°®¶¹app

Seeing if one granddaughter will inherit her mother's passion for art, being involved with the church and those weekday trips to Main Street's Essence of Coffee? Count the upbeat Ireland in.

But there's one phenomenon, seasonal as eggnog, which sets her off: holiday waste.

"Kind of appalls me actually," Ireland said of the exorbitant waste accumulated during the Christmas season.Ā 

That waste is why Ireland recently attended theĀ eco-friendly gift-wrapping workshop hosted by South °®¶¹app Mines Environmental Change and Sustainability Club.

The club, which also hosted an eco-friendly Christmas decorating workshop, hopes wrapping gifts with fabric and using empty Keurig cups for ornaments can offer new, creative approaches to make this holiday season a sustainable one.

ā€œEven if you make small changes you can make a difference,ā€ said Eva Chase, a club advisor who works at South °®¶¹app Mines.

According to the EPA, there is a 25% increase in waste between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, which turns into nearly three billion tons of waste and results in overcrowded landfills.

Keter, an environmentally minded website, said ā€œgift wrappingā€ and ā€œpackagingā€ are key contributors to "the heightened levels of consumer-generated waste during the holidays.ā€

Club advisor and Mines associate professor Heidi Sieverding pointed out the problem isnā€™t the act of gift-giving, rather itā€™s how or what is being givenĀ ā€” like wrapping paper and gag gifts that are immediately tossed.

ā€œWe need to think about ā€¦ ways that we can show people that we care in ways that are more lasting and perhaps more personal, rather than just buying them something,ā€ Sieverding said.

Student club memberĀ Aisling Hall said one idea is a handwritten letter because, ā€œIt's something small that can show your love.ā€

Chase added, ā€œfor my nephews, every year, for example, I get them season passes to the zoo in my hometown.ā€ She called it a ā€œgreat giftā€ because ā€œit is not going to be something that ends up in a landfill. Hopefully it just ends up in their memories."

Though gifts can build waste, oftentimes it's wrapping paper thatā€™s equallyĀ ā€” if not more ā€” impactful.

And thatā€™s exactly why Ireland attended the clubā€™s gift-wrapping workshop Nov. 19. But practicing theĀ Japanese gift-wrapping method called furoshiki, which means wrapping gifts, is not easy.Ā 

ā€œCā€™mon Mary you can do this,ā€ Ireland said to herself, amid wrapping a set of Bic bodymarker tattoos, intended for a sonā€™s girlfriend, into floral fabric.

ā€œYou gotta be smarter than the fabric,ā€ Ireland added, eliciting a chuckle from club president Emily Emond, who enjoyed passing on her expertise.Ā 

Thanks to Emond, Ireland outsmarted the fabric. Her face was aglow with satisfaction while placing the final knot. A boost of confidence, she eagerly went back to her bag that contained a maroon coffee mug for a sister, a package of LED lights for a grandchild, and makeup removal cloths for one sonā€™s wife.

ā€œI find this so compelling,ā€ Ireland said.Ā 

A few days earlier, as ā€œThe Taylor Swift Holiday Collectionā€ and other Christmas songs thumped through a speaker, club membersĀ ā€” and one father-daughter duo ā€” made Christmas decorations out of Keurig Cups, empty egg cartons, empty pill bottles and toilet paper rolls at Pure Bean Coffee House.Ā 

Here was Bricelyn Jenner, club member and Mines student, making her very own Santa. First she grabbed a cardboard egg carton, cut out some individual cups and glued them together for the body. Then she painted it red, adding a cotton beard, eyebrows and hair.

Jenner used the same formula to make a green elf with pointy ears and a pointy hat capped with a marble-sized cotton ballĀ ā€” because whatā€™s Santa without a little helper?

And there was Hall, making ornaments out of empty K-cupsĀ ā€” one a smiling gray cat topped with a knotted white ribbon for a hook.Ā 

ā€œThe colors will tell meā€ what to do, Hall joked of her anything-goes approach.Ā 

Across the table from Hall was Emond. She made a snowman out of an egg carton, painting it white, gluing an orange nose and attaching ear muffs made of pipe cleaner with cotton balls on each end.Ā 

Emond said she came up with both events by going back through research sheā€™s done, which dates back to when she was a junior in high school. Sheā€™s aware it wonā€™t solve ā€” nor put a sizable dentĀ ā€” in holiday waste. But, from the club and event attendees' perspective, if you can help and itā€™s enjoyable, then why not?

"There's a lot of holiday waste, but there's also really smart" ways to limit it, Ireland said.Ā