How Green is your Christmas?
By Wanda Kelly
Certain holidays are associated with certain colors. For example, Halloween makes you think of orange and black. So I ask, What color is your Christmas? Elvis had a “blue Christmas without you,” Rudolph had a red Christmas because of his nose, and of course Bing Crosby had a white Christmas with chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I’d like to encourage everyone to have a green Christmas.
There are ways to make your Christmas environmentally friendly—a Christmas wreath and garland made of fresh greens and a live tree are the obvious ones. Going to the grower’s field to choose and cut your own tree is always fun. And for families with children it’s a great tradition. As a former grower of Christmas trees, I remember how excited everyone was to wander through my tree fields. People spent hours. It’s a personal thing—some liked them fat, some liked them small, some were short and some were tall, but they all were green. To find a local tree grower visit the National Christmas Tree Association Web site (
www.christmastree.org/home.cfm). Or, check out our site for local listings: www.whatsupmag.com
You may be thinking that cutting down a live tree isn’t very green. Just think of the effect that tree could have had on global warming if left to grow to its full potential. But here is another way to look at it. By supporting local tree growers, you support the economy and encourage that farmer or nursery to plant more trees. It takes 7 years or more for a tree to reach average Christmas tree height, thus each tree has already been contributing to the ecosystem in that time. Too many farms and forests are being sold to building speculators and anything we can do to encourage agriculture will help us all. For each tree you buy, three or four more are planted to replenish the supply.
Want to be still greener? Buy a ball-and-burlapped tree. Growers plant and prepare such trees so they can be dug up and replanted. Be sure to choose the right species and get advice on preparing the tree and its permanent planting place. To find out more about this option go to
www.christmastree.org/livecare.cfm. If a full-size tree is not appropriate for your needs consider purchasing a tabletop tree, ready to go in a convenient container you can decorate with a tree skirt. The beauty of either of these options is they mean no falling needles. And after the holidays you can relocate your tree to the landscape or garden, where it can continue giving for years.
Once you get your tree home the real test of how green you’re going begins. What should you use to decorate the tree? Start by reusing anything you can from last year. Then visit your grocery store. You can slice and dry oranges, lemons, and apples to make natural ornaments. String them together with cranberries and popcorn and you’ve got an old-fashioned, green garland with which to decorate the tree. If you remembered to save seedpods and dried flowers earlier this year, now is the time to haul out your collection. Many people like to use dried flowers for fall arrangements. But they work great on wreaths and Christmas trees as well. I’m a delinquent gardener, so in November and early December my garden is still full of dead seed heads, including black-eyed Susan; trumpet vine pods; old, dried flower clusters on my crape myrtle; and even dried leaves. Of course the tried-and-true pinecones are a sure winner. To brighten them up, carefully dab them with white paint—you can do the same with seed heads and you have the “just snowed” look. I also use thin, bare branches painted white or gold to add color. Tuck them in between the live branches to add highlights to the tree. For more color, try gold or red paint.
There are so many renewable resources from nature just waiting to be discovered! Consider making a wreath out of grapevine and decorating it with some pine boughs. Just last week I found an ugly wreath with a beautiful grapevine base at the local Goodwill store and transformed it. That sure beat going outside and dragging vines out of my pine trees. And I felt good about recycling one more thing.
“But what about the lights?” you might ask. Well, those traditional Christmas lights take a lot of energy. But the new LED technology can save you 75 percent of that. For outdoor decorating, a timer helps you cut back on electricity use by automatically remembering to turn the lights off for you.
Green tree, green wreath, green decorations—so what’s left? Buy green wrapping paper. You can find paper made from recycled materials to give you a boost in your green score. Also think about recycling before you buy that metallic paper—it may not be accepted at the recycling center. Once the season is over you gain green points by recycling your tree. Many municipalities collect trees and create mulch for city landscapes. Some towns even give out tree saplings as a reward for recycling the cut trees. Despite my best efforts, I have yet to find a place to recycle artificial trees. They just fill the landfill when they get old and tired.
There you have a green Christmas. If you’re thinking that making all those decorations is time consuming you may be right. But decorating is a great reason to have a party with family and friends. A natural Christmas seems to bring back childhood memories of days gone by. I don’t know about you, but at my ripe old age, any activity that makes me feel like a child is welcome. I’m going to get out the scissors and construction paper and make that loopy chain garland one more time.
Wanda Kelly, a frequent contributor to Whats Up, owns a farm in Salisbury.
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