I’m Crystal DiMiceli and welcome to the Forces for Nature Show. Do you find yourself overwhelmed with all the dooming gloom you hear of these days? Do you feel like you as just one person, can’t really make a difference? Forces for nature cuts through that negativity? In each episode, I speak to someone doing great things in sustainability, conservation, or animal related issues.

We talk through the problem, they’re addressing the solution they have found how. It’s to you and we leave you with practical action tips so that you too can become a force for nature.

Hello, friends. I hope your holiday season has started off on the right foot. And you haven’t been plunged into madness just yet. I don’t usually do these solo episodes, but we’re at the end of the year. And even though this might sound counterintuitive because of all that’s going on, now is actually a great time to change a habit or two towards being more eco-friendly.

Don’t hit stop. Stick with me. What I have to suggest doesn’t actually add to your to-do list. With the impending inevitable stress that the holidays bring, I’m seeing wellness gurus pop up on social media recommending that we need to stop and pause. Let’s take a minute for ourselves. It’s these quiet moments that are key to becoming more eco-friendly.

It’s in those pauses that you can stop and consider, Do I need this? Is this the best choice? What might be a better option? Those answers might not always be black and white, but by you trying they will certainly become greener. And I wanted to take today to help you get. In the us November is about Thanksgiving and the run up to the Christmas season.

I remember as a kid, our whole family would come to our house for Thanksgiving. There must have been 25 to 30 of us crammed in the basement on fold out towels, um, towels, , fold out tables and folding chairs. And I think we always. The the same traditional dishes, great grandma would base the Turkey all day.

Nanny Carol would make the stuffing. One of my aunts would make devil eggs. Our cranberry sauce wasn’t the real stuff with the berries, but rather than that gelatinous stuff that slid out of a can, you know what I mean? , it’s probably terrible for you, but I still love it to this day. It’s disgusting. I know.

And one of the treats that we would eat throughout the day was a tray of celery sticks and crackers that were filled with spray can cheese. And spelled out to read Happy Thanksgiving. Also terrible for you, but yet I was so good. And those are the kinds of things you need on Thanksgiving at its core, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks.

And despite us not being really a religious family, quick, grandma would always lead us in a prayer before we ate, and we still use that same prayer today. I, I get a little choked up thinking about it. . The main thing I wanna ask for you to consider in making this holiday more eco-friendly is around food.

Are you able to buy locally grown from the produce to the Turkey? If it’s local, then that means it didn’t need to travel as far on emissions, spewing trucks to get you. You. And how about organic? You mean Even turkeys can be organic, which refers to the food that they’re fed. And although I don’t, I don’t know this for certain, I think organic turkeys tend to be treated more humanely.

At least that’s what I, I seem to be finding online. And if you’re able to verify that you’re getting a humanly raised Turkey, fantastic. Side note though, because I’m not gonna tell you not to eat meat, but I was at a Friendsgiving once and someone brought Tofurky. I don’t know. Well, I don’t know if that was the actual brand or just another brand of fake Turkey, but whatever brand that it was, it was really good to the point where I remember it 15 years later.

So don’t knock the plant-based options until you try ’em. So consider maybe some more plant-based options this year. And my final point centers around food waste. My mom used to always worry and who am I kidding? She still worries to this day. Like that there won’t be enough food and we then we’d end up with an obscene amount of leftovers.

The problem comes in if you throw that food. Food can’t decompose properly in landfills because it’s often buried and without oxygen. Food releases methane as it decomposes, and methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than even co2. So to avoid food waste, try to hone in on just how much food you actually need with a meal plan, and then with whatever’s left, make creative leftovers like casserole.

Or, I even saw a one, I even saw one pot Turkey Parmesan pasta recipe, although that sounds. Uh, my computer VPN is starting to pick up on the fact that I live in Italy, but it’s , but it sounded delicious regardless and freeze. Whatever you don’t feel like eating right away. Compost the rest. I’ll, I’ll be doing, I’ll actually be doing an episode about compost, um, composting soon, so be sure to look out for that one.

