[A Letter to Santa]
Dear Santa, (cc: our friends, family, + community)
Here at Mighty House Construction, we are grateful for everything you do to help us get through the winter months with cheer and joy! We recognize that you are very busy and have immense responsibility, but we feel there are improvements you can make to tread more lightly on our planet and reduce your carbon footprint, while continuing to bring merriment across the globe.
Below are some suggestions. Obviously, you can’t take on all of them at once, but those of us concerned about the health of our future appreciate your plucking away at them as you can.We look forward to our next opportunity to connect – (maybe Christmas Eve?)
Our Best Regards,Laura, Doug, Sydney, and Vivian Elfline
Co-owners of Mighty House Construction
- Ditch the wrapping. Send kids on a scavenger hunt to find their gifts – no gift wrap needed. Adults are happy with gifts in reusable or recycled bags or wrapped in cloth.
- Work with your “manufacturers” to reduce packaging on your gifts. In addition to reducing waste, this will save space in your sleigh.
- Speaking of sleighs….reindeer are cute….but they require quite a bit of food (which uses a lot of energy transporting it to the North Pole. Combined with all that manure, theycontribute to a high carbon footprint. Consider an electric bike (or one that is Santa-powered with the extra cookie energy) when it is time for an upgrade.
- Offset your energy consumption by solarizing North Pole Operations. Solar energy doesn’t require sunny weather to work – just a bit of UV rays.
- Outsource your gift-making to multiple manufacturers throughout the world. Gifts will be made locally, support local economies, and will spend less time in the sleigh.
- Consider your “Nice” list carefully. Maybe some of them are more naughty than you think? Mining coal is so passé – why not donate to charity on behalf of the naughty ones – consider it an offset to all the “bad” they have done.
- You probably have stacks and stacks of old letters to Santa. Put the elves to work in the off-season scanning them, cutting out cute drawings to use as gift tags, and RECYCLING the rest.
- Skip the snow and glitter sprays this year. Many are made of toxic chemicals that affect your indoor air quality. Go for a natural look in your holiday decor at the North Pole using items from your yard or grocery store produce section.
- Swap out all of your lighting for LED bulbs, even the decorative string lights. It will just take a few minutes and will save lots of energy over the life of the bulb.
- A successful gift doesn’t always have to be new! For example, a refurbished bike is usually just as good as a brand new one.
Remember, Santa, it isn’t just about the energy you will save by making these changes! Your actions will inspire and empower others to reduce their holiday waste without impact to their holiday spirit.
THANK YOU!