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There's stiow place like home for the holidays! PROPERTY SERVICES SNOW PLOWING / SALTING / SANDING INTERIOR/EXTERIOR HOME RENOVATIONS BOBCAT & MINI HOE SERVICES Thinking of things you need done this winter? Call: 905-986-1090 cei:905-261-7840 ry Kenvavelel a alelaat-mel wel wal=) filled with the warmth and jor=relUiavaolmial-Balelitelena-m MERRY CHRISTMAS f : from WINDOW. STORE Ike & Kelly van den Berg 182 North Port Rd., Unit #7, Port Perry 86 FOCUS - DECEMBER 2011 DECEMBER FOCUS.56.indd 36 Continued from page 35 over. We throw some money in for the food bank.” The community that receives it switches from area to area each year, represented by the different families. Statistics are on Jill’s side. An Ipsos-Reid poll reported that 67 per cent of Canadians won't like some of the gifts they receive, 33 per cent of Canadians stockpile unwanted gifts in a closet each year and 84 per cent of Canadians said they would prefer to have a holiday gift given to a charity in their name. Anne Du Bois, owner of The Goat’s Milk Soap Co., suggests, “food items make great gifts, and they can be placed in clever, reusable packaging.” As a soap-maker who relies solely on local products for her line, Anne says to “go local,” on gifts you actually buy. “Purchase gifts from a local artisan. This not only supports local businesses, but has a very small carbon footprint.” Gifts made and sold locally skip the pollution created by ship- ping them to, and from, far-flung locations. Barbara Karthein of Scugog Lake Stewards suggests giving a gift that actively helps the environment, like a membership in the organization that works to “improve the underlying conditions that age our lake quickly, for only $25.” Barbara also suggests books that help recipi- ents understand the local environment better, available at local bookstores. A promise to purchase a “sturdy Black Willow clump or a silver maple sapling from the Greenbank Garden Centre,” to help prevent shoreline erosion is another environmentally friendly gift that Barbara suggests. TWEAK HOW YOU WRAP For those tangible gifts you do make or buy, label them with decorative tags snipped from last year’s Christmas cards that you save for this purpose, suggests Jill. The Kennedys also save ribbons and wrappings that can be re-used, as well as recycle sturdier gift boxes for each year’s gift exchange. “The goal should be a no or minimal waste holiday,” says Anne. “Use wrapping material that is recyclable. Better still, wrap your gift in something that can be reused, things like a bowl or mug. I have used a scarf or shirt to wrap a gift in.” According to Friends of the Earth Canada, a whopping six percent of all annual paper waste is wrapping paper from Christmas. Anne suggests that for a man, a tie can be a ribbon to hold the gift closed. “Hemp or raffia are great ribbons as they are made of sustainable material. The hemp is likely to have been grown in Canada.” DECORATE DIFFERENTLY Before you go all Clark Griswold, make sure your lights are LED. “We switched all our lights over, and put them on a timer,” says Jill. Tinsel and garland can be replaced with your own homemade version of popcorn and cranberries, says Anne. After Christmas, the Du Bois family moves their natural tree outside, and they deco- rate it with pieces of stale bread covered in peanut butter and sunflower seeds. “The birds enjoy it all winter,” she says. Please turn to page 37 1121/11 9:33:05 AM