Have a Waste-less Holiday

How wasteful are the holidays?

During the holidays, the amount of trash the average American produces rises from 5 pounds to 6.25 pounds per person per day. 

With a population of 330 million people, that means 2,887,500,000 more pounds of garbage are generated per week during the holidays relative to the rest of the year.

What are the biggest contributors to the uptick in holiday waste? 

Let’s take a look. Don’t worry, there are solutions.

Food Waste

70 billion pounds of food waste are sent to the landfill every year, with the heaviest losses during the holidays. This is largely due to over-preparation of food for gatherings, and throwing out leftovers after the meal. 

Food Prep Realistically: Be sure to have an accurate guest count and try to prepare realistic portions instead of an over-abundance of food. If there are still leftovers, have containers on hand for guests to stock up on their favorite dishes before leaving. Also, grab a few ingredients post-holiday to reinvent any leftovers you need to use up. Compost or freeze whatever you can’t use up in time.

Wrapping Paper

Most wrapping paper is not recyclable. In fact, 2.3 million pounds of it ends up in landfills each year in the US alone.

Rethink Your Giftwrap! 

Package items in reusable gift bags, re-use paper grocery bags as wrapping paper, wrap gifts in cloth using the Furoshiki method, buy compostable gift wrap and biodegradable washi tape (Scotch tape is plastic, NOT biodegradable)!

Ribbon & Bows

If every household reused 2 feet of ribbon, it would save enough to tie a bow around the planet.

Reuse & Upcycle! Replace plastic bows and curling ribbons with cotton twine or upcycled bows made out of catalog pages. Also, get creative with your toppers - tying sticks of cinnamon, dried oranges, rosemary or evergreen sprigs, pine cones, etc. looks beautiful and can just go back outside when you’re done.

Gift Returns

Returns are responsible for 5 billion pounds of landfill waste and 15 million tons of carbon emissions per year. It was estimated that 8.75 million packages get returned within the span of a few days after the holidays. Many don’t make it back to the market - they’re sent to landfills.

Consider Before Purchasing! The statistics above show the importance of well-thought out and researched gifts both during and outside of the holidays. Be sure the recipient will actually want the gift. If you’re not sure, a gift card is a better route. Or, give an experience! Also, if you receive things you don’t want, consider re-gifting or hosting a gift swap.

Greeting Cards

The US mails 1.3 billion holiday cards per year - the same amount of CO2 emissions as charging 22 billion smartphones or 22,000 homes’ energy use for one year.

Send a Virtual Greeting! Sending an e-card is a great way to minimizes the physical waste generated by mailing cards. Personal note - my favorite tradition in lieu of sending cards is virtual caroling. I record me and my kids singing a song and text it to friends and family.

If you do choose to send physical greeting cards, look for options that have the environment in mind. Certifications like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or product specifications that include statements about compostability or seed paper are better options.

This blogpost was adapted from Michelle Weed's presentation, "Have a Waste-Less Holiday," shared at Greener Grove meeting in December, 2023.

Greener Grove October Meeting Recap: Area Sustainability Leaders Share Their Successes and Experiences

Many groups and entities around DuPage County and the greater Chicagoland area are working to advance sustainability goals in their local towns; we can all learn from each other about what resources are available and which strategies have proved the most effective! At the October meeting, Greener Grove heard from five local environmental leaders who are making a difference in their communities through an informative and fascinating panel discussion.

October 22 Panel Discussion at the Downers Grove Public Library: Pictured, from left to right, Michelle Libby, Cathy Clarkin, Jacquelyn Casazza, Fernando Arriola, Jason Michnick, Cynthia Klein-Banai

Greener Grove member, Michelle Libby, moderated the Q&A session, which featured: Fernando Arriola with Naperville Environment & Sustainability Task Force (NEST); Jacquelyn Casazza, President and Co-founder of Go Green

Glen Ellyn; Cathy Clarkin, Co-founder and Executive Director of Accelerate Climate Solutions; Cynthia Klein-Banai of Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN); and Downers Grove’s own Jason Michnick, the village’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator.

During the session, each panelist had the opportunity to describe: whether they had a sustainability plan in place or plans for one; the biggest successes or changes they had been able to implement; challenges or barriers they had faced in achieving their goals; and their aspirations for the future of their groups 10 years or more from now. Just a few of the inspiring accomplishments described by each panelist: 

• OPCAN successfully worked with their village to pursue a climate action plan. “Climate-Ready Oak Park” was adopted in 2022 as a comprehensive and long-range plan developed in response to the global climate crisis.

• NEST’s advocacy resulted in the Naperville City Council voting down the review of a proposal for contract renewal with IMEA (Illinois Municipal Electric Agency), which currently provides Naperville’s electricity primarily from dirty coal sources. 

• Go Green Glen Ellyn established a partnership with the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce to reduce waste at the Taste of Glen Ellyn, shifting this large community event from no cans being recycled to now recycling hundreds of pounds of aluminum and all beverage containers are now plastic-free.

• With less than one year logged so far in his role, Jason Michnick is working on Downers Grove’s first sustainability plan and collaborating with village staff across departments on strategies to reduce the town’s environmental impact. A first draft of the plan was presented just this week at Downers Grove’s Environmental Concerns Commission meeting. 

