Counting down…
Start as you mean to go on. Biome Lifestyle will set you up for a green Christmas with the Christmas Survival Kit & Advent Calendar. The advent calendar is stocked with organic sweets, eco-friendly Christmas survival tips and some small surprise gifts, and the calendar itself is made of sustainable materials and designed to be used year after year. Priced at £25.00. (Refills for the calendar will be available every year from Biome Lifestyle.)
Deck the halls…
There’s nothing greener than making your own Christmas wreath from plants in your garden, but if that’s not on the cards this Christmas, this reusable recycled tin wreath from Biome Lifestyle will do the trick too. The wreaths are made by a small co-operative in Africa, and the money goes directly to the co-operative to support local families and artisans. Buying fairly traded goods is a great way to give! Priced at £25.00. (via: The Green Guy)
Make your own Christmas decorations by threading cranberries and popcorn onto string, and hang them outside once you’ve finished with them for the birds to eat.
The Christmas Palm Garland from Green Eyed Frog is made from ecologically gathered pine leaves and crafted in a women’s co-operative in India. Another decoration to reuse year after year. Extends to 12ft and comes in green, red or multicolour. Priced at £1.25.
Be sure to have plenty of natural Christmas decorations for future years by planting your own holly tree. The Holly Grow-a-Tree kit from Ecotopia comes with a 1 year-old holly tree, degradable mesh guard, stake, reusable plastic tie and full instructions. Priced at £11.99.
Rethinking the Christmas Tree…
Tree2mydoor are selling Christmas trees… but not as you know ’em. Instead of buying a chopped down tree that has travelled across Europe to get to you, you can have a UK grown, baby Scots Pine Christmas tree for you and your children to grow up with. The Scots Pine tree is native to Scotland. Priced at £24.50.
Christmas lunch…
Keep it local this Christmas by asking your butcher for local, organic meat or poultry. Or pay a visit to your nearest Farmer’s Market for meat, vegetables and other goodies that are produced locally. To find local producers in your area, visit Big Barn.
There’ll be lots of roasting going on this Christmas, and with it comes the use of lots of aluminium foil. Try using 100% Recycled Aluminium Foil, available from Ecotopia. When producing recycled aluminum 95% less energy is used than when producing primary aluminum. Priced at £3.59 for 15.5m.
Reduce…Reuse…Recycle
Try to cut down on the excesses of Christmas. No, not the lunch, the waste. Oxfam Unwrapped and The Alternative Christmas List offer really worthwhile gifts, and Buy Nothing Christmas suggests a stress-free Christmas by buying nothing! If you are buying gifts, buy recycled. Buy rechargeable batteries to go with any new electronic toys. Buy good quality gifts that last longer. Buy living gifts like potplants or seeds. Give food gifts or some of your time as a Christmas present.
Reuse wrapping paper. Use old maps, comics, magazines and newspapers as wrapping. Put gifts into pretty tins or boxes instead of throwaway wrapping. Reuse all those envelopes that Christmas cards come in by opening carefully and putting an envelope reuse label over the old address.
Recycle Christmas cards and gift packaging. Buy yourself a composter for Christmas.
These are some ideas to help you celebrate a greener Christmas. If you have any good tips and ideas, please leave a comment.