• If you received gifts in regular wrapping paper, save it and use it to pad around your ornaments and decorations when you put them away.  They make great cushioning paper.  Read about wrapping paper from earth911 who says: “if every American family wrapped just three presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.” If you were careful when opening gifts, you may be able to reuse the wrapping paper for gifts next year.  My father and I wrapped all of our gifts in leftover tissue paper and plain cream colored packaging paper this year.  We also use newspaper which we can then use to start fires with in our woodstove over the winter.
• Of course everyone knows to save your gift bags and reuse them next year.  You can also use them to bag up extra decorations as needed.
• Some places will actually recycle your christmas tree and turn it into mulch.  In Huntsville Alabama there is a Botanical Garden that will do this if you drop the tree off.  Do some research and see who else in your area might be providing this same service.
• Re-gift unwanted gifts. If you feel bad about asking for the receipt to return a gift, and if your gifters don’t have the for-sight to provide you with the receipt just in case, then re-gift the item.  I love regifting, so long as I’m giving it to someone I know will appreciate it.
• In my article about how to reduce paper waste this Christmas, I mentioned that you can donate your christmas cards to St. Jude’s Children’s Ranch to be recycled into new cards.  Make-stuff.com also provides a list of ways you can creatively reuse your christmas cards as well.

What other creative ways do you make your post-holiday clean-up more eco-friendly?

Following suite of my article Greening up Christmas: Paper Waste, I figured it’d be fun to evaluate other methods to make Christmas greener this year.

Lets take a look at gifts.

• Home-made gifts are always the way to go for Christmas. I make a mean cherry brownie with home-made cherry chocolate ganache. I’ve seen other people knit scarves, make pendants, whatever you can put together with love is a great gift idea.
• Donate your time. Are you pretty handy with a skill? A cousin of mine donated his time to rework some of our electrical work in our old house a few years back. Another person I know donated a free tarot reading as a gift. I could certainly donate a web design or two to a friend who I know needed one.
• Donate to charity in a friends name. Always a popular choice, you could always donate to a charity fund in your friends name. My family has a lot of diabetes, so donating to the diabetes fund would be especially touching for them.
• Regift. I actually like the concept of regifting. I mean sometimes you just get a gift that you don’t like or wouldn’t use. Why not put it to good use and give it to someone would could appreciate it?
• Give a gift of time. A day at the spa, or a day at the golf course are excellent eco-friendly gifts as well. Consider them like gift certificates of time to your loved one.
• Giftcards. Though not a very personal gift, Giftcards help prevent unwanted gifts that might end up being thrown away or cluttering up someones house.

Also check out some of Care2′s Consumer-less gift ideas.

Paper waste is abundant at Christmas time, from holiday cards to wrapping paper.  In the United States an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated during the holidays.

Just think of how much waste is produced by the Christmas Card alone.  Not only are you producing the paper waste of the card itself, but the fuel to send it where it needs to go.  In the UK, over 1 billion Christmas Cards end up in landfills, and 1.9 billion by Americans.   One tree is needed to make up 3,000 cards.  That’s a ton of waste!

Wrapping paper is probably one of the most wasteful things we use during the holidays.  A glorified decorative piece of paper with its inks and dyes, wrapped around a gift for only a few days before being torn off and thrown away.  The paper itself doesn’t burn well because of the inks and dyes, and the burning of those inks and dyes releases harmful chemicals anyway. 4 million tons of wrapping paper and shopping bags are thrown away each holiday season.

How can we reduce our paper waste during the holidays?

Gift Paper:

• A few times I used newspaper we had lying around the house, generally for everyday gifts.
• I’ve wrapped gifts in a nice piece of fabric I had lying around, tyed with a nice piece of string or bow that I also had.  If the receiver does not wish to keep the fabric, I ask for it back to be used again.
• I’ve wrapped gifts in paper bags from the grocery store, which are a perfect canvas for my own custom decorations should I choose to.  An example could be taking a piece of apple or a leaf and painting one side to create your own rustic stamp on the paper.  Personally I think the paper bags look nice and traditional, especially when wrapped with bailing twine.
• Buy recycled wrapping paper with eco-friendly ink.

Greeting Cards:

• Obviously sending no card at all is the best way to reduce waste, but is a hard and undesirable step for some.
• Some like to make their own cards from materials around their house, which is a lovely way to send a custom greeting to a loved one.
• You can also recycle old cards, or cards you have received by cutting off the front and attaching it to another piece of (recycled) paper to resend.  But some view this method as tacky.
• Send an e-greeting to family and friends.  Most people have access to the internet these days, which means most people will have an email account.  Send them an e-greeting instead where you can personalize a message within the card.  Not only does it help save the environment, it saves your wallet too, since these are generally free.
• Buy recycled gift cards with eco-friendly ink.  If you’re going to waste money on cards anyway, may as well put forth the money for nice recycled ones.

