christmas

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Map shows options for people hoping for permits to cut down their own Colorado Christmas tree

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A memorable experience, cutting a holiday tree is a special tradition to share with family and friends while helping to maintain a healthy forest.

For many families, venturing into the forest to cut a Christmas tree for the holidays is a treasured tradition carried on for generations, while others may just be discovering the thrill of searching for the perfect holiday centerpiece.

For every tree that is found, cut and carried home as a holiday fixture, you’re also contributing to the overall forest health. Christmas tree permits are a unique opportunity for citizens to help thin densely populated stands of small-diameter trees – the perfect size for a Christmas tree.

People who are interested in cutting down their own Christmas trees in the wild this year in Colorado can do so by purchasing a permit at recreation.gov/tree-permits. The website allows you to view maps of cutting areas and learn more about the types of trees that can be cut.

The website also offers safety tips.

The tree cutting process contributes to the overall forest health by helping to "thin densely populated stands of small-diameter trees."

Read more at CBSNews.com and Recreation.gov

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Don’t Throw Out Broken Christmas Lights — Here Are 7 Ways to Recycle Them

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When I asked my child to grab an empty plastic bin from the basement, I did not at all mean, “Please go to the basement, pour out a container of Christmas decorations onto the hard concrete floor, and bring the empty bin to me.”

Clearly, my communication skills were at fault.

All this to say, I fully expect that at least a few strands of our Christmas lights will be broken when we decorate the tree next week. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to recycle the malfunctioning lights, and my favorite option could not be easier. 

Visit participating hardware stores.

This method is a win-win. Drop your broken lights at participating hardware stores, such as The Home Depot, during their recycling windows. The best part? You can pick up replacements while you’re there. Be sure to call ahead, as some locations offer this recycling service and others do not. 

Try a grocery store.

If you’re lucky enough to live near a MOM’s Organic Market, you can drop off your broken string lights when you pick up cranberry sauce and holiday pies.

Visit a local recycler.

I live in Portland, Oregon, where lots of people are committed to recycling. If you live in a similarly green metro area, look for a Find a Recycler search tool on your city’s website. My “holiday lights” query had more than a dozen local results, including Free Geek and Pride Disposal Company. If your city doesn’t offer a Find a Recycler program, try the Green Directory search tool from Green Citizen instead, and use the search term “Christmas lights.” 

Head to the thrift store.

Select Habitat for Humanity ReStore locations offer an onsite metal recycling program and will strip holiday lights for copper. Contact your local store to make sure they accept string lights before you go. Goodwill and Salvation Army will accept *working* holiday lights. This is a great option if you decide to go with a new color this year and need to find a home for last year’s functional lights. 

Recycle by mail.

I find mailing packages inexplicably difficult, but if a trip to the post office, FedEx, or UPS store feels like a breeze to you, simply mail your old Christmas lights to Holiday LEDS at this address: Holiday LEDS Recycling, W227N6225 Sussex Road, Door No. 12, Sussex, WI 53089. Once you’ve mailed your lights, complete this online form to receive a coupon for new lights! Green Citizen also offers string light recycling by mail, although they charge a small fee in addition to shipping costs. 

Reuse them (really!).

If you use vintage-style strands with large bulbs, you can spray paint the bulbs silver or gold to create a DIY holiday garland. They also make great gift decorations in lieu of a bow, or you can add them to a napkin ring for a DIY seasonal touch. It’s harder to reuse standard strands with small bulbs, but if only a few lights are out, you can use them to decorate a holiday wreath or place them in a jar for a festive night light.

Put broken holiday lights in your Ridwell bin. 

This is my favorite method of them all because it requires almost no effort. I pay a small fee for twice-monthly recycling pick-ups from Ridwell. Every December or January, one of their rotating categories is “holiday lights.” I drop broken strings in the cute “Featured Category” canvas bag and move on with my day. Find out if Ridwell serves your neighborhood here. 

Whether your lights met their end on a concrete floor like mine (sigh) or they finally burned out after years of service, the good news is you have plenty of options for disposing of them safely. Wherever you live, you can avoid sending all of that plastic, copper, and glass to a landfill.

Read more at ApartmentTherapy.com

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It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas: The Most (and Least) Festive U.S. Cities and States

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The holidays have always been rich with timeless traditions—mistletoe hanging overhead, a lit menorah, and the iconic Christmas tree twinkling through the living room window.

Yet, when it comes to decorating for the season, some U.S. cities and states are more festive than others. The decorations American homeowners prefer—as well as the time and money they spend to give their dwellings a seasonal shine—also vary geographically.

