Posted on Monday, November 27, 2006
I don't have the lyrics or the tune. If I did, they would surely never replace 'ole Blue Eyes singing the more popular song for the holidays ahead of us. But thinking green about Christmas is okay, isn't it? Green is not only one of my two favorite colors but has become symbolic of environmental thinking and action. The Field Station is a green place even when covered with a beautiful layer of white snow.
The upcoming holiday season represents an equally beautiful time for most people. Children look forward to Christmas rivaled only by looking to birthdays. Adults cater to children and many hearts are warmed by cheerful attitudes during December. Businesses gear up for the economic bonanza they hope will help them end a year in the black (another color word with a good meaning). Churches plan major events around this season and that's good. We often hear the cliché, "There is a reason for the Season."
Because we tend to confuse "things" with "substance," I'm still dreaming of a green Christmas celebration when the essence of the holidays moves away from "mere things" to the "real substance of attitudes" -- guaranteed to outlast toys that get broken or trinkets that last no longer than the year that is about to leave us. This column is not the place to espouse details of "church talk" so I won't do that. But I'm going to offer ways to think green during the holiday . . . and for the whole New Year ahead.
Gadgets that have a limited life of interest for a child and are easily broken are not green things! Toys that last, develop a child's creativity and build solid attitudes can be green. Games that challenge the mind and books that expand the mind are green. Giving love and taking care of people by offering them time are also green, not only during December but every month!
What about decorations? Sure, they can be green -- with any color -- if they inspire us and generate attitudes of peace and goodwill. Decorations are art pieces and as such have a definite place in a green home. Of course, they must be safe and, in my opinion, should not be gaudy or overdone. Trees are decorations, usually brought indoors during the holidays. Historically they were all live trees cut from the forest and decorated to reflect family traditions. Then Christmas trees were farmed like any crop and sold, usually by stores and on sidewalks as businesses. Then came plastic trees (colored green, of course) that mimicked (some better than others) the cut trees of nature. They are advertised as looking real and being reusable year after year. All true. Both "artificial trees" and "real trees" can be green. And convincing the owner one way or the other is not my intent. What to do after the holidays, however, is a challenge for "greenness." If one has a plastic tree, the answer is to take it apart and box it for the next year -- reuse it . . . that's green. Unless it is gnawed upon by unwanted rodents, it will look the same next year. If one uses cut trees there will be, each year, a "new personality" in the home -- each tree is unique! There is also the possibility of a green or a non-green solution to cut trees when the new year rolls around. The non-green solution is to trash it as a bit of garbage no longer wanted. Let someone else deal with it! There is also a green solution.
Here is one of the two punch lines for this column. If you are within driving distance of New Wilmington you can buy a cut tree for a good cause. The local Kiwanis Club has a tradition of selling Christmas trees at a competitive price. The trees this year are all cut locally from Schneider's Tree Farm and are sold at Wagner's Car Lot to generate income for projects that benefit children of the community . . . and the world. You choose a "real" tree, take it home, enjoy it . . . and then WHAT? Placed in the backyard or a field, the tree can and will serve a function -- first as a habitat for birds and small mammals and later as soil. That's green. The Kiwanis Club of New Wilmington offers an alternative green solution and cooperates with the Field Station on the Fayette-New Wilmington Road to recycle Christmas trees! Here is how that happens. After the holidays, cut trees (no matter the size or where they were purchased) may be brought to the Field Station and dropped off (as can any compostable material). Or, they can be temporarily placed beside the dumpster in the parking lot of the New Wilmington United Methodist Church where they will be picked up by Kiwanis Club members and taken to the Field Station. In February there will be a college-community Chipping Party! In each of the past eight years more than 100 such trees have been collected and recycled -- sometimes placed as animal shelters or, in recent years, chipped for compost. This means that over 800 trees have been rescued from landfills! They average 27 pounds each and this translates into nearly 11 tons of organic matter that have a "second life." That's green!
My final punch line is to suggest a proper, green gift given to the whole family and used in a green way. For about $100 the family can buy a paper shredder that will give hundreds of pounds of waste paper a chance for a "second life." Just think of all the junk mail that comes in a week, add that up for 52 weeks and you have something akin to the weight of the heaviest member of the family! What can be done with shredded paper (besides throwing it out with the trash into a landfill)? Compost it! Yes! As many community residents already know, for the past year we have been accepting shredded paper at the Field Station. There is a drop-off spot. Bag it, leave it and we work these organic shreds into compost windrows together with other compostables -- pumpkins, food waste, autumn leaves and pondweed from the college lake. Within four to six months "junk" becomes good soil, brown gold!
Have a Merry Christmas, a meaningful Christmas . . . and a green Christmas!
Clarence Harms, Director
Field Station
