Green Up the Holidays

By Corey Hope Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell

On Halloween 2006, a neighbor placed small bottles of bubbles in Corey's daughters' hands and in that instant, an idea was born. "Why," Corey wondered, "does Halloween have to be all about the unhealthy stuff? Is it possible to keep the fun, but lose the total focus on conventional candy?" Back home, watching her girls' joyful faces as they blew bubbles, she had her answer.

In 2007, we launched Green Halloween™, a nonprofit, grassroots community movement to create healthier and more earth-friendly holidays, beginning with Halloween. Although that first year, the initiative was intended for the Seattle area only, parents and businesses across the country turned their Halloweens green in large and small ways. Some held recycled costume-making events, others hosted Halloween parties at retirement homes, while a few creative parents hosted candy exchanges at their children's schools. Before the candles in our jack-o'-lanterns had burned out, calls started pouring in asking us how to green up Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Valentine's Day.

Until now, most of us have established holiday habits based on what is easy, inexpensive, and traditional, not to mention a secret desire to keep up the Joneses. But today, moms and dads may question whether the way their families celebrate is healthy for their kids and their planet and wonder what they can do to create occasions that everyone can enjoy and feel good about. Fears and concerns surround the safety of everything from food to costumes to gift and decor items, but underlying this, many wonder how on Earth we can continue to party the way we've been doing without harming our planet? The truth is, we can't.

That's why we wrote and self-published our book, Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations, and Traditions for the Whole Family (October, 2008). While we can't summarize a whole book in this article, we can share with you some of our favorite tips and tricks. And with Halloween and Thanksgiving on their way and the winter holidays just around the corner, you'll have ample opportunities to give holiday greening a try. Start by picking one or two suggestions or come up with your own. See what fits your family. Get your children involved and incorporate their ideas, too. Make a tradition of making green traditions.

Invitations and cards

Seven billion greeting cards are sold in the US each year. According to www.Tree-Free.com, if each one of them were made from tree-free sources, 2.25 million trees (which supply enough oxygen for 1.2 million people a year) would be spared. So this year, kick the conventional greeting cards habit. Buy or make invites, holiday cards, and thank-yous from recycled, 100 percent post-consumer waste or tree-free papers created from sustainable materials, such as hemp, sugar cane, bamboo, recycled denim, or even elephant dung! Using e-cards and the phone, or that ancient tool called word-of-mouth may also work for you, but when etiquette calls for something handwritten, how about using a card implanted with seeds that can later grow into wildflowers?

Making cards is an option as well. But don't limit yourself to recycling junk mail and old catalogs into new cards. Depending on the celebration, consider using old CDs, tin cans, mint tins, and more. Just about anything can be turned into stunning, unique, handcrafted cards that are gifts in and of themselves.

Finally, always reuse or recycle cards. Cut off the pictures on the front and use for post cards or gift tags. Make decorations like ornaments and placemats. Whatever isn't used should be recycled or buried in the yard where the paper will decompose.