Six No Carbon Christmas Gifts
Let’s put the holidays on a Climate Diet
This Christmas you will add over 1400 pounds of CO2 to the atmosphere. Holiday lights, heavy meat consumption, cranking up the heat to make guests toasty — all of these things burn fossil fuels and all increase your annual carbon footprint for the year by more than 5%. Sadly, many of these things are out of your control if you’re invited to stew under the heat of someone else’s thermostat. But there is one thing you have eminent domain over no matter where you spend the holidays: gifts. Is it truly necessary to buy that child a Scruf-a-Luv or a Magic Mixie and all the petro-driven plastic with its attendant carbon shipping costs? I think not. In this era of climate crisis a much more thoughtful gift would be one that shows your care not only for your loved one but for the planet as well. Here then are 6 quick ideas to put your gift giving on a climate diet
Help out with a bike share membership: Know someone who would love to exercise and would like to be independent of mass transit or a car for local needs? Search for a program in your gift recipient’s hometown and look for the option to purchase an e‑gift certificate. A comprehensive list of US bike share programs organized by state can be found here