• Through Accelerate Climate Solutions’ BLAST program (Building Leadership Around Sustainable Transformation), high school students enter a competition and are paired with mentors to develop solutions to environmental problems. Several of the winning ideas have been implemented so far, ranging from a successfully passed state bill for students to receive climate education, to a native seeds library. 

Some of the common barriers discussed that these peer organizations have encountered:

• Achieving consistent volunteer participation and regular meeting turnout

• Building their group’s name recognition in the community and spreading the word more widely about victories

• Focusing in on opportunities where the group can have the most impact when there are many potential avenues for environmental action

• Navigating the learning curve about villages’ budgeting and planning processes to understand where/when our input can best be integrated

• A lack of local champions in the village council or town leadership to partner with green groups and help drive initiatives forward

• Identifying and pursuing fundraising opportunities.
  

Greener Grove member, Michelle Libby, did a wonderful job facilitating the discussion with our panelists

The leaders shared several creative and innovative programs they had implemented to reach more people in their communities, including:

• OPCAN’s Climate Coaches program offers free 30-minute consultations with residents to help people get off fossil fuels. They also provide lawn signs with a check-off where residents can indicate the sustainable home practices they have adopted!

• Go Green Glen Ellyn started SportSwap, an event through which residents can give and get gently used sports equipment, helping to keep it out of the landfill and be reused by another family. Some of the gathered equipment is also donated to youth athletes in other countries. 

• OPCAN hosts an “EV show” where people can view electric vehicles and an electrified home tour. 

• Go Green Glen Ellyn participated in “OAKtober” events such as story time in the library to teach kids about trees and joined in a fun “OAKtoberfest” event that also featured School of Rock, a local brewery, and family-friendly activities—drawing 370 people to learn about nature and environmental protection. 

You can learn more about each of the groups highlighted during the discussion here: 

Accelerate Climate Solutions - Creating a sustainable future and supporting the next generation of environmental leaders through thoughtful partnerships and engaging youth programming. We are helping adopt climate solutions within our communities and providing locally tailored solutions for the Aurora/Naperville region that will drive meaningful change and contribute to a healthier planet.

Go Green Glen Ellyn - A community environmental organization and 501(c)(3) with a mission to make it easier for residents and businesses in Glen Ellyn to be greener through education, advocacy, and action.

Naperville Environment & Sustainability Task Force (NEST) - A group of Naperville residents working together for clean energy in Naperville and a recognized Task Force of the City of Naperville. Their scope of work includes educating Naperville citizens about environmental issues and their impact, and informing city staff and politicians about what environmental actions they can take to improve the quality of life in Naperville.

Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN) – A volunteer group of Oak Park residents working to eliminate our community’s contribution to the global climate crisis through equitable policies and practices. 

Village of Downers Grove and Environmental Sustainability - The Village is the process of creating an Environmental Sustainability Plan to guide decisions related to environmental issues, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and lessen community impact on the environment.

Greener Grove - A group of residents working to inspire and move the Downers Grove community toward a more environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly future through action, education and advocacy.

Greener Grove Board member Carol Richart shares upcoming action items and events.

Finding Community at the DG Farmer’s Market

Feeling anxious about ecological concerns can be very isolating when you’re feeling it on your own, because how can the actions of one person really make a difference? Greener Grove brings like-minded people together to take collective and effective action towards a more sustainable future, starting at home, in our town.

Community outreach is a big part of our mission, and so we began to look into ways to educate and talk with more residents of Downers Grove. The DG Farmers Market (Downtown Garden Market) operates every Saturday morning, from the end of May through the middle of October. It’s well attended by the community and many market-goers don’t mind stopping for a chat, if you’ve got the right enticements.  

Greener Grove Farmers Market Booth: Market-goers test their knowledge of native trees by identifying a variety of leaves.

     Vendors reserve and pay a fee for their spot at the market, but non-profits are allowed three free booth “appearances” per season.  Greener Grove was able to take advantage of having five free booths over the past two seasons, and according to our Communications Committee, the Market has been a main provider of new members for our organization: 95 people subscribed to receive our emails through our market efforts. It is of the utmost importance for us to gain subscribers because our emails often contain important and time-sensitive action items for residents to promote sustainability initiatives within the village. 

     Preparing the booth entails obtaining a tent  (which SCARCE generously loans us) tables, plus several chairs. The materials we bring include information about Greener Grove, with QR codes for quick access to our website and email signup.

Other materials are mentioned below.

Our strategies for drawing folks in are:

1.  Having a craft ready for kids, so that, while they are busy with the art activity,  booth staffers can engage with parents, persuading them to look at our website

 and sign up to receive our emails.  The craft has been administered by teen

 Greener Grovers, and in the spirit of Zero Waste, they have used the artwork to decorate the tent.  

Craft taught kids about decomposers like mushrooms and worms which help improve our soil. We used their drawings to decorate our booth.

2.  Having a display focusing on one of our Focus Issues (composting, chem-free lawn care, tree planting & protection, etc.). To create interest in the particular issue, we’ve

   used a model compost bin (Thanks again, SCARCE), a quiz (tree identification), and assorted materials along with websites & other resources.

For this market booth, we focused on composting with a hands-on demonstration.

     We are always looking for new strategies for the booth, hoping to get ideas from the general membership of how we can best connect with and reach more people in our community.  Have ideas or want to take a turn at staffing the booth…proudly being “the face of Greener Grove”  at the DG Market? Reach out to Carol at: info@greenergrove.org.