Top 5 Ways to Go Green This Holiday Season

The holidays, with all their paper cards, wrapping paper and shipping boxes, will undoubtedly increase the amount of recyclable materials households consume. To ensure that county families reduce, reuse and recycle whenever possible, Montgomery County's public information office has released a list of ways to green your holiday. 

The five best, easiest or unexpected ideas are: 

1. Say No to Shopping Bags: Trips to malls or shopping centers can easily result in half a dozen or so different bags. To combat this, bring your own, large reusable bag that may carry all of your items. 

2. Get Creative with Paper: Reuse old comic books, newspapers, magazines or any other type of paper to wrap gifts. If you do decide to go with traditional wrapping paper, skip the foil or plastic wrap varieties that are not recyclable. 

3. Regift Gifts: Don't forget about resale and antique stores when you're consulting your shopping list. Also, donate some of your gently used items to reputable resale stores (like  or the Salvation Army), so that others may gift them. (Don't forget your receipt! Donations are generally tax-deductible.) 

4. Paper or Plastic? Neither: Use metal silverware and cloth napkins for your holiday party. Also consider skipping individually bottled drinks for pitchers or bowls. 

5. Get Off the Junk: Mail, that is. Reduce the mounds of sale flyers this year by registering with the "Do Not Mail List." Visit www.DMAchoice.org to register. For a one dollar fee, you'll be able to select what types of store and products you want to hear about and reject the ones you don't care about.

Extra Tip from Patch: Skip the Paper: Many clothing stores wrap items in tissue paper before bagging. Since this practice is purely ornamental, ask the sales associate to skip the paper and simply place the folded garment into the shopping bag (that you brought, of course). 

Visit Montgomery County's website for the full list of green ideas.