40 Tips for Christmas from the United Methodist Creation Justice Team
The United Methodist Creation Justice team has put together a list of 40 tips for the Christmas holiday. The recommendations are grouped into four categories. We have included a couple of tips with each category and encourage you to download the full post to see all the tips.
1. Greening Your Gift Giving
When you shop online for gifts, check the “About” portion of the website before you buy. Find out what the company is or is not doing to care for creation and justice. Support those sources that help, not harm. Look for B Corp and other companies that give back 1% for the planet.
Give Fair Trade presents this Christmas. Buying Fair Trade provides the creators—farmers, laborers, and artisans—fair prices and stable incomes, reduces poverty, creates betters working conditions, and promotes environmentally sustainable practices. It’s a just and good deal for all! If you want to give Fair Trade coffee, explore the Velasquez Family Coffee website (vfamilycoffee.com).
Choose earth-friendly gifts that keep giving, for example: a shampoo bar, a package of wooden clothes pins to use instead of plastic “chip clips,” jams or other preserves from local farmers, a roll of bamboo toilet paper from Who Gives a Crap, a bracelet made of plastic recovered from an ocean, a bamboo toothbrush, a packet of seeds for native plants or wildflowers. Sustainable presents spark good conversation.
2. Greening Your Decorating
Go live! Live trees that you can replant are kindest to the environment. A cut tree harvested from an organic tree farm will likely be replaced with two others that will also combat climate change. If you need a smaller tree, consider a potted tree you can enjoy year-round (with or without the decorations). Whatever size you need, check local nurseries. Some are beginning to rent out trees for the holidays.
If you are considering an artificial tree, count the costs to the environment before you buy. Artificial trees are made from a plastic called PVC, which creates hazardous waste and emissions during manufacturing. Most are shipped from China, which increases their carbon footprint much more than real trees. If you already own an artificial tree, use it for at least 10 years. Keep the tree in good condition so that you can pass it on to someone else who will appreciate having it and won’t need to buy one.
3. Greening Your Celebrations
Let’s talk turkey. Avoid food waste, which in landfills becomes methane and exacerbates the climate crisis. Consume less in the first place. Across the globe, near and far, too many people are hungry. Consuming too much and wasting what’s left over aren’t healthy for people or planet. Justice means ensuring enough for all.
Compost the food scraps from preparation and leftovers. If you are not set up to compost easily, check with your guests, a farmer or gardener friend, or your local government for options. Between the time the scraps are made and when they can be taken to a compost site, put them in a container out of the way or in the fridge or freezer, preferably in a compostable bag. Check online for bag options.
Be mindful of water. Too many places are experiencing drought, which endangers food crops, wildlife, and people whose livelihood suffers. Don’t run the faucet while cleaning vegetables. Rinse them instead in a bowl full of clean water. Then use the water on your indoor or outdoor plants. Likewise, when filling your dishwasher, don’t “pre-wash” with running water. A good scraping—preferably into a compost bucket—or just a splash of water is plenty.
4. Greening Your Putting Away
Recycle your Christmas cards. Plain paper Christmas cards can go straight into the paper recycling bin, no questions asked. But shiny cards, ones printed on photo paper, and ones with metallic embossing or glitter are no-no’s. However, look closely—even they may have a half that is free of the contaminants. Cut apart and safely recycle the good side. Before you dispose of the cards, take an extra minute to reread them and give thanks for your friends.
Reuse shiny Christmas bows and ribbons. They do not recycle because they are a composite of plastic and paper and a no-no in the recycling bin. Ribbons are notorious for snagging recycling machinery. So, reuse. Make a game of tossing the bows into a large paper bag to save for another season. When the bow or ribbon is truly dead, you’ll need to trash it.