Celebrating Christmas
Many of the ways in which we celebrate Christmas cause additional carbon emissions, so can we be environmentally and
socially responsible without sounding too like Scrooge? Here are some ideas, mainly from A Rocha and Green Christian.
Food
In wealthy countries, food waste is particularly bad at Christmas. So it’s good to plan shopping and cooking carefully, and maybe freeze or give away what you can’t eat. When shopping, “Use your LOAF”: buy food that is Locally produced, Organically grown, Animal friendly, Fairly traded. Presents.
Presents
Presents, especially “stuff”, have a carbon footprint. In a family, instead of everyone buying everyone else a present, you could try using one or other version of “secret Santa”, in which everyone only buys and receives one present. Or you could put an agreed price-cap on
presents. Either way, the money you save could be used to buy gifts in honour of your loved ones. Options include: Oxfam, Christian Aid, Ripple Effect and Tree Aid amongst others. You could also try giving homemade-with-love presents, or presents that aren’t “stuff”, such as an invitation to a home-cooked meal, going out for coffee, or an audiobook.
Books
If you like giving or receiving books, try Planetwise: Dare To Care For God’s World, written by Rev. Dave Bookless of A Rocha. “This is not another book on green issues to make you feel guilty. The message is that there is hope.”
Cards
Use the Mint scheme to buy a second-hand card to send to everyone, and make a donation to charity. If you do buy cards, look for ones that use recycled or sustainably produced card.
Christmas trees
Is it better to buy a real or artificial tree? Artificial trees are made of plastic – but if you use one for about 10 years its carbon footprint is similar to chopping down a real tree every year. If buying a real tree, try and choose one grown locally (reducing transport) and sustainably (eg under the Forest Stewardship Council label). After use, recycle your tree as woodchip or compost; don’t bin or burn it. If you have a garden, you could have your own live tree in a pot that comes inside for Christmas each year.
Wrappings and decorations
A vast amount of wrapping paper (which often contains plastic) is used once and dumped each Christmas, so you could look for creative ways of using less; give presents in scarves, pre-used bags, or purchased bags that can be used again. Some people make gift tags from old cards. Avoid plastic decorations if you can; holly, ivy and other evergreens are an option. Travel. Visiting family and friends is part of Christmas, but where feasible, try and use the usual ways to reduce the environmental impact of travel: public transport rather than car; car sharing; bus/train rather than plane. And don’t forget to turn the central heating down while you’re away. It’s ironic that celebration of God’s love for us can be so damaging to His creation; so perhaps the best suggestion is simply to remember the reason for the season.