I just finished reading the book Green Christmas – How to Have a Joyous, Eco Friendly Holiday Season by Jennifer Basye Sander and Peter Sander. It is a small book but packed full of great info on how to green your holidays.
The beginning of the book discusses all the reasons that our conventional Christmas celebrations are so UN-green… rampant consumerism, hefty energy usage, lots of garbage, etc. Yes not only do we have to worry about the massive debt that this season can cause, we also need to think about the lasting effect we leave on our planet. The book goes on to explain how we can make Christmas and the whole holiday season an extension of our green values. It has lots of great tips and suggestions. It is truly a book with practical answers.
My favorite part of the book was about eco friendly family time. Many seem to lose track of what this time of year means…I don’t mean the religious significance, as that isn’t a factor for everyone. It is a time for families to spend all important time together and the book has several eco friendly, quality family time ideas and activities. There is also some great info and charts on how to choose a Christmas tree and what is better…the old fake versus real argument. It was VERY clear on which was better and why. And of course it had great suggestions for reducing energy usage because Christmas can create pricey energy bills….pricey for us and pricey for the environment.
This book even had a great chapter on how to green your holidays when you travel as well. Overall a great book with some great ideas. I would recommend it to all. :)