Now, right after Thanksgiving, we have black. a deal seeking lover’s dream, although it’s not. I’ve done the wake up at 3:00 AM and wait in line and then shop till you drop craze, and after just two, maybe three years of doing that, I started noticing that most of the deals weren’t anything special. And you can still get those same prices as Christmas gets closer.

And now I’m even seeing ads for Black Friday deals a month beforehand. So for the sake of your sanity, don’t fall prey to the hype of that day slash weekend and, and do take your time. Take that moment that we talked about earlier. And now for the sake of the planet, Black Friday has other consequences.

Psychologically, we get played by companies with their claims of limited time. This won’t last. We’re suckers for time sensitive deals. I’m totally guilty of that, and we so often buy things that we never really needed or wanted, or we generally just over buy because it was quote unquote, a steal. This is an ideal moment to pause, like I mentioned, and ask yourself, Do I really need this?

Is there a better option? This over consumption has huge negative effects on the environment. From the raw materials that need to be extracted to make the things, the emissions for their transport, and the ways that gets created when still in good condition items get sent to the landfill, just to name a few high impact things.

I’ll actually be releasing an episode with the Healthy Seas podcast about a campaign that they’re doing called Blue Friday, which is basically how to be more environmentally conscious on Black Friday. Some tips they’ll share are only by what you need. Choose more ethical companies and gift experiences instead of things.

So keep a lookout for that episode that’s coming out. It’s gonna be a good one. Now, after the Black Friday rush comes the most wonderful, or some might say stressful time of the year. A lot of what I talk about now will re revolve around Christmas because that’s what I’m most familiar with. But I would love to hear from you if you celebrate different holidays and the challenges that you face with them.

I’m gonna start with decorating. This is an area my family excels in. My dad used to get neighborhood awards for the best outdoor Christmas decorations, and my mom would make the inside of the house just as spectacular. Now my brother and sister-in-law have even taken it up a notch and their house looks like it just jumped out of a magazine.

I haven’t inherited the love for decorating, mostly because my husband and I are always traveling home for the holidays, so I’m not necessarily celebrating anything in my own house. But that changed last year when logistics kept us in Rome for Christmas, and my stepson came to spend it with us. I wanted to do something nice for him, but also I didn’t wanna acquire a lot of things that I’ll likely never use again.

and since I never really decorated much, I didn’t have much of anything already, Uh mm-hmm. , I mean, one of the first things I tell people who wanna be more sustainable is use what you already have. Like side note for a second. For example, you don’t have to go out and buy eco-friendly products, for example, like a cloth shopping bag when I bet you already have backpacks and hope bags in your closet that work the same way.

But, um, anyway, I digress. These, there are resources that go into making things, so keep that in mind and use things that you already have. But like I said, again, here I am digressing. I didn’t dig degrade much, so I didn’t have a lot of stuff already. I mean, not even a tree. And one of the eco questions people ask a lot is, What’s better?

A fake tree or a real tree that needs to be cut down and the answer isn’t black and white. Here are my thoughts from good, better to best choice, in my opinion. Now, a good choice that you can make is buying an artificial tree if you commit to keeping it for 10 plus years, because the longer that you have it, the lesser it’s negative carbon footprint.

And if you have one but you want a new one, sell it so that someone else continue, can continue its life cycle. , a better choice would be a real tree. Now, although people worry that having a real tree is contributing to deforestation, that’s actually not the case. Christmas trees are grown on farms often with one or more replanted in their place.

So as they grow, they clean the air, they stabilize the soil, and they provide habitat. Buy a real tree from the closest tree farm possible. Because the further away the farm is, the more emissions are made to get to you, but also commit to recycling it. Many towns and local organizations offer this service to turn your old tree and tum mulch, Uh, side.

