Coming up…
Tomorrow I’m speaking at the Perth Green Drinks meeting for November - just a few words about my site Go Greener Australia. It’s my first time at the drinks, and I’m hoping to meet some other local greenies for a good chat.
Later this week I’m starting a series on how to make your Christmas more eco-friendly. I didn’t want to start in on the Christmas talk so soon, but realised that it’s better to talk about it now rather than give you a bunch of good ideas after you’ve done your shopping 
It’s very easy to get caught up in the consumer frenzy at Christmas - I know I’ve done it before, and wondered afterwards how I got to that point when I’m not like that the rest of the year. But it doesn’t have to be that way: making some green choices can help you cut back on the spending and wasteful parts of the holiday, so you can focus more on your family and friends, and why it is that you’re celebrating in the first place. I’ll be looking at how you can green your Christmas day and the presents you give, and will throw in a few suggestions for some gift ideas as well.
November 5th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
I just heard a great idea about one approach to the holidays: The Hundred Dollar Holiday (http://www.newdream.org/newsletter/100holiday.php).
Here’s a quote from Bill McKibben on it:
“You see, when we’d begun thinking about Hundred Dollar Holidays, it was mostly out of concern for the environment or for poor people. Think of all that wrapping paper, we said, all those batteries, all that plastic. Think of all those needy people who could be helped if we donated our money to them instead. Think of all those families who went deep into debt trying to have a “proper” Christmas.
All those issues are important. But the more we worked on our little campaign, traveling around our region having evening meetings at small rural churches like the one I attend, the more we came to understand why people were responding – indeed, why we had responded to the idea. It wasn’t because we wanted a simpler Christmas at all. It was because we wanted a more joyous Christmas. We were feeling cheated – as if the season didn’t bring with it the happiness we wanted.”
November 6th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Oh I’m glad you mentioned that - I’d heard of it before but couldn’t remember what it was called, or who was involved, to look for it again! I think it’s a great idea - focusing on the joy by clearing away the clutter, really