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Tips to make both Santa and Mother Nature happy this Christmas

The Recycling Council of BC (RCBC) has come up with ideas to turn your holiday celebration green and make both Santa Claus and Mother Nature happy.
ideas
The Recycling Council of BC (RCBC) has come up with ideas to turn your holiday celebration green and make both Santa Claus and Mother Nature happy.

The Recycling Council of BC (RCBC) has come up with ideas to turn your holiday celebration green and make both Santa Claus and Mother Nature happy.

“You can still celebrate in style over the holidays, but it takes a little planning, so start early,” said RCBC chief executive officer Brock Macdonald. “We’re asking British Columbians to rethink how they celebrate, and explore some new, greener traditions.”

Among Macdonald’s suggestions were opting for personal gift certificates for canning, cooking, baby-sitting, a car wash or a doggie bath. Giving experiences as gifts is another great option; instead of a cookbook, give a certificate for a cooking class or a foodie tour. He also suggested switching to LED light strings, which use 90 per cent less energy than incandescent lights, without the fire risk. Another simple choice is wrapping gifts in reusable or cloth gift bags that you can repurpose as shopping or lunch bags; skip the cellophane and metallic foil wraps, since they end up in landfill.

“Canadians already understand the importance of a healthy environment, but sometimes we forget that our everyday actions add to the impact,” said Macdonald. “Small changes add up to big results. If everyone in Canada wrapped just three gifts in reused paper or reusable gift bags, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 hockey rinks.”

For more ideas, follow along RCBC’s social media campaign for holiday waste reduction tips at www.twitter.com/recyclingbc.