The holiday season is prime time to get out the word on the importance of zero waste, says an advocate whose commitment to the cause continues to grow.
Gifts, food and decorations tend to require so much packaging that can be dispensed with, says Leslie Blood, for whom the zero-waste movement held little interest until she became part of it.
Blood, a professor of English and media studies at Fort Lewis College, teaches community classes about zero waste at the Durango Public Library and Durango Natural Foods.
The classes are particularly timely around the holidays, she said.
As a starter, attractive substitutes for a purchased or self-hewn white fir or spruce Christmas tree are available, Blood said, pointing to a potted schefflera on a corner table in her apartment.
The leafy schefflera, of which there are numerous varieties, eventually will be stripped of its glowing holiday lights and continue life as usual, she said.
“Decorate any large plant instead of a tree,” Blood said.
Blood and husband, Ron, also don’t wrap gifts. They put presents for all family members, including sons Roman, 7, and Gus, 4, into individual long, colorful pillow cases.
“There’s little packaging to throw away,” Blood said. “There also are toy companies that use minimal packaging, and you can find them online.”
Another way to avoid mountains of packaging, ribbons and wrapping paper after Christmas is to give an experience, a trip, tickets, gift cards or a service such as baby-sitting, she said. Roman and Gus have received passes to Durango Discovery Museum from a relative, she said.
Blood wasn’t always so into zero waste.
“I was never interested in my impact on the environment until we moved to Colorado,” Blood said. “But I began to read, and now I think I’m definitely committed.”
The website of the Reuse Alliance – founded in 2005 by five women in metropolitan New York City who took it national four years later – points out there’s good reason to be committed.
Household waste increases 25 percent between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the organization said, citing Environmental Protection Agency figures. Holiday waste translates into an additional 1 million tons of waste each year.
Other environmentally oriented organizations don’t see bulk waste, but they support related resource management.
There’s no clutter left from using electricity, but energy is a good place to husband resources during the holidays, said Amanda Saunders, program coordinator at the Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency.
“Why not switch to LED lights for the Christmas tree and other holiday decorations,” Saunders said. “They use a lot less energy than the traditional lights.”
Off-grid, so to speak, Saunders said, try wrapping presents in newspaper or magazine pages instead of purchased gift paper. A nonmaterial gift – donating a pig for a family in Africa – saves on several fronts, she said.
Ray Pierotti, lighting-project specialist at La Plata Electric Association, said in a statement that LED bulbs are the only way to go.
“Remember the Chevy Chase movie ‘Christmas Vacation’ where Chevy’s character, Clark Griswold, lit his home with 25,000 bulbs? If he had used LEDs, his electricity bill would drop from $2,400 to $59.”
The cost of electricity to light a Christmas tree with LED bulbs is 13 cents to 17 cents per season, compared with $6 to $10 with incandescent bulbs, Pierotti said.
Indiana Reed, marketing director at LPEA, tossed in some advice.
“About 40 percent of all battery sales occur during the holiday season,” Reed said. “Rechargeable batteries to accompany your electronic gifts will reduce the amount of potentially harmful material thrown away and reduce contributions to the landfill.”
Blood maintained a blog, The Brat Diaries, for a time, but decided she prefers to teach.
Blood found that reducing food packaging was the easiest and most productive way to cut waste for her family. Four good-sized garbage bags a week have been reduced to one, she said.
“We weren’t recycling, and we had tons of food waste,” Blood said. “It was a slow start, and it took time, but it resulted in the biggest impact.”
She now buys in bulk when she can, storing items in 40 glass canning jars of various sizes.
Bulk purchases are available when buying gifts, from Legos to chocolates, Blood said.
Blood said dedication to zero waste requires a multifront approach. Tell family and friends about your lifestyle, stick to your beliefs, don’t let holiday guilt ambush you. Find alternatives when giving gifts, and decorate based on the principles of reusing, reducing, recycling and repurposing.
“When life gives you trash, make something beautiful,” Blood said.
daler@durangoherald.com
