Tips for Cleaner, and Greener Holidays

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Last Updated: December 27, 2025    Published: December 15, 2012
Filed under: Sustainability

This Christmas, please take a look at these tips for cleaner and greener holidays.

• Beeswax, vegetable wax, and soy candles burn cleaner than traditional paraffin candles and are not petroleum-based.
• Save gas and carpool to holiday events, family parties, and church. Enjoy the extra time for friendship.
• It is estimated that, if everyone in the US changed their Christmas lights to energy-saving LED lights, we would save enough energy in one month to power 200,000 homes for a year!
• If you have a “real” Christmas tree, consider a live tree that can later be planted in your yard, or at least recycle your used tree by having it turned into wood mulch.
• Support local businesses by buying locally-made gifts. This can also reduce the amount of fuel for transportation that is embedded in the gifts.
• Try googling “recycled content gifts” to look for gifts that are manufactured in an environmentally-friendly way from used materials – you will be surprised by what you find!
• Wrap your gifts in pretty scarves or other fabric items, which then become an additional part of the gift!
• Take some time with your friends and family to go outside for a nature walk and enjoy all that we are blessed with.
• Wrap gifts without placing them in an extra box. The packages will take up less space, use less wrapping, and be more intriguing to the recipient as they try to guess what it may be.
• Consider giving “experience” gifts rather than material gifts, such as a dinner out, a concert and time together, or a trip to the movies.
• Sew, create, craft, or bake your Christmas gifts. Your love will be obvious through your invested time.
• Create your own electronic Christmas card or PDF Christmas newsletter, and email it to your family and friends. It’s actually more personal than a store-bought card sent via snail mail!
• And, finally, if you’re heading out on a frosty morning, scrape your car windows or use defrosting fluid rather than letting your car idle for several minutes to warm up.

Thank you for your efforts to protect the environment with which we have been so blessed by our God, who loves us and is ever faithful to us. Most of all, this Christmas, we wish you a blessed and joyous time of celebrating the ultimate gift … the gift of that small baby in the manger who was, and is today, our savior. Enjoy your time with family and friends and, as always, if you have any questions or are interested in our metal roofing systems and other building products, please contact us.

Tags: to Jeff