Reduce, re-use and recycle
Christmas is the time for giving, so why not give back to the environment and follow our top 10 tips for a greener festive season!
- Choose a live, native Christmas tree, which can be potted up and brought inside for several years use. Once it’s outgrown it’s pot, find it a spot outside where it can be planted and thrive for many more years!
- Go for a Christmas forage, collect holly and pick up fallen pine cones to make natural decorations
- Replace failing Christmas lights with LED ones, they use up to 95% less energy to run, and they last longer
- Try to buy food and gifts locally wherever possible – support local businesses and farmers’ markets to get goods that haven’t travelled hundreds (or thousands) of miles
- Unwanted gifts? Regift, or share on freecycle! See www.freecycle.org
- Switch off Christmas lights when you’re not at home, or use a timer switch to avoid wasting electricity
- Create a Christmas tree for the garden birds! Hang a variety of seed feeders and fat balls in a tree or on a bird table (out of the reach of cats) and watch the birds feast
- Trying to buy for the person who has everything? Why not consider making a donation to a charity on their behalf? The World Land Trust have a variety of projects that you could support, visit http://www.worldlandtrust.org/supporting/gift-donation
- Recycle cards and wrapping paper after the big day or buy cards and wrapping made with recycled fibres. Check your local council website to find out where you can access recycling
- Rather than buying a winter jacket, give your old one a new lease of life by cleaning and re-waterproofing it with Nikwax!