Don’t be sure to remove any tinsel and glitter, and if you were to just throw it away. It would go to the landfill and break down releasing methane, just like food, which is a harmful greenhouse gas. Now, the best choice of all it would be to buy a tree with its root ball still attached, and then replants it on your property.

There’s actually a company I’ve seen a post. And on social media, there’s actually a company in the UK that rents you the trees and then takes them back after the holiday to rerent them the following year. And you have to let me know if you have a company like this near you because I love this idea and I, I would totally do it if I had that option.

Now circling back to what I did last year, I made the decision to buy only secondhand items, including the tree. You’d be amazed at what great stuff you can find on Facebook marketplace and in secondhand shops. I found a fake Christmas tree in gray condition for a gray price, along with the ornaments and the decorations, all of which I will keep long term or resell before our next move.

And another few more ideas for more conscious decorating is to use solar powered outdoor lights. Create the decor as craft projects. You know, maybe it could be a friend date for you or for your kids. You know, the more of the merrier and, and use natural items like fallen branches and pine cones. There are many things that you can do and you can find a lot of ideas on P.

And the final thing I wanna touch upon today is gift giving. Take a moment right now and think back on the best gifts you received or gave. I remember receiving scuba diving lessons, and that has been a gift that keeps on giving because I’m able to take advantage of that skill in many places, and I’ve experienced some really breathtaking moments because of it.

And I, and I love getting gift certificates to a manicure or massage or, or things that I don’t necessarily treat myself to all the. It could like, it could be the, it could be something so small and it’s just such a nice treat, and I’ve given photo albums made from Shutterfly and magazine subscriptions that I know the receivers have looked at and enjoyed over time.

You know, rather than something that was just purchased to purchase and ends up forgotten on a shelf or in a drawer somewhere. Plants are also. If you don’t kill them like I do, or even if you’re buying like a thing, there are a lot of companies now that donate some of their profits to great causes. So your purchase then has an even higher good.

And so that’s awesome. Before you buy blindly, take that pause and think about whether you’re contributing to having more stuff and eventually waste or something that is special and or has staying power. Admittedly, it might not be as easy as just hopping on Amazon, but it could be the better environmental and socially conscious choice.

and then wrap all those gifts in either paper that you’ve saved from last year or other occasions, uh, bags and gifts that you already have, or recyclable wrapping paper. Quick note, not all rapping paper is recyclable. If you, there’s this, uh, this crunch test. So if you take a wad of wrapping paper and you scrunch it into a ball, if it unravels itself, it’s not recyclable, it has, uh, plastic in it.

Also, if you have wrapping paper that has like metallic on it or glitter on it, That’s not recyclable either, unfortunately. So you have to keep your eye out for recyclable wrapping paper cuz there’s, they’re not all created the same. I will leave you with all this food for thought. It’s really taking that time to think about the impact your choices may be having that is a first step in becoming a force for nature.

Actually, let me clarify because that sounds like it’s for beginners of this journey and, and being more eco and animal friendly is a journey, but pausing before choosing is something that even the most seasoned force for nature must do. Like I have this list of things. That I would like to buy and it would be easiest for me to just run to a store and, and get them all.

And for the things that I do need now, I’ll do that. But if I don’t need something right now, for example, I would like a new purse. I. I’ve been taking the time to see if I can find that second hand or from a more ethical company or from a small local business. It’s taking a while, but I, I feel better about doing it this way and I challenge you this holiday season to pause and consider and, and do this while you’re doing something that you have to do anyway, like shower or commute or cook.

You don’t have to. Quote unquote, being more sustainable to your to-do list, incorporate it into what you’re already doing. And share it with me through a DM or a note to Crystal f forces for nature.com. Let’s finish this year empowered and ready to kick butt in the new year. I wish you so much peace and joy.

Chat with you soon.

Do you know someone else who would enjoy this episode? I would be so grateful if you would share it with them. Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook at Becoming Forces for Nature, and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that.

What difference for the world are you going to make today?