Library Offers Its Patrons Green Holiday Season Alternative

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Americans produce an alarming amount of added waste during the holiday season. How much more? According to recycleworks.org, we produce 25% more from Thanksgiving to New Year’s than at any other time of the year. The result: about 1 million additional tons of garbage added to our landfills each week during the holidays. That’s a lot of garbage!

In addition to the waste, most of us overspend but undernourish our souls every holiday season. Our wallets get lighter while we get heavier. We exercise less, eat more, and attend social gatherings where the only foods offered are high in saturated fat, sugar, cholesterol, and refined carbohydrates.

Thankfully, my local library has offered eco-conscious patrons a healthier alternative in the form of a Voluntary Simplicity (VS) support group which has met throughout 2010 to share our stories, suggestions, struggles, and goals for living a simpler, less wasteful, more eco-friendly life. This year we will celebrate the holiday season and our year-long efforts with a simple potluck gathering where we’ll enjoy healthy, home-made fare and good conversation.

Voluntary simplicity is “living in a way that is outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich,” as Duane Elgin put it in his 1993 book, Voluntary Simplicity. Does your library have a VS group? Might 2011 be the year to start one? I can’t think of a better time.

Note: One of my favorite free resources is Simplify the Holidays, which offers practical tips for enjoying the holidays with more joy and less stuff.