My First (Green) Christmas

The newspaper and dead tree branch looked pretty. I mean, it was the comic section after all so some color stood out. And the tree branch was a freshly cut pine one, looking even a bit festive. The clear tape threw me off a bit, but I hardly noticed. Together, it all looked good.

Now maybe next to the box with the gold-trimmed angel wrapping paper and elegant gold and white bow it looked slightly out of place, but I didn’t complain. I smiled.

I call my family’s first attempt at a green Christmas a success. Much work remains, but it’s a start. And as I take credit for the idea – and thus the burden imposed – I applaud my family’s efforts, especially from my Mom. For a lady that prides herself on the decorative and elegance of her wrapping and Christmas decorations — which are gorgeous, I must say — going greener and thus less elaborate called for some innovative thinking.

Last year I sat in our family living room during our gift time and felt a little uneasy. Not at the gifts or the company of my family, but because of the waste I saw building before me. And in a family that loves to give gifts, the waste piled high. (Not a complaint on the gifts, just the waste, to be clear.)

Ribbons, bows, wrapping paper. Boxes, gift bags and tissue paper. Hardly any of it recyclable. After tearing through all of it seeing what Santa left, the garbage sat in a pile. Stuffing it in a bag with my Mom I said, “Mom, let’s do a green Christmas next year.” She said, “OK,” probably thinking I would forget.

So needless to say she didn’t appear thrilled when I brought it up again over Thanksgiving. And, somewhat understandably. Christmas for her just became more than just wrapping all the presents, doing her holiday baking, decorating the house and finding a place for her upwards of 50 Santas. Now she also had to accommodate the wishes of her youngest child who thinks he is saving the world. Sorry Mom!

Mom charged me with finding ways to make Christmas greener, as honestly, we both knew little of where to begin. A little tardy with my findings, I sent Mom an email with some ideas, tips and a few Web sites that went more in depth. And, voila!

Water color based wrapping paper replaced oil based, and thus became recyclable. More gift bags replaced boxes and paper, and were saved for next year. More packages went bow-less, which are often the least recyclable. Mom even used those re-usable grocery bags tied closed for larger and awkward gifts.

Oh yes, and the colorful comics section with a small evergreen branch taped on for a bow possibly wins most creative green wrapping job. Props Mom, I’m impressed.

I sat this year in our family living room a bit easier this Christmas. For the first time instead of just a small recycling pile we filled a recycling bag, as well as having a pile of re-usable gift bags and boxes. I estimate we cut down our Christmas day waste by close to 50 percent. Not bad for a first attempt, not bad at all.

And I’m not sure in the end the financial cost of a greener Christmas added up to that much more. I know my Mom spent more money on some more elaborate recyclable wrapping papers. But I found some that sufficed just fine for a comparable, if not a cheaper price. Once the re-usable bags make it a few years, too, the savings adds up quickly. And same with the boxes.

(This almost reminds me of another situation where a big investment now in a cleaner future might payoff later. Oops, that’s renewable energy infrastructure and climate change legislation. Different ideas I guess, as they’re supposedly are good reasons to hold those back.)

Some present didn’t look quite as nice or sparkle as brightly. I didn’t care. I admired the effort and it made me feel damn happy. Remember, it’s the little things.

Maybe next year’s Christmas will hit 75 or 100 percent green. Maybe everyone’s Christmas will one day soon. For now, I think 50 percent amounts to a great start from a family that started at zero and maintained a large stock of non-recyclables that need use sometime.

So family, and especially Mom, big props and thank you. I knew Christmas became greener when I walked in and saw that comic page wrapped box with the pine branch taped on top.