Tag: Holidays

Holiday Humbug

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

For those of you reading this who don’t know me, I promise I’m not some grumpy, bitter Grinch.  And yet…    The more I study reducing and reusing, and the more I reflect on my actions and our products and how everything is made and what their afterlife is, the more I dislike just about every mainstream holiday tradition.  (sorry)

I know, I know.  This immediately paints me as a complete Scrooge of all holidays.  Although, I will say that by the end of the stories, The Grinch and Scrooge are the ones who are in the holiday spirit more than anyone else, right?

It’s not that I dislike holidays or celebrations or creating traditions.  I think the spirit behind holidays is wonderful.  A time to rejoice and be grateful?  Heck ya!  To be together with friends and family?  Yes, please.  To have something to look forward to?  Sounds awesome.     All of these core parts of holidays are so beautiful and so important. (Not to mention the obvious religious aspects of many holidays that mostly go ignored these days, even by those who are religious.)  But, the environmental impact of most mainstream holiday traditions makes me cringe.

In no particular order, I take issue with:

plastic Easter eggs, Christmas trees (both plastic ones and previously-living), pumpkins, fireworks, mass-produced Valentines, Thanksgiving as a holiday, wrapping paper, balloons, gingerbread houses, Amazon gifts, goodie bags, Christmas lights, over-gifting, and pretty much all the cheap, plastic decorations that are sold in mass for each and every holiday.  (And this is the short list…)

So, how to manage?  How to embrace the spirit of holidays and celebrations without cringing and being a complete outcast and party pooper?  I’m not quite sure…  It’s a delicate topic.  People cling pretty fiercely to habits and especially fiercely to anything tied to tradition.  Even by writing this post I realize I’m probably ticking off quite a few people (If anyone out there is actually reading…)  And I get it.  I totally do.  But, I guess I am holding out hope.  I’m thinking of the final scene of “The Grinch” when the Whos down in Whoville start singing without their gifts or their trees or their excessive decorations.  They embrace the deeper meaning of Christmas.  And if any year has given us the chance to do this, it’s this one.  This year that has collectively ripped away the norms for us of what we think life “should” look like.  But, we, as humans, are resilient and strong and creative.  If a holiday tradition doesn’t make sense in our world anymore, we are smart.  We will find things that do work.

So, on that note, may I wish you a happy holiday season for whatever you celebrate and however you celebrate.  May we all find and appreciate the deeper meaning of the celebrations in our lives.

Boo Humbug

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

 

One of the worst parts about being the eco-conscious type is that I feel like I’m the Bah Humbug of every holiday. I cringe at plastic Easter egg hunts and Christmas trees being killed to put in homes. And Halloween is no exception for this major reality check.

Pumpkins have become synonymous with Halloween. It seems there’s no way to separate the two. I remember one year in my young adult life, I started to feel uncomfortable and weird when I realized I hadn’t carved a pumpkin for the holiday. The gooey “guts,” the smell of the pumpkin, the roasting seeds, the candle lighting up whatever face I had attempted. That, to me, was Halloween. 

But, times are changing and, as a whole, we’re becoming more aware of how our actions effect our planet and how our planet, in turn, effects us. And, pumpkins, I’m very sad to say create a huge negative impact on our world. Like any crop, they take tons of water to grow in the first place. But, unlike other crops, most of the pumpkins people purchase end up as waste, not as food. Then, as the pumpkins decompose, they release potent greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. “BOO” never seemed so appropriate.

So, what do we do…?

REDUCE

The first step is to reduce. If you absolutely aren’t ready to part with the pumpkin tradition YET, then at least cut back. Don’t support events that hurl pumpkins in catapults for sport. (Better yet, write to them and let them know why you don’t support their event or farm.) Buy less pumpkins. I’ve seen people with scores of pumpkins as decoration. Simply start by cutting back. 

If you’re feeling up for it, cut out the pumpkins altogether. I’ve seen amazing spooky jack-o-lanterns made from beets, turnips, and potatoes. While this may sound odd at first, some of these types of carving practices were done long before pumpkins. I also find that these all create naturally spooky faces. What’s different about using these for carving is that when you scoop out the insides beforehand, those insides are most of the vegetable and can be used right away for eating. Any remaining bits can be composted. Also, these vegetables are smaller, which means less water waste in growing and less waste after. While I have seen other “alternative” jack-o-lanterns besides these, I think it’s always best to keep in mind which one will create the least amount of food waste.

