Sustainable Tarpon Springs - Green Christmas!

‘I’m dreaming of a Green Christmas, unlike the ones I’ve always known...‘   This definitely has a double meaning for Yours Truly this year!  It was refreshing to have a brief ‘cold snap’ to revive our past associations with this time of the year, but we’re relieved it was short-lived.  Bringing our seedlings and baby trees into the garage and house to protect them from the threat of frost was a new experience. We're so grateful to be here in Tarpon Springs with our family, new friends, and community family, and I don’t miss the truly freezing, sleeting Seattle weather right now at all.  It is green here!

Beyond the temperatures, I’m dreaming of a Christmas that is sustainable for retailers and consumers, one that doesn’t create a lot of landfill or waste, a Christmas that is wholesome, healthy, and GREEN in every way.  Surprisingly, I have met many people here in Tarpon Springs who have the same sustainable dreams we do.

The world didn’t ‘end’ on December 21st, and this is a powerful new beginning for us all!  (Hopefully, no one will ever think along those lines again when the next date is announced!)  If you didn’t buy anything because you weren’t sure if Christmas was really happening, here are some easy and ‘green’ ways to ‘regroup’ and remember loved ones.

None of us ever has to ‘break the bank’ to show our friends and family we are thinking about them.  Sharing something from the abundance of our garden is a perfect way to give a ‘green gift’.  Often the simpler offerings are most meaningful and symbolic.  

We can give the gift of services - such as a nice massage.   If we are really creative about our gifting, even making our own ‘gift certificates’ for babysitting, or offering our own unique services (for me it would be fixing a bicycle for someone) is a great way to give something that won’t impact the environment.  

There is absolutely nothing wrong with ‘re-gifting’ an item that you know you can’t or won’t use.  You may think of someone who it would perfectly suit and spontaneously pass the gift along where it would be more appreciated.  

Mostly, keeping the vision of a Green Christmas in our hearts is the start of a new holiday paradigm, and it is the ultimate gift we can give to the generation of children who are glowing and growing up in this time.  They are the future, and I think they may have been born with the creativity and ingenuity to make our future greener.  For those of us who have little ones in our lives, keep thinking GREEN - and our hearts and actions will follow!

We all  have the potential to create more meaningful ways to celebrate events, whether it be Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, or even birthdays - just by our mindfulness to how our choices affect the environment.  It might be too late for this Christmas to be different, but New Year’s is right around the corner - and for many of us, it represents an annual turning point.  Now is the time for ‘green resolutions’.

Waking up to the beautiful sunrise this morning makes me infinitely hopeful that we are all moving in the right direction!  Blessings on this Christmas and through this holiday week!