Eco-Friendly Tips for the Holidays!
Here are a few easy tips for making sure that your holiday is a gift for the earth

Gifts and Cards
*Give charitable donations in lieu of gifts
*Give or make gifts using your skills and experience
*Avoid battery operated children’s toys and consult the
Canadian Toy Testing Council
*Shop at local green businesses and consignment shops
*Encourage environmentalism with fair-trade organic products, subscription to eco-magazine/journal, and canvas shopping bags
*Buy art and crafts from local artists
*Wrap gifts in reusable or recycled gift wrap, or get creative with jars or tins
*Use gift bags that can be re-used
*Send e-cards
*Make new gift tags out of old cards
*Use 100% post-consumer/ recycled cards

Shopping
*Avoid dollar stores and instead opt for quality
*Choose products that have minimal packaging
*Shop within 100 miles of Ottawa. There are lots of local choices for kids, foodie, gardener and art lover.

Entertaining
*Carpool to Christmas parties
*Serve local wines and beers in "real" (i.e. not disposable) wineglasses and mugs
*Try to avoid traveling, especially flying
*Don't use chemical sprays to scent your home. Instead, boil cinnamon, cloves etc. or sprinkle essential oils on some cotton pads around your home
*Make your special dinner an all organic and local one

Christmas Trees
*Buy and decorate a living, potted tree. Use it for a few years, then plant it in your garden

Saving Energy
*Put automatic timers on Christmas lights so that they are turned off during the night
*Use LED lights

New Traditions
*See the holiday season as an opportunity to relax with loved ones rather than as a stressful time where you’re obligated to buy things for people they don't want or need
*Honour the peace of the holidays by not driving your car. Walking is great during this time of year!
*As always, refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle. Be creative!