total US food waste each year.
- Try not to buy any more plastic holiday decorations or lights, be creative in crafting your own decorations with your family. Repair lights you already own, turn them off at night while sleeping so they don’t contribute to light pollution.
While it will take effort to make these changes, I suggest choosing one to focus on and add to it each year. It might take more time, but it could make the holiday season more meaningful as well.
Ministries
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