A Healthy Planet Makes for Healthy People – Beyond Dollar Store Gift Bags: Tips for Having an Eco-Friendlier Holiday

Submitted by Climate Change Action Dufferin-Caledon

The holiday season is a time of celebration for many. A lot of us are travelling to see friends and relatives, going to office parties, shopping, baking, and making sure that our tables are groaning with food for the feast. This is unquestionably my favourite holiday of the year simply because it’s so much fun!

In the midst of all this fun, we might consider the impact our choices can have on the planet and thus on our health. We add a lot of carbon to the atmosphere with all the extra driving we do, warming the planet and contributing to air pollution. The amount of garbage produced from giving gifts this time of year is staggering. In 2017, it was estimated that Canadians threw away 540 000 tons of wrapping paper and gift bags alone! That figure doesn’t even take into account other packaging such as cardboard, plastic film or electronics that were disposed of because they were replaced with newer models. There is also a lot of wasted food during the holidays. Food waste contributes significantly to global warming and the environmental problems we see resulting from industrial agricultural practices (see the September issue of this newsletter for more information on that).

So how can we avoid some of these pitfalls this year? Let’s look at some easy changes we can make that can have a huge positive impact if we were all to adopt them.

Reduce the amount of driving you do.

• Stop by the mall to do a bit of shopping after work rather than making a special trip.
• If you have to make a special trip, get a bunch of friends together and make a fun day of it so you can all carpool together.
• Buy local if you can, rather than going out of your community to shop or ordering from an online retail service. This also supports your local economy, putting money back in your pocket and giving your friends and neighbours a holiday bonus.
• Take public transportation, walk, or bike if you can when you’re out visiting.

Consider carefully what kind of stuff you are buying.

• Choose gifts with the least amount of packaging possible. Try to choose gifts with packaging that is plastic-free, fully recyclable, or compostable. Remember that only 11% of Canadian plastic is actually recycled, even if it is theoretically possible to recycle it! Glass, metal and clean paper/cardboard are recyclable. Plain cardboard or paper with food on it can be composted. As an example, you could buy a bath gift set in a large chain drugstore that has plastic bottles with handsoap packaged in a cardboard box with a plastic window in it, OR you could go to Bridlewood Soaps in Orangeville and get lovely bath products made locally with sustainable packaging.
• A lot of synthetic fabrics contain plastic. Fine threads of plastic detach from these fabrics while they’re being worn and washed, ending up in our soil and water as microplastic pieces. These are extremely bad for our environment and our health. If you’re buying clothes, towels, bedsheets etc, consider purchasing items that are made of plastic-free fabrics like cotton, linen, wool, Tencel, hemp, bamboo or silk.
• If you are handy or crafty, consider “upcycling” old items into new gifts. There are tons of blogs and websites like Pinterest that can get your creative juices flowing! For example, you might make a set of reusable produce bags for a friend out of old t-shirts or build a deck planter box out of scrap wood. These are often the perfect gifts for the “person who has everything” because you won’t be able to find them in a store.
• Consider making a charitable donation in someone’s name for a gift.
• Instead of getting someone a material gift, buy tickets to an event that you can go to together. Theatre Orangeville usually has a great line up of shows for example.
• Eco-friendlier gift wrapping ideas: make or buy fabric bags that tie closed with ribbons, wrap gifts in newspaper and tie with either jute or hemp (not plastic!) twine. You can decorate your packages with greenery, dried fruit, and pinecones. Make gift tags from boxboard by tracing around cookie cutters and cutting them out. Recycle ribbons and tissue paper from other gifts. Use old wrapping paper instead of new tissue paper in gift bags. If you have young children, you may have stacks of toddler paintings, colouring pages and drawings: more than you could possibly ever display! These make wonderful wrapping paper for gifts for relatives and grandparents.

Give careful consideration to meals while entertaining.

• Buy baking ingredients in bulk food stores and take your own containers to bring it home in. Bulk Barn in Orangeville has a reusable container program that allows you to do this for example.
• Local farms may have winter storage produce still available: potatoes, squash, beets, sweet potatoes and onions are a few examples. Some even have winter greens that are still growing in greenhouses or cold frames such as lettuce mixes, kale and spinach. You can find a list of local farms with produce for sale here:

                  https://www.inthehills.ca/category/headwaters-farm-fresh/

• Bond with your guests in the kitchen as you share cleanup duties. Use washable/re-usable dinnerware rather than disposable stuff. There is no better time of year than this to haul out your great grandmother’s silverware and turkey platter!
• Leftovers from turkey to cookies can often be frozen and used later rather than throwing them away after a week in the refrigerator. Alternatively, tell your guests to bring reusable containers to the party and send them all home with a care package.

These are just a few ideas to get you started in helping to make the holidays even more special. Have a wonderful time with friends and family and all the best to you for the coming year!

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