MERRY "ALMOST ZERO WASTE" CHRISTMAS

I love Christmas.  The beautiful holiday decorations, the incredible food, the time spent together and the memories made with family and friends.  This really is the most wonderful time of the year for me.  What I don't like is the waste.  With all of the boxes, paper and packages, it can be a challenge to keep trash cans and recycling bins from overflowing.  But holiday celebrating doesn't have to be a burden on landfills and recycling centers.  With a little forethought, just about everything can be reused and recycled.  Here are some of the ways I keep my Christmas "almost zero waste".

After the Christmas presents are opened and the gifts are put away, I separate the gift wrapping into 6 piles:

Tissue paper that can be reused

and wrapping paper for 

protecting holiday decorations

Gift Bags for next year     

         

Folded bags can be stored underneath

or behind the couch

            Tissue paper is reused for holiday/birthday gift giving and craft projects.

                                 "Crinkled" tissue paper protects fragile holiday decorations.

                                     Larger sheets of paper are folded and saved for next year. 

Small or damaged paper is used for wrapping holiday decorations.

                                       Store ribbon and reuse for craft projects and gift giving.

                                  Gift boxes can be stacked and stored for future gift giving use. 

                                        Larger boxes can be used to store holiday decorations. 

Cardboard can be composted, recycled, or 

used at the bottom of raised beds

A compost bin and box make a great seed starting tray. 

 The heat from the bin warms the soil

and gets my seeds growing quickly

Next Christmas, when I bring out my holiday decorations, I reuse the boxes and wrapping paper to ship Christmas gifts.  Using Christmas wrapping paper gives me one more reuse of the paper, adds a festive touch to the boxes, and eliminates the use of those pesky Styrofoam peanuts that everyone hates. 

   For smaller gifts and boxes, and for craft projects I shred the wrapping paper.

                                                  

No need to waste a good Christmas tree.  When the holidays are over we drag it out (stand and all) and turn it in to a bird feeder.  These are great crafts to do with the kids and grandkids.

In early spring I thin out the branches, shredding them to use as a mulch around acid loving plants.

In the summer I placed the thinned out trunk in one of the raised beds and used it as a green bean trellis. 

In the fall we cut it up our tree, mulching and composting the small branches.  The trunk was cut into logs and left in the wood pile to dry.  Next winter it will warm us when burned in our fireplace. The ashes from the wood will be placed in the compost bin.

                           Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone. 

Christmas Tree Trellis

My Christmas tree continues it's transformation. At this point the tree that started as a holiday decoration, which turned into a bird feeding station (01/18/2011), later had it's branches shredded as mulch for the blueberries,(03/09/2011) now moves on to it's next life.
Today I'll turn my tree into a trellis for the green beans that are growing in a raised bed in my front yard.  I've had some doubt about this project.  The hesitation doesn't stem from thinking this won't work well.  I've done this before with terrific results.  My problem stems with where I will be placing my new trellis.  You see, I usually do this in the back yard, hidden from view so as not to upset my neighbors, or at the very least, leave them with the impression that I am whacky (that ship has sailed). 
This is a bit different.  It's in the front yard.  It's noticeable and weird.  It's a skelton of a dead Christmas tree standing in the middle of our front yard. 
My husband was the one who finally convinced me to do it.  He said "it's recycling, it's what you do".  I figure if he's ok with it then thats all that matters.  I just hope the beans cover it soon so it can become a focal point and not an eye sore.
I pruned out the side branches and needles, leaving me with a tree that looked rather scrawny and sad.

All of the prunnings were put through the shredder and used as mulch around the newly planted blueberries.

The green beans have been growing around a "Texas tomato cage".  It's made of heavier wire than your regular cages and folds flat for storage.

I removed the cage from the soil and stuffed the tree through the wire cage.  It wasn't easy getting the tree in, and I broke a few branches, but eventually I got the tree in to it's stand. 

We cut off a few of the lower branches to make the trunk a bit longer.

My husband removed the pot and dug out a spot in the center of the green bean circle. 

We set the tree in the hole, pushing the feet of the tomato cage into the soil. 

We backfilled the soil around the trunk and checked to make sure that none of the green bean seedlings were being damaged by the edges of the branches. 

It doesn't look as bad as I expected.  In fact, it just looks like a dead tree surrounded by plants (and my husband)

It's not as shocking as I thought.  Still, I hope the beans take over soon.

05/20/2011
Follow up:
It seems the green beans were waiting for something to climb. 

The vines are starting to grow through branches.  I will post another picture next week to show further progress.

06/09/2011
Follow up: The vines are growing through and twining around the branches of the tree.

The weather has been cooler than usual at this time of year, but I expect as soon as it heats up the growth will explode.
Follow up:  Our Christmas tree trellis was a huge success.  It was completely filled with vines.  You couldn't see the tree at all.  The green beans were very easy to find and pick.

After the green bean crop was finished my husband cut off the remaining branches.  I put the branches through the mulcher and piled this all around the blueberry plants.  My husband sawed the trunk into small pieces and we set them aside to finishing drying. The branches will be used in the fireplace some chilly night and the resulting ashes will be sent to the compost bin,  Waste not!

New Use For Old Christmas Lights

My sugar snap peas are doing very well.  So well, infact that they are taller than the 6' trellis that I am growing them on, and are now starting to flop over.  About 5 weeks ago I used some left over twine (from hauling the Christmas tree home) to make a zig zag up the trellis to train the vines on.  They have grown so much since then that I wanted to make another zig zag closer to the top of the trellis. 
A leftover strand of christmas lights fit the bill this time.  Origionally they were strung up around a fountain on our patio, but time (and possibly a rat or two) have taken their toll, and the strand was beyond repair.

I pulled out all of the lights, setting them aside for possible future use.  I never throw anything out.

Starting near the bottom I wove the strand up and arround the trellis. 

The green color of the light strand fits in well in the garden and the wire, which is both strong and flexible, should last for many seasons.