The holiday season is no time to cast aside all your efforts at reducing your carbon footprint. You can stay green while shopping for new decorations by shopping locally to reduce carbon emissions. The valley’s towns include a diverse variety of shops, so it’s easy to reduce the distance traveled to shopping excursions. By shopping locally you are doing your part to keep profits in the community, because those stores’ proprietors hire local folks to assist with sales, marketing and construction.
Remember to carry your own shopping bags. The organization Californians Against Waste estimates Americans use 84 billion plastic bags every year, which may be a convenient practice but is bad for the environment in general and wildlife in particular. You can purchase and use the inexpensive canvas bags available at grocery stores such as Sonoma Market and Whole Foods.
Chances are there will be plenty of plastic displayed in your home in the form of trees, wreaths and swags. Those virtually indestructible trimmings may be mainstays, but try a more creative, natural approach this year. Venture into your backyard with your garden tools and imagination in tow. Bringing the outside in will allow you to give your home a fresh and festive look.
Emmy Kaplan, who owns NomaGirl Events with Celeste Wigant, makes some specific suggestions. “Fallen branches are perfect to hang your cherished holiday ornaments from,” she said. “Gather pinecones, acorns, berries and other items of nature’s bounty that may also be painted. Place them in holiday bowls, on decorative dishes or in clear vases surrounded by a candle.”
Natural beeswax and soy candles offer flickering light while conserving energy. They may be purchased in many shapes, colors and styles at The Candlestick in Sonoma (from $4). While on the subject of lighting, you may want to replace that impossible to de-tangle clump of cheap holiday lights with strands of the LED variety that use up to 10 percent less energy to operate. Sets are available in many colors and shapes at Friedman’s (starting at $9.99). Sacred Spaces in Sonoma offers string lights that are adorned by fallen leaves from the Bodhi tree. The lights are available in nine colors and two styles – rose bud and open flower ($29).
Grace your front door with a handcrafted organic wreath from the good folks at Oak Hill Farm in Glen Ellen. The Red Barn Store sometimes allows you to watch on as talented craftspeople assemble wreaths from a number of materials, including bay leaves, dried chilies, Douglas fir and eucalyptus. Their standard 12-inch holiday wreath is a festive construction of dried hydrangeas, magnolia leaves, pomegranates and other organic elements ($75). The various designs, such as an aromatic mixed herb, are available in various sizes up to 5 feet in diameter ($15 – $300).
If that nativity set you use beneath your tree has seen better days, purchase one of many offered at Baksheesh on the Plaza. The company trades fairly for goods made by artisans in developing countries. A seven-piece nativity set from the Philippines is made from recycled newspaper ($49). From Haiti comes a three piece set made from recycled oil drums ($38). An ensemble that was hand made in Peru features figures clothed in colorful alpaca and animals fashioned from the native fabric ($110).
Be conscious of how you’re wrapping all those presents. Try using old maps, newspaper comics or plain paper bags embellished with last year’s holiday cards. To embellish boxes, use natural raffia that is available at Paper Moon of Sonoma in red, green and natural ($5.25 for a bunch). Gift bags are a great way to cut back on the use of wrapping paper and can be re-used. Get them at Paper Moon in many designs and sizes (from $3.95). The shop also offers a wide assortment of boxed holiday cards made of recycled paper (from $10.50 for 8 to $15.95 for 25).
The Candlestick,
38 W. Spain St. 800.972.6777.
Sacred Spaces,
450 First St. E.; 707.938.3848;
www.sacredspacessonoma.com.
Friedman’s Home Improvement,
1360 Broadway; 707.939.8811.
Open Mon. – Fri. 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sat. – Sun. 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
The Red Barn Store at Oak Hill Farm,
15101 Hwy. 12, Glen Ellen, 707.996.6643; www.oakhillfarm.net. Open Wed. – Sun 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.; 707.996.6643.
Baksheesh,
423 First St. W., 707.968.9182; www.vom.com/Baksheesh. Open Mon. – Sat 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Paper Moon of Sonoma,
500 W, Napa St.; 707.939.3375. Open Mon. – Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Dispose of your Christmas tree the green way
Sonoma County Waste Management Agency will recycle Christmas trees into mulch and compost. The mulch has acidic qualities that are beneficial to certain plantings.
There are three ways to recycle Christmas trees:
Trees, cut to fit into yard waste containers, will be accepted on customers’ usual collection days. Trees should not stick out of the container, because they can hinder the mechanical process. The trees must be free of all tinsel, decorations and tree stands, including those made of wood. Flocked trees cannot be recycled and will not be accepted.
Anyone can call 707.565.3333 to set up an appointment to have a local nonprofit come collect trees. The charge for this service is $5. The pick up dates are Dec. 29 – 30 and Jan. 5 – 6 and 12 – 13.
Sonoma residents may take up to two trees to one of these Sonoma locations: Hanna Boys Center, 1700 Arnold Dr.; Sonoma Transfer Station, 4376 Stage Gulch Rd.; Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall, 126 First St. W. Trees will be collected Jan. 5 – 6 and 12 – 13 at Hanna and Vets Hall and Dec. 26 – Jan. 15 at the Transfer Station 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
For more information call 707.565.3375 or go to
www.recyclenow.org.
