LOOKING FOR GREEN GIFT IDEAS? GIVE SOMETHING OTHER THAN 'STUFF'
Posted on 12.14.07
By: Edie Lau for OurGreenCommunity
How’s this for a startling statistic: Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, Americans generate an extra million tons of waste each week.
Thats according to the California state Integrated Waste Management Board, but anyone who’s ever cleaned up after a Christmas gift-opening orgy might give a similar estimate.
The load weighs so heavy on the people who manage the public’s refuse that city and county solid waste departments are scheming to promote a greener ethic.
This year for the first time, residents in Sacramento and surrounding counties and cities are being urged to pledge to reduce, reuse, recycle and buy recycled goods during the holidays.
Anyone who takes the pledge -- available online at www.holidayrecycling.com -- will have the chance to win $100 cash. One winner will be chosen in January from each of these communities: Sacramento, Solano, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Glenn, and Yolo counties; and cities of Chico, Citrus Heights, Dixon, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, Rancho Cordova, Rio Vista, Sacramento, Vallejo, Winters, West Sacramento and Woodland.
It’s all on the honor system -- no one will be checking entrants’ garbage, said Doug Eubanks, recycling coordinator for Sacramento County. The point is to get people thinking about waste and recycling. “We think this (prize) is a great incentive to get folks in the spirit,” Eubanks said.
In Seattle, the King County Solid Waste Division is pushing holiday waste reduction even more aggressively. Every year, it runs a program called Waste Free Holidays, in which participating businesses give holiday discounts on entertainment, such as sports events and theater; and services, such as massages and exercise classes, in exchange for publicity paid for by the city and county.
The program’s motto: “Give Experiences Instead of Stuff.”
The originators worried early on that they’d get complaints from retailers for discouraging people from shopping. “It can be controversial,” acknowledged Waste Free Holidays project manager Tom Watson, noting that governments are shy of dealing with the consumption issue head-on. “They’re afraid business will come back and say, ‘What are you doing, saying not to buy my stuff?’ ”
Over the years, they’ve fielded a few complaints, Watson said, but nothing that’s killed the deal. The program is in its 12th year in Seattle, and has since spread to at least four other communities in Washington. In Seattle and King County alone, 160 businesses are taking part.
Sacramento recently considered doing a similar program, but didn’t. “Our issues came from not having funding to create the program or the time to solicit businesses to participate,” said city spokeswoman Jessica Hess.
But county Recycling Coordinator Eubanks called it a “fantastic idea” that he will bring up for discussion with other recycling representatives from Northern California. “Though it is too late for us to do anything this year ... it is certainly a program we would consider adopting and replicating,” he said.
Anyone who likes the idea needn’t wait. While there won’t be discounts in town this year, the advice is easy to follow: Give experiences instead of stuff.
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More tips from the state of California on how not to make “a merry mess” of the holiday.
(Edie Lau is a former Sacramento Bee reporter who specializes in writing about science and the environment.)
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