Green Holiday Actions

Green Holiday Action #31

Over the holidays we went to Disneyland for the day. We were happily surprised that throughout the park all of the plastic bags used at the various stores are now made from 100% recycled materials and are in turn recycleable.


Of course the best choice is to not use a bag, but Disney is making an effort in the right direction. Positive actions need to be applauded.

Everyday you have choices. You can choose to be environmentally responsible - helping the planet and therefore yourself.

This started as an attempt to come up with 31 Green Holiday Actions and became the beginning of a community of friends and strangers sharing ideas about sustainability.

General Green Holiday Actions

• E Holiday Letters
• Holiday Lights
• Say “No” to Plastic Bags
• Helping Others Understand Global Climate Change
• Recycling Electronics and Saving Gorillas
• The Dickens, You Say
• Party Dishware Dilemma
• Classic Holiday Fun - A Christmas Carol
• Santa Route
• Veggie Tuesday and Thursday

Decorating and Wrapping

• Green Holiday Decorations
• Say “No” to the Shiny
• Santa’s Bags
• Christmas Tree? Go Live
• Recycled Holiday Tree
• Decorate a Living Tree
• Holiday Boxes and Bows - Recycling and Reusing
• Recycle Those Holiday Cards
• Recycling Christmas Trees and Greenery
  

Gift Giving

• Shopping On-line
• Trim Your Gift Shopping List
• Give Experiences
  
• Green Holiday Gifts
• Recycled Gifts
• Give From the Heart
• A Better Way to Carry Water
• Give from the Hearth and Yard
• Green Products as Gifts

We all know in our hearts that we are pushing the planet to the edge. We all know that we have to change the way be act on a daily basis, but change can be threatening. Still, if we work together and make little changes that are lasting, maybe we can leave our children a better world rather than one teetering toward calamity.

When I was 7 years old I wrote to then President Nixon about the gray whale that was rapidly disappearing from along the California coast. Enough adults and children kept after our public officials until the Marine Mammals Protection Act was passed in 1972. Given a chance, life on our planet is resilient.

Today the gray whale population has stabilized, blue whales and humpbacks swim in increasing numbers along California's coast. Right whales are breeding along the east coast of the U.S. Are whales and other sea life in trouble because of ship traffic, climate change and pollution in the ocean? Yes. But in the 1960s, we were afraid that whales would cease to exist because of whaling and fishing practices.


We can make positive change, if we work together. Let's make 2010 the year we save the planet.

Classic Holiday Fun - A Christmas Carol

Green Holiday Action #20

How about a party that is low in impact and high on Holiday Spirit. Friends of ours, Douglas and Rosanne, started this party tradition four years ago.

A group of us gets together to read Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol aloud for a live audio production on the Internet. Not only is this a different kind of interactive event, the kids that have participated are growing up to be exceptional readers and confident public speakers. They started out doing sound effects - chains and creaking doors. Now they read and for our Halloween Ghost Stories reading this year, they came with their own material.

You can listen to A Christmas Carol LIVE or even participate via the Internet. We will be live at 3 PM Pacific Standard Time.

To Download the mp3 file of the audio: Reading of A Christmas Carol

You can also watch the video captured live on uStream.tv.

Watch the 4th Annual Reading of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"


To listen to previous audio productions check out Eclipse-1 Media.

Party Dishware Dilemma

Green Holiday Action #19

Party planning always brings into question whether to use paper, plastic or dishware that needs washing.

Plastic is out. Some plastic can be washed and reused. But in the end, it is still plastic. There are some new products made from biodegradable plant starches that do offer a disposable option. Unfortunately, they aren't always easy to find.

For napkins, I went with cocktail napkins made from 100% recycled paper - 50% post consumer - with water based inks. And better yet, they were made in the U.S. Do they have pictures of snowmen or poinsettias? No. But they are neutral with a leaf pattern.

In the end I decided to use my stainless steel silverware and some restaurant grade glass plates leftover from my days as a caterer. These glass plates are durable, go with everything and wash easily.

I also decided to use small dishwasher-safe glass wine glasses for everyone, even the kids. (P.S. no breakage and glass actually made everyone pay more attention to their drinks. 50+ people and no spills.)

Yes, I will be using water to wash my dishware, but I think it was my greenest choice. Maybe next year my holiday party will have an island theme and we'll have everyone eat off of banana leaves.

The holiday tree is live.

Decorations all came from yard cuttings and trimmed pine boughs.

P.S. All those people generated only one small bag of trash and a large container of recyclables. The best part, we collected donations for a charity.