WWF-UK: Have yourselves a sustainable little Christmas
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Have yourselves a sustainable little Christmas
Monday 17 December 2007
Christmas is about giving - while not taking too much from the planet.
WWF believes a merry Christmas can also be a sustainable one, if we make responsible consumer choices that limit the impact we have on the planet.
Having a green Christmas doesn't have to be just a dream, as there are many things we can do to reduce the impact of our festive revelry including buying local, seasonal vegetables and a locally-sourced, organic turkey; making your own cards and wrapping paper or reusing gift bags; avoiding disposable items and excess packaging and making sure your wine bottles have real corks.
Elizabeth Leighton, WWF Scotland's footprint policy officer said, "Christmas is a time for giving, but that doesn't mean we need to over-consume the planet's resources - that will not mean a merry Christmas.
"By thinking carefully about where we source our food from and how much we need to buy, what kind of presents we buy and what we wrap them with, making sure we recycle our waste come Boxing Day and giving unwanted gifts to charity shops, we can all enjoy ourselves that little bit more knowing we are lessening the burden our festive fun can take on the planet."
To prove that having a sustainable Christmas can fit in with all our festive traditions, WWF Scotland volunteers have shared their favourite tips for a sustainable Christmas.
"Make your own Christmas cards and get the kids involved - a great excuse for
potato printing! It's cheaper and more fun than shop bought cards and gives more of a
personal touch!!"
Andrew Jones, Broxburn, West Lothian
"Christmas presents wrapped up in newspaper tied with garden rafia, recycled ribbon or plaited strands of coloured wool look great. Do Christmas Southern Hemisphere style - have a barbeque with wood you collected on a pre-Christmas ramble through a forest (within walking distance of your home, if possible)."
Diane Graham, Forres, Morayshire
"I think growing your own organic fruit and veg is one very good way to reduce your footprint (especially food miles!) - and one that I have done for about 40 years!
I have just planted fruit trees and bushes in my new house, which will probably keep me supplied apart from bananas and oranges - which I can't grow anyway - and strawberries which I can get locally."
Heather Dean, Freuchie, Fife
"My one top tip would be "use the holiday period productively". Why not go through your house and see what you really have? Instead of buying new products, use up the ones you have, be it food, toiletries, clothes, etc. Use the time to see what you really have in your wardrobe, in the bathroom cupboard, and use up instead of constantly buying new things."
Jenni Johnston, Murthly, Perthshire
"I don't think they are doing hampers this year so we are going to buy locally produced meat from The Store in Foveran, which we pass every day on the way to work. We are also going to try not to buy too much food, we always end up with lots leftover, which I do freeze, but I'd rather not have lots of tubs in the freezer for months on end this time!"
Bev Spencer, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire
"Use cloth wrapping paper! Get an old sheet or tea towel, and use it like paper. Paint or dye it if you like. Use string, and it can be used again and again. This saves wrapping paper and is also an extra gift as it could be used as a piece of wall art or if you use waterproof fabric paint it can be re-used as a tea towel."
Abigail Latham, Shawlands, Glasgow
"Cook your Christmas pudding in a slow cooker in advance. Then heat it again in the same way on Christmas Day. (Suggested cooking times are given in slow cooker recipe books.) This method frees up
your hob and reduces the amount of steam in your kitchen. There is no need to top up the water during cooking. Most importantly, this method saves fuel. A slow cooker operates at the strength of a regular light bulb, being much smaller than an oven to heat."
Selda Dow, Edinburgh
Having a green Christmas doesn't have to be just a dream, as there are many things we can do to reduce the impact of our festive revelry including buying local, seasonal vegetables and a locally-sourced, organic turkey; making your own cards and wrapping paper or reusing gift bags; avoiding disposable items and excess packaging and making sure your wine bottles have real corks.
Elizabeth Leighton, WWF Scotland's footprint policy officer said, "Christmas is a time for giving, but that doesn't mean we need to over-consume the planet's resources - that will not mean a merry Christmas.
"By thinking carefully about where we source our food from and how much we need to buy, what kind of presents we buy and what we wrap them with, making sure we recycle our waste come Boxing Day and giving unwanted gifts to charity shops, we can all enjoy ourselves that little bit more knowing we are lessening the burden our festive fun can take on the planet."
