Out Of The Bag: The Holidays Can Be Black and Gold and Green, Too!

A few quick ways to celebrate the holidays with Pittsburgh flair.

• Wendell August Forge and the Pittsburgh Penguins have teamed up again to produce a commemorative ornament from the roof of the former Civic Arena. This ornament honors the Stanley Cup legend in Pittsburgh. A great gift idea that honors multiple traditions.
• Construction Junction can recycle your Christmas lights. Don't throw them away if they don't work. Wrap them up, toss them in a tote bag and take them with you on your next trip to Point Breeze. Leave the tote, too.
• Buy a local tree. From the Urban Gardener to regional farmers, you can find a tree that's perfect for your home and keep your dollars local. Ask your neighbors, check your patch.com site or use Google. 
• Green your gift wrap. American generate 5 millions tons of waste during the holiday season. The estimate is that we cut down 30 million trees to wrap our gifts. So consider a tote bag.There are many gorgeous bags you can purchase as wrapping AND an additional gift. Consider browsing Handmade Arcade this Saturday. Shop Etsy. Stop by a local crafting store. Or support a local business your recipient values. Or why not ask everyone to pitch in - bring your gifts in bags with festive bows & such, then gather up the bags to transport items home and donate to your neighbors?
• Green gifts. Here's a list of retailers in Pgh that carry green items. 
• Gift cards. Consider electronic gift cards. (I would love if someone reloaded my Starbucks card!)
• You can find many suggestions for green decorating at Earth911.com
• Some general advice about "prepping" your packages and gifts to be greener when it all comes undone (Hint: use less tape)

In short, some advance planning to reduce our "stuff" use (less tape, less waste) and keeping our dollars local is a way to make the holidays black and gold and green.

What suggestion do you have?

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The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project collects new and gently used tote bags for distribution to the region's food pantries. We are a project of the Thomas Merton Center. Visit our website for a list of permanent drop-off spots, information on how to organize your own tote bag drive and details on our partnerships with corporations and promotional products items. You can also follow us on Twitter@Tote4Pgh and Facebook.com/Tote4pgh