Eco-Friendly, Inexpensive & Fun Holidays

So, like it or not, the holiday season is almost upon us. I happen to be one of the nut-balls who absolutely loves this time of year. It starts in the fall, with the first crisp day in late September, early October. I start planning holiday gift lists, the decorations, the holiday cards (yes, I still send them) and the surprises. Oh, and the food. Who can forget the food? LOVE the food.

I’ve found over the last few years that things are getting more and more expensive, and I’ve become more conscious about what we consume, how we consume it and how much it costs. There’s the phrase we’ve all heard: reduce, reuse, recycle. So, while I love this season, and I go crazy planning, partying and enjoying it, I’ve been gradually coming up with ways to celebrate that don’t break the bank, and don’t break the planet. My ideas are below, I hope you enjoy them!

Fall & Pre-Halloween:
I have fall and holiday decorations that I’ve kept for years. I make sure to take care of them, clean them and put them away safely so they stay intact and I don’t have to buy new ones. This saves money and there is no extra packaging or waste.

I love to go on nature hikes with the kids to pick out natural décor. The kids have a great time on the walk, and they love participating in decorating the house. I really like collecting pine cones from our yard and from a local park. I love them, and I put them up in the fall, in a bowl mixed with little apples. Then I remove the apples after Thanksgiving and I sprinkle them with glitter for December and January. It’s a decoration that is pretty, cheap (free is good) and lasts through four months of holidays.

Halloween (I know it’s over but I’m sure you still have tons of candy left over):
Compost or reuse all that Halloween candy! Kids come home with an average of ten pounds (ten pounds!) of candy on this spooky holiday. Not only is it not good for them to eat that much, it tends to go to waste because it’s not always eaten. So, create a candy compost party! Call the other moms in the neighborhood, as they’ll probably be more than happy to get rid of their candy too. You can even throw the pumpkins in the pile! You’ll save your kids stomachs and teeth, and you’ll have some great fertilizer for your garden.

As far as the wrappers, you would be so surprised how many people actually want them. You can ask your kid’s teachers if they need the wrappers (fun projects – you never know!), or check with other moms. And of course, if that’s too much work, just make sure you recycle the wrappers after your candy compost party.

Oh, and next year? Only give out one piece to each child. They don’t need a handful of candy from each house. It will save you money, save on packaging and hopefully cut that 10 pound average down a little bit.

Thanksgiving:
Oh the fun of it all! This one is harder for me to cut back on, I won’t lie. I love this holiday and I love to bake and eat. But I’ll write more about that in another article, I promise (I have some great recipes to share! Stay tuned!). However, that being said, there are a few things I’ve come up with that help with the recycling and the healthy aspects that are becoming more and more important to us all.

Have a potluck! Yes, I know, if you’re a control freak like me, this is a hard one to swallow (no pun intended). If you are hosting this year, let everyone know that you’ll need help and ask them what they’d be willing to bring. You can make their lives easier by having a category that you need, i.e. “If you could bring a side dish, that would be great!” Or “We need a vegetable and biscuits, could you bring either one of those?” It really helps your guests not feel “guilty” about all that work you’re doing and who doesn’t love talking about what they made during the meal?

Make sure you buy local produce! Thanksgiving is about the fall harvest – so enjoy the actual harvest! Frozen veggies don’t taste as good, they have to travel quite the distance to get to you, and all of that packaging and energy used to freeze the veggies is just downright wasteful. A trip to a local market or farm is a really great way to teach your kids about where our food comes from, and they can choose the food from the harvest for their meal. (And make sure you take a reusable bag when you head to the market!)

There are three issues that local shopping addresses:

-There are lower carbon emissions when your food doesn’t have to travel hundreds of miles to get to you.
-It’s healthier because local farms are usually organic (but make sure!)
-It’s usually cheaper and you support your local economy.

Order your turkey early, and order organic. Again, if you can find a local farm, definitely go that route. You will taste the difference in a fresh, naturally fed bird. I promise.

Take your leftovers to a local shelter with your kids. It’s great for them to see what beautiful lives we have, and what there really is to be thankful for. And, the food won’t go to waste.

Winter Holidays:
If you must have a holiday tree, make sure it’s recycled properly after the season and that you buy the tree from a farm that plants more trees every year. Also, use the branches you cut to accent your center pieces, put a sprig in your dinner guests’ napkins at your dinner parties and take care of the tree while it’s in your home. (Fun tip: Use ice cubes to water your tree. You won’t use as much water and you won’t spill! Plus, the cold water keeps the veins of the tree free from sap.)

Get those LED lights! They use 90% (ninety!) less energy than regular lights and they burn cool so you don’t have to worry about your children getting hurt or starting a fire.

Take care of your decorations and lights so you can use them year after year. There is no need to buy new decorations every year. All that packaging and transportation of the decorations is no good for your wallet or for the planet.

Used recycled wrapping paper or don’t wrap your gifts at all. For the “man in red” let him deliver his presents without wrapping. It’s more fun for the kids, and you waste less paper and less money.

When using candles, use beeswax candles. You will be supporting the bee industry (which needs our support right now) and the wax burns cleaner, which is better for the environment. These are also something you can pick up from a local bee farm - a great trip with the kids.

Cut back on the candy and baking. Baking uses a lot of energy, and it’s not that great for our waistlines. Our kids don’t need the candy, cookies and cakes and neither do we. Save that money, energy and time and use it to play fun holiday games with the kids or sponsor a family for the season.

We all have so many traditions that mean so much to us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t update these traditions to fit our new paradigm. These are just a few small steps that we can all take to make the holidays a little bit more personal, more fun, less expensive and better for our planet! Happy holiday season!!

Bio: Sarah is the mom of a three-year-old boy and a baby girl born in late July. She has worked in new media and technology for over ten years. She loves the internet and all things social. In her spare time it's hard to find her without a book in her hand, a project on the horizon or a laptop in her lap. She loves doing puzzles with her son, reading him books and playing "chase" around the dining room table. She is also loving her new company, Better Way Moms. Sarah, along with her husband and kids, live in New Jersey. She misses living in New York City almost every day.

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