Every once in a while one of our interns writes a blog for us.  Often something near & dear to their hearts.  Always something green. Today our intern, Cristina, shares some thoughts on the holiday season…

The holiday season makes us all go a little wild and crazy – the gift giving, the card sending, those photos at that one party… yeah.  But this holiday season don’t forget about being eco-friendly &, the best part is, it’s cheap & simple.  So here are some tips to continue your efforts as a green consumer all year ’round.

• Gift Wrap: We produce an additional 5 million tons of garbage during the holidays, the majority of it wrapping paper & plastic bags according to the the Clean Air Council.  Wrap your gifts with old newspapers, sheet music, maps, kiddie artwork or even recycled brown paper bags, which you can decorate with stickers, stamps, crayons, markers & watercolor paint.
• Holiday Cards: Americans buy & send 2 billion holiday cards every year, according to the Greeting card Association.  Cut down on this paper by updating & downscaling your mailing list or send e-cards.  What to do with last years cards?  Make them into gift tags by cutting them into fun shapes like stars & gingerbread men & punch a hole at the top & pull a ribbon through.
• Trees: Buy a real tree, which can be recycled & composted into mulch. The artificial tree can be reused but once discarded they sit in a landfill.
• Lights: When using light decorations, look for LED lights instead of traditional lightbulbs.  They use only 1 – 3 kilowatts of energy per hour, compared to 12 – 105 kilowatts for incandescent lights, & last twice as long. If you already have incandescent lights, repurpose them by painting & tying them to the tree.