.simplify the holidays.

{for more info please see the simplify the holidays challenge webpage}
This year, I pledge to use the following strategies to simplify my holidays (choose FIVE or more!): *To complete the Challenge, commit to at least FIVE actions. Feel free to write in your own under "Other" as well!

•  GIVE THE GIFT OF TIME by creating your own gift card for a service (e.g., babysitting, carwashing, petsitting, chores, making dinner, organizing an outing).
•  GIVE A HANDMADE GIFT like a memoir of cherished memories with that person, a book of family recipes, a collage of pictures and mementos, or a calendar filled with the birthdays and anniversaries of friends and family.
•  OFFER TO TEACH A SKILL YOU POSSESS (e.g., knitting, photography, computer skills, financial planning, a foreign language, music lessons, canning tomatoes, cooking a favorite recipe).
•  CONSIDER LESS GIMMICKY, LESS COMMERCIAL GIFTS for children, such as arts/crafts supplies, books, a magnifying glass, or building blocks.
•  CREATE A PAPERLESS HOLIDAY LETTER on the computer and email it to friends and family. If you do send cards by mail, make your own cards or buy cards made from 100% recycled materials.
•  HAVE A WHITE ELEPHANT PARTY at the office instead of a traditional gift exchange, where each person brings a wrapped secondhand item in good condition, or do a cookie exchange.
•  DRAW NAMES IN YOUR FAMILY FOR GIFT-GIVING (for extra fun and surprise, make it "Secret Santas"), so that you can put more time and thought into one gift instead of having to give to several people.
•  SHOP FOR USED ITEMS for all or most of your holiday gifts (e.g., local thrift store, Craigslist, Freecycle, used products on Amazon or eBay).
•  SHARE THE GIFT OF MUSIC by caroling, and include visits to elderly neighbors or a nursing home. Or, gather friends and family for an in-home holiday sing-a-long.
•  GIVE BACK TO YOUR COMMUNITY by preparing care packages for the homeless, or volunteering at an organization to help those in need during the holiday season.
•  ADOPT A "LESS IS MORE" ATTITUDE toward holiday decorating. Opt for natural trimmings such as clippings from local evergreens and holly bushes.
•  SAVE PAPER by wrapping gifts in newspaper comics, junk mail, paper bags decorated with markers, old maps, phone books, or other reused paper.
•  PREPARE YOUR HOLIDAY MEALS with as many seasonal, locally grown, and/or organic foods as possible.
•  REDUCE JUNK MAIL by removing your name from mailing lists of unwanted holiday catalogs. For more tips on how to do this, go to http://www.newdream.org/programs/beyond-consumerism/avoiding-advertising.
•  CELEBRATE BUY NOTHING DAY on November 25 (see http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd) and spend that day doing community service, visiting an elderly friend, or helping a neighbor.