December is Upon Us!

Hello fellow Planet Defenders!  Stephen Dent here to give some holiday green advice!  As always, we hope you are turning off your sprinkler during the rainy season and put your Thanksgiving scraps in the compost pile.   If you don’t have a compost pile already, your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza leftovers are the perfect excuse to start one!  If you live in the city and don’t have the space to start an actual compost pile, consider buying an electric, indoor composter.  There are several brands and models available online or through your local hardware store, and they come in a variety of price ranges, making them accessible to every budget.  The great thing about electric composters is that they have no filters that completely eliminate the smell, and they employ both heat and pressure to compost your scraps faster.

As you put up your Christmas decorations, try to keep energy consumption in mind.  Make sure you turn your Christmas lights off during the day to save electricity, and consider setting a timer on any decorations that require electricity.  This not only will save electricity and help save the planet, but it will also help save your wallet by keeping your electric bill low, which means you will have a little more spending cash for spreading the holiday love! 

When you buy new holiday decorations, make sure you get your packing into the right trashcan.  Most holiday decorations come in plastic or cardboard packing, which should go in the recycling bin instead of sitting in a landfill for the next several hundred years.  Be sure to check the number on any plastic items you throw away, you don’t want to clog up your recycling bin with items that aren’t actually recyclable. 

Most of all, have fun with your holiday.  Saving the planet doesn’t have to be stressful or annoying.  Stephen Dent wants you to remember that planet defending is about making small decisions every day.  You don’t need to do anything drastic in order to change the world, just keep it in the back of your mind and make smart choices.