Comments on Hobo Mama: How to have a waste-free Christmas

Can I just extol a romantic plea to the world to k...

2009-12-21T20:13:55.348-08:00

Can I just extol a romantic plea to the world to keep Christmas cards postal? Many people find it quite enjoyable to receive mail that is not junk. Email is so quotidian, computers part of our every day - for many, a majority of every day. A card, whether lovingly handmade or store bought, takes one out of the everyday.

I'm an ardent tree-hugger, but believe paper used mindfully in creation, giving, or craft is not wasted. That said, it's easy to be completely sustainable about your cards. As Melodie said, you can reuse ones from previous years. Or use scrapped office material or make your own paper from old paper. And it's not that hard anymore to get recycled paper or recycled cards.

We design our cards on the computer and print them out (on recycled paper) and I admit, it can be a pain. But at least I know that once a year, my husband and I will take some time out from our busy schedules and brainstorm and create and think about how important our family and friends are to us and send a little something to them that they can hold in their hands.

And from the feedback we get, they are happy that we do it.

I used to make new cards out of the previous year&...

2009-12-07T16:48:40.125-08:00

I used to make new cards out of the previous year's ones. Now that hardly anyone sends Xmas cards anymore and my kids cut them into itty bitty pieces before we can do anything worthwhile with them, this doesn't happen anymore but we have turned to sending our holiday letter by email and we re-use our wrapping paper and ribbons. We also try to make or buy homemade as much as usual. Makes for a more special Christmas I think.

I've saved tons of old maps and cookbooks with...

2009-12-02T11:29:01.285-08:00

I've saved tons of old maps and cookbooks with plans on using them as wrapping paper. I might have to go through oodles of tape, but at least I won't be killing any extra trees this Christmas!!

I've always been a Christmas minimalist. We c...

2009-12-01T18:33:41.993-08:00

I've always been a Christmas minimalist. We can go to the park a half a mile away to see the lights. We are each others' gifts.

We don't exchange gifts w/anyone except my nephews. And my mother who goes all out...who can not accept my approach to this holiday...but, oh well, she is only one. And since I'm all about quality when it comes to gifts, she will receive a lovely piece of jewelry.

I did brown paper packages one year, tied up with ...

2009-11-30T19:28:08.479-08:00

I did brown paper packages one year, tied up with string. ;-)

I also bought a stamp set and made TO and FROM labels right on the packages, to make them look like official deliveries. It turned out to be a LOT of work! They were cute packages, though.

I think I bought several years worth of wrapping p...

2009-11-30T19:00:47.941-08:00

I think I bought several years worth of wrapping paper last year on clearance after Christmas. It was cheap, but now I kind of wish I could just wrap everything in brown paper bags and tie it with twine. But I could never do away with the wrapping--I LOVE wrapping gifts and they look so pretty under the tree! I also always reuse gift bags--at least until they've had such a good beating that they are falling apart. I reuse wrapping paper, too, if I can.

I'm making some gifts--it won't cost as much (thought it easily could if you're not careful). We do a gift exchange game in my extended family--everyone brings a gift they think a lot of people would like. We put them all in a pile, everyone draws a number, and then we randomly pick out presents. I actually would rather do a secret Santa because the game is too impersonal, but at least I don't have to buy presents for 9 brothers and sisters! (and their families!)

I'm not spending much on decorations...except for the fake Christmas tree, which is definitely not "green" but buying a fresh cut tree every year is expensive, and a pain. I like the idea of a live tree, but I want a tree inside the house. It's way too much fun to give up.

Anyway, I don't like how commercialized Christmas is. I'm hoping that in our family we will be able to focus on Christ at Christmas (that's my goal) instead of presents and Santa Claus. Huh. I just realized that my decorations should reflect my goal.

I'm sort of ba-humbug about decorations. If it...

2009-11-30T09:07:59.771-08:00

I'm sort of ba-humbug about decorations. If it's something that I will consider a pain to take down after the holiday, it doesn't go up. We have a fake tree and sufficient decorations for it, and I am still using the same wreath I've had for 10 years. The only thing I'm planning to buy is a stocking for my baby. I hope to get one that will last her whole childhood.

As for gifts, my extended family doesn't exchange any for the adults and we keep it to only one for the nieces/nephews.

Thanks for stopping by Cool Baby Kid!

2009-11-30T03:48:13.315-08:00

Thanks for stopping by Cool Baby Kid!

I'm so excited by these comments — great ideas...

2009-11-30T02:21:53.110-08:00

I'm so excited by these comments — great ideas!

Accidental Pharmacist: Christmas tree rentals. I love it! And I love the photo book idea. We did that with Mikko's first year, and it's such a keepsake and a definite hit with the grands. I'm jealous you have greatgrandparents still! That's marvelous.

