How to Celebrate Holidays the Organic Way
Eco-farm Alehovshina wishes you a Happy New Year and a Merry Christmas! We wish your 2014 year to bring you, love, fulfillment of all desires, of course, health!
Festivals are part of human life and are meant to bring cheer into people’s life rather than remorse. New Year is a major festival is several countries in the World but organic New Year celebration is the subject of few. However, there certain subtle changes that can be brought to the traditional way of celebration to make it organic.
Organic Food
Holidays mean variety of delicious food items that are not often cooked and enjoyed rest of the year. Thus, organic food is the solution to celebrate New Year in the organic way. Food items should be bought from organic farms, markets, and stores wherever they are conveniently accessible. The production process of organic food benefits the environment, unlike modern techniques. Ingredients grown in organic farms are totally beneficial for health because they are grown without any harmful chemical at all.
Organic food does not only mean organic Holidays but organically healthy life too. From chocolates, cakes, ice-creams to dishes for full meals, use of organic ingredients will ensure that all the traditional dishes come on the plate minus the health hazards.
In case you are wondering about the recipes, there are plenty of green Christmas recipes. The vegetarians will surely enjoy a Christmas without meat.
Drinks and nibbles
The drinks are a concern for many green lovers, but this is no longer a problem, if you are choosing to buy organic wine. The wine shops are lending boxes of wine glasses, so you can take the supplies from them.
In case you are not a big fan of the wine, you can find organic beer. It is made from hops and organic malt. The organic spirits are good option too, but you can only find them in some special green stores.
For instance, the organic vodka is made out of organic raw materials, while the non-organic one is made from grain, which includes pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
The Christmas nibbles too are no longer a problem. Most of the health food stores and organic suppliers offer organic dips and pates. You can even find some exotic organic foods like hummus with chopped fresh herbs. The organic chips and the vegetable sticks should find a place on the dinner table.
Organic fashion
Dress is among the first things that come to mind when people think of Christmas. Globally, 25% of insecticides and 10% of pesticides are used for growing cotton fibres alone. On the other hand, organic cotton is grown with permissible usage of chemicals, if at all required. Moreover, organic textile industry is flourishing in many countries and only need appreciation in form of consumerism. Outfits made of organic materials have no apparent difference and look as stylish as environmentally hazardous ones. Therefore, Christmas can be celebrated the organic way by people choosing eco-friendly dresses. There is no need for cutting down fashion but for sensibility in fashion.
Presents and decorations
Shop online - Save yourself the agony of driving around, looking for parking, fighting the crowds and not getting what you need as it's out of stock. Skip the annoying steps and get right to the giving along with saving yet another trip to the post office to ship the gifts out yourself! Also, prefer sites that offer green packaging.
Starting with the presents. Choose only eco-friendly gifts or create them by yourself. Avoid the typical packages and wrap the presents with eco-friendly materials. Use a nice scarf, newspapers or magazine’s pages.
Remember that not every gift needs to be a store bought one - Sometimes making dinner, spending some one-on-one time, making a photo album or other personalized gift (a nature wreath, a bouquet of flowers, candle holders, etc) can mean much more than a store-bought gift.
The Christmas dinner is one of the most important parts of the celebration. The decoration of the table also matters. Forget the electric light bulbs and add some festive atmosphere by lighting candles. Bring out the old candelabra and enjoy the intimate ambient. Moreover, use LED lights as they can help you save substantially. LED holiday lights use 10 times less energy than mini bulbs and 100 times less than traditional holiday bulbs. For outdoor lighting, consider solar powered LED lights.
Christmas Tree
How do you go green with a Christmas tree? If you buy a synthetic tree, you may be getting unwanted chemicals with it. It is certainly reusable, but do you want to introduce substances like lead into your home?
Live trees may be treated with pesticides, too. So ask before you buy. Cut trees do not last very long, as they eventually die out dropping needles and resin on your floor.
Suggestions: A small potted evergreen may be a good idea. You can plant it into the ground later.
You can also choose to buy an organically grown local cut tree. It can later be recycled for mulch or composting instead of being discarded.
Would you like to decorate your tree? Get crafty - Use leftover materials to make your decorations. This is great fun with kids too! Get cloves and cover apples with them for a delicious way to get your house smelling nice, make salt dough decorations, popcorn chains and wreaths, paper snowflakes and more!
Have yourself a greeny little holiday season!
