Now that we have gotten well into December, I'm sure many of you are getting almost as excited as I am about Christmas! All the lights, and the green and the red everywhere constantly brighten my day. It's great that even though we just enjoyed Thanksgiving, we have another reason to celebrate! I have a few more green tips for you to keep in the back of your mind while going through the season. Some may even make the holidays a bit less stressful.

I know gifts at Christmas are exciting, but you have heard it a thousand times that “it's not what the season is about.” Consider buying less. If you can’t find a gift that you think the receiver would love AND use, think about not buying it. They will probably appreciate not receiving more trinkets that clutter the house. This could cut back on the stress of the season by giving you the extra time usually spent on gift hunting and give you the extra cash usually spent on gift hunting. Another idea of where to spend the money is on charities because during the recession donations are being cut out of many people’s budgets. You can help others while giving in honor of friends and family.

There are some fun ideas for ways to buy fewer gifts on Christmas. Everybody in the family could draw names and each person buy one gift. You could also turn it into a game and play dirty Santa where everybody brings one gift and one by one people choose one from the pile or steal a previously-opened present. It can get exciting. You can even re-gift things that you can't use.

Think about how much space in the trash can could be saved by not using as much gift wrap. You would be so much less wasteful. The added bonus would be the saved money, time and sanity. I know you have heard the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” saying. Reduce the amount of stuff you buy, reuse old Christmas decorations and recycle your trash. That will cut back on your impact a lot. 'Tis the season to Go Green!