October Meeting Recap: Waste-Less Holidays & Winter Prep

written by Yvonne Malone

The last monthly meeting of 2025 featured speakers from Greener Grove’s Communications team - Michelle Sayre, Louise Kelly, Yvonne Malone, and Julie Companey. The conversational tone of the evening also brought in additional insights from others in attendance!  

Waste-Less Holidays - Key Takeaways

In their presentation “Waste-Less Holidays” Michelle and Louise highlighted some sobering stats about how wasteful holidays have become:

• 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.

Then, offered practical solutions for how to reduce waste going forward… 

Halloween

Halloween kicks off the fall and winter holiday season with parties and celebrations at school, home and shopping districts. Michelle shared ideas for making Halloween more sustainable, read her tips in the blog article "Halloween can be spooky for the planet. It doesn’t have to be!” here. 

After Halloween…

• Compost your pumpkin at the Pumpkin Smash on Saturday, November 9th, at Downers Grove North High School from 9am - 12pm. More details here.

• Donate any unopened, leftover candy to local food pantries like Peoples Resource Center; organizations like Soldiers’ Angels Treats for Troops; or nursing/ retirement homes. It's always best to check the organization’s website or call before dropping off to confirm they are accepting candy donations and, if so, if there are any restrictions.

  
  

Sustainable Meals

It is estimated that 316 million pounds of food will be wasted on Thanksgiving alone. Recalling our June Meeting on Sustainable Food, here are some of the tips we learned to make your holiday meals more sustainable:

• Source ingredients locally: Choose foods that are in-season and locally sourced. 

• Add more plant-based dishes: Plant-based foods have a smaller ecological footprint than animal-based foods.

• Food Prep Realistically: Be sure to have an accurate guest count and prepare realistic portions instead of an overabundance of food.

• Save your leftovers: Have reusable containers on hand for guests to take home leftovers. Or reinvent your leftovers into a new meal. Compost or freeze what you can’t finish.

Party Waste

With all the holiday parties, many turn to disposable tableware. Americans throw away 64 billion single-use cups and plates a year, with heavy use at the holidays. For your next party, opt to cut down on the waste: 

• Use reusable dishes

• Borrow items

• Get creative: Make your own party hats or crowns, bunting, banners, centerpieces and more from materials around the house and yard!

  
  

Real Trees vs Artificial Trees

According to the Nature Conservancy REAL trees are better for the environment. Why real trees?

• Eliminate carbon rather than produce it in manufacturing and shipping 

• Christmas tree farms and cutting your own (responsibly and thoughtfully) out in nature both support healthy forests. 

• Out of the 350-500 million growing on tree farms across the U.S., only 30 million trees are harvested for Christmas each year.

• Proper and sustainable disposal is also a great way to give the tree back to nature! While artificial trees fill up landfills.

One attendee mentioned that the Clarendon Hills Lions Club sources trees from farms within 100 miles. Check out their events calendar here to see when trees go on sale. 

Holiday Lights

Holiday lights consume enough energy to power 400,000 homes for a year. 

• Go Solar or LED! 

• Recycle your old holiday lights! Check the Village of Downers Grove website for dates and locations.

Sustainable Gift Ideas

Returns are responsible for 5 billion pounds of landfill waste and 15 million tons of carbon emissions per year. First, consider before purchasing; then, consider sustainable gift ideas like:

Wrapping Paper, Ribbons & Bows

Most wrapping paper is not recyclable. If the paper has glitter, is glossy or varnished in any way, it isn’t recyclable. In fact, 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper ends up in landfills each year in the US alone.

• Rethink Your Giftwrap! Package items in reusable gift bags, re-use paper grocery bags or newspaper as wrapping paper, wrap gifts in cloth or scarves using the Furoshiki method, buy compostable gift wrap and biodegradable washi tape or elmer’s glue, which  is biodegradable.

