I'm dreaming of a green Christmas...

The holidays are a season that is usually associated with a lot of excess...eating, drinking, spending, and of course, wrapping paper, packaging, and toys, toys, toys. There are many ways to help cut down on these excesses and make your Christmas a little bit greener. Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing simple ways that you can try to make your holiday season a little more earth friendly. Look for future posts on eco-friendly wrapping ideas, green gift ideas for the whole family, and many others.

I just checked my inbox this morning and there was an email from Value Village - the fabulous VV Boutique!! They are advertising their gift certificates as great stocking stuffers ( I actually never would have thought of that). That got me to thinking that it would be a neat gift for a child - that way they could go "shopping" and pick out any toys that they wanted there, all for a fraction of the cost of new. Talk about bang for their buck. They also have a calendar available and for $2.99 you can get over $200 worth of coupons to use throughout the year.

I was just there on Friday night with 2 friends, and we found fabulous toys for our kiddies (and saved huge amounts of $$$ - more to spend on a nice dinner out for us!). Why not wrap up some previously loved toys that are in good shape? I found a fabulous wooden train set for $4.00 - how can you beat that? No plastic to off-gas fumes, and no excessive packaging to deal with on Christmas morning. Some of our other finds were: a HUGE bag of Barbie accessories, Mr. Potato head dolls, Barbies and outfits, Lego, a pair of hockey skates and even a couple of pair of Robeez leather slippers in brand-new condition. It was a great haul!

Now, I'm not saying that I haven't bought any new toys for my kiddies for Christmas. I have, and I had fun shopping for them. However, a couple of previously loved items wrapped up under the tree means that our family has taken a small step towards saving our planet. Younger kids especially don't really know the difference anyway. Plus, there is no guilt when you discover they don't really play with it and you can just pass it on to someone else who can use it.

What are you getting your kids for Christmas this year? Any great "green" items on your shopping list? Any great spots on Manitoulin for finding previously loved items at this time of the year? Or new toys that are a little more earth-friendly? Please post a comment to share your tips!

Be sure and check back tomorrow for our first green giveaway!!!