Dionna: Welcome! I'm glad, too. I am checking out yours in between typing this! I love the name, first off. :) My husband and I also tend to be very non-gifty, and it has never bothered us. Some years we take $10 each and run around a big store finding as many goofy items as we can for each other for that amount, but lately even that hasn't seemed necessary. We might try it sometime with $10 at a thrift shop, where our money will go further!

Kika: I think that's a lovely idea to make recycled Christmas postcards! I always enjoy looking at the cards I receive.

Jorje: You are so inventive — I love it. And I totally forgot about the food as a gift thing, because that one's awesome. If you're low on cash, it can be homemade; and either way, it's there, and then it's gone, and it was enjoyed. Win, win! Sam's mom always gives us these huge ornate ornaments that I'm not a fan of, considering our tree is 2 feet tall, and this year she couldn't find anything and asked if we'd minded if she skipped a year. Sam assured her that it was fine! I also love picking out any ornaments myself, and we pretty much never have the chance, with all the gifting. Oh, well!

Oh! And we use a reusable tree, not live. I got a ...

2009-11-29T21:26:24.576-08:00

Oh! And we use a reusable tree, not live. I got a divorce last year (but got to keep 2 trees), so I'm kind of starting from scratch. My husband and I are starting fresh on ornaments and buying one, single ornament each year for our tree. I think it is going to be great fun though I've never liked the idea of ornaments as gifts.

Last year we bought one with a cat on it as we had two pet cats. This year we have a new baby so we got a first Christmas type of ornament with a space for a pic. Who knows what we'll pick out next year! As cute as trees with a theme are, I love that our tree will be so very personal to us!

One year I bought marbles for the kids on my Giftm...

2009-11-29T21:23:18.803-08:00

One year I bought marbles for the kids on my Giftmas list and made little pouches for them. Then they had reusable container anyway! The bags they come in won't do for keeping marbles.

I love the idea of wrapping gifts in the funny papers. Or one year I wrapped in finger paint paper (and finger painted it!). I wound up just using wax paper for some, but then I had to wrap a layer over the painted layer because the gifts were sticky.

Last year I made almost all of my gifts out of necessity, really. I used pockets of old jeans to make little purses for all the little girls. I embroidered their initial or a cute pic on them and added a snap closure. I had everything on hand for this craft. I bought cheap old hardbacks at a local store and hollowed them out for some of the adults on my list. Secret stash books! As for not causing more clutter, I think having a special treat that is your signature recipe and giving that food item is great. Then once it is eaten - its gone. They enjoy the gift, but don't feel like they have something they have to keep around forever out of some obligation to my feelings.

You can make a card for people, with something very personal. Write a poem? a song? or (as has been done for me) a web page with pics and lots of sentiments. You could do the same thing as a scrapbook page or frame it.

Oh, and I've reused parts of giftmas cards as gift tags the following year. I didn't think I was all that eco-conscious, but I guess I'm doing better than I thought!

An idea I've been bouncing around for the last...

2009-11-29T19:09:28.652-08:00

An idea I've been bouncing around for the last three years has been to recycle the Christmas cards I've received. Basically, I'd like to cut the card in half. Use the picture part of the card and send it as a post card. Write your message on the blank side. This not only recycles beautiful cards but also cost less. You'd only need to use a postcard stamp. ~ Kika

What a great post, I'm glad I stumbled onto yo...

2009-11-29T15:29:39.870-08:00

What a great post, I'm glad I stumbled onto your site :)

I have really been trying to be minimalist in all areas of my life - Christmas included. The hardest part is getting my family to understand; they are Christmas junkies from way back.

I invited our extended family (and a couple of close friends) to participate in a handmade ornament exchange this year. That and some other homemade items (t-shirt towels and magnets) should be the only gifts we are giving. Our son is getting a few gifts, but we've tried to be very frugal with him as well. My husband and I will not buy gifts for each other; in the past we have always given things that, while nice, aren't necessarily practical (jewelry, etc.). We aren't in a financial position to buy extravagances this year, so we were both relieved to not worry about gifts for each other.

We are not buying any new Christmas decorations - the only ones I've bought in the last few years have been on super clearance after the season has ended (but that's been awhile).

I might have to think about this and post my own ideas - I will definitely link back to you :)

I just saw that 2 Vancouver companies are offering...

2009-11-29T06:05:47.697-08:00

I just saw that 2 Vancouver companies are offering christmas tree rentals using your potted tree idea. Loved this idea. As for the lullibies, we put together a photo story book for our newborn of the first months she was born and ordered copies for the grandparents and great grandparents using blurb.com. Not sure what it will look like but it was fun putting it together and we got so many gifts done at once!