Your holiday decorations can be green and earth friendly. Christmas is almost here so it’s time to hang up the Christmas lights and put your house in a festive mood. There are lots of different holiday light options you can choose from. Here are a few ways you can decorate your home and still be green.

Use natural Christmas decorations: They’re lots of holiday decorations that don’t use electricity at all. You can decorate your home with live evergreen boughs and other cold-weather plants like holly bushes and poinsettias. Natural decorations are biodegradable, won’t end up in a dump and add an sophisticated touch to any house’s decor.

Use energy efficient Christmas lights: You can save up to 60% on your electric costs for holiday lights if you switch to LED decorations. Some hardware stores are trying out Christmas decoration trade-in programs to help entice people to switch to LED holiday lights. But be mindful, light emitting diode lights aren’t always a good deal. LED (light-emitting-diode) Christmas decorations cost a little more to buy but they offer huge energy savings over incandescent light bulbs.

Reuse decorations you already have: Try to avoid purchasing all new holiday lights each season. One of the best ways to save cash is to go shopping in your own closets! By using Christmas lights again and again you are keeping lots of plastic out of your local dump and being wise about using resources.

Many of these green decorating ideas will put more money in your pocket that you can spend on Christmas gifts! With a little planning you can put up decorations for the holidays and still be green. Remember that your choices now can be a great gift for tomorrow’s generations.

Searching for more great holiday decorating ideas and tricks? Check out our site for all sorts of diy home project articles for the holidays or any time of the year!