Green is a Christmas Color

I LOVE Christmas. I really do. When your love language is gifts, it doesn't get much better than Christmas time. I have felt pretty good lately and since buying gifts is currently the most fun thing I am allowed to do, I have embraced the holiday pretty well. I wouldn't say I have gone overboard, I have just been able to be pretty thoughtful about the whole thing. I really love to buy gifts for Matt. He is easy to shop for. We decided to make "our" Christmas morning this morning because my parents will be here later and then we're headed to see his parents for the rest of the week/weekend so it was our only chance to get in a little alone Christmas celebration time.

I kind of struggle with an ethical dilemma with Christmas though. Of course you know that I am an eco-minded person with less of just an interest and more of a conviction to do what I can to protect the environment. You know those cross-stitch signs that typically older people have in their home that says "As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord"? Well the version in our house should say that, and then below in a much smaller font say "... and Protect the Planet."

But what on Earth does "protect the planet" mean? Well I know I can't single-handedly do anything truly impactful myself... but I can live by a policy which requires that we are conscious of the responsibility of taking care of our consumption. We have to realize and actively pursue and approach to life that says "There is no 'away' in 'throw away'" and treat being stewards of the environment as a pillar of our faith. So how do we solve the ethical dilemma of wanting to embrace this holiday which contributes to so much joy while still being mindful of our consumption?

Well here's the Shanna Approach to Holiday Eco-Mindedness:
First- Chill on the presents. Especially with the kids. Let's create a scale of Childhood Happiness and Excitement. This scale is from 0-10. 0 being "We ain't gettin' nothing' for Christmas" and 10 is "WHAT AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS, I AM SO HAPPY!!". Okay so the majority of us Westerners tend to aim for a 10 with the kids. We can't help it, we want our kids to be happy. We can't carry the guilt of our child feeling like they didn't have the "Best Christmas Ever" year after year. I get this and I don't really have (that many) judgments about it. I haven't even had a child look at me with their sweet little eyes and tell me their greatest Christmas wishes and I already get that the pressure is heavy. But stay with me. Back to our scale. Okay so let's just assume that we're aiming for a 10 every time. Fine. Whatever. This still does not mean that you need a gazillion presents per child.
A child can only express so much happiness over Christmas. You can still be a 10 parent with a few gifts, especially if you listen to your kids about what really has value to them. After you have hit the 10 status then the value of each following gift just diminishes in value and it just more junk in your house. Then what do you do? Throw away the old stuff they are bored with... and the cycle continues. It's okay to choose quality over quantity. Your kids will still love you for it. And if not... well you may have some other parent/child issues you need to address. And yes, next year you can remind me of this. And maybe it's too late this year. I mean, it's Christmas Eve. Hopefully you're done shopping. Another good idea is to take the number of gifts you gave your kids this year and let them pick out that number to donate to a deserving organization. And make them help you clean them up and put them in a condition that someone else would actually want to buy them used. Goodwill is not a substitute trash can.

Second- Packaging matters.
Please become the kind of person that realizes that the VERY LEAST we can do in this consumption-based society (and holiday) is just be responsible about the packaging. YOU HEAR ME?! THE LEAST. If you take nothing else from me and my blog, please realize that when we make a purchase, we are responsible for it. This means properly disposing of the mostly (or entirely) recyclable packaging and taking good care of our items so they can have a new life after we are done with them. Easiest way to tackle this during Christmas? You guessed it... wrapping paper and boxes.
Please recycle your wrapping paper. If you find yourself in a rural area that doesn't have recycling, go ahead and pack that stuff up in your car and take it when you get a chance. It is light, it doesn't have any odor, it will be fine in your car. This can be a great way to teach your kids and others about taking steps to be responsible for your consumption. If someone says something about it, just hand them another glass of eggnog and go about your business. It's not your problem if others choose to be ignorant about the limited resources on this planet.
I personally take the tape off because it's like 6 extra minutes of my time. I have called recycling facilities before and they said you can leave the tape on but I take it off just to be safe. That's your call (but I will be impressed if you take off the tape... just in case your recycling program has different requirements).

Here's the amount we recycled from this year.

Here's the amount that went into the trash.

Here's the amount that's being reused for next year.

Note: if you get a gift bag from me, I can't even tell you which life it is on, but I can guarantee it's not on its first.

I could go on for a long time about eco ideas, but I don't really want to get preachy and I want you to actually apply these things so I'll stop now. I wish you the merriest of Christmases. Go tell someone that you love them. Give extra hugs. Cherish these moments. Recycle your wrapping paper.

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