Green is probably the most prominent color associated with the holidays, but are the holidays environmentally green?

It was a question that first came under scrutiny during the mid 1970’s energy crisis when large holiday light displays were viewed as a waste of energy.

Those celebrating the holidays with the traditional outdoor lights were asked to turn them off at a reasonable time, and shopping centers, municipalities and other organizations making big splashes with significant outdoor displays also were asked to tone things down.

In today’s green-conscious environment, companies that offer large holiday displays for cities, businesses and charitable organizations have a definite conservation view in mind.

It  is not uncommon for companies, such as Brandano Displays, Inc., which has built large holiday displays for communities and businesses since 1976, to take environmental conservation into account on every project it develops.

Prior to 1990, most holiday lighting attractions made use of disposable decorations and displays that would last about three years. More common now are displays that are considered “extended-life” that can function properly for 10 years or more, thus cutting down on steel, wire and plastic parts being disposed in landfills.

A large company like Brandano Displays went as far as making sure that the power consumption in their displays was minimized and that painting and welding procedures were updated to cut down on disposable waste. In turn, all production papers, cardboard, plastics and steel were being recycled.

Because most traditional holiday displays called for literally hundreds of thousands of lights laced in trees and foliage, companies began to steer away from that by creating displays that would reduce the number of lights by up to 60 percent. Power consumption has taken on a science of its own in regards to holiday displays, as the spacing between bulbs can be set up to use less power, and high-efficiency lighting is used where feasible.

Delivery of large displays also has a new focus, as there is much attention paid to eliminating packaging waste of paper, wood, cardboard and plastics.

Last, but not least, and possibly the easiest advice to follow is that cities and organizations should reduce the hours and days in which their large holiday displays are lit.

It is more typical now to find a holiday display reduce hours or not even be lit on nights that are considered to have low attendance.