Green Valentine’s Day...

Valentine’s Day can be a greenie’s nightmare, like any other event that’s become commercialised. There’s a lot of hype and advertising pushing for us all to buy more things to prove we love each other, and if I see one more ugly stuffed toy holding a heart, I think I’ll go mad! But I still like to celebrate it anyway. I like the little reminder not to take a relationship for granted, and...

Dreaming of a green Christmas: gift ideas...

Last time I went through some ways you can choose greener Christmas gifts. Today I’m listing my favourite green gifts! All of these products are things I’ve either given, received, would like to give or would like to receive myself. I’m a bibliophile, so my favourite place to do Christmas shopping is in a bookstore. Kids love Graeme Base’s books (remember Animalia?). He’s written a couple...

Dreaming of a green Christmas: gift-giving...

Gift-giving has the potential to be the most eco-unfriendly part of Christmas - there’s the driving to and from the shops, the pressure to buy quantity instead of quality, the potential to choose the wrong gift if you’re in a rush or buying for people you don’t know well, which leads to wasted resources as those gifts end up gathering dust or thrown out. But thinking green not only reduces the environmental...

Dreaming of a green Christmas: cards and wrappings...

Cards and gift-wrappings are an area where you can make a huge difference to your eco-friendly Christmas. The usual way is to buy rolls of Christmas paper, maybe ribbons and tags as well, to wrap all your gifts in, while sending out dozens of cards to all your friends, family and co-workers. By following the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra, you can really make this part of Christmas a lot greener. Reduce Does everyone you...