Having a green Christmas
The silly season is nearly upon us again. This time of year always seem to involve a mad rush trying to find presents, decorating the house, and buying way too much food and alcohol.
I know I will sound like the Christmas grinch, but Christmas is a time of so much waste and usually not a time we consider the impact we are having on the planet. So I thought I would put together a couple articles about having a more eco-friendly Christmas, if not totally sustainable at least some thought can be given to our beautiful planet and damage can be minimised while still having a good time.
So what can you do to have a greener Christmas?
Green Shopping and eco-friendly presents
Shop locally
Try to think about what you want to buy for each person before you go out, and if possible buy everything in one trip.
Take your reusable bags with you when you go shopping.
Don’t buy something just for the sake of buying it.
Consider buying services for gifts like massages, or facials, or get your loved ones car detailed, or house spring cleaned. Or buy tickets to a concert
For those who have everything and know they have everything you can always donate to a charity in their name. This will bring them good karma – and we can all do with some good karma. Oxfam and Greenpeace have programs for donating in other peoples names
http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/
http://www.greenpeacegiving.org.au/index.php
If you really feel you must give a gift go for something that is organically made. Clothing made for hemp are environmentally friendly and very long lasting.
Gifts that help reduce energy use like solar battery chargers can be good, a low flow shower head, flow restrictors for taps, a compost bin or worm farm, etc
You can buy hand made gifts and cards or better yet make them yourself.
Wrapping your presents
Reuse Christmas wrapping paper
Use boxes or bags or baskets that you have around your home to put your presents in, or you could even wrap them in newspaper.
Christmas tree
Don’t leave your Christmas lights on all the time, in fact try not having Christmas lights at all, you tree can still look great without glowing
Do you have a nice tree in a pot you can use as a Christmas tree? Why not bring it in and put some decorations on it, this will save cutting trees down and then throwing them away or buying a plastic tree. When I was growing up we had a light pine tree we use to bring inside every year for Christmas. One day it did get too big and we planted it in the yard, but for years it was our eco-friendly Christmas tree.
Reuse last year’s decorations to decorate your tree, or if you have to get new decorations, have some fun and use natural tree trimming. If you have kids they can paint pine cones, sea shells, you can string macaroni, and candy canes. You could also use feathers and bunches of dried flowers. Go out in nature and see what you can find, or go shopping with an eye out for things you can hang and eat or hang and recycle. You can have some quality making things with the kids, it will make them feel great and keep them away from their computer games for awhile.
Christmas Dinner
Why not try something a little different for Christmas dinner this year? Instead of stuffing yourself with ham and turkey and Christmas pudding why not try for something new and light but delicious, you can have a great meal without feeling sick after it. Look out for my next blog on having a vegetarian Christmas it will taste great, be good for the planet, good for your health and good for your waistline.
When its all over
Recycle everything you can after the big day, and at the end of the day go for a walk as a family and burn off some of those excess calories, you may even find a park to play in.
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Tags:eco-friendly present,green christmas
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