By Kevin Bolland
Orange, California
Holidays around the world are occasions to celebrate with one another and engage in community building opportunities. Although everyone may celebrate different holidays, many of these holidays or celebrations share common attributes. Some celebrate with eating, drinking, listening to music or dancing together, some people celebrate with fireworks, some celebrate with parades. There is no end to the ways that we can celebrate together. Even if we are celebrating simply to acknowledge being alive!
How can we celebrate sustainability during these festivities? Ultimately the best way to celebrate sustainably is to avoid using things that are wasteful, even if they are fun, and find ways that are equally fun to replace those destructive activities with.
While there are limits to this, it essentially means that we need to put thought into the celebration and how we can make things more exciting or joyful, without wasting resources unintentionally.
Here are a few fun ways to celebrate holidays without doing anything illegal, dangerous, or wasteful.
Instead of buying expensive fireworks, recycle a 2-liter soda bottle and some other basic office supplies to make lights or decorations.
Instead of using disposable plates, napkins, and utensils, use washable dinnerware (this will save, literally hundreds of gallons of water).
If gifts are involved, be creative, learn a new skill and apply that skill towards giving another person something special, unique, hand made, or recycled. Its better for the environment, better for you, and the story of how you made it will be memorable to the person you are giving it to.
Celebrate outside! It saves energy.
Cook responsible potion sizes, and explore culinary options that may be more sustainable by buying local!
In this digital age, we can video conference, which is much more energy efficient than riving or traveling to another place.
Recycle or re-use as much as you can!
Next time you have a celebration for any occasion, remember that we can be green together! Remember that going green doesnt require a massive lifestyle change for most people. In fact, for many of us, the act of going green will make your life easier and will save you money in the long run.
Greenisms is all about investing with the future in mind. Investments don'd need to be monetary. Invest your time and energy into cleaning your environment, preventing the pollution of the environment in the first place, and in the education of others abour the limited resources available on earth.
Together we can make a major step towards a sustainable world.
Thanks for reading!
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