I’ll Have a Green Christmas

Is Christmas a waste?

Don't let all of your wrapping paper end up at the dump. Image from Flickr.

Christmas is a time of joy, when we get to see loved ones we haven’t seen for a while. Christmas in many families is filled with history and tradition. Christmas has a lot of pros, but it also has more than a few cons.

One of the biggest problems with Christmas is waste. Once you add up the wrapping paper, boxes, toy packaging and full-sized trees, you’re looking at some significant landfill contributions. But fear not, there are ways to have a traditional Christmas and still respect our planet.

Oh, Christmas Tree

For a reasons I don’t understand, a lot of people are dead set against getting a fake Christmas tree. While this is the most environmentally responsible method, some people simply can’t be swayed, even though it saves money, like getting the best personal loan rates, and it saves waste.

There are ways to keep your real tree from ending up in a landfill. Many people have big bonfires with their Christmas trees or burn them in their fireplaces at home. Try to figure out a way to get your tree to people who can use it to help heat their homes or use the materials to create something else. For instance, you might be able to get your tree to a plant that could use it to make …

Wrapping paper

Many people aren’t sure whether wrapping paper is recyclable, but guess what! It most certainly is. A lot of cities with pick-up programs accept wrapping paper in the recycling bins. The same thing goes for cardboard boxes.

A lot of toy packaging can’t be recycled, but much of it can. It may seem like a huge hassle, but look around at all the houses around you. Now think of what it would look like if you all piled up the waste that resulted from your Christmas presents. Do the right thing and make sure you recycle everything possible so that there will be many joyous Christmases on this Earth to come.