One Change [1] and Project Porchlight would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays! Whether you’re a volunteer, partner, sponsor, or a visitor to our website we hope that you have a safe and energy-efficient holiday. Here are a few simple actions that will help save you money and reduce your carbon footprint over the holidays:

• Get creative with gift wrapping. Try using newspaper, paper bags, cloth gift bags, or cookie tins instead of wrapping paper. If your child has an artistic streak you can add a personal touch to a gift by reusing their finger paintings to wraps presents. Get even more creative by using old maps or sheet music.

  You can also make the wrapping part of the gift! Scarves, kitchen towels, flower pots, or tablecloths are an ingenious alternative to gift wrap and come in all manner of styles. If you’re a whiz with a sewing machine, whip up your own cloth tote bags or gift bags. Or use a canvas bag that can be reused for grocery shopping throughout the year. A pair of earrings could be placed in a wooden box used later to store buttons, jewelry, or safety pins.

  Try challenging your family to a little friendly competition — come up with the most inventive, resourceful, brilliant wrapping paper alternative. Then before present-opening commences, vote on the best idea!

  If everyone in Canada wrapped just three gifts in reused paper or gift bags, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks. Saving money using creative gift wrapping can be fun and is a great family activity.

• Send an e-card. In Canada, Canada Post reports that it will “take more than 575 daily flights to deliver all the 787.3 million cards, letters and parcels that enter the Canada Post system during the holiday season. 6,000 postal vehicles (that travel 77 million kilometres a year) also help to move the mail across the country each day, including 150 highway service tractor-trailers.” Each litre of gasoline used to transport Christmas cards and packages creates 2.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide. The 2.6 billion holiday cards sold each year in the United States could fill a landfill the size of a football field 10 stories high! Consider sending an e-card. There are many free and fun cards available online which will not only save you money but also help reduce your environmental footprint over the holidays.
• Create a natural centrepiece. Instead of buying a plastic store-bought centerpiece make your own for a great personal touch! Try making a centrepiece out of pinecones or trim your evergreens and place them in a vase or directly on the table. If you’re buying a real tree don’t be shy about asking to take home any discarded branches left on the ground. You can add seasonal fruit (clementines, pomegranates, cranberries), candles and nuts to spruce it up. You will save money and you can eat it afterwards!
• Give less! In 2005, Canadians spent more than $36.8 billion on gifts and are expected to exceed that amount this holiday season. That works out to $845 per person for gifts! Why not give the environment a gift by reducing consumption? Try playing “secret Santa” with your family. To play you pick names from a hat and only buy for that member of the family. Don’t forget to set a spending limit! Consider being even greener by giving a homemade gift, an experience, a used item or a donation to a charity.
• Real or fake? The answer is neither! Both real trees and fake trees have negative environmental impacts. The best option is to choose an inexpensive living tree that you can plant outdoors once the holidays are over. It has obvious advantages to the planet including providing wildlife habitat, adding oxygen to the air, securing soil, etc. Make sure you follow these care instructions [2]: You can also decorate it outdoors for many Christmases to come. If you don’t have room in your yard to plant it, donate it to your local municipality or school. Other fun alternatives to traditional trees include decorating an indoor plant or designating an outdoor tree as your Christmas tree.

For more simple action holiday tips to help you save money and protect the environment visit us at www.onechange.org [3]

Thanks again to everyone who supported One Change’s campaigns. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!