Five Ways to Make Your Holiday Even Greener

LED lights on tree

As we celebrate with friends and family during the holiday season, let’s not forget our wildlife neighbors. Consider the following tips below to keep your festivities environmentally friendly:

1. Use LED lights for decorating. They use 90% less energy than other bulbs and last longer (up to 10 times as long as compact fluorescents, and far longer than typical incandescent). Plus, no mercury is used in the manufacturing of LEDs. Many LED light companies are now offering to recycle old incandescent lights to help keep them out of landfills, or you can even recycle them yourself into arts and crafts projects.

2. “Tree”cycle. After the season’s over, don’t let your natural Christmas tree go to waste! Many communities offer free tree-recycling services, where your discarded tree can be transformed into something new and useful (artificial reef, sand dune barrier, or mulch). Find a service near you.

3. Wrap creatively. Keep something else out of the trash by using it to wrap your gifts (pages from old calendars or catalogs, kid’s coloring books, or tourist brochures). Or, opt for wrapping paper made from recycled materials instead. Better yet, forgo the wrap altogether and bag it – reusable gift bags can be found most anywhere. Find more ideas for how to reduce holiday waste.

4. Decorate a tree outside for wildlife. Instead of artificial decorations, try making your own. Peanut butter pine cones, cranberry garlands, seed wreaths – these festive accents add holiday spirit to your yard and offer food to birds as well. Keep your binoculars handy for such wildlife visitors!

5. Enlighten your entertaining. Choose locally grown food at your holiday feast (less greenhouse gasses emitted to transport local produce) and go organic whenever possible (help keep our soil and water pesticide-free). Afterward, don’t forget to recycle and compost what you can.

What Defenders is Doing

Defenders sends out holiday cards and wrapping paper made from recycled paper. We also offer gift ideas that directly help wildlife.

Check out these tips direct from the North Pole on how to make your holidays more environmentally friendly.