Your guide to greener holidays

Here come the holidays! The warmth of dinners with family and friends, the office party, putting up Christmas lights, buying gifts and figuring out how to get to and from and fit all those visits in—it’s not easy being green amidst all the hubbub. Rest assured, there are a ton of ways to have fun while taking care of both the planet and your budget.

There’s no need to scrimp on generosity, sharing or smart gift-giving. A couple of tips from this guide to green holidays can help you reinvent Christmas.

Food for thought for the holidays

The more local the food is, the less it has travelled and the smaller its ecological footprint. So how about arranging a meal around a local theme? Each guest brings their favourite dish, under one condition: all the ingredients (or almost all) must come from Canada—or even just your province. It’s easier than you might think. The nation is truly full of foodie treasures! Why not discover some new flavours and spice up the evening?

When it comes to setting the table, you know that disposable plates, glasses, and table covers are not the best way to go, but if you are tempted to go disposable, then go bamboo. It’s an easily recyclable material that’s becoming more and more available.

If you think you’ll have lots of leftovers at the end of the evening, ask your guests to bring empty containers to take some extras home.

Still have too many leftovers? Find a fun recipe to repurpose your holiday feast, pack lunches for the office (a great way to save, too!), freeze any extras, and compost anything you just can’t use. Many cities across Canada provide compost collection.

Interior décor

Holiday lights provide such warmth and joy and come December 1st they illuminate our houses and streets. By using a timer, you can set your holiday lights to go on at 5 p.m. and off at midnight—a great way to reduce your use of electricity. And, you won’t need to remember to turn them off, either!

If you’re buying new lights, choose more efficient, safer, and long-lasting LED bulbs. Some even run on solar energy now!

When it comes to the traditional Christmas tree, natural trees get a lot of criticism because of how they’re grown and transported. However, a study from Ellipsos, a firm that specializes in sustainable development, shows that unless you keep your artificial tree for twenty years, natural trees are the option that generates less greenhouse gas. Home-made trees are a great option if you’re a handy person. With a little bit of creativity, they can be original and breathtaking at the same time. Check online to find the one that catches your Christmas spirit.  

Green gift-giving

Rather than buying brand new, why not treasure hunt for used items? All across Canada, there are stores where you can dig up some real finds: books, decorations, games, and even fashion accessories. Surprise your guests with a one-of-a-kind item that they haven’t seen in any store or catalogue.

When it comes time to wrap gifts, find inspiration in the art of Japanese furoshiki, which uses cloth instead of paper. Magnificent, original, and recyclable! You can then use it to wrap future gifts.

Another great idea is a home-made present: a photo in a beautiful frame, an eye-catching jar of candy, or a pair of mittens you knit yourself—gifts that keep on giving! Because it’s not the cost, it’s the thought that counts!

Getting around green

There are plenty of ways to go green behind the wheel. First, make sure you don’t overload your vehicle, and check the state of the car before setting off. However, if there are twenty guests and each brings their own vehicle, all these efforts will come to naught. Set up some ride-sharing instead. Do the math. If each car is filled with passengers, there will be only four on the road rather than twenty, which makes a big difference on the environment.

If guests are not arriving from the same place, they can use car-sharing sites available across Canada to catch a ride with someone else going the same way. Or maybe your neighbour is headed the same way as you for the holidays! Just make sure everyone drives safely—especially during snowstorms.

Having a jolly good time and sharing holiday cheer is possible—and perhaps even more enjoyable. It just takes a little imagination. To save our planet, keep in mind that if seven billion of us do it, it’s the little acts that make the difference.

How about you? What are your eco-tips for green holidays?