Co-written by Max Carmony and Maggie M.
Getting ready to celebrate the winter holiday season? Some simple changes can make your holiday more sustainable.
- Instead of buying rolls of wrapping paper, try wrapping gifts with re-purposed materials. Newspaper, magazines, paper bags and the kraft paper that often comes as packing material in boxes all make excellent wrapping materials. CreativeBug has multiple classes on eco-friendly gift wrapping, making your own wrapping paper and making holiday decorations.
- Furoshiki — the Japanese art of wrapping gifts in cloth — is a beautiful and easily re-useable way to wrap gifts too. We have several books that demonstrate Furoshiki methods and CreativeBug has classes on it as well.
- Ditch tape and use glue to secure your gifts or tie wrappings closed with twine, yarn or paper ribbon — it’s best to avoid the plastic or nylon ribbon which won’t decompose and can become a hazard for wildlife.
- You can reuse gift bags and boxes from previous years instead of buying new. If you do buy new supplies, look for ones that can be re-used many times.
- When buying candles to light a menorah, kinara, altar or table settings, look for candles made of beeswax, coconut wax, or soy wax — or make your own.
- Buy used items as gifts. A fellow staff member created a wonderful list of books on shopping secondhand.
- Make your own holiday decorations with foraged, or borrowed items. “Upcycling Decorations,” by Danny Seo has fun techniques specifically for the holidays!
- Sourcing ingredients for your holiday meal from local farmers, butchers, and businesses reduces the carbon footprint of your food and supports local farms and businesses. The Columbia Farmers Market is open 9am-12pm on Saturdays during winter months.
Even by making just a few of these swaps, you can help make this holiday season more sustainable.
