Go Greener, Australia

I’m going with a bit of a Christmas-y theme today, for a bit of fun:

Choice magazine has a great article on 10 tips for a sustainable Christmas. It’s got some useful links to resources that’d make it easier for you to make the greener choices this month.

Wondering what to do with those damn plastic bags you were unable to avoid? I take my reusable bag everywhere and *still* end up with half a dozen every month! But the Creature Comforts website has a great idea - turn them into pom-poms to decorate your Christmas gifts with! Looks cute and easy to do. DIY Eco-happy pom-pom gift topper.

And for another gift-wrapping idea that you can make eco-friendly by your choice of materials, try Fun with Fonts by Lupin at Bugs and Fishes. If you’re using plain recycled paper to wrap presents this year, this idea will help you decorate and personalise them using smaller amounts of colourful paper.

I’ve spotted the Christmas decorations in the shops, so it must be that time of year again. Long-term readers will remember that I wrote a series of posts last year with suggestions on how to make your Christmas more environmentally friendly.

I started out with the planning, then looked at each of the major fun parts of the season - buying gifts, eating lots of food, decorating your home. I’ll definitely be referring back to it myself, and thought newer readers might like to see them:

Dreaming of A Green Christmas series
Part 1 - how to plan a greener Christmas
Part 2 - decorations
Part 3 - cards and wrappings
Part 4 - how to choose greener gifts
Part 5 - gift ideas
Part 6 - Christmas lunch or dinner

I think I did well last year: we managed to get most of the family over to our place to swap gifts and eat a delicious meal. The kids didn’t wreck my house, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t wreck the enviroment. This year I’ll be visiting my in-laws in Geraldton to celebrate the big day. I’ve started planning my shopping, and think I’ve got some good gift ideas lined up as well as some nice decorations.

What will you be trying to do this year to make your Christmas a little greener? If you’ve got any good tips, let us know in the comments…