How about a green Christmas or Chanukah? Like you, I have had a hard time defining “green” in the new sense.
Green used to refer to money or even a color. Now it vaguely refers to a way of life, generally meaning “living sustainably,” which, in turn, seems to mean using up as few natural resources as possible. It’s sort of the way my parents and grandparents and many generations before them used to live, and the way many people in other “less advanced” countries live today.
You might consider making things from used wrapping paper and cards, or from lots of “useless” stuff around the house. Home-cooked gifts are always a hit, but granted, leave momentary and memorable pleasure.
As Americans move toward ever-greener holiday seasons, during which some people verbally nudge others to “reduce their carbon footprint” on earth, we really should pay some attention to what we are doing and giving this holiday season.
All sorts of media are full of advice, but I take a simple approach that is very personal, and I also like a list Kaiser Permanente sent to its members a couple of weeks ago.
We are still stuck in the rescue-a-cut-Christmas-tree syndrome, and have considered substituting a plastic one, probably more out of tradition rather than environmental awareness. Kaiser, wisely, recommends buying a tree grown locally to save transportation energy and getting a smaller tree than usual. A shorter growing time uses less land, ultimately.
We went into the Sonoma hills a couple of times when the kids were little to cut down our own tree, but each slice hurt me inside, because I hated to participate in the killing of a beautiful tree to decorate our living room for a couple of weeks.
Hey, I’m a real sap. I even have trouble cutting the flowers I grow to create indoor arrangements, both because I hate to end their lives prematurely, and I hate to end the pleasure of passersby who enjoy seeing them in our garden. So cutting down a tree is now beyond the pale.
Nurseries like us to buy potted trees and plant them later. We tried that as well. Bringing a tree that has lived its life in cold climates into the house (a falsely warm environment for the tree) is another form of cruelty in my simple mind. We thought we were doing the noble thing with our noble fir and had a family planting ceremony in the back garden several years ago.
Within just a few weeks the poor tree had saddened, cried, drooped, shriveled and died, making us all feel guilty for altering its habitat at least three times.
So how many barrels of oil go into making thousands of plastic artificial trees, and is that a good use of our imported oil resources? Hmmm…
I guess we are back to our cheapest-we-can-find cut tree, as every year. There must be a solution here somewhere.
Remember that the Girl Scouts will pick up your decoration- and flocking-free tree at your curb after Christmas for a mere $5 donation, after which they recycle the trees.
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How about giving friends and family packets of seeds or plants for presents, especially perennials that will bloom and flourish for several years? Plant a tree in memory of someone – it’s good for the atmosphere, although they do drink water.
Art Sinclair, general manager of Wedekind’s Garden Center on Broadway, recommends perennials such as camellias, rhododendrons and hollies as gifts that will give and give and give. He also suggests a small plant of cyclamen, primroses or pansies to take to friends’ homes as hostess gifts. One can even combine a few of one or all of these in a terra cotta pot to present as a larger present.
Wedekind’s also offers small topiary trees in one-plant bowls and even heart- and spear-shaped rosemary and ivy plants. Rosemary, of course, can be used widely in cooking.
Be sure to drop by Wedekind’s to check out their fabulous decorated Christmas tree display and think of recycling and composting appropriate veggie and fruit trimmings.
Sonoma Mission Gardens (SMG) on Craig Avenue at Arnold Drive has a wide and wild selection of poinsettias, ranging in color and with colorful names, from Jingle Bells and Monet to cinnamon and peppermint. Despite the appetizing names, do not eat them. Poinsettias are decorative but cannot tolerate our winter climate, although occasionally one of ours lasts a couple of years indoors.
SMG also has gorgeous orchids (let me know if you can get them to bloom again) and has the makings for growing a “salad bowl gift,” for which you could buy a “salad mix” six-pack of plants for under $4 to plant in a pot for enjoyment later. The recipients can pick a few leaves now and then to add to their salads and think of you every time.
Both nurseries should have bare root roses now. Watch for vibrant new rose varieties such as “About Face,” a tall orange and gold grandiflora rose; “Tuscan Sun,” a sort of copper, apricot and pink floribunda rose; and “Honey Dijon,” with golden flowers and great fragrance.
Wedekind’s and SMG will now place bare root roses into cans for transporting, so you no longer have to have your hole dug before you purchase the plant. You could give a prickly stem of a rose to a dear friend with the optimistic expectation that they can enjoy its new blooms in the spring.
Get down! Get dirty!
