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Green Christmas Tips

Presents, parties, fun and feasting at Christmas often means a lot more waste than at other times of the year.  At least 60% of our domestic rubbish could be recycled or composted but much of it ends up in landfill. By recycling more and thinking a bit more carefully about our shopping we can make sure that this year is different, not just for the season but for the coming year also. Here are some ideas to make it all a bit greener this year!

Shopping for presents

• Avoid things which have unnecessary or mixed material packaging which is difficult to recycle.  Choose items packaged in materials that you know can be recycled.  Not sure?  See MK’s online A-Z of recycling.
• Buy gifts which are durable. Things which break easily will just end up in the bin
• Avoid gifts which rely on disposable parts such as batteries. Look for alternatives, eg a coffee maker that uses a washable filter, a wind-up/solar powered radio.
• Buying products that have a recycled content is just as useful as actually recycling.  The Recycled Products Guide is a list of products made from recycled materials (www.recycledproducts.org.uk.)
• If you're not sure what to buy, why not give tickets or vouchers?  Charity Vouchers (http://www.charityvouchers.org/) sell gift tokens (not for profit) which give the receiver a chance to support a favourite charity and avoid wasteful production of unwanted goods at the same time.
• How about buying a gift that will last for a whole year?  You could sponsor an animal, join an organisation or subscribe to a magazine.
• Consider buying presents that are environmentally friendly or produced in a sustainable way. Support charity shops, buy presents from charity or Fair Trade catalogues such as Traidcraft.

Cards, Wrapping and Decoration

• Choose decorations which will last rather than flimsy ones which will be used once and thrown away. You can also make decorations from scrap materials or use seasonal plants such as holly.
• Save and reuse or recycle gift wrap, cards, envelopes, jiffy bags and gift tags.
• If you normally send cards to multiple recipients at the same address, such as work, why not place just one card in a communal area and pledge the money you have saved to charity?
• Buy a UK-grown real tree with roots that can be planted in your garden or kept in a pot for next year. While artificial trees are used many times they are usually made of a number of different materials and are thus difficult to recycle. Spent real trees can be recycled at the tip.

Food and Drink

• Buy drinks like lemonade or beer in large containers rather than in a lot of small ones. One large bottle results in less waste than a lot of small cans and it's more economical.
• Plan your catering and shop accordingly.  Don’t buy what you won’t eat and use leftovers.  There are plenty of ideas for this at http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/
•  Avoid using paper plates, cups and serviettes.  Many supermarkets will loan glasses for a party. 

Wishing you a very Merry Green Christmas! 

Christmas Trees

Are we harming the planet when we buy our Christmas tree each year?  On balance is it better for the environment for us to buy a real tree or an artificial one? Are there any ethical issues related to the supply and distribution of Christmas trees such as the exploitation of workers?  Some articles which explore these questions can be found here.

 

Christmas wrapping paper

On the face of it, wrapping paper seems an obvious target for environmentalists to complain about at Christmas! But are some types of paper worse than others, and are there steps we can take to reduce the damage caused by its production and disposal?    Read some of the arguments here.

 

Christmas left-overs

Many of us are confronted with far more food than is good for us at Christmas!  Should we eat it all to avoid wasting it?  It doesn’t taste so good the next day, but throwing it away seems an awful thing to do when half the world is starving.  Some recipes which make it worthwhile eating sensibly, knowing that the leftovers can be put to good use over the day immediately following, can be accessed here.