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Having a "Green Christmas" instead of just a "White Christmas" has been an important consideration in many households, due to global warming being such a hot topic the past few years. There are endless possibilities on how to ensure your holiday celebrations are still merry while also being environmentally friendly.
An easy way to increase environmental benefits during the holiday season is to make the switch from old incandescent string lights to Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights for your outdoor and indoor decorating needs. LED lights tend to be more expensive but they last much longer and use up to 90 per cent less power than the older style bulbs. Not only does this lower the electricity bill, but it also shrinks your carbon footprint as well. LEDs stay cool to the touch so they won't singe the Christmas tree or a little one's fingers. These lights can last up to 100,000 hours when they're used indoors while conventional bulbs typically only last 1,000 to 2,000 hours.
SaskPower recently identified the benefits of switching to LED lights and has began to offer the SaskPower Eneraction Light String Exchange.
"The SaskPower Light String Exchange program ran for its third year in retail stores throughout Saskatchewan in 95 locations province-wide this year," Rebecca Fiissel, Residential Program Leader for SaskPower said. "SaskPower Eneraction is a new department in SaskPower. It focuses on helping customer segments such as residential, industrial and commercial reduce energy consumption and help them use more energy efficient options."
"In Saskatchewan, the most energy used is during the holiday season between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. when people come home, turn on their Christmas lights and Christmas tree, which are all things that use electricity that lead to our peak," Fiissel said, adding that the holiday season is the peak power consuming time of the year. A program like the Light String Exchange is a good program "to not only help residents learn how to use their electricity and reduce their electrical bill but it's also a low-cost supply option for SaskPower."
The Light String Exchange Program ran for two weekends in November and, while the number of strings collected in 2010 have not yet been tallied, Fiissel said that there was growth between the first and second year of the program.
"In 2009, we had 27,000 strings of lights exchanged. It seems amazing that Saskatchewan residents would bring in that many strings for recycling," Fiissel said. "The amount of electricity that takes off the grid is substantial. Four megawatts were taken off of the grid from the lighting program in 2009. Four megawatts is approximately the amount of power used to power 4,000 homes."
SaskPower Eneraction is "here to help customers save money and help the environment through programs like the String Light Exchange. It's a good way to help residents see how they can reduce their bills and make a difference environmentally."
Aside from going 'green' by decorating your home or business differently, one can decrease the amount of waste generated by giving green as well. Gifts don't always have to be material items. Gift certificates to the spa or local gym keeps waste out of landfills and provides the individual with a service they might not otherwise take advantage of.
Baking gifts also keep gift spending costs low while creating a very minimal amount of waste. Tins and jars used to hold the baked goods can also be reused. If the person you're buying for loves a certain charity, make a donation to the charity in their name and give them the selfless gift of charity donation this holiday season.
Looking locally for homemade gifts is an environmentally-friendly option that also supports community members. Many items in stores that are bought as gifts come from halfway around the world. The impact of transporting these items contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. There are plenty of craft shows in our province at this time of the year, not to mention local businesses and artists that sell homemade items which would make excellent Christmas gifts for any member of the family.
Recycling during the holidays is crucial to ensuring you have a green Christmas. Try to avoid buying metallic or glossy wrapping paper as it can be difficult to recycle. An even better option would be to avoid using typical holiday wrapping paper at all. Instead of buying paper every year, get creative with what resources you have in your home.
Use pages from a magazine to wrap your gifts or get your children to create gift wrap from their artwork. If you must have wrapping paper for your gifts, use environmentally friendly wrapping paper that is made using fibers such as hemp or look for paper that is labeled as recycled. Reusing gift wrap whenever possible is also a smart habit to get into during the holiday season. Save gift wrap, ribbons and bows for future holidays.
Gift packing materials such as bubble wrap can be saved to reuse or recycle. If you are looking for something to pack your fragile gifts in, try dry pasta or polyester fill from old pillows. Cardboard boxes should be flattened and taken to the local recycling bins or, if you wish, boxes can be stored and kept for reuse.
However you choose to implement environmentally-friendly options into your celebrations this year, know that making small tweaks during the holiday season can have a huge positive environmental impact.
