I was visited by the ghost of Christmas Green last night, rattling its chains of plastic six-pack rings [1] and off-gassing VOCs along with toxic admonishments: “Be greener this Christmas, or White Christmases will be a thing of the past!” So here are some ways we are going greener this year, without taking away the magic of the season.

• Being a frugal sort, and since I have fabulous friends who send gorgeous gifts in Ken Brown [2] paper, I already happily recycle gift wrap [2] or make my own wrapping paper with snippets of old cards, gift wrap and Georgia drawings. I have bags of pretty bows and baubles and bits that I’ve snipped off of packages to reuse. My gifts may never be mistaken for window dressing, but they do elicit smiles.

• We use the same holiday decorations we’ve had for years, a comforting tradition that feels important to me this time of year. Someday we might get a real tree. Every year since we found our old rummage sale aluminum tree we debate whether we'd rather have that sweet pine smell and the cheer that a real tree brings. But we usually decide we’ll use the tree money for presents, and put up our shiny metal tree.

• We put up a couple of strands of lights on the house every year, but I get a bit miserly and turn them off as my mood fluctuates. But now, when the bulbs burn out we can replace them with the more earth-friendly LED lights [3], and I can feel more comfortable leaving them on longer!

• When I saw the “luxurious” paraffin manicure tub sitting unused on my Mom’s shelf and my Gramma mistakenly regifted me the super warm argyle tights I gave her, I thought there must be a more meaningful way to give. So now we invite them to our house for pie and then take them to a holiday show or event. It's become a significant and meaningful tradition: We take time out of the bustle and flurry of the holidays, spend time and make memories with the people who mean a lot to us. This year after desserts we're going to the Christmas bedecked Pittock Mansion [4], the 1914 museum-nee-home of Oregonian founder Henry Pittock.

• For local friends we make decorated whole-wheat butter cookies. This year we're delivering them in recycled record bowls [5] made from some of our thousands of old LPs — just the scratchiest, unplayable ones!

• We have bought presents in resale shops, but we have the kind of friends who “delight in the faded things” to quote Jonathan Richman [6]. And I admit I have regifted a few great things I will never use but know some of our friends and relations will. My friend Sue writes in her terrific mom-blog [7] about recycling Christmas presents. She suggests that Santa is naturally into recycling, since he lives at the shrinking North Pole!

• We’re sending homemade Christmas cards that are printed on recycled paper. Now that we are on the West coast we want to be in contact with our East coast friends. I know — there's the trucking, the gas, the carbon footprint. We could do it via email [8], but there is something sweet and old fashioned about getting and sending Christmas cards. I always recycle the cards we receive into thank you cards or gift-wrap.

Of course the main thing I want Georgia to know is that, even though we don’t have money for lots of extras, we are lucky to have our family, our home, and our friends. It’s hard to talk to an over excited four year old about doing good for people who don’t have as much as we do — so when her preschool adopted a family to help this holiday, it made the experience more real for her. She made a picture for the baby in the family, and gave her own money to buy a grocery gift card. She is beginning to get that she has things other people don’t have, and is starting to appreciate it. We were recently explaining to her what a “hard knock life” is, and she said, “I’m lucky to have a soft rub life!” That’s my girl!

What are some ways you are thinking green this holiday?