As Green as a Christmas Tree

I was amused by the article Jolly and Green, with an Agenda by Alex Williams in this morning's New York Times. Apparently the new "grinches" of Christmas are environmentalists. They force their families to discontinue the art of wrapping; they give environmentally-friendly gifts like hugs, recycled clothing and cds, and fluorescent light-bulbs; they read Christmas stories about Global Warming; and, their grinchy hearts are two sizes too small because they want to conserve energy. Ouch!

Well, I'm enviro-conscious, as it were, but I still maintain a lovely relationship with Christmas. I don't really understand why Christmas needs to be the time of year when people proselytize anything but goodwill toward men. I mean the holiday has already been corrupted by corporate America. People are already forced to feel guilty about not giving enough or not giving the right thing. Why sully the holiday even more with environmental antics? It's neither the time nor place to instigate an argument with your family about their free-range turkey or their political beliefs. I personally find it more helpful to lead by example throughout the year, and yes, this approach is more difficult, but I'm always up for a challenge. In May, when I started hardcore recycling, my family's reaction was somewhat apathetic. Yet, through the summer my parents bought cloth bags for groceries, started investing in companies whose packaging is recyclable, and most recently, requested that we "wrap" a baby-shower gift in a nice, reusable bag. No arguments, and a nice, smooth transition towards sustainable. On the other hand, my choice to unplug all of the electronic things in my room (including my lights), has met with a little more opposition. I've tried to explain that I'm saving money by refusing to pay for phantom energy (look it up, it's real), but they just can't deal with the thought of me reading in the dark.

To get back to Christmas, I have no problem splurging once a year to celebrate the holidays. It's not like I write off all of my ideals, I just choose to make everyone's lives a little happier by refusing to argue about lifestyle choices. I think it's really very selfish to ruin the holidays by causing strife. I also think that this approach to a sustainable lifestyle is decidedly bad for the Earth.