Have yourself a green little Christmas

Published Dec. 12, 2014
By Kimberly Woodruff
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Consider cutting back on the Christmas morning cleanup after all the presents have been unwrapped and you're faced with a huge pile of discarded wrapping paper, tissue paper, boxes and bows.

This year make "greener" choices in everything from the wrapping to the gift itself.

"The easiest thing is to avoid using non-recyclable materials. Instead of bubble wrap, use newspaper. And use artificial trees that you can reuse each year," said Randy Joiner, 72nd Force Support Squadron Recycling manager. "Reduce, reuse and recycle and have a safe Christmas."

Here are some ideas to help you decrease your carbon footprint this holiday...

Give the gift of togetherness -- No- waste gifts

· Give experiences such as tickets to a concert, movies or sporting events, gift certificates for massages, manicures, spa day or zoo or park memberships
· Coupons for free babysitting -- most parents would love to receive these!
· Let children know they can do an extra chore as a nice gift that won't cost them a dime.

Gifts of food -- need we say more?

· A home-cooked meal makes a great gift idea
· Cookies, cakes, pies, fudge or even a basket with spices or pastas or food gift cards are perfect for any foodie
· Hey, if they don't like your fruitcake, the recipient can re-gift it!

Re-gift any gift as long as the recipient would enjoy it

· Just be sure not to give it to the person who gave it to you!
· Send e-cards instead of paper ones. One major greeting card company estimated 1.5 billion cards are sent annually, resulting in 300,000 trees harvested to produce them!
· Recycle old Christmas cards into new ones. They even make gift tags
· Use cloth bags when shopping instead of collecting the store bags
· Stop catalogs in the mail. Call the company's 1-800 number listed on the catalog and request to be removed from the list
· Instead of expensive wrapping, try recycling the Sunday funny pages, old posters or maps
· Use reusable gift bags and save them to use year after year
· Use scarves, bandanas, towels blankets or tablecloths to wrap gifts
· Place presents inside reusable containers like cookie tins, flower pots, baskets
· Instead of ribbons, use things like hair bows or natural items like evergreens, berries, pinecones, flowers, etc.

Save energy

· Use non-alkaline, rechargeable batteries--an estimated 40 percent of battery sales happen during the holidays.
· Turn off and unplug holiday lights during the day -- saves money, and also the lights will last longer
· Use LED lights -- they use 80 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer. In a calculation based on an Energy Star Study, holiday lights use 2.2 million megawatt hours of electricity or enough to power 173,000 homes for a year!

Tinker's Qualified Recycling Program accepts metal, paper, cardboard, toner, aluminum and tin cans, glass and newspaper. They also will accept car batteries.

There is a 24-hour drop off site located at the west side of Bldg. 1156. If you have any questions about recycling, call them at 739-3610.

For other items, check out www.okc.gov/trash/ recycle/beyondbin for a list of locations who will accept everything from alkaline batteries, old Christmas lights, electronic scrap, leftover paint and old appliances.