Make Your November/December Holidays More Environmentally-Friendly

Action of the Month for November

Between Thanksgiving to New Year’s, household waste typically increases by over 25%. This includes food and items used to serve and eat with, gift packaging, decorations, and more.
 
It’s time to start preparing for the holidays. For this month’s action, look through the list of the six Basic Action categories below and select one to work on this month.
 
Basic Action Categories--Choose one with some items that are new for you

Saving Energy

• Switch your inside and outside holiday lights to Energy Star rated LEDs. Use a timer to run outside Christmas lights in early evening, not overnight.
  If you are a NorthWestern Energy residential customer, check out their rebates on LED strings of holiday lights and on timers. Download their form before you go shopping so you know what to look for.
• Purchase gifts from local sources to save the need for longer transportation to reach you.
• Combine multiple errands into a single trip.

Shipping

• If you receive shipments packed with air packets or bubble wrap, take those materials to a nearby shipping service and donate them for reuse.
• Rather than buy new boxes for shipping, are you storing any you can reuse?
• If you receive cardboard boxes you will not reuse, break them down and recycle the cardboard in your curbside recycle bin or county recycle bins.

Holiday gatherings

• When entertaining guests, buy only the amount of food needed for the event. At holiday gatherings, put the amount of food on your plate that you will eat and finish it.
• Plan to use washable dishes, glasses, and utensils instead of disposables. Use washable cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
• Package some leftovers for guests to take home or encourage your guests to bring along their reusable containers to fill and take home after the event. No dishes to return!

Gifts of service
We hear about shortages of items for sale or difficulties in finding some products this holiday season. Giving gifts of service bypasses difficult shopping for you and brings smiles to the faces of those to whom you provide your service. Examples of possible services:

• Babysit or tutor a child/children
• Offer to weatherize someone’s doors or windows.
• Run a number of errands
• Offer to do mending or alterations
• Cook and deliver a meal after the holidays are over
• Be the tech helper to assist someone to use smart phone technology to get a free NorthWestern EnergyCheck virtually with one of their energy specialists to learn ways they can save on their utility costs. Or offer to help with other tech tasks.

Gifts of "stuff"--buy less, buy local, buy "green"

• Consider giving gifts of something handmade or a great second-hand find like books, toys, puzzles, or games from a thrift shop.
• Think about gifts that provide the recipient a class, tickets to an event, an admission to a museum, a restaurant certificate, or a donation to her or  his favorite charity.
• When you shop for gifts, look for high quality reusable items that last instead of ones quickly thrown away.
• Come up with environmentally-friendly and creative ways to wrap gifts, such as in a set of cloth napkins or placemats; in a scarf; in a lunch box; in a cereal box; in Sunday newspaper comic pages; in a basket, or, best of all, in Hope Creation Care holiday-colored reusable bags as gift bags that can be used again and again by recipients each time they go shopping.

​Freeing up space: Find good homes for good items you no longer will use

• Have fun with a gift exchange of homemade products, used games, or used books.
• What you are still storing but no longer use? Is it in a good enough condition that others could want to use it? It’s a good time to pass along new or gently used items to thrift stores or groups that can use them.
• Can older electronic items be recycled?

Advanced Action:
​Some sustainable holiday ideas found here came from Gallatin County’s Reducing Holiday Waste webpage. You can see more there about cards, gifts, wrapping, and recycling Christmas trees and use their ideas as  advanced action for November.