What simple steps can we all take to help make this Christmas greener?

Question

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Answer 1

there are so many things you can do to make your christmas a greener one.

Almost everything can be recycled now! You empty glass bottles from all that extra christmas bubbly, plastic bottles, your xmas cards and wrapping paper.

Limit the food you buy so that its not wasted and compost the leftovers or feed them to the birds/your dog or something like that.

Either buy an artifical tree that you can reuse year after year or even better buy a real one with roots and replant it each year in the garden. Dont buy new decorations every year, stick to ones that are special to you and your family like nannas old glass decorations or babys first christmas decorations and other special ones like that. to fill in any gaps make decorations you can eat, cookies and sweets. Yum, use christmas spices in the recipies and they even make your room smell nice!! (saves on pine fresh christmas tree smelling sprays! lol) Use energy saving lights with LED bulbs.

Shut your doors and make sure the seals on your windows are decent to cut down your heating bills, dont use a tumble dryer where possible dry your clothes on a radiator. Same goes all year round!! :)

Re use gift bags, dont use foil wraping paper, walk or take the bus to the shops if possible, Take your own reused carrier bags or a shopper when doing your buying for xmas food and gifts, Dont put your fruit and veg from the suermarket in the little plastic bags to seperate it use paper to wrap them or something else (maybe a new use for your old giftbags! hehe)

As tempting as it is to have the TV on constantly watching all those xmas specials and films havent you probably seen most of them 100 times before?

We keep all out bottled drinks outside the back door during the winter, it keeps it colder! Also iliminates the need for the spare drinks fridge we use during the summer

The perfect gift for a 'eco warror' :) pay for their car CO2 emitions to be nutralised through this website - http://www.targetneutral.com/TONIC/index.jsp or give a gift tree. Buy a film renting subscription for the movie nut in your family rather then a bunch of dvds, wind up torches and phone chargers make good and unusual gifts. Use ebay for gifts! it saves things going into the bin and saves you money in the prosess. If your thinking of buying a silly novilty gift for someone dont, chances are they will just throw it away, which brings me to another great tip Freecycle unwanted christmas gifts - www.freecycle.org

Limit the packaging on everything you buy and if it has to be packed then make it recyclable packing. Lets be fair you cant not buy your childs dream toy because it has a lot of packing around it. 'Sorry jimmy bob, santa didnt bring you the space rocket you wanted, there was to much packaging on it' Na!

Theres so many things you can do to go green at christmas and all year round and even if you only do a couple of things on the list you will have helpted

Merry Christmas

Answer 2

Use LED's In Christmas Lights. Buy A Real Tree From A Company Which Plants Another Sapling when They Cut Yours Down. ( Real Trees Decompose Naturally Where As Plastic Trees, Whilst They Last Longer Will Never Naturally Rot), Use Paper Wrapping Paper Which Is Not Coated In A Plastic Film ( Can Be Recycled ), Recycle All Your Christmas Cards. When Cooking Use Reusable Crockery (No disposable Cooking Trays). If Your Having A Party Put A bin Out Specifically For Glass Bottles ( Beer, Wine etc..) And These Can Be Recycled Afterwards. Use Organic Produce Whenever Possible ( No Fertilisers To Damage Soil And Pollute Water Systems) And Buy Local Produce ( Helps Support Your Local Community And Uses Less Fuels To Transport Them Which Means Lower Carbon Dioxide Emissions )

PS. Where can you buy a whattson?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Answer 3

This year in order to go green I took the following steps:

1) Did not send any Christmas cards - I told my friends and work colleagues for weeks before Xmas I was not sending any cards as it is a waste of material and money - no one minded, I think people are so worried about looking like a scrooge they feel they have to send cards.

2) Did not get a Xmas tree and am only this morning (Xmas eve) putting up any decorations (this does not include lights) - I know people feel lights make things more cheerful and pretty - I do not feel like I have missed out at all - especially since the electricity bill will not be a surprise in the new year.

3) I only went one one shopping trip and brought 3 friends along in the car so we could all get the presents in one go.

4) bought most of my presents on-line from only a couple of sources.

5) limited present giving - I asked friends not to buy for me, I would rather spend time with them than receive a present which will on most occasions not get used. Instead we all got together and had a night in.

6) did not go over board on the food front only buying enough extra food to cover Xmas dinner (16 people) - there will be very little waste and any food will be divided between the guests and used after.

7) instead of expensive nights out in restaurants which involves taxis and loads of money on dinner my friends and I had a night in to which everyone brought a dish and an instrument - We all had a blast

Those are the main steps I have taken - I don't think any of them have lessened my Xmas experience - it is about friends, family and giving (that can be time instead of money).

I hope everyone has a Green Merry Xmas.

Answer 4

The best Christmas present would be to commit to living a more sustainable lifestyle all year round!

