Make this Christmas an eco-friendly one

Our guide on how to green your holiday celebrations without turning yourself into a dreaded eco-grinch in the process.

Instead of dreaming of a white Christmas, many people are looking forward to a green holiday this year.

"There is increasing public concern over the environmental impact of holiday celebrations," says Randall McQuaker, executive director of Resource Conservation Manitoba. "There is a lot of waste and energy consumption concentrated around Christmas. People feel conflicted."

Environmentalists estimate a 25-per-cent increase in garbage generated during the Christmas season, not to mention all the megawatts of energy used for all those blinking lights.

But you don't have to cancel Christmas.

"I don't want to be an eco-grinch," says McQuaker. "Celebrations are an important part of society. But if we can be aware of what we buy and how much waste we create, we can have a happy and sustainable holiday."

Here's our guide to greening your Christmas celebrations:

O CHRISTMAS TREE

Fake or real? It's one of the biggest Christmas conundrums.

Susan Lindsay, project manager of Manitoba's Climate Change Connection, says there is no clear winner in the debate over whether real Christmas trees or plastic reusable ones are better for the planet.

A real tree is typically grown at a tree farm for about six years, providing habitat for animals, cleaning the air and creating oxygen. After Christmas, it can be recycled as wood chips and mulch. However, many of our cut Christmas trees are shipped by truck from far-off places.

A fake tree is made from petroleum-derived, non-biodegradable plastics in factories that emit pollution and ship over long distances -- often from China. However, they can be reused for many years.

"The best-case scenario is to take really good care of your artificial tree and use it for a long period of time or buy a [locally] grown real tree and make sure you get it wood-chipped after the holidays," Lindsay says.

Another more eco-friendly option is to decorate a living tree that you keep year-round.

Norfolk Pines are a soft-needled tree that can be kept indoors in a pot all year long and do not require a lot of sunlight. They grow quite tall and can be purchased for $7.99 to $60.99, depending on size.

GREENER HOLIDAY DECORATING

- Instead of loading up on fossil fuel-intensive plastic decorations, make your home festive with natural items, such as pinecones, evergreen branches, holly, dried berries and decorated cookies. Popcorn and cranberries can be strung to make old-fashioned looking garlands. If you aren't that crafty, you can purchase more naturally derived decorations.

- Save energy by only turning on outdoor Christmas lights for a couple of hours each evening and replace conventional incandescent holiday string lights with energy-efficient LED lights.

AN ECO-FRIENDLY FEAST

The average meal in North America travels an estimated 2,400 kilometres to reach your dinner plate. If tofurkey (turkey-flavoured tofu) won't quite cut it, try to create a holiday dinner from close to home. Choose a locally raised, free-range turkey and roast local vegetables.

Although it's tempting, don't use paper plates and cutlery for big gatherings, as they create a lot of waste.

GREEN WRAPPING

Wrapping paper generates a lot of waste, especially since most decorative papers cannot be put in the recycling bin. Look to alternatives, such as reusable gift bags and the comics section of the newspaper, or wrap gifts in another present, such as a scarf, a holiday cloth napkin, a Christmas tea towel or a decorative box. Old Christmas cards can be cut into gift tags.

If everyone in Canada wrapped just three gifts in fabric gift bags or reused paper this holiday, the paper saved would cover 45,000 hockey rinks, says www.greenopolis.ca.

GREEN GIFT-GIVING

It isn't always easy to figure out what is a good versus bad gift in terms of environmental impact, especially when you are frantically rushing around the mall. But here are some general rules on eco-friendly gift-giving:

- Buy local, handmade items. Not only are you supporting the local economy, but these items didn't have to be shipped from overseas.

- Stay away from products with a lot of packaging.

- Look for items made from recycled materials.

- Instead of buying an object, give a service or experience, such as a gift certificate for spa day, a membership to a museum, tickets to the theatre, etc.

- Make a donation to a charity in the person's name. Many charities offer the opportunity to adopt an endangered animal or acreage of habitat or buy chickens for a village so they have eggs to eat.

(prepared by Cheryl Binning/Vancouver Sun)