Greening my House

It’s that time of year again when people decorate stuff, things are baked, and presents are bought and given. It’s Christmas time again. (And Hanukkah and Kwanzaa too)

This year, we are going to attempt to be a little more environmentally friendly with Christmas than we were in previous years. There will be a few posts on this subject, and this is just the first of them.

Gifts

Everyone has received one of “those” gifts. The one that makes you think, “What the heck were they thinking?” Nice sentiment and all, but …

Well, those sort of gifts are a triple whammy.

1. Not only are they just plain bad and make you feel guilty for not liking the gift that your friend took the trouble to give you, you have to make a little white lie and say you like it.
2. This type of gift makes it clear that your friend or family member obviously doesn’t know you well enough.
3. The gift is often just thrown out, perfectly new and unused, because there is no gift receipt with it and you don’t know what else to do with it. What a waste!

Well, why not save it from damnation to the landfill, and regift it? Yes, that’s right. Regifting is not only something that Seinfeld characters do, but you can too! Maybe someone else wants your new what-ya-ma-call-it? I mean, someone must like them or else they wouldn’t make them. (Exception: fruit cakes. No-one likes them. Not sure why they are even manufactured.)

There is an organization called Freecycle whose purpose is to make it easy to give away things you don’t want rather than throwing them into the landfill. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, right? Just sign up with your local chapter, and once you are approved, you can browse the web site of local individuals giving away free stuff. You can also list your own stuff you’d like to get rid of. Of course, it doesn’t have to be just stuff you got for Christmas that you don’t want and can’t return, but anything that is servicable that you don’t want any more at any time of the year.

Better yet, check out the list of free stuff in your area to see if you can get free gifts for someone on your list. Can’t beat the price, and you are helping to keep stuff out of the landfill.

We just signed up for this service, and will be on the look out for appropriate gifts for friends and family members.

Other Gifts

If you do want to get a gift for someone, and can’t find anything on freecycle, there are still things we can do to be more green.

One of the best gifts I’ve gotten recently is a jar of cherry jam. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was jam that my friend made herself out of organic cherries that came from her boyfriend’s tree in his own backyard. It was packaged in a cute little jar (a reused jar no less) with a little rattan ribbon and a card. It was very personal as I love cherries, local because it was grown less than 25 miles from where I live, organic, and appropriate since she put in the effort to make it, package it, and give it to me. That was worth more to me than the bought gifts. Plus, on top of all of that, it tasted really good too. Cherry jam with a little vanilla ice cream. Hmm hmm!

Here are some ideas for green gifts. The whole strategy is to avoid buying something new and especially to avoid getting something that is made with non-sustainable materials such as plastic. Even better, get something that is not even physical.

• In general, edibles are a good gift. They don’t create garbage for the landfill, and the packaging can often be reused or at least recycled. Plus, the effort you put into making or cooking them will be appreciated, especially if you are a good cook or a good baker. Who can resist some chocolatey goodness?
• Plants. This is a gift that should last for years. However, if your friend or relative is lame and kills the plant through neglect, at least the gift itself is not contributing to global warming and can be put in the green bin when it’s dead. If you’re concerned about the colour of your friend’s thumb (ie. it’s not green enough), then get them a cactus. It should be able to withstand infrequent waterings. I only know a few people who have killed cactii.
• Photos. A nicely wooden-framed picture of you and your friend makes a great gift and one that they will cherish for a while. Plus, they will think of you every time they see it!
• Tickets for public transit. Encourage someone to ride the transit instead of driving by buying them some tickets which they will feel obligated to try out. If they actually do try it and like it, you will have made a lasting decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.
• Rescue a cat or dog from the shelter. Not only will this make your kids very, very happy, it will probably make the animal pretty happy too. Plus, it takes no non-renewable materials to build the animal.
• CFLs or LED lights. Encourage other people to go green just like you have.
• Digital music, movies, games, ebooks, or software, especially if they are downloaded. This takes no physical resources to make, and most teenagers will be very happy with it. Heck, I’m happy with it, and I’m well past the teenage years!
• A gift netflix subscription.
• A 1 hour massage at your local day spa.

In general, we will be trying to give edibles (or drinkables!) this Christmas, especially ones we made ourselves, and maybe even some other home-made gifts.

Every year, I make about 50 gallons of wine in my garage (viva la California!), and this year the wine turned out quite nice. So everyone will be getting a bottle of Domaine Braunille. (My friends think I look like the old Brawny man, hence the name.) I usually ask for the bottles back when they are done with the contents. I can give them the promise to fill it with more wine and give it back to them next year. That way, the bottle doesn’t go to the landfill, and doesn’t even need to be recycled. It is just cleaned and reused. Another advantage is that all my bottles are the same type from the original batch I bought 2 years ago. Plus, I don’t have to buy new bottles to put the next year’s vintage in.