MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – ‘Tis the season to think about going green when you celebrate the holidays, and it doesn’t mean you have to be a Grinch.
There are so many ways you can be kinder to the planet and be less wasteful as we come together to make merry with family and friends.
“We can generate incredible amounts of waste during this particular time of year, and we don’t have to,” Maddie Kaufman, the program director for Debris Free Oceans, said.
Between gifts, decorations and even your trees, a Stanford University study finds Americans create 25% more waste between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day than at any other time.
“Every day, Miami-Dade County residents generate 9 pounds of trash per capita. The average is 4 and a half pounds of trash in the United States and it’s even less around the world,” Dave Doebler, the co-founder of Volunteer Clean Up, said.
Sustainable gift-giving was the theme at the Normandy Fountain Plaza in North Beach, where Clean Miami Beach held it’s third annual Eco Fest holiday bazaar.
“We have to share joy with people and say that saving the planet and doing good things can make you feel good,” Normandy Fountain Business Association President David Sexton said. “That’s what this is about.”
The Eco Fest bazaar, offered shoppers green ideas when looking for that perfect gift.
“They are local from our local vendors here, and they are plastic-free,” Sophie Ringel, Clean Miami Beach’s executive director, said. “They tell someone a story of sustainability so that we don’t have to purchase everything on Amazon.”
Shopping local not only reduces your carbon footprint, but it’s also about supporting the local economy. There are so many great ideas, from swimwear to tequila. Even local honey makes a great gift.
“When you’re sourcing your honey from a local beekeeper, you’re not only helping your local economy, but you’re also helping your local bees,” Nara Cedeno with Honi Lifestyle said. “That’s very important.”
And going green doesn’t mean being a Scrooge.
“It can be fun and it can save you a lot of money,” Kaufman said. “And you feel really good because you’re doing a lot of good for people and (the) planet.”
Local 10 News met up with the team from Debris Free Oceans at KB’s Real Christmas Trees lot in Miami.
They recommend that when it comes to gift-giving and decorating, you get crafty.
“This is an ornament of our lovely Mr. Grinch, but we’re not going to be a Grinch this year,” Kaufman said. “It’s actually made from the base of a Christmas tree stump.”
You can also make decorations made from burnt-out light bulbs.
“I was like, I can’t throw these away, and so I made a group of snowmen, painted this and used some twine to tie it and some old ribbon to give it a cute scarf,” Kaufman said. “You can use that forever, every Christmas, every holiday!”
And whatever you do, please don’t use plastic when setting that holiday table.
“And that’s a big one because single-use plastic cutlery and plates are one of the top things that fill our landfills and we’re running out of landfill space,” Debris Free Oceans Programs Manager Bonnie Waxman said. “At this point, (we’re) nearly at capacity in Miami-Dade, so it makes a big difference.”
Stumped about what to do with all those Amazon boxes? Don’t throw them away, recycle them. Waste Management staffers say cardboard is very valuable and can be repurposed several times without affecting its durability.
“Cardboard, oh man, we need cardboard,” Dawn McCormick, the company’s community affairs manager, said. “We want it flat like this and none of the material inside with none of the packaging.”
And as for disposing of your natural Christmas trees, once the holidays are done, the odds are your city is already recycling them.
“Once a tree is recycled, a lot of communities make the mulch available to local residents,” KB’s Real Christmas Trees owner Kevin Burns said.
But remember to remove all the ornaments and lights, even the stand, before you bring it out to the curb.
“If it has a stand, it’s gonna go into a separate pile,” Burns said. “And it’s going to end up in the landfill.”
Plus, if the lights still work, you can use them again next year. If they don’t, throw them away in the garbage can. A lot of people try to recycle Christmas tree lights. Under no circumstances are Christmas tree lights ever recyclable.
“We call them tanglers,” McCormick said. “They get tangled up in our machinery.”
She added, “There are no holiday decorations that can be recycled.”
So deck the halls, make merry with your friends and loved ones and just remember to be kind to Mother Earth.
“It doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to be a downer,” Waxman said.
And something else to think about: save your gift ribbon and reuse it. Right now, an average of 38,000 miles of it are sold every Christmas.
That’s enough to tie a bow around the entire planet. Also, use recycled gift wrapping — that would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.
Related links:
Top tips for a sustainable Christmas