Christmas day has come and gone, and that means holiday celebrations, which includes many types of decorations, christmas trees, and family members exchanging gifts. With this celebrations we also have the tendency to make and dispose of plenty amounts of garbage. You can make christmas a lot easier on you and your family by considering to help out our community with some home environmental planning.

Recycle wrapping paper and or gift boxes by getting it all together and sending it to the recycling center down by the golf course. You could also choose to shred the wrapping paper and later on reuse it for protective packaging around future gifts or use it to make christmas-themed origami for the kids.

If you are one of those people who picked a natural christmas tree for your home this year, take in consideration to take the tree and shred it to make a ground-cover for use of your garden. As for the needles, you can remove them from the branches and create a natural pine scented pot pourri or even use them in cooking. Pine needles are rather acidic to balance out alkaline things, like wood ash. Therefore they can also be used to restore balance in a compost heap.

Recycling is not an option for most glass christmas ornaments. If by any circumstance they break or shatter apart, reuse them by smashing them up in a sturdy paper bag then use them to decorate picture frames or boxes for a mosaic effect.

Old christmas lights can be recycled and mailed to a recycling center. It is important to use a recyclable cardboard box as well. Make sure to not wrap the lights with plastic or packing material.

The San Saba FCCLA "Go Green" team would like to encourage everyone in San Saba to actively participate in their efforts to teach others within the community about the importance of recycling and maintaining the beautiful surroundings here within our county.

For more tips on how to recycle and reuse this holiday season, refer to: www.earth911.com/seasonal/green-your-holidays/