Instead of going out and buying poinsettias to help fill in a few of the bare spots around the house, I pillaged my neighbors holly tree. I only took from the branches that overhang in my yard which is totally allowed. I put holly branches on the top of my china cabinet and put some in vases, too. Look at this:
Poinsettias, pretty as they are, are not grown locally. That means they have to be shipped far. In the past, I've bought them from the cheap produce place that imports all their stuff from Mexico and South America. To sell it that cheaply, I can only assume it's not grown in any manner resembling organic. Add those facts to the whole "we need to go lighter on Christmas spending mentality" around my house (and every other house in the U.S.), and I decided to nix the poinsettias this year.
The holly option was certainly local, taken from a tree that requires no chemicals to sustain it, and free. I've got a bunch of vases in the basement, so I didn't even need to buy those.
Now, while it's my opinion that we shouldn't go screaming our greenness at our holiday celebrations, it's acceptable to do a little showing off in this forum. So, what have you done differently this year, or added or taken away this year, in the name of being green?
4 comments:
I love that! I wish we had holly trees, but we do have mistletoe growing somewhere around here, hee hee.
I never thought about that fact that poinsettias travel really far to get here. I don't bother with them anyway.
Greener this Christmas? I am going to try and reuse wrapping paper. I am going to encourage my kids to be gentle when they unwrap their gifts. Wish me luck!
I brought two bottles of local wine to our dirty Santa/White Elephant Christmas party and they were the biggest hit.
Also does buying used elctronics instead of new count, to be honest we did this for the money but I guess it could be green as well:)
Allison - I do wish you luck getting your kids to unwrap gently. I'm not even going to try. I'm just going to have a bag nearby to make sure that what can be recycled goes into the recycling bin. Last year, I ended up digging stuff our of the trashcans.
Janine- of course wine was the biggest hit. Yes, used electronics count, even if you bought them to save money. That's one of the great things about shopping more mindfully, often you save money.
My wife and I did the same thing last year. Fortunately for us, we had a holly tree in our back yard. (The house we just bought does not, though) and I used the holly branches down the stairway banister from the living room to the upstairs and across the mantle. We used pine cones strung through with wire and while we were at the Lions Club Christmas Tree sale, they gave us some extra pine boughs.
I think that while I'm out walking Katahdin in the park, I'll have to see if I can find some Holly. It's become part of our Holiday Custom.
Adam
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