Surely if there is a time of year when we can abandon all sense of self-restraint, it's got to be at Christmas. And I know it's tempting. You've worked hard all year and deserve to just have a break. Because I don't want you to discard all the gains you've made this year in trying to live more green, I just thought I'd put a few tips together to help us make it through the holiday season. Believe it or not, almost half of the battery sales over the year are made during the holiday season. These short term use batteries end up in the dump before you know it.
This can be reduced by buying fewer toys and gadgets that need batteries in the first place. And when you do buy batteries, invest in rechargeable ones with the accompanying charger. While most of us can afford to buy new gifts, remember a lot of persons simply cannot. Don't forget to recycle by donating clothing, toys and appliances that are in good condition to the Salvation Army or Cancer Care Thrift Shops. Most of us use too much wrapping paper.
There are many ways to be stylish and reduce this waste. My favorite is giving and receiving used gift bags. These are very sturdy and can be reused many times. Some persons use cookie tins, fancy jars and decorative boxes. Other ideas would be to wrap gifts using sheet music, colorful pages of a magazine or newspaper. As to the question of what's greener- a real or artificial one - the real tree actually wins when we look at what it is made of and what happens when it is disposed.
Artificial trees have come a long way and are much easier on the wallet, as they can be used for many years. They are generally made of plastics, which are petroleum based and can be polluting to the indoor environment and harmful when disposed of. Then there are the lights. I know you want to win the competition for the best lit house and yard, but before you get carried away, just keep one thing in the back of your mind... BEC.
Yes, you will have a nice price to pay for all that merriment over the holidays. Thankfully there are plenty of lighting options out there. LED Christmas lights are a great choice as they use 80 percent less energy than incandescent lights and are cool to the touch, presenting less of a fire hazard on a dry Christmas tree. Christmas lights are also available as solar and battery powered.
Of course no matter what type of lights you use it's important to have a set time to turn them on and off. Most of all don't leave lights on overnight. You can rest assured that Santa can find his way to your house. o Send questions or comments to sbrown@graphitebahamas.com. Sonia Brown is principal of Graphite Engineering Ltd. and is a registered professional engineer.
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