Recycling Holiday Waste:

• As mentioned above, you could reuse your own cards to send out each year.
• St. Jude’s Ranch for Children is a nonprofit that uses donated greeting cards to create new card sets.  The proceeds from this go to help abused children.  What a great way to recycle your old greeting cards.
• Be careful when opening gifts wrapped in paper, and see if you can’t reuse that paper again in the future.
• Save the holiday bag you receive and reuse them to gift next year.
• Reuse wrapping paper, envelopes, and/or cards to create your own gift tags.  I’ve used old wrapping paper for gift tags for years.  Simply cut a rectangle and fold it in half.  Write your gift tag in the center and tape to your gift

Other Articles around the Web

Nature Moms gives a big list of eco-candy, gift, and costume ideas.

Kiwi Magazine talks about eco-friendly halloween crafts.

Inhabitots discusses eco-friendly costume ideas and where to purchase.

However I am not interested in contributing to the unethical waste of plastic or metal sunglasses, that almost all seem to be prone to.

I did discover iWood Eco-Friendly Wooden Sunglasses which actually look pretty snazzy. However, at $350 a pop, they are certainly out of my budget, as well as most consumers I would imagine. Disappointing.

Despite the fact I would love to have wooden sunglasses, I did run across Equation LLC. which claims to have 100% recycled and reconditioned sunglasses, and at a much more reasonable price. So until a sane manufacturer creates a set of wooden sunglasses for normal consumers, no wooden sunglasses for me.

2. Buy Local Obviously it is always recommended to buy local. There are many farmers that raise turkeys and will even kill and cut them up fresh for you (my uncle is one of them). Raising and killing our own turkey’s has been a family tradition of mine since I was born. So I always know where my turkey comes from each holiday.

3. Avoid or Prepare for Holiday Travel. If you don’t have to travel, don’t. If you do have to travel, prepare your vehicle to be as sufficient as possible by checking the tire pressure, carpool as much as possible. And if flying, purchase carbon credits to offset the pollution you will be creating.

4. Buy Organic. Why not make all of your dishes this year from organic and wholesome foods? Treat your family this year by making sure there are no chemicals or processed foods on your thanksgiving table.

Some safe alternatives to remove poison ivy from your land:

• Goats are actually an interesting alternative because there are two species of goats that absolutely �love- to eat poison ivy. Spanish and Angora goat breeds love to make a meal out of poison ivy.
• Soap has long been used for an all-purpose herbicide. Many health food stores carry liquid soap such as Dr. Bronner�s Pure-Castile Soaps.
  A homemade poison ivy vegetation killer spray that is safe and effective:
  • 1 cup of salt
  • 8 drops of liquid soap
  • 1 gallon of vinegar

  Combine salt and vinegar in a pan and heat to dissolve the salt. Cool the vinegar, add the detergent, and pour into a large spray bottle. Note that this formula will kill the vegetation so be sure to only spray on the poison ivy. Avoid spraying near walls if you use a lot of this formula, as the salt will eventually reach your water supply.

Some effective remedies should you contract a case of poison ivy:

• Osha Root Tincture (which may be ordered online or found in your local natural foods store) is the best remedy for allergic reactions caused by poison ivy and bug bites EVER. Simply apply tincture directly, and sparingly, to the affected area and allow to dry.
• Native Americans used fresh bark of beech trees as a poultice for such things as poison ivy. Simply fill a jar with the pieces of the bark, pour in boiling water to cover, and let the infusion steep for about 20 minutes. Strain and discard the bark and allow the fusion to cool. Apply the tea to the skin and cover it with cheesecloth.
• Jewelweed is another effective remedy against poison ivy. Simply crush and rub the plant on the exposed areas. Also used for stings and other skin problems
• Tea tree oil is another remedy I�ve found in my research that supposedly does wonders for itch relief and overnight cure of poison ivy

To familiarize yourself with the different types of poison ivy and poison oak, you�ll need to learn to recognize them by site. Of course, in my case, the field had been mowed so I didn�t get a chance to see anything.

http://altnature.com/Poison_ivy/index.html
Lists various poison ivy, oak, and berry pictures to help you recognize the distinction between the varieties.

http://ncnatural.com/wildflwr/obnxious.html
Another good site that lists various versions of poison ivy.

http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/info.html
An EXCELLENT poison ivy resource site.