There are lots of things you can do, a lot of them have already been mentioned but recycled paper and cards (that then get recycled) are a must - or make a donation to a good cause instead and send an email to friends saying, I am thinking of you but I decided to donate the money I spend on xmas cards each year to X, Y or Z. No novelty plastic rubbish that as someone already pointed out, gets put in a drawer by the end of January and in the bin by February. Buy locally produced food (if you can) and shop organic (if you can afford it). Make your own bread and mince pies - really simple and fun to do. Don't leave xmas lights on and use LEDs. Don't leave anything on standby.

There's holly everywhere at the moment, make some homemade decorations for free and re-use plastic decorations, don't buy new each year, just reinvent them!

If you're buying something that needs batteries for someone you know doesn't use rechargables, get them a recharagable unit and batteries as part of the present! That way you won't look too preachy but you're gently encouraging them to be more green!

Compost food scraps. If you buy a real tree, you can compost it in the garden (we use the needles for frost cover and the wood for burning). Commit to buying less presents and do homemade vouchers for each other (washing up, back rub, clean the car, dinner for two, cinema trip, walk the dog).

But remember, do what you can, even a little thing can make a big difference. Happy Christmas!

Answer 5

Plenty, especially seeing how non-green christmas is. We could all be miserable gits and ban all these christmas lights and sit around in dull, miserable, cold winteriness (but non of us want that). Firstly we could use christmas lights which are more efficient, such as LEDs which are significantly more efficient than normal lights.

Also we should try and use recyclable and recycled wrapping paper. Every year we fill several bags with paper which goes straight to the landfill, a massive waste especially when making recyclable paper shouldn't be particularly difficult.

We should also try to use local produce when possible. The traditional christmas dinner exists because it comprises of food which is readily available at this time of year, so there should be no need for our food to come from any further affield than Europe at the most.

Finally we can thank the TV channels for putting so much rubbish on the TV that no one should be wasting electricity watching the TV, so there is a positive already.

Answer 6

1. Put less lights up (use some candles instead)
2. Give recyclable gifts
3. Save food scraps for the compost heap
4. Recycle Christmas cards and wrapping paper- the
5. Dispose your Christmas tree properly- go to a DIY disposal centre.
6. Buy presents with less packaging- the less packaging the less un-recyclable waste.
7. Recycle all packaging appropriately.
8. Use rechargeable batteries- saves money and electricity.
9. Buy food from a farmer's market -good for the environment and for you!
10. Make your decorations out of all un-recyclables: old wrapping paper or christmas cards, bottles caps or coloured paper.
11. Remember that all travel can be done by trains or buses or bikes rather than cars.
12. Reuse wrapping paper.
13. Buy 100% recycable cards.
14. Send e-cards!
15. Buy just enough food, because we all know we buy too much at christmas- make plans and don't over-do-it
16. Reuse christmas tins.
17. When shopping reuse bags.
18. Make your own christmas gifts to give out i.e. home-made chutney or biscuits.
19. Sell unwanted christmas gifts- instead of throwing them away.
20. Turn off the central heating and put on large woolly jumpers and keep doors closed so you can preserve heat!

Hope you have a very merry green christmas! x

Answer 7

Use LED lights on our trees and other lighted decorations. Recycle all our wrapping paper which we receive on our presents and do not use wrapping paper if possible on our own presents to others. Buy our vegetables when in season and don't buy those which are not in season and have to be imported from warmer climes. We can also reduce the energy taken to cook food by cooking a full oven of food at a time instead of cooking items individually at different times. Keeping a live Christmas tree in the garden in a container, to reuse each year is also a brilliant way to save on artificial trees and also produce oxygen at the same time. Give Eco friendly gifts and if possible don't give gifts which will cause Eco problems, ie. battery run objects which do not adapt to rechargeable batteries or can not be reused if batteries run out.Recycle all the old packaging and bottles cans etc. Best way to make Christmas greener is to walk or take the bus instead of taking the car. ( A bus carries about 70 people instead of one or two in your car.)

Answer 8

We all have plenty of stuff that we hardly look at or use (e.g. books, DVDs, clothes)...think about who among your friends and family would appreciate it more than you do and give it away as presents. It's not being cheap, just recycling stuff that is cluttering up your house and will most likely end up in land fill anyway. Or even make your own pressies which cuts out the packaging.

Go to the remnant shop and get some pretty sale fabric. Chop it up and use it to wrap presents in, tying it up with string or ribbon. After xmas, fold it up and store it with the string/ribbons for use again next year. This can also be done with wrapping paper, using string/ribbons instead of cellotape (but the paper will obviously not last as long as fabric).

