Dreaming of a green Christmas

Here are some green tips to make your Christmas more eco-friendly.

Choose your food
Use the ‘LOAF’ principles when buying your Christmas dinner: that’s Local, Organic, Animal friendly, Fairtrade. For local produce, try a farmers’ market - the one closest to Christmas is in Wallingford on Tuesday 21st December - or the weekly Wallingford Local Producers’ Market every Saturday. And make the most of your food - there are lots of things you can do with leftover turkey!

Say no to consumerism
Remember when it was ‘the thought that counts’? Put more thought and less money into presents. A few years ago, in a move to cut stress, our family pledged to give small presents. That could be a stocking filler or something you’ve made yourself. There are some great ideas on the Buy Nothing Christmas website.
These are some of the presents I’ve given in recent years:

• A home-made recipe book of family recipes for a student.
• A calendar of family photos for a proud grandmother.
• Hand-decorated (by me!) candles.
• Home-made biscuits.
  

Reduce, re-use, recycle
Buying second-hand is a great way to re-use, and means lower carbon emissions and resource use from manufacturing and packaging. One year I gave everyone a second-hand book - you can find some really interesting items in second-hand bookshops. Green Metropolis is good website for buying and selling books.

Cut down on waste
Don’t buy wrapping paper that will be used once and thrown away. I was brought up to collect wrapping paper and iron it the year after. Or you can use pages from newspapers and magazines - travel supplements are great for snow scenes. My family love the way I choose specific pictures for each individual person.

Say no to landfill
After you’ve opened your presents, don’t throw away the old stuff. Take to a charity shop or put on Freecycle, a website where you can pass on things you don’t want. A recent email from our local Freecycle moderator said: ‘To reuse is better than recycle, to recycle is better than to waste. To offer a gift is part of Christmas. To expect nothing in return makes the spirit of Christmas come alive.’

More green Christmas tips

Friends of the Earth

The Guardian

Directgov

Daily Telegraph