Green Christmas

As I have been away, enjoying my new marriage, and the Christmas season, I have not taken on any new sacrifices this month, but I can guarantee that I will make sacrifices after the New Year. So... This is an honorary post about a sacrifice made by the lovely and talented Carrell Olinger. I will undoubtedly not do it justice.

The spirit of sacrifice may fit better with another christian holiday, but Christmas is definitely the time that the most can be sacrificed. Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year, but with so much time and energy, not to mention money, put into the holiday each year, how can it not be?

Think about it, every house gets a tree, which generally costs between 40 and 100 dollars, and will be thrown away in less than a month. On that tree, people put ornaments, and then cover with tinsel galore! You probably keep the ornaments, you may even purchase a few more, but the two or three boxes of tinsel galore! is usually a pain to fight with and leaves with the tree. And string with lights that are kept on as long as somebody, anybody, in the house is home and awake. And some people go crazy with the lights:
That's an extreme case, but notice the part right after the town loses energy and just before the nuclear energy backup is switched on. Those lights cost a fortune! And that hurts the environment.

Then under the tree are countless presents, each wrapped neatly in fancy paper and topped with a bow. I'm using a website here, that wrapping paper produces an extra 6 billion tons of waste each year. Christmas cards! "The 2.6 billion holiday cards sold each year in the United States could fill a football field 10 stories high." And where does all that waste go? Right in the laps of our children... and our children's children.

In response, the Green Christmas movement arose. While from the outside, they may look like bah-hum-bugs out to spoil everyone's holiday cheer, the idea is simply to reduce the waste of Christmas, which Carrell Olinger took to heart this year. She set out to have a holly, jolly Christmas, without all the excess.

First step, there was an early declaration by many in my local family and friends circle to cut back on gifts this year. My four gift-laden trips to the car yesterday had me wondering how much some people took this to heart, but I believe Carrell succeeded in the gift count, lowering her total number of presents from last year. Today, I will investigate this, and see how much of an impact it had on the overall giving experience.

I know she cut back on the decorations. Using pine branches as a staple, she decorated with the seasonal smell and look without using the local Wal-Mart. I do recall a "lights are the important decoration" sentiment being said, which is very true, but I believe she was able to last the season without strands of light or fake candles in the windows.

And lastly, she just got a tree two days ago. At no charge, it was a real steal! Except she didn't steal it, she took it off the side of the road. There are pictures to follow.

All in all, I'm very impressed with her dedication to the sacrifice. I'll verify and report back with a final grade. Just another case that life is more interesting when you're sacrificing.