SE Dallas News

(DALLAS) — Trees, food, wrapping paper and even holiday greeting cards have a huge and negative impact on the environment. The excesses of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other year-end holidays add about 25% more waste to landfills than during any other period, according to a study by Stanford University.

Everything from shopping bags and bows to cute ribbons adds to landfills already cluttered with waste that could take decades or centuries to break down. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sustainability should be on the minds of every holiday celebrant as we shop for gifts, dine with family and friends, and deck the halls of our homes.

“The market is being flooded with all of these convenience items — plastic packaging, convenient food — and the responsibility for their disposal falls on us,” said Lori Delacruz Lewis, assistant director of sustainability for education at Dallas College. “Sustainability is everyone’s responsibility.”

Personal choices can make a difference during the holiday season, she said, and Lewis doesn’t just talk the talk. Lewis carries her own utensils when she eats out and side steps clutter by refusing to use plastic straws and single-use cups. She also avoids using plastic water bottles and other items that end up littering landfills, regardless of the time of year, because they are not sustainable.

Although consumers during the holiday should be better educated about sustainability, Lewis does not blame them for relying on conveniences that are only used once and for a short period of time. But excess waste is everyone’s responsibility, no matter the season, she said.

In the meantime, she has shared several tips, some courtesy of Harvard University, for those who want to celebrate the holidays but also want to eliminate some bad habits and start to think strategically and purposefully about sustainability.

• For family members who have everything or nearly everything, send a financial gift in their name to a favorite environmentally friendly group or charity.
• Send electronic cards or use your smart phone to offer greetings.
• Buy a real Christmas tree and a real wreath. Both can be recycled into mulch.
• LED lights around your house consume less energy. And use a timer and sleep well knowing you’re contributing to a more sustainable world.
• Shop small or not at all. Make homemade gifts such as baked goods, arts and crafts. A personal touch is a gift.
• Set up a small recycle bin in your kitchen so that guests can feel environmentally sound along with their festive cheer.
• Entertain with cloth napkins and use real dishes and silverware. Pack reusable bags to reduce plastic bag usage. Use reusable leftover containers (ask your guests to bring their own or offer from your own collection).
• Purchase gift certificates for restaurants or spas.
• Ditch the shopping mall and walk your neighborhood. Walking or jogging is a gift that perks up your overall well-being and contributes to healthy lungs, heart and knees.
• Recycle paper and cardboard boxes.
• Finally, gather your family and plant a tree.

“All materials, whether they’re renewable or nonrenewable, are often used for just a couple of minutes and then go into a landfill forever,” Lewis said. “I know it’s a convenience thing, but it’s also so, so very wasteful. I think people are in a hurry and pick up a coffee stirrer that’s made of fossil fuels. And you twirl it around in your coffee cup two or three times and it goes in the trash,” Lewis said.

Manufacturers are largely to blame; however, reducing our reliance on disposable plastic goods and disposing of them carefully is also a personal step that can be taken right away.

“Companies are making billions and billions of these items for us to use for a few minutes or a few seconds. It’s just a habit. But the onus should not be put on the public to solve this problem alone,” she said. “The problem is being created by the manufacturers, and I think they should also be responsible for mitigating the problem that they have created.”

Original source can be found here.