101-LED-wreath, via instructables.com (http://www.instructables.com/id/101_Led_Wreath/)

We’ve all been sick in my home over the holidays, so I haven’t posted much lately. Just in time for New Years, here are my thoughts on ways to make your holiday celebrations a bit easier on the earth. Hopefully this will give you some ideas for next year!

1. Decorate your home with LED lights; if you haven’t already replaced your old incandescent outdoor strings, look for LEDs, which use a lot less energy, and put them on a timer. This year we used one of Noma’s new solar-powered sets for the first time; they’re a bit dim, especially compared with our neighbors’ giant incandescent bulbs, but so pretty, and so practical for lighting areas that aren’t near an outlet. I think we’ll move them into the backyard and use them as year-round fairy lights. Post-Christmas is a great time to find them at discounted prices.
2. Oh, Christmas trees… The long-running real-vs-artificial debate is still going, but you’ll notice there is now consensus on the topic. Current green wisdom holds that real trees – especially organically-grown living ones that can be replanted – are the most environmentally friendly choice (especially if that PVC number with the LED lights built in is manufactured in China, where environmental regulations are, shall we say, permissive). That said, if you already have an artificial tree you should continue to use it, unless there are safety concerns (such as lead content, offgassing,  or electrical peculiarities) – otherwise you’re wasting the material and energy investment that went into making and transporting it. Another caveat is that none of the discussions I’ve seen online take the concerns of families with environmental allergies (to molds and tree pollens, for example) into account. My extended family is rife with dust, pollen, and mold allergies, so I have fond memories of decorating our 1970s-era artificial tree made of hideous brown and green plastic well into the 1990s. The key to the greenness of any artificial tree or tree-alternative is to find something that works with your lifestyle, and that you’ll be happy to reuse for a decade or more. An older wire-based faux tree from the thrift store is easily refurbished with careful fluffing and the addition of some garland and floral picks to fill in the gaps (again, beware of lead content and electrical irregularities – a vintage aluminum tree is the best choice, if you can find one). There are lots of great alterna-trees, too: you can decorate a houseplant, or a chunk of driftwood, or a vase full of bare branches, or skip the ‘tree’ and decorate with wreaths and garlands instead. There’s great coverage of cool artificial trees on digsdigs and inhabitat, including this genius tree made of water bottles (by Paprika Design, from a Montreal shop window!) and a gorgeous CNC-cut plywood tree from Australia. (more…)

Pumpkin patch. Photo: Kent K. Barnes kentkb

Holidays are always great times to consider the implications of the choices we make, and to create moments where we can pass on lessons about our values to our children. With this in mind, I’ve been looking for ways to make Hallowe’en a little greener in our home.

Costumes are one of the major semi-disposables of the season, but my fondest costume memories have always been thrift store finds or repurposed everyday wear, so I’ve tried to continue that with my kids. (more…)