It is the time of the year again; houses are twinkling with lights full of color, the morning wind is getting colder (though not as much as cold as the previous years) and people are rushing for sales. Christmas is upon us again. Amidst all these holiday rush, we forget one important thing, our environment. What better gift to give this season than the gift of assurance that the planet will live to celebrate more Christmases.

We always say “it's the thought that counts” but we have the tradition of giving store bought presents. Every gift has to be inside shiny plastic store packaging. Why not give gifts that are more personal and unique? You would be surprise that most used items can be upcycled into beautiful crafts that are definitely going to make gift giving special. You can look for ideas on the internet for inspiration. This will not only make your Christmas greener but will also help you become more creative.

Buying locally produced gifts is also a way of going green this Christmas. Most store items are internationally distributed. Can you imagine the logistics and energy consumption it took to bring those items to the nearest store? Buying gifts from local art shops means cutting off on energy that was used to transport those products. Not only that, local art shop items can oftentimes be personalized making your gift special.

Giving battery free gifts is another way of celebrating an environmental friendly Christmas. Battery sales significantly increases during holiday season because most of us are fund of giving toys, gadgets and other battery powered items. Now, we might want to change that tradition because discarded batteries are hazardous to the environment. Batteries are difficult to dispose.

When you say Christmas, the first thing that comes to your mind are the lovely decorative lights that brighten everyone's houses. Christmas is definitely not Christmas without them. Not only that they greatly affect the environment due to excessive energy consumption, they also greatly increases your electrical bill. This Christmas, you can try to minimize your lighting. The simplicity of your Christmas decoration will make it even more attractive. You can also use LED lights and don't forget to turn your Christmas lights off when everyone has gone to sleep.

Christmas is a time to give. And going green this Christmas is not just a big gift you can give to your loved ones but also to humanity and to yourself.*