Eco Friendly Christmas – Resources and Inspiration Guide

Have you been dreaming of a Green Living Christmas? This year it will be easier than ever to lessen your holiday carbon footprint. We’ve searched the internet for the best eco-friendly Christmas decorating tips, advice and shops – so you don’t have to. Sit back, relax and click your way to a healthier Christmas for your home and the planet.

• Julie Deardoff, the editor of “Julie’s Health Blog” at the Chicago Tribune helps reduce the confusion of picking the perfect, and by perfect we mean “Greenest”, Christmas tree. She discusses the pros and cons related to three types of trees: plastic (aka the artificial tree), farmed and eco-farmed.
• BlogHers ACT Canada highlight a couple of eco-wrapping papers (including recycled fabrics) and alternatives to wrapping gifts – like using online gift cards or certificates, donate to charity, and several other great and greener gifting options.
• Who said going Green has to be expensive? Fellow Curbly contributer, DIY Maven, posts “Curbly Recession Busters: Free Alternative Christmas Trees“. That gets you a two-fer! (1) Recycle, Re-purpose and Reuse EQUALS Eco Christmas tree and (2) Holiday decorating on a budget.

Green Ornaments – Where to Find Them or Make Them

• World of Good.com (eBay) – Eco Positive ornaments in categories such as Energy Conservation, Eco-Friendly Production and Environmental Conservation.
• Uncommon Goods has a real conversation starter: Elephant Poo Paper Elephant Ornaments. Seriously. These ornaments are handmade from 100% recycled elephant dung. According to Uncommon Goods, the ornaments are “eco-friendly, attractive and most importantly, odorless”. We would hope so
• Planet Green‘s Kelly Rossiter shares her kitchen recipe for baking up some fun ornaments.
• ecoBites has anarray of awesome, creative and easy to make eco-ornaments. This is a terrific resource for the craft DIYers. Our favorite idea – dressing up old, empty thread spools in ribbon and glue together to create a festive tree shaped ornament. Another one of our favorites and one we’ve been using for years, is repurposing old, costume jewelry found at estate sales, flea markets and garage sales into sparkling, unique ornaments.

Last, but not least, our own post, ” Dreaming of a Green Christmas: 4 Eco-Friendly Holiday Decorating and Entertaining Ideas ” .  Content provided below for easy referencing.

Want to leave the planet a little better than you found it? Then you will love these four eco-friendly holiday decorating and entertaining ideas:

1. Gift Tags That Grow: Instead of buying regular or recycled gift tags do the Green Thing and go Green all the way by purchasing plantable holiday gift tags that are made from 100% recycled materials AND each tag contains seeds which can be planted and will bloom into pretty blossoms.

2. Christmas Tree Lights That Don’t Die: Bid adieu to those old fashion holiday lights that barely survive one Christmas season without burning out. Instead opt for Forever Lights (23 1/2′ string for under $20) which are made from LED bulbs and are very Green since “they last for about 200,000 hours, and use almost 80% less electricity than incandescent lights.” On top of being energy efficient “Forever Lights” will illuminate your tree up to 20 years even if one bulb burns out the rest will keep shining. Just think of the reduction in discarded Christmas Tree lights at landfills and the reduction in carbon emissions and other plastics related toxins that will no longer have to be created to produce another non-Green Christmas light string.

3. Save That Bulb: 3R Living takes recycling to a whole new level with their clever re-use of burned out old light bulbs, giving them a painted face lift and re-purposing them as delightful tree ornaments. Too cute and oh, so Green. Do expect to shell out a little of your own Green as these one-of-a-kind holiday beauties range from $18 to $32. By the way, for our DIY-er readers this is an easy to do week-end craft project if you rather make than buy.

4. Trash to Treasures – The Ultimate Recycle: Instead of buying new holiday dinnerware check out eBay, thrift stores, estate sales or yard sales. When you’re done with the dinnerware and decide you no longer want them you can recycle them by: selling them back, donating them to a food kitchen, church assistance program or break the plates up to make a unique and artsy mosaic project.