Write Santa Letters – Tell Him You Have Gone Green

This year, tell your kids to write letters to Santa about going green. They are sure to make his nice list. What better gift can you give to the whole world this year? There are lots of ways you can be more environmentally conscious this holiday season. It is sure to get your name on Santa‘s nice list and you will feel about yourself while saving money in the long run.

Replace your old Christmas lights with the new energy efficient LED lights. Each and every night be sure that you turn off your Christmas lights. Besides the Christmas lights, turn off all of the lights in your home. LED nights lights are available if you need dim lighting in certain areas of your home.

Use newspaper to wrap your gifts. Another idea is use cereal boxes for a shirt box. Save any gift bags you receive to reuse next year. Recycle the wrapping paper, ribbons and bows after you open up all of your presents.

Use your imagination to decorate your house and your Christmas tree. Consider displaying Santa letters from past years as part of your holiday décor. And get creative when it comes to craft projects. Recycle whenever possible. You can make ornaments from items that you might have otherwise thrown away. Save clear lids that come on many food products. Cut out pictures from old Christmas cards and glue them to the lid. Next put a hole in the top. Using any ribbon or thread you may have around the house to put through the hole in the lid. Hang it on your Christmas tree.

After your tree has done its job of holding all the gifts from Santa you have to decide what you will do with the tree. If you bought a live Christmas tree (one with the root ball attached) you can plant it in your yard to enjoy for years to come. If that is what you are going to do it is a good idea to dig the hole before the ground freezes. Another option is to recycle the tree. Most communities have a drop off spot for old Christmas trees. They mulch up the trees to use at parks and schools.

Buy rechargeable batteries. Not only are they better for the environment but they save you from having to run out to replace dead batteries. If you have children then you know what an ordeal it can be when their gift from Santa stops working because the batteries are out of power.

When you are entertaining guest use reusable dishes and cutlery instead of disposable ones when possible. All the disposable plates, cup, and cutlery we use throughout the holiday season takes up a lot of room in our landfills. If you must use disposable cups write names on them so people are less likely to use more than one.

If you can incorporate one or all of these you just might get a nice certificate from Santa Claus. He often sends those along with his letters from Santa!

Santa Letters And Real Christmas Trees Make The Season Merry

Nothing makes visions of Christmas pop in my head more than kids excited about letters from Santa and the smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree. But before you make that purchase there are a few things you need to know.

Before you go to the tree lot to pick a tree determine how much space is available for the tree. Remember that the water base and tree topper will add several inches to the height of you tree. Choose a spot in your home that is away from vents and heaters to prevent water loss. Find a place that will allow plenty of room to for all your kids to find a gift from Santa.

Before you leave make sure that you have planned for transporting your tree home. If you are going to use rope or twine be sure that you have enough.

At the lot you will need to find a tree that fits the space you have decided on. Remember if your tree will be in a high traffic area you don’t want a tree that is too wide. If the tree is brushed when people walk by you risk having ornaments knocked to the ground and breaking.

Before buy lightly run your hand down the branches you shouldn’t have a hand full of needles if you do move on to another tree. Give the tree a gentle shake a very little amount of needles should fall out. You should find gifts from Santa under your tree not a pile of needles.

Once you have the tree at home you need to cut at least a ½ inch disk from the base of the tree. This will allow you tree to absorb water easier. Avoid cutting in the sides of the base. Fill the base with fresh water and place your tree in it. While this is going on I have my kids write their Santa letters to keep them busy. If you have pets you want to secure the tree at the top to prevent the tree from falling on your pets.

Christmas trees soak up a lot of water. Be sure to check the water level everyday. If you allow the tree to dry out you will a lot more needles to clean up.

Now put on the lights, garland, and ornaments. Take pictures to capture the moment. My kids always send a picture of the finished tree with their letters to Santa.

After Christmas is over you need to find something to do with your tree. If you have a live tree (if you have the root ball attached it is a live tree) it can be planted outside. If you plan on doing this it is a good idea to dig the hole before the ground freezes. Otherwise recycle the tree.