The holidays get a lot of flak for being unsustainable because overall, it is. Every year, Americans throw away 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve which is about 1 million extra tons of garbage per week. 

If becoming more sustainable during the holidays is important to you, here are some things that you can do to achieve that goal.

Give more by buying less stuff. Around this time, we spend a lot of money, get together, and give gifts as a way of showing our love for each other. Activities and experiences such as spa dates and dinners are perfect for avoiding buying physical gifts that your recipient may not even want and just end up in their junk drawer, and eventually, in the landfill. There are plenty other ideas for gifts that are not tangible and zero-waste such as tickets, memberships and subscriptions.

Gift green and local. There are also many creative options for tangible gifts. Bring more thought and intention into the way that you spend your money rather than going online last minute hoping for an expedited shipping. Our community has local crafters and potters who would love your support during the holidays, which is so much better than buying from the big box companies. 

Gift with an environmental message such as reusable bottles, canvas tote bags, battery rechargers, solar powered products, (or ones that require no power at all), and/or items made from recycled materials. If someone in your list loves candles, avoid the traditional ones made from paraffin wax which releases toxins into the air. Beeswax candles release negative ions that neutralize particles from air pollution. 

Find alternative ways to wrapping paper such as old newspapers, magazines and reusable bags. Maybe even look into Furoshiki, a Japanese traditional style of wrapping using fabric. If every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. 

Remember, too that not all material gifts have to be store-bought. Homemade cards and do-it-yourself gifts such as soaps, candles and jams are more examples of fun, more thoughtfully-created and equally love-filled alternatives. 

Truly think about the people that you are buying gifts for and the creative ways that you can spend less money yet give a more personal gift.

Give to your loved ones’ favorite charity. Maybe it is for water and food security, causes for mothers and kids, and/or efforts to protect our national parks. When donating to charities, it is important to do a research on the actual impact of their operations to the community and the environment.

Choose a live tree. Fresher, more fragrant, biodegradable, local, and not shipped from another continent!

Incorporate more eco-friendly holiday practices. Take the opportunity to reconnect with nature during the holidays by starting a new family tradition such as family nature hike, holiday bird count, and decorating a tree for the birds with seed bells, pine cones with peanut butter, etc.

Consume mindfully. Be smart about how and where you spend for yourself and other people. Ask yourself, “Do I need this?” Can you wear it through multiple seasons and for multiple occasions? Is there a longer-lasting, better quality option? What is still good that does not actually need to be replaced? What can you cut back on? 

It is a great time of year to practice mindful consumption.

Remember that holidays are best experienced when you focus on fun, relationships and real connections as opposed to mindless collection and consumption of actually unimportant stuff. 

Resolve to make an impact. Goal-setting for the next twelve-months is nearing and that is always a nice idea. Go into the following year thinking about the impact that you would like to make on the world around you. 

Let’s examine that goal of losing those annoying last few pounds. Maybe if we focus that amount of energy into something like container gardening to produce some of our own food, volunteering, or anything that actually gives back to the people in your community and which will truly fulfill you, would that not give you ten times more joy and self-worth than losing those last few pounds? The more we do for the world around us, the better people we become.

You can make the world a better place as you celebrate the holidays. With little effort and imagination, the holiday season is actually the perfect opportunity to make people aware, educate about how our choices affect our bodies and the environment, and instill sustainable values to our children, family and friends.

This article originally appeared in the Holiday 2020 issue of Focus On St. Charles County Magazine.