Living green this holiday season doesn’t have to be a fantasy, like Kermit the Frog in a Santa hat.

As we watch our waistlines and our wallets this season, we can also live green without changing the spirit of the season. Here are some ways to make smart, green choices as you prepare for the holidays.

LED Christmas lights

Lighting up the outside of our homes, to the point that they can be seen by low-flying aircraft, has become a point of pride for many homeowners during the holidays. Until recently, Christmas lights have traditionally been incandescent, filament-based lights.

Everyone is familiar with the frustration of the simple technology of string lights: If one light goes out, the whole string is toast.

Fortunately, Christmas lights are now available in LED, an acronym for light-emitting diode. An LED is semiconductor technology that has been around since the early 1960s. The greatest advantage of LEDs is that they consume a paltry amount of energy, as little as one-tenth the power of incandescent bulbs.

For example, the large, big-bulb, old-fashioned light string can require as much as 250 watts for a 50-bulb strand, while LED lights barely use .04 watts per bulb, translating into pennies to light.

Now picture how many lights you string on your house, and you should be seeing dollar signs dancing in your head instead of sugar plums.

With almost no heat byproduct, LED lights are cool to the touch and virtually eliminate fire hazards — the old Christmas lights can overheat.

And an investment in LED Christmas lights will virtually be for a lifetime, as the average LED lifespan is more than 100,000 hours.

Energy Star electronics

Electronics are a hot items during the holiday season, as there is always something newer, better and bigger to buy. But don’t give a gift that will leave your loved one struggling to pay the electric bill afterward.

Buy electronics with an Energy Star label, and when your gift is plugged in, it will save 30 percent off the cost of electricity to run it, compared to those without.

If you are on the hunt for a TV this season, beware. New, big flat-screen TVs have become energy hogs in their evolution to “bigger is better.”

Plasma TVs are by far the worst culprits, consuming two to three times more than liquid-crystal displays. As you shop price and pixels for TVs, do your homework on their energy consumption as well, and you won’t get sticker shock on your utility bill in January. (Cnet has a good side-by-side comparison.)

Rechargeable batteries

If you are buying electronics or toys that run on batteries, look for electronics that have their own recharge capabilities.

For those electronics that require alkaline batteries, include with your gift a set of rechargeable batteries and a charging station. The smiles will outlast the holidays.

Gift wrapping

Almost everything we give will be wrapped in some way. Gift bags offer the benefit of being reused again and again. But if you have a snoopy family, like mine, and need to wrap gifts to avoid the inevitable peeking, buy wrapping paper that can be recycled by avoiding foil-based paper.

Christmas trees

If you celebrate Christmas, it’s hard to do so without a traditional tree. There is a long debate about real versus fake trees, and each has its drawbacks environmentally.

If you buy a fake, invest wisely, as the plastic and metals in a fake tree are for most part incapable of being recycled. Real trees have the benefit of giving back when we are done with them. Tracy has a curbside recycling program that collects un-flocked Christmas trees, shreds them and turns them into compost and mulch.

For a change: Buy LED Christmas lights. You will be rewarded with a lower electricity bill.

To make a difference: Recycle the by-products of your gifts: boxes, packaging, wrapping paper, even your Christmas tree.

To make a stand: Use your consumer dollars on those products that will save energy and that are made from recycled or sustainable products.

• Christina D.B. Frankel is a 20-year Tracy resident, architect and mother of three. Her column, Living Green, runs twice-monthly in the Tracy Press. She can be reached at cdfrankel@sbcglobal.net.