Holidays go green
An old greeting card, cut and pasted on a piece of card stock, was part of a recent "Simplify the Holidays" gift wrapping workshop at the YWCA by the Kokua Hawaii Foundation and Kanu Hawaii.
Refuse paper donated by a print shop is turned into gift wrap by Natalie McKinney.
Natalie McKinney holds a garland made from plastic bottle caps and cord of old T-shirts and string.
Joannie Pan from Kanu Hawaii made gift tags with paper punches, raffia and old calendars.
An ornament made from a frozen juice can lid, glue and sand.
Danette Sukumae checks out a decorative star made from bamboo and covered with old calendar paper.
Kailua resident Cherub Silverstein says she’s committed to giving subscriptions for food from local farms to friends and family for the holidays this year.
Instead of buying new gifts, Jennifer Chandler of Manoa is suggesting a toy swap with her circle of friends who have kids the same age.
And Papakolea resident Kylee Mar hasn’t bought wrapping paper in two years, instead reusing gift bags and turning cards into tags. Hawaii Kai resident Wendi Kamiya plans to have her kids decorate a stock of leftover paper and cards sitting in her garage from last year.
"SIMPLIFY THE HOLIDAYS" CAMPAIGNKanu Hawaii offers participants a chance to blog about ways to go green this holiday season. Five are selected each week for an autographed copy Jack Johnson’s "This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday" CD until the end of the month. There will also be drawings for an "Eat Local" package, which includes a three-month subscription from Oahu Fresh, gift certificates to Town restaurant and Tamashiro Market, and "A Dash of Aloha" cookbook. Visit www.kanuhawaii.com Don't miss out on what's happening!Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
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All are members of Kanu Hawaii, which is partnering with the Kokua Hawaii Foundation for the "Simplify the Holidays" campaign.
The two nonprofits are reminding people that the holidays are supposed to be a time of reflection, generosity and charity, but often becomes a time of consumer waste and excess, taking a toll on pocketbooks and patience at crowded malls.
Consumers generate 25 percent more waste between Thanksgiving and New Year’s than any other time of the year, according to Kokua director Natalie McKinney.
"We felt that the holidays were a great time to focus on the impact over-consumption and waste have on the environment," said McKinney, "and to remind people that the holidays are about giving, and not the giving of stuff."
The campaign was launched in 2006 in an effort to localize a similar campaign by the Center for a New American Dream, a mainland nonprofit that encourages consumers to make more responsible choices for the environment.
FOR A GREENER HOLIDAY …» Give nature-related gifts (binoculars, plant identification books; National Geographic magazine subscriptions, movie or book; the "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet" film series; a bird feeder and supply of seeds and bird identification book. » Buy local. » Give gifts that don’t require batteries. » Offer to recycle an electronic product that’s been replaced by a new one. » Give neighbors and friends coupons for chores such as taking out the trash, gardening and baby-sitting. » Wrap gifts in cloth grocery store bags, comic papers, calendar pages, old maps and posters, brown bags, fabric, wallpaper, bubble wrap, mesh fruit bags, holiday and popcorn tins, kids’ artwork, a dish towel. » Sew drawstring gift bags from holiday fabric. » Decorate packages with eucalyptus or Norfolk pine boughs. » Reuse paper and ribbon. » Give consumables: soy-based candles, soaps, green products, homemade meals, baked goods, event tickets. » Give used books and gifts bought online or at antique, thrift and pawn shops. » Buy fair-trade chocolate and coffee. » Make holiday postcards by hand or on computer. Postcards cost 28 cents to mail, letters cost 44 cents. » Give enlarged photographs you’ve taken. » Make donations to worthy causes in the name of an individual, but request that the individual (and perhaps you) not receive subsequent requests for donations ad infinitum. — Toledo Blade |
Among the groups’ suggestions are to make gifts instead of buying new items, to give gifts of time and reduce wrapping waste. The campaign also emphasizes giving to the community, whether it be a donation to a nonprofit or volunteer work.
Kanu Hawaii uses social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to encourage members to make an online commitment to recycling at holiday parties, for instance, and blog about it. The idea is for people to take initiative and turn ideas into action as well as to share them.
"The holidays have just gotten so stressful for people. They’re consumed by the question of what should I give someone and how much should I spend," said Joannie Pan, volunteer chairwoman of the "Simplify" campaign.
Simplifying the holidays reduces stress. Instead of fighting crowds at shopping malls on Black Friday, Pan and her boyfriend went for a hike, then swung by Helemano Farms to pick up a potted Norfolk pine for his mother.
Laurie Cicotello credits Kanu Hawaii for getting her off the sofa and more involved with the community.
She enjoys passing on her favorite books as gifts and will be giving away gifts in a collection of reusable bags she has acquired over the years. She spends more time volunteering.
Pan says she is inspired by the impact Kanu Hawaii can make when people connect together online and in person for various campaigns.
"It’s about seeing who else out there is like you and how we can make a great impact together," she said.
McKinney likes giving plants as gifts, and her family also makes edible treats for friends every holiday season.
Last year, Kokua Hawaii Foundation set up free gift-wrapping stations at Ala Moana Center manned by nearly 600 volunteers who used fabric, old calendars and posters, and leftover reams of paper and card stock donated by Hagadone Printing Co. that volunteers hand-stenciled and decorated.
A total of 1,464 people participated in the campaign, according to McKinney, with nearly 300 committing to recycling at holiday parties and using biodegradable plates instead of paper or plastic. More than 300 donated to charities or volunteered.
Kokua estimates the campaign helped keep 13 tons of waste out of landfills, saved enough paper to spare 215 trees and contributed nearly 1,000 hours of service to local charities.
The momentum is growing — 900 people made green commitments on Kanu Hawaii’s website in 2008, and 1,400 last year.
"We hope that the ‘Simplify the Holidays’ campaign serves as a gentle reminder that spending money is not necessary to having a wonderfully joyous holiday filled with love," McKinney said.
A free, family-friendly "Simplify the Holidays — Green Gifts & Wrapping" workshop by the Kokua Hawaii Foundation will run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Moanalua/ Salt Lake Public Library.
