Happy Holidays, and Have a Green Christmas!The Associated Press
So, the AP actually DOES have more on its mind than stumping for the wasteful, sinful, slothful GOP agenda. Happy Holidays!
Careful planning during the holidays can reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. The following are a few environmentally friendly suggestions:
• Buy toys that don't use batteries or buy rechargeable batteries to go with new electronic toys. Information on disposing of batteries is available on www.rbrc.org.
• Buy living gifts, like houseplants, garden seeds or potted trees that can be transplanted in the spring.
• Reuse holiday wrapping, or use old maps or comic pages from the Sunday paper for wrapping gifts. Put gifts in decorative tins or boxes instead of throwaway wrapping materials. Use and reuse decorative gift bags.
• Use your imagination in trimming the tree or yard for the holidays. Take time to recondition strings of lights that may only need a few bulbs. Create ornaments out of items that can be painted or decorated for a new look.
• To compensate for the harvest of your Christmas tree, arrange to plant a new tree next spring. Or, consider using a durable artificial tree. Try reusing old artificial trees in outdoor holiday displays.
• Recycle cardboard boxes or better yet, save boxes and bows for reuse next year. It can be a surprise to find that the gift inside is not what is pictured on the box.
And DFIA Environmentalist Molly Regan reminds us that gift-wrap, holiday cards, envelopes with foil linings, and gift bows are not recyclable. Some of these items contain metallic inks and excessive tape, which prevent them from being recycled. Rather than throwing these items in the trash, why not avoid using them altogether? It's never to late to change old habits!
Happy Holidays!