• Reuse & Upcycle! Replace plastic bows and curling ribbons with cotton twine or other natural materials like cinnamon sticks, dried oranges, rosemary or evergreen sprigs, pine cones, etc. Looks beautiful and can go in the compost when you’re done.

  
  

Winter Prep 

In her presentation “Winter Prep,” Yvonne offered tips for getting ready for the season ahead by taking a more environmentally conscious approach focused on reducing energy consumption and caring for the environment. 

 Yvonne Malone presents "Winter Prep" at Greener Grove meeting: Lincoln Center, Oct. 28, 2025

Winter Prep - Inside the Home

With heating costs projected to rise this year, take steps to improve heating efficiency and reduce heating costs…

• Seal up air leaks around doors and windows with weatherstripping & caulking

• Switch ceiling fans to “winter mode” - fans should spin clockwise to move warm air down into a room

• Close fireplace damper when not in use

• Make sure there is good airflow around furniture

• Schedule annual furnace preventative maintenance and change air filter 

• Take window air conditioning units out & store for winter

• Consider an energy audit - See our February 2025 meeting recap here

• Adjust thermostats based on time of day and whether anyone is home 

  • The Department of Energy estimates that lowering your thermostat 7-10 degrees for 8 hours/day can save up to 10% a year on heating costs

  • For each degree you lower your thermostat in the winter, you can save an average of 1-3% on your heating bill.

• Switch to a smart thermostat

• Unplug unused appliances and electronics

• Larger projects - insulate pipes, add insulation to attic

Winter Prep - Outside the Home

Get ready for winter - wind, snow, ice, sleet, subzero to balmy - by starting with Fall.

Yard & Garden Clean-Up

• Mulch leaves rather than bagging. 

• Know your plants when it comes to cutting plants back or leaving them be. For native plants, leaving things be provides:

  • A place for beneficial insects to overwinter

  • Food for birds and other wildlife throughout winter

  • Layer of insulation which protects plants and roots from freezing temps

  • Nutrients for the soil as leaves and other plant material decompose

• Decide whether to continue your composting based on the type of outdoor composting setup you have and accessibility or look at other options for winter:

  • Indoor options - worm bins, freezing, Mill “food recycler”, or Waste Not (now operating in DG)

• Remove invasive species like buckthorn and honeysuckle - see “Take Action” section below for videos on identifying and removing these invasives. 

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Keep Sidewalks & Driveways Safe

Keep driveways and sidewalks safe while considering the environment. Salt is increasing in our waterways and drinking water. Follow the Salt Smart Collaborative’s 4 steps to be Salt Smart:

Outside Lighting

With days getting shorter, outside lights are often on far longer than in summer months. This impacts wildlife and increases energy consumption. Follow DarkSky’s Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting:

Take Action

1. Keep pumpkins out of landfills: Participate in the Pumpkin Smash Saturday, Nov. 9th, at Downers Grove North High School from 9am - 12pm. More details here.

2. Donate leftover candy to a local food pantry or organization.

3. Take a more eco-friendly approach to the winter season ahead by leaning into the tips above. Dig a bit deeper to learn more by checking out these resources:

4. Citizens Utility Board  - home heating tips, energy audits, going electric, etc.

5. Constellation - home heating tips

6. DarkSky International - best practices for minimizing light pollution to protect wildlife and human health; conserve energy; etc.

7. Extension offices, arboretums and plant nurseries for plant care information; also check out these videos regarding removing buckthorn and honeysuckle in winter

8. Keep Warm Illinois - a collaboration between various Illinois state agencies focused on how to keep warm in winter and resources to tap into

9. Local utilities ComEd and Nicor for resources aimed at reducing energy consumption

10. SaltSmart.org - Best practices for minimizing salt usage during winter

11. The Conservation Foundation and its Winter Chloride Watchers program

12. Village of Downers Grove Website - Guidelines for residential sidewalks and driveways

Greener Grove Blog - including February 2025 “Meeting Recap: Going Electric”