Are You Dreaming of a Green Christmas?

We don’t get much snow in the lowlands of King and Snohomish County, when it does snow people get excited. The title of this blog may seem kind of interesting and have you wondering “why would someone wish for a green Christmas?”

Well there are some people who prefer a warm or even tropical climate year round and make their yearly escape to Arizona or Hawaii, but we are not referring to that. The green in green Christmas we are referring to is an environmental reference. How can you make your Christmas celebrations as environmentally friendly as possible?

Christmas Lights

The new trend in outdoor light displays is more, more, more. There are television shows that now make a competition out of extreme outdoor Christmas light displays. They highlight the homes that are covered completely with lights, some are set to music, some have Disney level professional show equipment. We all know that holiday lights can use a lot of electricity. Here are some ways to stay green with your light display:

• Purchase lights that will stay lit when one bulb goes out. This way you can replace one light instead of purchasing a whole new strand or replacing every single light.

• LED lights: it is no secret that these are a more energy efficient and green way to light up your home for the holidays

• Smaller bulbs: using light strands with smaller bulbs is more environmentally friendly because smaller bulb= smaller wattage

Upcycle Decorations

You can make some very impressive decorations from used Christmas ribbon, and even older decorations that could use a facelift. This is a great way to keep more garbage out of the landfills.

**Did you know that if every home in America reused just two feet of holiday ribbon that 28,000 miles of ribbon would be kept out of the landfill? That’s enough ribbon to wrap the planet in a giant bow.

Recycle Wrapping Paper, Boxes, and Everything You Can

Christmas produces a large amount of tossed out items why not recycle them instead of send them to the dump? There are so many things that can be recycled today. Of course there are the obvious items like wrapping paper and boxes. You can also recycle the items you are getting rid of to make room for the new: take electronics, T.V.’s, laptops and electronic toys to a recycle center. Don’t forget to recycle that real  Christmas tree too.

Consider a Living Christmas Tree

Love real Christmas trees? Can’t bring yourself to purchase an artificial one? A living Christmas tree is a great way to purchase a real tree and promote earth friendly traditions. When you are done with the tree inside the home you can plant it.

Green Cleaning

With all the holiday parties and guests in our homes we want our home looking its best. We tend to do more cleaning around this time with more people in our homes. Find some green products to keep your home in top shape. Hire some professionals to get your home ready to receive guests and host parties. Be sure that you are hiring a professional that uses green cleaning solutions.

All Kleen has been in the carpet, tile, and upholstery cleaning business for over 30 years. We use safe green eco-friendly cleaning solutions to get your home looking like new again. Make an appointment online today.