 | Use reusable plates, cups, silverware and napkins instead of
disposables. |
| Choose durable home decorations and use them year after year. |
| Save paper wrapping for reuse next year. Save cardboard boxes for
other purposes or include with your recyclables. |
| Look for items made with recycled content. Many holiday greeting cards
are available with a high percentage of recycled content. When you are
through with the holiday greeting cards you receive, they may be recycled
with your regular paper recyclables. Holiday cards can also be reused next
year for gift tags. |
| Look for gifts or treats with little or no packaging. |
| Don’t take a new store bag if there’s room in one you’re already
carrying. |
| Reuse ribbons, bows and decorative wrappings from the gifts you
receive. |
| Tie up the perfect present with raffia, a dried sea grass, instead of
foil or plastic ribbons and bows. |
| Make the wrapping part of the gift. For example, wrap a kitchen gift
in a colorful holiday hand towel or place a set of earrings in a new pair
of gloves. |
| Make your own wrapping paper starting with recycled butcher paper or
handmade paper. Carve patterns such as trees or stars onto the flat side
of a potato sliced in half. Dip this potato stamp into a dish of paint or
simply brush paint onto the potato and print on the paper. This works
nicely for handmade cards too! |
| When buying electronic toys and other portable items that are used
regularly, purchase rechargeable batteries to go with them. |
| Buy a "live" holiday tree that can be planted in the yard in the
spring. |
| Plan meal portions wisely to reduce food waste and expense. Put
leftovers in reusable containers to send home with guests or save for
later. |