Decorating - Green Up Christmas Without Becoming a Grinch
The tree, the inside of the house, the yard… how do you like to decorate for Christmas?
There’s no right or wrong way, but personally, I’m a minimalist decorator… we tend to just do the tree and we have a couple of free-standing ornaments that we place around the house.
We have a 7-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree that I purchased twenty-five years ago. I’ve always stuck to the same colour scheme when decorating (red, green and gold) and we’ve had most of our decorations for twenty plus years - the only new ones that we’ve added along the way are named baubles when the kids came along and things that came home from kindy and school over the years.
Some members of my family have lovingly accused me of becoming a bit Grinchy over the years and honestly, I don’t even try to deny it. As a child and a young adult, I absolutely LOVED Christmas, it was always my most favourite time of the year. Sadly though, the more I learn about the environment and consumerism and waste, the more the Christmas baubles seem to lose their shine!
That’s not to say Christmas is doomed because it is possible to green up your Christmas by simply making some better choices…
If you think about a Christmas Tree from absolute start to finish, there is some debate about what type of tree, artificial or real, is better for the environment…
Most artificial Christmas trees use a lot of non-recyclable, non-degradable plastics and metal; are labour and resource intensive and involve a long production and shipping process, taking up to 20 years of use to reclaim their carbon footprint (!!) and because they won’t decompose, it’s inevitable that they will eventually end up in landfill.
But then, if you and 30 plus million other people are cutting down a tree every year just to decorate their homes for a few weeks… well that can’t be good for the environment either… especially when an average a 6-foot-tall Christmas tree takes around 7 years to grow!
Better Choices:
Opt for a real POTTED tree (that still has its roots intact) instead of a CUT tree. Potted trees can be reused again and again until they get too big and then they can be planted in your garden. (Or sold on marketplace if you don't have a garden) You can use any tree or plant that you already have in your house… it’s not set in stone that it MUST be a Christmas tree Christmas tree! A bonus of a potted tree or plant, is that it produces oxygen and sucks up carbon dioxide, helping to improve the air quality inside your home.
If you have an artificial tree, look after it and keep it for as long as possible. (Remember it takes approximately 20 years of use to reclaim the carbon footprint of an artificial tree!) When you do need to replace it; see the tip above about potted trees!
Whatever decorations you are using right now… keep on using them… for as long as you possibly can and remember that even if they are not perfect, they are not necessarily ready for the trash can… some of my 20-year-old baubles have dents in them due to being dropped by little hands but if you position them right on the tree no one can see the dent!
When you really do need to replace your decorations choose better choice! (It really is that simple!) Look for decorations and ornaments made from cardboard, bamboo or cotton that can be composted at the end of their life. Maybe try making your own… a simple Google or Pinterest search will return loads of ideas and step by step instructions ranging from super easy to super tricky. If you have a garden, consider using flowers and plants that match your colour scheme. Low waste, compostable, low cost, easy and highly effective!
When you’re buying or replacing Christmas lights, choose LED lights. They use less approximately 75% less energy than the traditional incandescent bulb and last longer too. They don’t get hot to the touch, reducing the risk of Christmas tree fires and they’re less costly to run which makes them better for the environment, safer for your home and better for your hip pocket too.
Another argument that seems to pop up every year is WHEN to start your Christmas decorating and the writing of this post was prompted by driving past a house last weekend dressed in full Christmas attire - in October! Again, technically there is no right or wrong answer to this (that I’m aware of!) but for me it doesn’t happen until the 1st of December.
But, whether you go all out with the decorations or keep it super simple, whether you decorate in October or December… enjoy it, have fun and be sure to ALWAYS CHOOSE BETTER CHOICE!