The season of warm fires, gift giving, and awkward family dinners is finally here. And I know that most of us, including myself are beyond excited to celebrate. However, amidst the delicious food and beautifully wrapped presents, I think we often forget about how much stuff were actually using, and discarding during the holidays. Americans throw away 25% more trash during the holidays, an accumulation of crumpled wrapping paper, shopping bags, and old christmas cards. And just imagine how many trees are cut down to serve as decoration in our homes for a month. In my opinion, decorating and gift giving are important and fun parts of the holiday experience and shouldn’t be discarded because of their negative environmental impact but rather we should try to be conscious of how we go about these traditions. These are the biggest culprits behind our carbon footprints during the holidays and a few easy ways in which we can make them more environmentally friendly.

1. Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags

Imagine how much wrapping paper you use during the holidays and multiply that by a majority of the families in the world. And most wrapping paper, due to its lamination and added dyes, actually can’t be recycled. That is a lot of unnecessary waste. This holiday season try wrapping your gifts in newspaper or recyclable wrapping paper and use the least amount of tape possible. After all the presents are unwrapped, save any wrapping paper that is still salvageable, keep all the gift bags for later gifting and recycle anything possible.

1. Gift Giving

Try to swap some of your material gifts for experience gifts. My siblings and I sing a song for my mom every year and every year she swears it’s her favorite present. Replace the headphones you were going to give your friend with concert tickets or an art class you can do together. Try making a gift such as a Spotify playlist or a ceramic bowl. Or try regifting! Although the word is a little taboo, regifting will keep the unwanted presents you get from being eventually thrown out and save you a little extra money.

1. Shopping

Instead of buying all of your presents online or at a local mall, try to shop within your own community to support your local businesses. Bring your own reusable bags when shopping to prevent waste and carpool with friends when travelling farther distances in order to save fuel and prevent more toxins from being released into the environment.

1. Decorations

I love holiday lights that are strung around the christmas tree or over a wreath but keeping these lights on constantly wastes a lot of electricity. Spend the extra dime and switch out your lights for LED ones and try to turn them off when no one is in the house or at night when everyone is sleeping. For those who celebrate Christmas, you can actually buy a live christmas tree and replant it after you’re done using it. Maybe then, you can even use it again next year.

1. Holiday Cards

I love making, sending and receiving holiday cards. There is somethings oddly comforting in seeing all of your friends and their families and knowing they’re happy and okay. However, after the holidays are over we always end up throwing the cards away which is just a sad waste of paper. This year, try making homemade holiday cards, sending an Ecard online through sites such as Hallmark or American Greetings, or simply trying to reduce the amount you send.

If everyone implements just one of these suggestions into their holiday experience this year, it will have a huge impact on our environment. Whether it’s saving a tree, carpooling with friends, or singing a song for your parents, you can reduce your own carbon footprint and maybe even have a little more fun in the process.