Green for the Holidays: Sustainable Practices for Your Holiday Season

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The holidays are a great time to celebrate the year with friends and loved ones, but with all the wrapping paper, decorations, and feasts, it can also be a time of waste. No matter how you celebrate the holiday season, we encourage everyone to practice sustainable holiday practices where they can. If you’re looking to make your celebrations a little greener but aren’t sure where to begin, you’ve come to the right place!

How Much Do Americans Waste During the Holidays?

According to Brightly, the average American produces 6.25 pounds of trash per day during the holidays, as opposed to their typical 5 pounds per day. This increase results from food waste, wrapping paper, holiday cards, discarded lights, and more.

In their study, Brightly found that Americans discard about 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper, 70 billion pounds of food, and 1.3 billion holiday cards per year, not to mention wasted holiday décor, ornaments, and plasticware.

When we work with landowners at LFT, we hope to help them implement greener practices on their property. With the holiday here, we’re here to introduce greener practices to you, too!

What Can I Do?

There are numerous ways to be more sustainable in your celebrations this season.

First, if you plan to give gifts, we suggest a sustainable holiday gift wrap. This could be reused wrapping paper from years prior, recyclable wrapping paper, or materials found around your house, such as fabric, tote bags, or newspaper. We also recommend saving and reusing gift bags when possible!

Are you hosting a feast this holiday season? Dinner parties are a great way to celebrate, but they’re also a great opportunity to shop small and negate waste. Consider purchasing your meal ingredients at a local farm to boost your community’s economy and support a farm family! When dining, try to use real plates and silverware to avoid unnecessary plastics. Plus, consider freezing or donating leftovers to avoid food waste.

Finally, decorations are a great way to get into the holiday spirit. However, they can also use a lot of electricity or cause preventable waste. If you plan on decorating with string lights, scientists recommend LED lights. LED lights are far more energy efficient than other lighting types, so not only are these lights better for the environment, but better for your wallet as well. Plus, LEDs emit less heat, meaning they’re less likely to start a fire than alternatives. If you’re looking to decorate in other ways, consider hand-making your ornaments and décor, or repurposing décor you already own, rather than throwing them away and purchasing new.

When you implement greener holiday practices, you are doing your part in keeping Lancaster clean and beautiful! We encourage everyone to do their best in preventing waste this December, and from our family at Lancaster Farmland Trust to yours, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

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