Cope Environmental Center – Centerville, Indiana

One of the greatest American holiday traditions is eating until your pants no longer fit. You can still stuff your gut this season, but try doing so in an environmentally sustainable manner! That way, the only thing that suffers will be your waistband. Here are some helpful tips:

• A large number of guests in the house naturally raises the average indoor temperature, as does cooking that turkey or ham in the oven. Try turning down the thermostat a bit so that the house is still nice and toasty, but your carbon footprint cools down!
• The holiday season is especially prone to wastefulness. If you find yourself with holiday dinner leftovers, don’t throw them out! Save them in Tupperware and eat them later! If you’re tired of eating the same old food for days in a row, try throwing some leftovers together to make a casserole.
• If the leftovers are still in your fridge after they’ve passed their prime, try composting them! A compost heap is a great way to incorporate environmentally friendly habits into everyday life. Plus, it’ll help out your garden, too.
• They may be convenient, but plastic dishes and utensils eventually wind up in landfills! There is severely limited space remaining for landfills, so you should do your best to keep the trash heap from piling too high. Use China dishes and proper silverware instead. It’ll give your family dinner or holiday party a touch of class. If you don’t have enough, ask a neighbor!
• Don’t forget that glass is recyclable! If you’re never going to use that glassware again, go ahead and recycle it. Corks, too, are reusable. Even if the bottle is empty, another use for corks is crafts with the kids! All you need is some glitter, googly eyes, and a hot glue gun.
• Try to eat as much locally produced and organic food as possible. Transporting food across the country or even from another country takes a lot of fuel and energy. Pesticides and herbicides may keep those tomatoes insect-free, but they can find their way into the food chain or nearby bodies of water and cause serious damage to all forms of life. If you’re not sure where to buy, the easiest answer is your local farmer’s market!
• Speaking of the farmer’s market, check out this video made by Cope Environmental Center’s very own Mary Jones! If you create an account and vote for this video, you could help win the Richmond Winter Farmer’s Market $1000!

We at Cope Environmental Center wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year. Give the gift of sustainability!