The celebration of special occasions is part of societies and cultures all around the world. Holidays and events bring people together. Gifts express appreciation for others. Special activities remind us of what we value and what we have in common. Celebrations nourish the spirit and build community.

As in most everything else, the choices we make around holidays and special times can also have an environmental impact. Think of the purchases made, energy used, and waste produced by some of the things we do. To some people, the year-end holiday season, for example, seems to have become too much a festival of consumption. Not everyone wants to spend their holidays with retailers.

It doesn't have to be this way. We can have tonnes of fun, celebrate, honour what we value, share meals and make merry -- while respecting the Earth.  Reduce ... Re-use ... Recycle ... Rejoice! In this section, we offer some suggestions for earth-friendly celebrations. We also would like to know of practices you have adopted in your household. Please send along any ideas for reducing energy use and waste during holidays, birthdays and other special occasions. What do you do about gifts, foods, activities, decorations?  We'd like to hear from you.

David Suzuki: What do you want for Christmas?

Read David Suzuki's great article on greening your holidays.  There are also some other recent articles from Suzuki on Green Christmas Trees, Green Gifts, and Holiday Dinners.

Gifts not to buy

Planet Friendly, a comprehensive database of everything green, has an excellent section on Green Gifts. They also have a section on the top five gifts not to buy:

Their five worst environmental gifts are:

• Perfume
• Clothes that need dry cleaning
• Battery operated toys
• A new car
  
• Television

What items would you add to this list?

All the World Celebrates!

Festivals Around the World

Holidays around the World

World Public Holidays