From Rockefeller Center to Barneys, Christmas celebrations everywhere are going green. Between shopping, wrapping, decorating and celebrating, the holidays can be a pretty wasteful time. Give Mother Nature some love with these tips on how to make your Christmas eco-friendly.
Trees
Stick with the real deal. If you can, purchase your pine from an organic Christmas tree farm. Once the needles start to drop, make sure to dispose of your tree via NYC’s annual Mulchfest. The city will recycle your tree into – yup – mulch; get the details at nycgovparks.org/services/mulchfest.
Decorations
An organic tree deserves nothing less than environment-friendly ornaments. For a crafty look, Zem Joaquin, creator of ecofabulous.com, suggests letting the kids go crazy with used printer paper. Or for something a little fancier, check out the snowflake ornaments made from recycled glass at eco-artware.com.
Lights
Take a cue from the folks at Rockefeller Center, which lit this year’s tree with 30,000 LED lights. “I think what Rockefeller Center has done proves that going green does not make you a Grinch,” says Marcel Van Ooyen, executive director of the Council on the Environment of New York City. These new-age light bulbs use up to 90 percent less energy than regular lights and don’t get as hot, so they’re safer, too. Visit solarsanta.com to give your tree a green glow.
Entertaining
If you’re serving up the roast beast at Christmas dinner, there are plenty of ways to make your feast earth-friendly. Van Ooyen suggests buying your groceries at a local organic market, like the Union Square Greemarket. “It reduces food miles, waste, and it will be the best-tasting dinner you’ve ever had!” If the holiday libations are what you look forward to, you’re in luck. There’s a slew of organic and biodynamic liquors and wines out there. Joaquin recommends Square One Vodka and Frog’s Leap wine.
Gifts
Check out the green gift guides at Barneys or ecofabulous.com or hit up Kaight (83 Orchard St.; [212] 680-5630), an eco-boutique with some seriously stylish green duds. Or make a donation to an environmental organization in someone’s name.
Wrapping
“Wrapping paper is a total disaster,” says Joaquin. “We have to realize that it’s about the gift itself, not what it’s packaged in.” Prevent paper pileup by packaging gifts in decorative shopping bags or old magazine pages. If you just can’t part with paper, buy it recycled from fishlipspaperdesign.com or paporganics.com.
Cards
It’s 2007! Ditch traditional Christmas cards for something a little more modern and eco-friendly. Send your holiday greetings via e-mail this year.