Yes, the holidays draw out the best in most of us each year. But they also bring what seems like an environmentalist's worst nightmare: tons of extra garbage, millions of chopped-down trees, and megawatts of flashing lights. With a little tweaking, however, everything from holiday gift-giving to light-stringing can celebrate the environment, too. Here's how:

Christmas Wrapping Paper

Gift bags made of fabric

Christmas Stockings

Make stockings out of spare material or your old and wearing out clothes. An old top can have a new life as a Christmas stocking, as can old cushion covers - or any old scraps of material. (Material can be painted if it’s the wrong color).

Sew the stockings with bright, thick cotton or wool (e.g. from an old jumper). To decorate the stocking cut out a shape or design from material and sew or staple it to the stocking.

Add buttons, scraps of material or ribbon, etc, to make a design. (e.g. cut a Christmas tree shape from green material and put sequins or coloured small buttons on it for baubles; or some green material and two red buttons can become holly. Or a square of material with ribbons and a bow is a gift. Hint: plain white buttons can be colored with markers.)

Stocking ideas: Red and green stockings; patchwork stockings made from scraps of material (including made from scraps of rich material such as velvet or silk, etc); lace painted gold and put on a white or any other coloured stocking; plain white stockings sewn around the edges with thick red wool from an old jumper, etc, and with a simple decoration added to the front (even a picture from a card).Hessian looks great decorated. Get ideas from the shops – and you can always paint the material to suit.

Material, including scraps, can become Christmas stockings or Christmas bon bons / crackers.

Give Handmade Gifts

Ask yourself what kind of crafty skills you have, and use those skills to make gifts for friends and family. Most people are delighted to received a handcrafted gift because of the investment of time, love and creative energy it represents. If you excel in the kitchen, try making preserves, cakes, pies or bread. If you like to work with wood, use your skills to craft CD racks or spice shelves. If you knit, try stuffing a pair of hand knit socks into a stocking this year. If you're not comfortable making gifts, or simply lack the time, you can give something green by buying products made locally. Buying gifts made by local artisans and craftspeople supports the artists in your midst and boosts your local economy, as well as avoiding the carbon emissions caused by shipping.