Do you know that Americans throw away 25 percent more trash, or about 1 million extra tons each week, during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period? In fact, 38,000 miles of ribbon alone are thrown out each year--enough to tie a bow around the Earth we're trying to save!

Reduce your waste and reduce your stress by keeping the "green" Holiday spirit alive by following some of these simple yet helpful holiday hints:

For Dinner Preparations:

  • Buy baking goods and snack food in bulk or large volumes.
  • Plan meals wisely and practice portion control to minimize waste.
  • After a big dinner, you'll have leftovers galore. Plan for leftovers in advance.
  • Pack and send leftovers home with guests. You can also donate food to local food banks or charities.
  • Compost your food waste. Fruits and vegetables and their peels, pits, and seeds are perfect for composting - a great natural fertilizer.
  • Use reusable rather than disposable tableware.
  • Cut up last year's holiday cards and use as place cards.
  • Place easily identifiable recycling containers at your celebration so guests can recycle their cans, bottles, etc.

Shopping for the Holidays:

  • Send an electronic greeting card.
  • As you shop, consolidate your purchases into one bag. Better yet, bring your own shopping bags.
  • For online purchases, request that items be shipped together.
  • Use shredded paper or newspaper instead of conventional packing "peanuts."
  • Recycle foam "peanuts" at a local drop-off or buy-back recycling center. For a location near you, call 1(800)CLEANUP, a service provided by Earth 911.
  • Buy rechargeable batteries to accompany your electronic gifts.
  • Find out how to recycle your old cell phones at www.gowirelessgogreen.org.

For Gift Wrapping:

  • Avoid metallic colored wrapping paper as they cannot be recycled.
  • Purchase recycled wrapping paper.
  • Purchase sturdy cloth ribbon that can be reused year after year as most ribbon cannot be recycled.
  • Give a present in a present (for example, a hat in a matching scarf, jewelry in a wooden box, cookies in a reusable tin or cookie jar, barbecue grill utensils or picnic supplies in a tablecloth, kitchen gifts in an oven mitt or kitchen towel).
  • Reuse scarves, old posters, pages from a child's coloring book, old sheet music, newspapers, sports pages, or old maps to wrap boxes.
  • Have your children create personalized wrapping paper by decorating reused brown paper grocery bags with drawings, stickers, or even stamps.
  • Reuse last year's holiday cards for gift tags or write your greeting on the box.

For Decorations:

  • Use trimmed branches from your yard for decorating around the home or making wreaths.
  • Use reusable glass icicles instead of disposable tinsel (keeps tree clean for mulching).
  • Reuse your tin cans as luminaries.

After Opening Your Presents:

  • Consider donating your old appliances, toys, games, or clothing, as you received new ones, to a local charity or thrift store.
  • Use leftover gift wrap to line shelves and dresser drawers.

For the New Year:

  • Do something "green" for your New Year's resolution, such as using reusable cloth shopping bags, switching to compact fluorescent lights to save energy, planting a tree, etc.

For Your Christmas Trees:

  • Approximately 33 million live Christmas trees are sold in North America every year. Recycle your Christmas trees by contacting your city recycling coordinator or visiting CleanLA.com for more information.
  • Check out www.reduce.org for more ideas to reduce waste during the holiday.

Keep the "green" Holiday spirit alive and make a conscious effort to help save the environment and reduce waste this year! Click here for additional Holiday Tips.

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