Holiday Home Prep Part Two

Two columns ago, we provided the first half of our “Green Holiday Home Prep Tips.” Here are additional tips to prepare your home for trick-or-treaters, turkeys, or Santa. 1. Outside the Home Snow and ice patches can make traveling hazardous. Make sure walkways and porches are free of ice and snow. When clearing the ice, keep the environment in mind. Try to avoid chemical ice removers if you can. There are a number of eco-friendly deicers on the market that are safe and effective. Chemical deicers, while effective, are also corrosive. They can damage your sidewalk, lawn, garden, and health. Also be careful not to leave things lying around in your yard or driveway as the winter season approaches; snow fall can make obstacles hard to see and potentially dangerous. You should be especially mindful of these hazards if you live in a climate where it can get below freezing by Halloween. Hospital visits are never fun, even in costume. 2. Lighting Lighting is an essential part of the holiday season. Whether you are hanging lights on the tree, or decorating the yard, exercise environmental caution. Follow the instructions with all decorations, and do not overload an outlet and blow a fuse. You may consider using a “Smart Strip Power Strip” when plugging in multiple strands of light. This will decrease your chance of blowing a fuse, and will not extract power when lights are off (helping you with the power bill). Be thoughtful about how much energy you are using; turn the indoor lights off when you are out, and make sure if you have a tree to keep it well watered. Overly dry trees can catch fire easily from the heat of tree lights. Also make sure all outdoor lighting is functioning properly and is turned on at the right times. Having lights set on a timer can be a helpful way to conserve power. 3. Cleaning For Guests If you are expecting guests, cleaning prior to their arrival is undoubtedly on your to-do list. There are a number of effective and affordable green home cleaning products specifically for wood floors, upholstery, windows, and just about any other surface in your home. Or if you already gave your home a deep clean, and just want to freshen the air, use green air fresheners or candles. Of course, when using candles, never leave a candle unattended; unwatched candles are a serious and dangerous cause of fire within the home. 4. Holiday Meals When preparing for those large holiday meals, keep the planet in mind. Using reusable utensils, dishware, and napkins can help reduce your holiday waste as well as your carbon footprint. You may have a few more dishes to clean, but if everyone chips in, it will go quick, you will have less garbage, and your meal will be a little more elegant. Do not forget to use reusable cloth napkins. However, if using reusable dishes and napkins is just not an option, consider buying recycled or recyclable dishware or recycled paper napkins. Just because there is snow on the ground does not mean your holidays can’t be green! 5. Gifts We all love ripping into a package, demolishing the paper, to see what gifts are wrapped inside. This holiday, add a little change to your traditional methods. If possible, try to use last year’s wrapping paper. If the pieces are large enough, you can reuse the paper, hide old creases, and no one will know the difference. It will save you time and money on buying new paper while cutting Mother Nature some slack. Another great way to save money is to reuse old gift bags. Bags hold up well, no matter what you put inside them. Why throw away a perfectly good bag? But, if your paper has seen better days and is beyond repair, or you really feel the bag just is not going to cut it this year, check out the eco-friendly alternatives. Recycled wrapping paper is becoming a huge hit, it is chic and trendy, gets the job done, and is great for the environment. Have a plant lover on the list? Also check out wrapping paper that can be planted and grown after use. There are innumerable options for staying green while preparing for the holidays. Whatever you can do to help the environment is great!