It doesn’t cost more to be green, and you can even save money if you do it right. It may take a little creativity during the holiday season, when you are giving gifts and hosting friends. Here are our ideas, products, and savings to start your holiday season off brightly.
Give memories not stuff
One of the founding principles of EcoMetro Guide is to give the gift of
an experience, activity, or event instead of purchasing an item. We
recommend:
LED lights
LED lights may cost a little more but they last 20 times longer and use
a fraction of the energy. This year they come in indoor & outdoor
models and a wide variety of colors and sizes. We even saw a snowflake
shape. While shopping we spotted a Phillips LED package that said you
could save $80 in energy use in just one season. Ask at one of our
hardware stores with coupons.
Wrapping paper
There are a number of great options for wrapping your goodies,
including recycled content paper, reusable bags in heavy paper or
fabric, or go grab and reuse the colorful Sunday comics with leftover
ribbon. You can make simple fabric bags with fabric scraps and bobbles
from other projects.
Recycled content/soy ink cards
Mail your greetings on cards printed on recycled paper using soy inks.
This is a great example of something you can make yourself with leftover
materials instead of purchasing new. For creative inspiration and supplies shop at the
East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse.
Locally made crafts
Farmers market flowers and wreaths
When
possible, select organically grown flowers. To send organically grown
flowers and wreaths online, use
OrganicBouquet.
Image
: Flickr/CreativeCommons
Soy, beeswax, and bamboo candles
Burning non-petroleum based candles is better for indoor air quality and avoids introducing synthetic additives into your home.
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Make your own beeswax candles with colored beeswax.
Fair Trade or Direct Trade decorations
Fair Trade gifts, crafts, and imported goods such as tea and coffee are certified that the democratically-organized worker organizations receive a guaranteed minimum floor price for their goods. For agricultural goods, they may not use harmful chemicals. Safe labor conditions are also a requirement. Some small businesses are able to buy directly from the workers at a negotiated price through their business relationship, this is called direct trade and varies but it usually an even higher rate than fair trade.
Hostess gifts
When selecting a bottle of wine to bring to a host home, look for
certifications including Organic and LIVE (low input viticulture and
ecology). When buying wines from the Pacific NW, look for Oregon Certified Sustainable (OCS) Wine and
Salmon Safe Wine, a certification issued
by Oregon Tilth to protect water quality and fish habitat.
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Dagoba Organic chocolates (coupon $1 off)
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Equal Exchange fairly traded chocolates, teas, and coffee (coupons 50c-$1 off)
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Zhena’s Gypsy Tea (coupon $1 off)
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Organic India Tea (coupon $1 off)
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Stash Tea (coupon 65 c off)
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Numi Organic Tea (coupon $1 off 2)
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Or give EcoMetro Guide with all these coupons