CELEBRATE AND GO GREEN
            The Christmas shopping season is well on its way. Regardless of the holiday your faith brings you to celebrate, you can hardly keep from being caught up in the festive air that surrounds the season. Singing “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” is popular but wouldn’t it be better to “go green” – make choices for giving and decorating that are environmentally friendly.
            “Here are some things to consider,” writes Dawn D. Hansen, Director for Programs of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). “We send 2.7 billion Christmas cards each year. That’s the equivalent of 400,000 trees or enough waste to fill a football field 10 stories high. Consider sending electronic cards and eliminate card waste altogether. Or look for cards made from recycled paper.”
            Consider giving time as a gift instead of one wrapped in a box. Make a meal, or give a coupon to clean house, do yard work, or baby sit. Consider giving a gift to a religious or charitable organization in someone’s name.
            “Give environmentally friendly gifts. Things like theater tickets and restaurant gift certificates do not require a lot of packaging and don’t create still more ‘stuff’. During the holiday season alone we use 70,000 trees worth of wrapping paper, which creates around 3 million tons of garbage. Rechargeable batteries are a great gift for kids whose toys require batteries that are otherwise thrown away. Shop in your neighborhood at a local store. After the holiday, give any unwanted gifts to charity.
            “Over 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States each year. That’s a lot of trees. And while chopping down trees may seem like the un-green thing to do, environmental researchers say otherwise. Artificial trees are made with toxic substances, and their manufacturing takes a significant environmental toll. But most of those real trees are just thrown away afterward.” See www.earth911.org for general information on recycling live trees. [Look for local information about gathering live trees for recycling after the holiday.]
            “So choose local, healthy, environmentally sound gifts; buy fewer, better gifts, and seek out non-material pleasures and activities. This year try to think about the wider impact of your Christmas [Holiday] consumption and take steps to make your Christmas [Holiday] greener and more just. This does not mean giving up on celebrating. It just means taking more care about what you buy, where it’s going, and what is going to happen to it after it’s finished with. Green is in!”
            Quotes are used with permission from Interchange, November 2007, the churchwide newsletter of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, copyright 2007.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 11/21/07 (for publication on 12/01/07 in the Journal-Standard, Freeport, Illinois). Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org