Only a few months away and Christmas will soon be here. It’s the world’s most awaited time of the year and certainly piles and piles of materials and food leftovers will be filling truckloads of bins right after Christmas, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some ways we can minimize wastage during Christmas and still have a good one with family and friends:

Use a live tree instead of a plastic one. While plastic trees can be used for more Christmases to come, makers of these do not stop churning hundreds and thousands of these at their factories every year, and they are plastic, so it’s not good for the environment. Better have a live tree that’s at least cheaper and totally harmless to the environment.

Send e-cards instead of the usual paper cards bought at the stores. As people used to say, it’s the thought that counts. Plus, e-cards are more convenient and faster to send to family and friends. Or, if sending out a real card can’t be avoided, choose to make one from old paper or thin cardboard materials and put some personalized touch in it like drawings or doodles or small pictures. Just be creative. Some stores also sell recycled Christmas cards, so that’s another alternative. Hand-made Christmas cards are more appreciated because they are more personalized. Another alternative is to buy cards that actually give a certain portion of the costs to charitable institutions or a good cause. So that’s making more people happy at the same time.

Use LED for Christmas lights as they are safer and use less electricity compared to the traditional incandescent bulbs which consume more electricity and less safer.

Use recycled paper, old newspapers and magazines for gift-wrapping. Using these materials are more appealing than using the traditional, decorative wrapping papers bought at the stores. One only needs to be good at creative wrapping to make the gifts look unique rather than dull. While big gifts for both children and adults such as bikes, bags, dolls, and other big toys need not be wrapped. A simple ribbon string can be tied around each one.

Buy or shop online. Not only will it be more convenient, but shopping online will avoid the unnecessary rush that usually comes during Christmas season. Plus, most online stores provide discounts so that’s savings as well. Another upside is the zero waste that goes with online shopping—no wrapping bags and no paper receipts.

When doing the Christmas grocery, bring a reusable grocery bag. These are usually sturdy types of grocery bags provided to shoppers to help minimize wastage from using paper or plastic bags for every shopping. Also, buy only what the family needs for Christmas. Food wastage is never a good practice.

If gifts such as toys or gadgets need the regular use of batteries, buy a recharger to lessen the number of times to buy batteries. Having a battery charger not only becomes cheaper in the long run, but also helps to avoid environmentally harmful wastes such as busted or exhausted batteries thrown in the landfills.

There are many more ways to celebrate a Green Christmas and help to preserve our environment. Try meeting with friends and family and talk about it. From food preparation to shopping, from tree decoration to gift-giving, and more, there are a lot that can be done to avoid wastage. There are many creative ideas which can be explored to have a safe, environmentally-friendly Christmas for everyone.