by Heidi Trilling

Winter holidays have turned into big business with a dazzling variety of expensive and — frankly — wasteful toys and decorations for children. Add the stress of planning a holiday party, and suddenly the simple social and spiritual reasons for the occasion are lost in the shuffle. 

Wouldn’t it be nice to bring the focus back to family and friends gathering together to enjoy one another’s company?  

Let’s take a look at some low-impact ideas for celebrating without taxing our wallets, our nerves or our planet. Wherever possible, please try to use organic, sustainable and fair-trade products.

Invitations and Holiday Cards

Send paperless invitations and holiday cards via e-mail, saving trees and saving on stationery costs and postage, too. Use Evite or MyPunchbowl, both fine online invitation services. Holiday cards with artistry and panache that appeal to kids can be found on the Web sites www.123greetings.com and www.JacquieLawson.com.

Table Settings

Plastic and paper table settings are costly and wasteful. Instead, try reusable napkins, plates and glasses. Make sure the plates and glasses are dishwasher safe, so you don’t have to wash them by hand. 

Or, if your family is part of a large playgroup or school group, borrow dishes from the other families, or chip in all together and buy a set of durable, reusable dishes that can be “on call” whenever they are needed for a get-together. If all else fails, you can always rent table settings for large gatherings from a local vendor.

Or try this: edible plates and utensils! Pita breads, tortillas, naan and matzot make great “plates.” Carrots and celery make great “utensils” for savory dishes like peanut butter or stuffing or mashed potatoes. Cookies and bananas make great “utensils” for sweets like puddings. Ask your children to suggest some other food “utensils” they would like to try. Fun!

Food

Choose a between-meal time frame  for children’s holiday parties, so you can serve healthy snacks instead of a sit-down meal. This means less work for you, and less clean-up time, too. 

Or host a potluck. Decide on menu items beforehand: three families bring entrées, three families bring desserts, and so forth. (Don’t forget to check on food preferences and food allergies with other parents — and do it via group e-mail.) Suggest that every family bring reusable containers from home for leftovers.

Party Favors and Decorations

Pricey, plastic, and of poor quality, party favors and decorations wind up in the trash. Instead, provide material scraps, felt, recyclables, scissors, and glue, and let the children make their own holiday decorations as party favors. Templates for recycling and nature crafts can be found at www.allfreecrafts.com/kids/index.shtml

Or buy a packet of flower seeds, and have each child plant one in a small terracotta pot. They can decorate the pots with non-toxic paints, or buttons, ribbons and glue.

Or have each child decorate a cookie or pancake with fruits and other healthy toppings. 

Gifts

Does your child really need another toy? How about a museum membership, instead? Or tickets to a local musical or theatrical event? Or a gift certificate for an after-school activity, like an art class, or a horseback riding lesson, a karate class, or skateboard lesson? Try to give “experience” gifts instead of plastic,   battery-operated ones. 

Gift Wrap

Think of all the rolls of wrapping paper out there. How about using a football helmet, or a cookie tin, or an up-side-down stocking cap as gift wrap, instead? Or a piece of material tied up with a lovely satin ribbon? Fabric shops have bins of remnants of all colors and textures. Once it serves its purpose as gift wrap, a large square of fabric can be part of a dress-up costume, a dollhouse decoration, or an art project for the lucky recipient. Or it can be folded up and stored to wrap next year’s gift.

Let’s experiment with ways of reducing the impact of the holidays on our budgets and natural resources. It feels good to reduce and re-use while teaching ecological lessons to our children.

Enjoy a healthy, safe and happy holiday season!