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'Tis the season for merriment, so let’s take a look at smart and fun ways to conserve energy and green up the festivities.
Energy consumption skyrockets 27 percent during the holidays according to the Sierra Club, so here are a few tips on conservation. Light-emitting diode bulbs (LED) holiday lights are 90 percent more efficient than regular lights (look for the Energy Star label). Not only do they save energy, and money, but they also don’t burn hot, which reduces the likelihood of fire.
If you want to get rid of your old lights—and really, who wants to face untangling all those wires, carefully wrapping them on the tree only to find that they don’t work anyway—you have some options.
HolidayLED’s website offers a 15% coupon towards a new set of lights when you mail in your incandescent lights. Alternatively, earth911.org has great tips for recycling the lights as well as your Christmas trees. Americans toss out 30 million trees every year, and this site provides channels for donating trees that can be ground up for mulch or even used to build bird sanctuaries and combat coastal erosion. Another option would be to buy a tree with roots and re-plant it—a great gift for someone’s home you’d like to spend more time visiting!
Susan Singer, senior vice president of The Corcoran Group, is NYC’s first certified eco-broker. She can be reached at sin@corcoran.com or 917-207-6368.
