Green Christmas Decorations for Your Home

Have A Green Christmas Dream? Make it A Reality

Fluttering snowflakes are beginning to randomly appear around my home and it’s clear that unless I pull out the Christmas box soon, my daughter Maia is going to use up all my printer paper in an effort to get that Yuletide glow.

 

Last year we decided to revamp our Christmas look when Maia searched through our carefully collected stash of subdued and homemade Christmas decorations and declared that they were “lame” and “not very Christmasy”.

 

Last year she was into bling and glitter, but after a search through various (plastic! expensive!) department store Christmas displays, we opted for a more eco-friendly way to get that holiday shine.

 

Go with Christmas Consumables

A gingerbread house display at Peddler’s Village, PA. (Image: Charles Tilford)

 

Nothing says Christmas like festive homemade goodies. When you decorate your living room with a gingerbread house, plates of sugar cookies and a few homemade chocolate things, everyone who visits will be on such a sugar they’ll love your Christmas decorations no matter what.

 

Fill in the gaps with evergreen boughs and holly cut from local trees, bowls of oranges, nuts and pinecones.

 

Head to A Vancouver Craft Fair

Head to one of Vancouver’s amazing holiday craft fairs and check out the handmade tree ornaments that are created from natural materials. These can be a bit dearly priced, but we’ve found some that will last for generations.

 

Christmas Crafts

I’m no Martha, but there’s nothing as wonderful as ornaments and decorations that are made by children (or in my case, ornaments and decorations that look like they were made by children). Last year we recycled candles in an effort to make glittery snow candles which turned out… interesting to say at least. This year we’re going to try something that doesn’t involve fire.

 

Eco-Friendly Christmas Lights

Eco-friendly Christmas lights. (Image: Bill S)

 

Twinkly lighting can both hide the fact you put minimal effort into your decorations and emphasize a festive room when you did. So when those old strings burn out (and you can’t just replace the bulbs) opt for energy-efficient light strings.

 

When they’re made using light-emitting diode bulbs, or LEDs, they’re 90 percent more efficient than traditional holiday lights. LEDs also last longer—up to 10,000 hours compared with 5,000 hours for standard incandescent bulbs. And check out some of the new solar powered outdoor lights; we’re experimenting with a string this year.

 

Get the Greener Tree

Real trees are better than fake trees. I know the debate happens every year, but if you harvest a factory farmed tree after it’s been doused in pesticides and herbicides for eight-years (which is typical), chopped down for Christmas, trucked to a far away destination and then tossed away after two weeks of use, this is still better for the environment than having a fake tree—even one that you keep using for a decade or more.

 

But if you want to get the greenest tree possible, look for an organic version.