To prove that having a sustainable Christmas can fit in with all our festive traditions, WWF Scotland volunteers have shared their favourite tips for a sustainable Christmas.
"Make your own Christmas cards and get the kids involved - a great excuse for
potato printing! It's cheaper and more fun than shop bought cards and gives more of a
personal touch!!"
Andrew Jones, Broxburn, West Lothian
"Christmas presents wrapped up in newspaper tied with garden rafia, recycled ribbon or plaited strands of coloured wool look great. Do Christmas Southern Hemisphere style - have a barbeque with wood you collected on a pre-Christmas ramble through a forest (within walking distance of your home, if possible)."
Diane Graham, Forres, Morayshire
"I think growing your own organic fruit and veg is one very good way to reduce your footprint (especially food miles!) - and one that I have done for about 40 years!
I have just planted fruit trees and bushes in my new house, which will probably keep me supplied apart from bananas and oranges - which I can't grow anyway - and strawberries which I can get locally."
Heather Dean, Freuchie, Fife
"My one top tip would be "use the holiday period productively". Why not go through your house and see what you really have? Instead of buying new products, use up the ones you have, be it food, toiletries, clothes, etc. Use the time to see what you really have in your wardrobe, in the bathroom cupboard, and use up instead of constantly buying new things."
Jenni Johnston, Murthly, Perthshire
"I don't think they are doing hampers this year so we are going to buy locally produced meat from The Store in Foveran, which we pass every day on the way to work. We are also going to try not to buy too much food, we always end up with lots leftover, which I do freeze, but I'd rather not have lots of tubs in the freezer for months on end this time!"
Bev Spencer, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire
"Use cloth wrapping paper! Get an old sheet or tea towel, and use it like paper. Paint or dye it if you like. Use string, and it can be used again and again. This saves wrapping paper and is also an extra gift as it could be used as a piece of wall art or if you use waterproof fabric paint it can be re-used as a tea towel."
Abigail Latham, Shawlands, Glasgow
"Cook your Christmas pudding in a slow cooker in advance. Then heat it again in the same way on Christmas Day. (Suggested cooking times are given in slow cooker recipe books.) This method frees up
your hob and reduces the amount of steam in your kitchen. There is no need to top up the water during cooking. Most importantly, this method saves fuel. A slow cooker operates at the strength of a regular light bulb, being much smaller than an oven to heat."
Selda Dow, Edinburgh
WWF's Top Five Christmas Tips
- Buy local, seasonal, winter vegetables (these include sprouts, carrots, cabbages, leeks, onions, parsnips, turnips and potatoes). Support your local organic farmer and farmers' market. Find your nearest farmers' market
- Look for traditional breeds of sheep, beef or poultry, raised naturally and locally. Ask your butcher where the meat comes from. If you choose a turkey, go for a free-range organic one or try a natural alternative like venison
- If you can't buy local, choose Fairtrade organic fruit, nuts and chocolate
- Check your bottle of wine to see if the cork is real. To make real corks, not a single tree is cut down - just a small part of the bark is removed, leaving the tree alive. In fact, insisting on real cork helps maintain one of the most environmentally friendly industries possible. It provides essential employment for people who work in the cork forests of the Mediterranean and helps to maintain endangered wildlife such as the Iberian lynx, Spanish imperial eagle and Barbary deer
- Remember to gather up and recycle everything from bottles and cans to wrapping paper and Christmas crackers. And don't forget the hungry birds in your garden who would enjoy their own Christmas lunch of British seeds!
WWF's Top five things to avoid
- Out of season fruit and vegetables, such as salads, strawberries and tomatoes
- Disposable items on the Christmas table and over-packaged products
- Over-packaged and over-processed food
- Junk presents and flimsy decorations that you know will only be used once and then thrown away
- Use wrapping paper sparingly. Try to save it and use it again, or recycle what's left over. It is estimated that over Christmas as much as 83 square km of wrapping paper will end up in rubbish bins across the UK, enough to cover an area larger than Guernsey