The holidays are right around the corner! Unfortunately, it has become a highly consumerist time of the year. Before you roll your eyes and contemplate closing this blog because you don’t want me to ruin your holiday spirit, hear me out. I think there’s a solid balance to strike between fun and festive, and opting for ways to reduce the negative environmental impacts. Here are some tips that I am working to incorporate into my holiday festivities. Gift Giving Sometimes it can feel stressful to find the perfect gift for someone. For the past few years, I have had the rule that unless a person specifically requests a material item, I gift an experience. I love this approach because you can easily tailor the experience to any budgetary requirements. Also, the best part is that you get to spend quality time with your loved ones and make memories. However, if you choose to go the material gift route, DIY gifts from recycled materials is a good alternative. There are so many amazing tu...

Promoting sustainability during the Christmas holidays is probably one of the most grim things I have to do each year. Don't get me wrong, I think that there are a tonne of really important things that should be done during the holidays; it's just that often doing the right thing for the environment seems like a real drag on the spirit of the season. Well, I don't think that you have to be a killjoy while doing things for the holidays. I think that there can be a balance between easy, fun, and right for the planet. Here is a list of the things that you can do on campus and at home to make it a green Christmas (other than by global warming of course). Before you leave the campus: 1. SHUT IT ALL DOWN I know this must seem like the most obvious thing, but it is really important. And if you want to have the biggest impact possible, just unplug everything from the wall. This guarantees no power loss to phantom loads. Some items are much worse in terms of being energy v...