I’m dreaming of a green Christmas…
At Christmas everyone enjoys the chance at the end of the year to focus on family and friends and loved ones. We all want to remember what’s important, and think about what we want for the future. We like to show people we care about them by sharing food and gifts together.
At least, that’s how it’s supposed to go… but often we spend more money than we should, or eat too much, or just get sick of all the pressure to be festive. The hype and commercialism annoy us, but it’s hard sometimes to figure out how to get away from it.
Step One
I think the first step towards having a merry Christmas is working out what you want to focus on. For me, an ideal Christmas is:
- decorating my house to get me into the mood of the season
- giving thoughtful presents to the people I love
- sharing a meal with my family, and catching up with friends
- doing something for those less fortunate in our world
- getting out into the sun to take advantage of our lovely December weather
Step Two
Work out ways to avoid or reduce the stuff you don’t like about the season. If it doesn’t fit into your ideal Christmas list, don’t waste time, money and environmental resources on it. Sometimes easier said than done, I know 
But I’ve got some ideas about how you can negotiate your way to a simpler Christmas.
Step Three
Now that you’ve got less to worry about, look at ways of greening the things you do want to do.
Your ideal Christmas is probably different to mine, but the general principles are the same - focus on what’s important, do it really well and according to your values, and figure out ways to skip the rest of the junk. I’ll be writing about the steps I’m taking this year to green my Christmas, and showing some resources that you can use too. Tomorrow I’ll be starting with the decorations, then I’ll follow up later with tips for gifts and shindigs.
November 9th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
There are heaps of ways to go greener at Christmas, for example the presents wrapped in awful expensive (and often not environmentally friendly) paper can be reduced, how often do you get or give something what immediately dissapears in a drawer to be forgotten… Give and ask only worthwhile presents, things you really can use. And instead of packing it in a standard glitter bag or wrapping try something different, use your imagination and creativity.
November 9th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I’ve found some good alternatives to wrapping paper - it’s a part of Christmas that brings me down, throwing out a huge pile of un-recycle-able wrappings at the end! I’ll be posting some good wrapping suggestions in part 3 of this series.