Happy Holidays!
As everyone knows, the Winter Holidays are right around the corner! Keep Durham Beautiful focuses on Litter Prevention, Recycling & Waste Reduction, and Community Greening. This blog will provide you some helpful tips on how You can make your holiday season, Greener.
Wrapping a gift? Instead of using fancy wrapping paper, reuse newspaper as a way to wrap gifts. If you want something a little more upscale, use wrapping paper that is made from recycled material. Gift bags are also a wonderful way to “go green” this holiday season. They can be used, saved, and reused multiple times.
Having a party? Use different bins for different waste material (recycling, compost, trash) so that your guests can help reduce waste going to the landfill.
Traveling? If you haven’t already bought your ticket, instead of traveling long distance to celebrate, stay close to home. Treat yourself with a change of atmosphere, but save money by not having to pay for gas to travel long distance, or wait in a long line at the airport. By traveling shorter distance by car, you are helping to lower the gas emissions that are released during this holiday.
Focus on experience over products. Instead of buying presents for friends and family, select a fun activity. This will make memories, and bring you closer during this time of the season. Instead of the “high tech gadget” that everyone is wanting, donate money to a charity of their choosing. This way, you spread the joy and make a difference. Need a suggestion? Sponsor a tree or make a donation to Keep Durham Beautiful. Any amount helps to better our community!
Doing a lot of shopping? Bring your own reusable bag. This saves the use of plastic bags, and decreases the disposal of them in landfills. By using your own bag, you are able to fit more products into one bag. Many of these reusable bags can be found in any grocery store, or big name stores or stop by the Keep Durham Beautiful office for a free reusable tote bag.
We all love food during big holidays. To reduce food waste, prepare a sensible amount of food. Save leftovers in reusable containers, and relax! Because you don’t have to cook food the next couple of days.
Decorating is fun during this time. Instead of paying lots of money for decorations from the store, get creative and make your own!
Conserve energy. If you have a thermostat in your house, turn it down when you are asleep or not at home. Programmable thermostats can do this for you automatically. Turn off lights in a empty rooms. Also, use incandescent light bulbs which can reduce your electricity bills by 75%.
Fresh Christmas trees can end up in landfills after the holidays. Check with your local municipal solid waste provider to see if you can donate your tree to be turned into mulch/wood chips. In the City of Durham visit http://durhamnc.gov/832/Solid-Waste-Management for more information. Or, instead of buying a tree, plant a tree in remembrance of the holiday season this year.
We hope these tips are helpful! Please stay safe and healthy this season.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!