Another idea is to create some durable craft pumpkins that can be put out and used year after year. Perhaps you can make some fabric ones as seen in this video or maybe there’s a craft base that allows you or your child to re-decorate the faux pumpkin each Halloween.

REUSE 

The best way to reuse a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, of course, is to eat it. Unfortunately, once pumpkins have been carved, and lit up, there’s little appeal for eating the “flesh” that’s been out. Also, jack-o-lantern pumpkins have not been grown with taste in mind, and this type of pumpkin is usually sub-par for recipes. One suggestion is to find a pumpkin variety that is edible, decorate the exterior, if you’re feeling inclined, and then use the insides for any number of pumpkin dishes when you’re done displaying it.

Also, if the pumpkin flesh isn’t all that tasty, there are still beauty recipes that could work for making the most of the pumpkin. There are hair masks and body scrubs and face mask recipes online that use the flesh as beauty aids.

RECYCLE 

The best way to recycle your pumpkin is to compost it. Read up on this first, as there are some tips you might want to be aware of like removing all the seeds and cutting the pumpkin into smaller pieces to help speed up the composting process. Also, I’ve noticed that because of the high water content of pumpkin, you may want to stay aware and add extra ‘brown’ materials while the pumpkin is doing its thing.

If you don’t have a compost pile, there are sometimes local drop-off sites after Halloween, so be on the lookout for those. You might also be able to bury some of the bits in your yard directly, so look into that as well.  I once had a whole family of javelinas take care of recycling my pumpkin for me in the middle of the night, but that wasn’t exactly planned…

ENDING THOUGHTS

Traditions are very tough to change. But, as our world grows and becomes more aware, change is something we are constantly facing. I know this may sound like a bummer of a post to some, and I totally get it.  But maybe, just maybe, we can embrace creating some new (and old) Halloween traditions that work for the time we’re in now.

Thank you for reading. Your actions can and will make a difference!

The Giving Tree

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Back in 2015, I somehow volunteered to make a tree project on behalf of the local library for a community tree decorating display/event.  Anyway, being the tree hugger that I am, I made it into an upcycled project and wrote a little statement about trees, which I included with the project.  As we’re in yet another season of cutting down trees, I thought I’d share this little project here.

  

I used Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” as a base for this tree project as a reminder of all the gifts trees provide for us. 

During the holidays, trees (no matter what their form) can be a place to gather with friends and family, a place to share gifts, and a part of the holiday decor and magic.

Trees provide so much more though.  They are the source of our furniture, our paper, our homes, our food packaging, our books, and on and on. 

I think it would serve us, and our planet, to remain conscious of these gifts, appreciate them, and try our best to make good uses of them.

I love that I was able to build this scene by reusing old books that were no longer in a condition to keep as reading books.  Here, they have new life and are able to give to us once again. 

The supports I used to prop the books are old wooden game pieces from discarded Scrabble and Jenga games. 

And with wooden skewers being used as supports for the book trees, this entire project truly is a gift from trees.

I remain a “tree hugger” at heart.  And so, despite my appreciation for all the gifts I know trees provide for me in my life,

I still believe a tree’s best gifts are given when it is left in the ground to grow–providing oxygen, fruit, shade, animals’ homes, and most of all, breathtaking beauty.

The Greatest Gift

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When I became a mom, I quickly realized I would do ANYTHING for these kids.  I want to give them all the best, always. Not in a spoil them, Veruca Salt, sort of way, but in a -I would walk to Mordor for you- kind of way. And, like so many parents out there, holidays or birthdays approach, and I get excited to give them something really special. To see their faces light up, to watch their imaginations grow. But, I can never help thinking, that the greatest gift I can give my kids, really, is a healthy planet for their future and for their kids. I know that sounds corny as all heckarooni when I say it, but I believe it deep down in my core. And while I’m not going to sit my kids down on their birthdays and tell them that their gift is that we didn’t get them anything that would add to the crisis of overconsumption and instead Mama sat down and wrote this post in the small hopes it would make a difference, I still think that we can keep things in perspective. Maybe cut down on the over gifting. Be conscious about what products we’re buying and what their company’s practices are and which local shop we’d like to support, even if it means paying a little bit more. Or even making our own gifts. Maybe we can also realize that for a lot of people, gifts aren’t necessarily brown paper packages tied up with strings, but instead might be a special outing or spending time together. I want to give my kids a healthy, sustainable planet for their future, and so with every celebration, every gift, every birthday party, I keep that at the forefront of my mind. And then all I can do is my best.