According to the Use Less Stuff (ULS) Report, Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the November-December holidays than at any other time. The leftovers — crumpled heaps of wrapping paper, folded stacks of cardboard boxes, piles of Styrofoam inserts and flotsam, and colorful clumps of ribbons and bows — are bagged up and left on the curb to be collected and dumped into the local landfills, amounting to an extra 1 million tons of non-biodegradable garbage each week. If you're feeling guilty about this holiday excess, you can learn environmentally-friendly ways to wrap presents and create naturally attractive decorations during a special Make Your Holidays "Green" program at Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center. Bring already purchased gifts and get a head start on wrapping. Sun., Dec. 17, 2-3 p.m., 1800 Weedon Drive N.E., St. Petersburg, free admission, 727-453-6500.
This article appears in Dec 13-19, 2006.