Dec 5 - Keep It Green This Holiday Season

As we enter the busy holiday season, many will be giving gifts to their loved ones and friends. Here are a few suggestions to create less waste when wrapping those gifts this year:

• Use newspaper (you can decorate it with stamps), old maps and fabric to wrap gifts.

• Instead of wrapping, put your gift in a nice reusable basket that can be used at the farmers market or in the garden.

• Place your gift in a reusable shopping bag that can be used for future trips to the grocery store.

• Use last year’s holiday cards to make this year’s gift tags.

• Giving a kitchen-related gift? Wrap it in a kitchen towel.

• Giving a baby gift? Wrap it in a baby blanket.

• If the gift you’re giving is small, put it in a canning jar and tie a piece of natural ribbon or twine around the lid—the jar can be reused for a variety of different uses. It’s like a second gift!

• Save wrapping paper and gift bags in bins to re-use in following years.

• Save ribbons and bows in bins to reuse in following years.

• Pick some berries, greenery or sturdy blooms and tie them on with twine, instead of ribbons or bows.

• As an alternative to shopping for stuff, consider giving an experience or making a donation to a worthy organization in someone's name instead of a gift!