So what is a “green” Christmas? While some may go overboard and stop the lights, forget the tree altogether and not shop for presents due to carbon gases, there are some things you can do that are practical to help your Christmas be as green as you can possibly be without giving up all the wonderful traditions of the holidays. You can start off by making sure all your lights are safe LED lighting. Since LED’s take less energy you won’t feel guilty about having lights in and outside your home.

Buy a tree you can use for three of four days and then plant. You can buy these at a local nursery with a nice root ball. Put the tree for about a half a day in the garage or shed to help it come in from the cold. Make sure you have a large pot to both cover the root and hold water because it will need water. Keep it in for not more than five days before getting it ready to go back outside. You can either plant it in the pot or in the ground, if the ground is not frozen where you live. The last tip is to shop online and save gas and those carbon emissions by shipping directly to your family and friends.

LED’s or Light-Emitting Diodes are small lights that you would see on toys like Light Brights or in electronic uses to light up those on and off buttons.  However, LED’s have come a long way baby and can now be found in many lighting applications from commercial to your everyday home and outside lighting fixtures.  These lights maybe small but they have some very big reasons to be contenders for your consideration for everyday use.

The top two reasons I like these light s are; you don’t have to worry about the Mercury that you find in CFL’s (Compact Florescent Lighting) though CFL’s are still a very viable and useful light source and energy saver; and LED’s tend to last up to twenty plus years before they need changed out.  This really makes them attractive in manufacturing and warehouse applications where maintenance for changing out lights over time can be costly.  Of course in homes that have places where it is difficult if not nearly impossible to change a bulb, they can come in handy there as well.