Oh, let’s make the holiday season a little less awesome today, because I’m mean.  Today we learn from MSNBC that during the holidays, we waste a ton.  Well, we waste even more than a ton.  We waste a lot.

A study cited by the U.S. Environmental Agency found that between Thanksgiving and New Years Day the volume of household garbage in the United States increases by 25 percent, from about 4 million to 5 million tons per week. Some of the extra waste is generated by the holiday feeding frenzy, certainly, but much of it is in the form of gift wrap and packaging.

So.  Yeah.  Not a ton.  A million tons.  That is, to put it mildly, a whole hell of a lot of garbage.  What should we do about that, you ask?  Luckily, MSNBC has some answers for that, too.  Here’s a taste:

Give homemade presents and cards.

Pack presents not at all or in reusable containers to cut down on waste. Wrap them with old maps, the comics section of a newspaper or children’s artwork.

Buy cards made from recycled paper and continue to recycle them.

Buy green gifts. That way, any harm that’s done through generation of waste will at least be partially offset.

That’s a good start, don’t you think?  You can takepart to visit the page to learn the rest of the tips you might like to use to go green(er) this holiday season.