This Sustainable Santa says...

Tamara Harbar
Going Green

Ever notice Santa wears the same outfit every year? And packs handmade gifts in a reusable sack? His sleigh flies not on gasoline, but reindeer power. So I’m dubbing him Sustainable Santa.

With Sustainable Santa and his Eco-Elves as inspiration, we can celebrate a non-toxic and non-wasteful holiday season. The last thing we want is that lump of polluting coal in our stockings!

It’s a Wrap
Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment reports that we toss out enough wrapping paper at Christmas to cover 3,000 football fields. Trees that produce oxygen, soak up carbon dioxide, and provide shelter and habitat for wildlife literally bite the dust for our few minutes of fun.

Let’s keep trees breathing by thinking outside the box for creative gift wrap alternatives. Overstuffed landfills can manage without the 900,000 tonnes of extra garbage produced each December, too.

• Purchase or sew fabric gift bags. Or wrap presents in festive fabric, whether new or reused (an old tablecloth, tree skirt, or sheet). Since I can’t sew a straight seam to save my life, or the environment, I cut the fabric with pinking shears to prevent fraying, then tie packages with reusable ribbon and add tape, if needed.

• Place gifts in decorative tins or jars.

• Reuse the colour comics or old maps as gift wrap. Tie with reusable yarn or twine.

• Cover boxes with wallpaper remnants or discounted wallpaper rolls. Expect years of service.

• Save gift boxes/bags, bubble wrap, tissue paper, ribbons, bows, wrapping paper (trim imperfections), etc.

Greetings from the heart, not the forest
Each year, 288 million Christmas cards cram Ontario landfills.

• Consider email greetings from www.123greetings.com or www.hallmark.com.

• Replace cards with holiday phone calls.

• Reuse cards as gift tags.

Deck the Halls
• Opt for non-electric decorations. I hang colourful oversized Christmas balls on our shrubs or porch railings. My neighbour trims his porch with fragrant evergreen boughs and bright red ribbons. You’ll find locally-sourced dogwood, willow, and other natural materials at Anything Grows on St. Patrick Street.

• Invest in Energy Star-rated lights. Noma Energy Star LED lights are PST exempt in Ontario.

• Try the new Noma solar-powered LEDs and outdoor ornaments.

• Reduce energy bills with a timer set to turn lights on at dark – they’re not really visible in daylight – and off before bed.

The Great Debate – Real or Plastic?
• Do you already own a plastic tree? Put it up instead of cutting down a living one. You’ll be reducing waste, reusing and saving yourself money.

• Decorate a large indoor house plant.

• Purchase a potted or balled evergreen, with roots intact, for post-holiday planting.

• If it’s just not Christmas without a real tree, then find a way to give back to the planet. Maybe help the Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief plant a tree in Africa. See www.cpar.ca/youcanhelp.asp?page=planttree.

Recycle
• This needs to be our last resort; at this point, the trees are already gone.

• Recycle non-foil gift wrap, colour comics, maps and cardboard.

• Recycle cards with newspapers, envelopes with mixed paper.

• Put your tree out for curbside pick-up. Or use branches and evergreen garlands/boughs as garden mulch.

Like Sustainable Santa and his Eco-Elves, we can extend good will not just to humankind, but to the environment, too.