It all got us wondering: Which state is the nation’s most festive?

Where the holiday cheer is strongest

Vermont, the Green Mountain State, is America’s most festive when it comes to decorating for the holidays, according to a recent study commissioned by Michigan-based home builders Lombardo Homes. Wyoming, Delaware, Rhode Island, and North Dakota rounded out the study’s top five.

(The study analyzed 6,708 Google search terms related to Christmas decorations and surveyed 1,000 Americans on their favorite holiday decorations.)

Meanwhile, Oklahoma was the least jolly state for holiday decorating, but Minnesota, California, Mississippi, and Michigan weren’t far behind.

Las Vegas topped the list of America’s most festive cities, followed by Baltimore, Denver, Portland, and Seattle.

“Given the city’s reputation for extravagance, it wasn’t a surprise to us that Las Vegas goes the extra mile for Christmas decorations, too,” says Allison Hadley, Lombardo Homes spokesperson.

On the other end of the spectrum, New York City and Los Angeles were America’s least Christmas-obsessed cities for the second year in a row, trailed by Chicago, Phoenix, and Philadelphia.

“While our study found that New York and Los Angeles are once again the major cities that decorate the least for holidays, these cities still get into the Christmas spirit,” says Hadley.

America’s favorite holiday decorations

Not surprisingly, the Christmas tree was the clear winner when it came to America’s favorite holiday decoration, with 79% of Americans saying they plan to decorate a tree this year. Christmas lights, mistletoe, and gingerbread houses were the other favorites.

“One of the beauties of Christmas is that it offers such a variety of holiday decorations, yet some are more universal than others geographically,” Hadley points out. “For example, window candles are popular in New England states like Rhode Island and New Hampshire because the classic Cape Cod-style houses are the perfect settings for them.”

On the other hand, the ephemeral snowman is the most popular holiday decoration in most upper Midwestern states, including Michigan and Minnesota, where freezing temperatures and snow on the ground are typical over the holidays.

As for Americans’ preferred time to start decorating, the week after Thanksgiving is it. More than half (51%) wait until the week after New Year’s to pack away the lights and ornaments.

And while 90% of Americans say Christmas trees are more expensive this year, homeowners plan to spend an average of $140 on Christmas decorations in 2023, almost double the amount that they spent in 2022 ($82).

“Timeless holiday traditions are timeless for a reason,” says Hadley. “While Vermont might top the list as the state that decorates the most for the holidays, that doesn’t mean people in Wisconsin or California are any less excited. It’s clear, based on our study, that the Christmas spirit is alive and well as homeowners get ready for the holiday season.”

America’s most festive states—and their favorite decorations

(Ordered by most to least festive)

  1. Vermont: Christmas tree

  2. Wyoming: Santa

  3. Delaware: window candle

  4. Rhode Island: window candle

  5. North Dakota: nativity

  6. Alaska: Santa

  7. New Hampshire: window candle

  8. South Dakota: angel

  9. Maine: snowman

  10. Montana: ornaments

  11. West Virginia: snowman

  12. Pennsylvania: window candle

  13. New Jersey: Christmas tree

  14. Massachusetts: gingerbread

  15. Connecticut: Christmas lights

  16. Nebraska: Santa

  17. Idaho: nativity

  18. North Carolina: Christmas lights

  19. Utah: mistletoe

  20. Virginia: wreath and garland

  21. Hawaii: mistletoe

  22. South Carolina: wreath and garland

  23. Texas: wreath and garland

  24. Tennessee: nativity

  25. Alabama: Christmas tree

  26. Georgia: mistletoe

  27. New Mexico: Christmas lights

  28. Ohio: snowman

  29. Maryland: gingerbread

  30. Kentucky: ornaments

  31. Florida: ornaments

  32. New York: Christmas tree

  33. Oregon: gingerbread

  34. Wisconsin: gingerbread

  35. Nevada: stocking

  36. Kansas: nativity

  37. Illinois: snowman

  38. Indiana: Christmas tree

  39. Louisiana: wreath and garland

  40. Iowa: angel

  41. Washington: mistletoe

  42. Missouri: Christmas lights

  43. Colorado: gingerbread

  44. Arkansas: inflatables

  45. Arizona: candy cane

  46. Michigan: snowman

  47. Mississippi: nativity

  48. California: mistletoe

  49. Minnesota: snowman

  50. Oklahoma: Christmas lights

Read more at Realtor.com

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