This year, consider dreaming of a green Christmas. With a little effort and imagination, you can reduce the environmental impact of the holiday season. Here are some ideas to celebrate the season sustainably while respecting our planet.

1. Give Green

Think green when it comes to gift giving. There are many great products made with recycled materials, including garments made from recycled cotton or backpacks made from recycled bottles. The Zoo gift shops carry many sustainable items. Or give a gift that does not have to be packaged! Offer an experience – a car wash, a massage, or tickets to a cultural experience. A Pittsburgh Zoo Membership, tickets to Wild Illuminations: A Holiday Lantern Experience, an honorary donation, or one of our incredible education classes make great gifts for conservation enthusiasts of all ages! Homemade goodies from your kitchen or potted plants are great, too. Regifting is no faux pas when considering the environment – if you receive something you do not need, pass it on to someone who will appreciate it.

2. Think Outside the Box

Reuse gift wrap and gift bags whenever possible. Choose wrapping paper made using fibers such as hemp or paper using recycled content and avoid buying glossy foil or metallic paper. Call upon your creativity and devise wrapping from newspaper comic strips, old calendars, fabric, maps, or posters. Use tape sparingly to preserve paper for another use. Ribbons, bows, and bubble wrap can be stored for reuse. At holiday parties, use your own eco-friendly dishes, cups, silverware, and cloth napkins instead of disposable plates and cutlery.

3. Get Real

A live tree is a renewable resource and a more sustainable choice. Artificial trees may last forever, but research reveals they are discarded when repeated use makes them less attractive and sent to landfills where their plastic content makes them last forever. Live trees contribute to air quality while growing and nearly 90% are recycled into mulch. Another option is a live potted tree which can be reused for several years. It can be replanted when it outgrows its pot or Christmas tree potential. Live trees also provide the best seasonal scent!

4. Shine Sustainably

When it comes to that holiday glow, saving electricity is another way of giving since conserving resources benefits everyone! Use LED lights for your outdoor displays and Christmas tree. They use 95% less energy than larger, traditional bulbs and last longer, too. Turn off your tree and outdoor lights at bedtime – Santa knows when you are sleeping and has Rudolph to light his way! The Zoo uses environmentally friendly LED bulbs to light up the night for Wild Illuminations: A Holiday Lantern Experience to conserve energy while creating memories. When it comes to candles, use clean-burning soy or beeswax instead of paraffin ones, which are petroleum byproducts.

5. Drop in on Mother Nature

Go outside! An unforgettable winter walk through the woods on Christmas Day will be remembered longer than the score of any football game! Stroll around the Zoo during the winter break and see how the animals are spending their holidays. Decorate an outdoor tree for the birds with seed bells, suet, or pinecones with peanut butter. Use a variety of seeds such as black oil sunflower seed, wild bird mixed seed, and nyjer seed and wait for your feathered guests to arrive!