Switch off the telly. We weren't allowed to watch the telly at xmas time when we were kids. We could fight amongst ourselves to video one of the xmas movies on the VCR and that was it. Christmas may be the only time of the year where the whole family is off work together so why waste it staring at the goggle box. Talk to each other, read stories, play games, go for a walk, get to know your kids/parents a bit better (you'll have fun, honestly!)

Don't make enough food to feed the five thousand. Come on, you know how much food you need to feed your family, so why make five times as much? You don't have to have turkey which takes hours and hours of cooking time you know. Think off all those KWhours burning up. Why not have a vegetarian Christmas for a change with locally grown veggies. Vegetarian food is just as tasty and is quicker to make, leaving you more of that precious family time to do other things...like playing with some of those home made toys!

Answer 9

I think I agree with stephen on this one. Christmas is just one day, yet the energy that goes into it is enough to pay my British Gas bill for one year... the lights and decorations are all very pretty, but by January 6 (12th night) most of it all ends in landfill.

Don't get me started on the amount of food and drink consumed. People go mad at christmas time and for some reason must load up their trolleys with enough grub to feed a small african country. I would rather send my money to the starving children in Africa.

Be honest guys, this is just one day. I know we've been working hard all year and need to kick back, touch base with our nearest and dearest but we should keep things simple. If you going to have a get together have each guest bring a plate and a bottle. Share the cost. If they are special and true friends they will be only too pleased to help. Better still lets not call it christmas. we don't lose our heads for the august bank holiday, so why don't we call the 25th our december bank holiday.
Have fun guys - don't overdo it tho'.

Answer 10

There are a number of ways we can help make this a greener Christmas, one of the steps being turning off your fairy lights which waste approximately 15% of electricity - costing us on average £37 per year. You could even try those solar powered rope lights for some winter sparkle without adding to your carbon footprint.

Secondly, since billions of Christmas cards are sent each year, try to recycle them or even make your own - this is importance since the paper and materials are equivalent to around 150,000 trees in the country! Even better, use the internet to send e-cards or electronic versions and, of course, when all is over don't forget to take your cards you received from friends and family t the nearest recycling trust. A little tip - go one step further and purchase yours from local charities which are always RECYCLED and help a good cause!

Next on my list is using recycled wrapping paper and use beeswax or natural vegetable-based candles since they don't contain petroleum residues - so your health and the earth will have a better Christmas this year with these biodegrade eco-friendly products!

Also, replace your Christmas tree with a real one which is more eco-friendly.

Obviously you may not have the time or money to do all the above, but at least try for the sake of the environment and have a greener merrier Christmas!

Answer 11

There are many simple ways, some more likely to be accepted than others:
1) Make a point of buying LED Christmas lights rather than traditional filament lamp sets.
2) Get a small but live Christmas tree and plant it in the garden after the festivities - look after it well while it's in the house, of course.
3) Buy coloured recycled paper packs to make your own hanging and tree decorations, rather than buying glittery tinsel, or at least cut down on the use of tinsel and 'metallic' decorations.
4) Use that same coloured recycled paper to wrap presents - yes, 'proper' wrapping paper looks nice but let's be honest, people are much more interested in the actual present!
5) Make a point of shunning the purchase of gifts that use excessive quantities of plastic packaging - those landfill sites won't last for ever!
6) After the unwrapping, sort the packaging and wrapping paper properly to suit whatever your local recycling scheme is.
7) We all spend a lot of time at home over Christmas - but don't put the central heating on full blast - instead, either put some extra clothing on or use a small electric heater in the family room.
8) A large turkey may be traditional, but think of all the gas or electric used to cook it. Instead, maybe try a turkey joint, or thick slices, to reduce cooking time needed.
9) Turn lights off in unoccupied rooms, and turn Christmas lights off when you go to bed, putting them on when it gets dark again the next day.
10) Don't put the warm leftovers straight in the fridge - this causes the fridge to have to work hard and uses a lot of electricity. Leave them out on the side but covered, until they are properly cool.
11) While you're unwrapping presents, keep the time special and turn the television off, saving more electricity.
12) Inevitably some presents will need batteries: consider buying rechargeable batteries rather than disposable.
13) If you're popping round to see friends a few houses or streets away, don't drive, walk, you'll probably be glad of the exercise!
14) If you use a dishwasher, make sure it's nice and full before turning it on, saving water.
15) Consider playing board games or organising a treasure hunt for Boxing Day, rather than watching television and films.
16) If you haven't already done so, replace bulbs in the main family room or lounge with low energy types - at this time of year the lights are on for a long time.
17) After cooking your dinner and finishing with the oven, leave the oven door open to let the heat escape into the room and save the heating bills. It all helps.
18) If you have a coal fire, only put more coal on once the flames disappear. Any sooner and the coal burns unnecessarily fast.
19) Turn any electrical appliances off completely in between uses, as standby mode still uses some power.
20) Make a New Year's Resolution to be a 'greener' person for 2008!