And, as always, consult a health professional before using this or any remedy if you are pregnant, or have compromised or threatened health.

Resources for this article include:
Tom Browns Guide to Wilderness Survival
Growing and Using Healing Herbs

Vitamin B6: One small study has shown that taking vitamin B6 may reduce symptoms by half. Though researchers aren’t sure why, the active ingredient, pyritinol, seems to work as an effective intervention for a nasty hangover.

400 mg at the beginning, middle, and end of the party. Don’t take this remedy frequently. PRolonged use of high doses of vitamin B6 can cause nerve damage

Prickly Pear Cactus Extract: Opuntia ficus-indica, found in the pear extract, can reduce the body’s inflammatory response to alcohol, staving off nausea and dry mouth.

One capsule (1600 IU) five hours before drinking

Gen Gen (also known as pueraria or kudzu root) and JuHua (chrysanthemum flower): Kudzu root generates fluids, reduces thirst and nausea, and alleviates headaches and stiff muscles. Chrysanthemum flower, a common treatment to relieve headaches and irritability, clears toxins and brigthens eyes.

Either in powder tincture, pill form, or as a tea, before bed and the morning after. For the correct amount, contact a licensed herbalist.

Other Methods: Before Drinking

One easy way to feel less the effects of alcohol is to eat a 2 small or one medium bag of potato chips an hour or so before drinking alcohol.

An alternate method is to eat a sandwich (possibly baguette or ciabatta) made with lots of salami and butter (yes, I do realize the taste would be awful, but hey it helps; at the max you can eat one salami sandwich and one with just butter). This way the bread/potato chips will absorb some of the alcohol before it has the chance to get absorbed into your blood stream.

A good way to prevent getting wasted right away is to always drink the same thing, don’t mix alcohols, and if you order/make cocktails make sure to at least drink the same kind. Different alcohols consumed in the same time lapse will cause weariness quicker, splitting headaches and cause major hangovers, and, if you are a woman taking oral contraceptives, and you took your pill 4 hours earlier you are no longer protected (if you regurgitate that is, so be careful with that too).

Another remedy, used primarily by Native Americans was to eat raw almonds before drinking any alcoholic beverage to reduce the chance of suffering from any hangover.

Peanut Butter is also thought to be of somewhat remedy.

Remember to try to have a sports drink (like Gatorade) which will replenish the minerals that the kidneys excreted during your drinking. If you regurgitate due to excessive drinking, let it all out of your system and then have a sports drink to give you back some minerals.

If you had a long night of drinking, water (about 3 glass fulls should be enough) will help rehydrate you. Drinking makes you lose a lot of fluids, going to bed dehydrated will just leave the alcohol in your system at it’s concentrated levels and will cause you to feel their effects later on.

Remember to not take painkillers such as aspirin, ibrofen and the like. If taken in high quantities or on a continuous basis they’ll start to cause problems to your kidneys (such as kidney failure).

Other Methods: After Drinking Recipes

1. Lemon: Pour some lemon juice (of 1 lemon) to a cup of black coffee and drink it, no sugar, no milk.
2. Chicken soup – just as it works with colds, it can also help rid you of your hangover.
3. Honey: take about 2 table spoon fulls every 30 minutes since you wake up till you start feeling better.
4. Apples: Eat some as soon as you wake up, it will somewhat help you feel better.
5. Lastly, and probably most effective is to make a banana and honey milkshake. Take 3 bananas, pour in some milk and honey, blend it all till it’s all nice and smooth and gulp it down, it will help sooth and settle your stomach, calming your nerves and ultimately relieving you of your splitting headache due to a major hangover.

drugstore.com – Unlike mothernature.com, drugstore.com actually carries a lot of other random elements like Seventh Generation laundry detergent.

gaiam.com – A more expensive resource, but they have fantastic eco-friendly products from sheets to rain water collection.

etsy.com – Not necessarily an organic site, but a shopping site of hand-made products. A fantastic variety of good, most of which are made without any chemical.

greenfeet.com – They have a small inventory of products, but they cover bases that other sites don’t, such as that eco-friendly toilet brush.

lehmans.com – The non-electric catalog. This site lists a lot of Amish products, but is excellent for finding eco-friendly alternatives to everyday appliances, tools, and even traditional toys.

mountainroseherbs.com – If you’re looking for herbs and teas, this is a great resource.

bluecanoe.com – Hosts a variety of organic clothing (mainly women).

environgentle.com – Sells many eco-friendly tees with or without logos. Uni-sex.