I wanted to share a little tradition that my family and I try to do every year for Yule. We don't cut down a tree to celebrate or decorate. Instead we adopt a sapling, or a younger tree and decorate it where it's planted. After the holidays are over, we clean off the decorations and leave behind harmless seed feeder cones for the animals that tolerated our silly fun. Not sure if it's low impact on the environment, but we avoid using tinsel and other polluting decorations.
@PaganMother That sounds lovely for all involved
@PaganMother @mach
One of the things that makes it wonderful it is shared with the neighbors to enjoy if they desire.
@PaganMother @Ulf Nice! That must look amazing. :)
@PaganMother @Ulf Oh please do, I'd love to see it
@PaganMother My parents planted a couple Christmas trees, but they didn't make it a consistent habit. Most of my childhood they had an artificial tree.
@poemblaze My own parents did the same, never liked the fake trees myself, too plastic, and always had a strange smell to them.
@PaganMother The two they planted were from my brothers' first Christmases. They planted a third one for me, but it wasn't a Christmas tree. The only one surviving is the oldest one. And it's in rough shape.
@PaganMother Wow, that's a goal.
We don't have a real tree and always look for recyclable decorations.
Mind if I add recycled/recyclable wrapping paper to the mix.
We know kids love ripping off the paper but do you think they ever look at what it looks like?
You could literally cover it in yesterdays's news paper and they wouldn't notice.
More green Yuletide tips please!
@Booga Saplings make great small trees for the holidays, most garden centers carry them but sometimes you have to look for a tree farm to find them. So worth the effort too. Especially when spring hits. If you have conifers in the area, grab a few of the pinecones, and cover them in peanut butter, dip them in bowls of various seeds, and you can decorate a tree outside with a few of them for the local animal life to enjoy their own special treats. ^^
@Booga My mother-in-law wraps things in Sunday comics she saves all year. We look forward to seeing which comics we will each get!
@Booga @PaganMother not exactly a tip, but reuse all the bags. we don't toss out a gift bag unless fully torn and can't be repaired, and its an any holiday every theme type thing. Its your birthday? Your gift is coming in this valentine's day bag mom gave us 5 years ago!
@PaganMother This is such a wonderful family tradition. 💜
@PaganMother I'd say it sounds like positive impact! 💜 We don't own the Earth and we're not just borrowing it...we're part of it. Caring for the planet is larger scale self-care. This tradition sounds wonderful!
@PaganMother
That is a marvelous tradition!