Greener Gifting

I started wrapping my holiday presents this week, and was struck, once again, by the amount of stuff required to make my gifts look festive.  I remembered the article from the December 2007 issue of Better Homes and Gardens where Sara Snow was asked for some tips on earth-friendly celebrating.  Did you know that if each family in the U.S. reused just two feet of ribbon we would save 38,000 miles of ribbon?  We could tie a bow around the earth with the saved ribbon!  Also, she says if every American family commits to wrapping three gifts in alternative wrappings (things like grocery bags, newspaper, old wall paper or fabric scraps) it would save enough wrapping paper to cover 45,000 football fields.  And... what about making sure your holiday cards are printed on recycled paper.  Each ton of recycled paper saves 380 gallons of oil and 17 trees.  I am going to try most of these tips.  Not only will I be saving the planet, I will probably save some money too!