The holidays: A time for food, family and friends...and unwrapped presents, wasted fruitcakes, unread greeting cards, broken ornaments, shredded ribbons, and tons and tons of tinsel. We're talking some serious trash here.

All that adds up - in our landfills. According to The Use Less Stuff Report, each year Americans discard 25 percent more garbage between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day than they do at any other time. That's an extra 5 million tons of trash. That's 1 million tons a week.

But it doesn't have to be that way. With a combination of eco-smarts and common sense, you can do your part to reduce, reuse, and recycle your way to a more environmentally friendly Christmas season.

Step 1: Go ahead, get a tree

Fans of the Christmas tree can breathe a sigh of relief: when it comes to your tannenbaum, the most eco-friendly option is to buy the real thing.

Unlike artificial trees, which are often made with PVCs and require tons of energy and petroleum to produce, real Christmas trees are safe and 100 percent natural. "They're renewable, biodegradable, and they don't contain any lead or dust," says Curt Conklin, co-owner of the Windy Meadow Tree Farm in Brockport.

You don't even have to worry about hurting old-growth forests; these days, most Christmas trees are grown on dedicated tree farms, which provide measurable benefits. "One acre of Christmas trees produces enough oxygen for 14 to 18 people," he says. And since smaller, younger trees produce more oxygen than older-growth trees, Christmas tree farms become veritable oxygen factories.

Just be sure to opt for a cut tree. While live, potted trees may seem like a green option, they don't hold up well inside houses, where the temperature is kept unseasonably warm. If you do decide to buy a live tree, you're better off planting it outside.

Step 2: Don't forget - trees are recyclable

Sure, if a tree goes to a landfill, it will biodegrade eventually. But it's much better for both your community and the environment to recycle them. Through the Monroe County Department of Environmental Services (DES) Materials Give Back program, recycled Rochester-area Christmas trees are chipped and converted into mulch for public parks, gardens, and public use.

Throughout the month of January, city residents can recycle their trees for free at several locations, including Genesee Valley Park, Cobbs Hill Park, and the Materials Give Back center on Ferrano Street. If you bring a container with you, you can even take home the tree chips for your garden. Call the DES Office of Customer Satisfaction at 428-5990 for more information.

Most villages and towns run their own drop-off points for tree recycling (visit your town's website for more details). However, throughout January, many suburbs will do curbside tree pick-up if placed alongside regular recycling bins.

Step 3: Recycle your wrapping paper, too

Recycling wrapping paper seems so obvious, but most people forget or don't even realize that it can be recycled, perhaps because, in years past, recycling centers weren't equipped to process the specialized paper. Not so anymore. According to the DES, you can simply place your wrapping paper - and greeting cards, envelopes, and other holiday-themed stationery - with your newspaper and magazines to be recycled. (Just make sure there's no foil or plastic; that can't go in the bins. But you wouldn't be buying that anyway, right?)

If you aren't the type to tear into your presents Tasmanian Devil-style, then you can just as easily save and re-use your wrapping paper next year. Also, nowadays many stores are selling wrapping paper made from recycled products; just check the label for the green recycled triangle.

You can also go the cheapskate route and make your own wrapping paper, using brown grocery bags, the newspaper's comics section, even old maps or posters. In fact, personalizing your wrapping paper can be a fun holiday event for the whole family. Give your kids some crayons, markers, and glitter, and you'll end up with wrapping paper you'll want to save.

Step 4: Go paper-less

Send e-cards instead of greeting cards, and opt for gift bags and boxes, which tend to hold up better over time and can be re-used. Likewise, you could give gift baskets, or even platters of food instead of wrapped presents.

You could also give gifts that don't require wrapping, like tickets, gift certificates, or memberships. A pair of season tickets to the Red Wings or a membership to The Little, placed in a fancy envelope with some ribbon or calligraphy, can save paper and score you points for creativity and thoughtfulness.

Step 5: Be smart about ornaments

Stay away from tinsel, which can't be reused, or ornaments made from plastic and metallic dyes, which can't be easily recycled. It's best to use ornaments you already have - family heirlooms mean more anyway - or make your own.

When it comes to Christmas tree lights, though, you should upgrade your old strands to those made with LEDs. LEDs, which are made from semiconducting materials, are 90 percent more energy efficient than traditional lights. They release little heat, last for up to 200,000 hours, and if one burns out, the rest of the strand keeps shining. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that if everyone replaced their conventional lights with LEDs, approximately 2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity could be saved in one month.

Festivus for the rest of us

Don't celebrate Christmas? You can still try these eco-smart tips to celebrate your holiday season.

- Opt for environmentally friendly candles for Hanukkah menorahs and Kwanzaa tables. These days, most candles are made from paraffin, a petroleum-based substance; some even have lead in the wicks. Instead, try soy or beeswax candles, which emit less soot (soy emits none at all) and last longer, too.

- Rely on locally grown food for Yule feasts. While the Rochester Public Market is the easiest place to find local food in the dead of winter, Wegmans and Tops have increasingly begun marketing their own locally grown produce as well.

- Give "the miracle of the oil" a new, green meaning. Hanukkah is an excellent time to re-evaluate your energy choices. Visit the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life's Let There Be (Renewable) Light website (www.coejl.org/Hanukkah/) for ways to involve your synagogue, family, and schools in Hanukkah-themed conservation causes.