A Green Christmas

• Be an ethical consumer in your choices – go organic, no electricity, less packaging, reusable, recyclable – think about getting gifts that have a lower carbon footprint.
• Buy memories and experiences rather than objects.
• Keep an eye out for suitable second-hand gifts and take a look at the eco-friendly ranges on sites such as Etsy and Ethical Superstore (there are loads of other ethical sites out there to suit all tastes) where you’ll find everything from soaps and kitchen utensils, to bird feeders and toys.
• Get crafty and make your gifts.
• Sometimes less is more!

• Make handmade bird ornaments.
• Make paper or salt dough decorations for the tree.
• Look for second-hand items in charity shops or eco-friendly options such as those from Protect the Planet and Nkuku.
• Create your own edible Christmas decorations or a homemade Advent calendar.
• Make a natural Christmas wreath from carefully foraged materials. You can try getting creative with dried fruit peel, pine cones, Christmas tree offcuts and the like.

• Prepare the right amount of food for the number of people you want to feed.
• Let people serve themselves the amount they want – food left in a serving dish can be eaten as left-overs the next day, whereas food left on plates will be binned.
• Use your leftovers in the days after Christmas – if there is too much to eat then share it around or freeze for later.

• Wear warm jumpers and draw those curtains
• With a lot of people around and the oven switched on, keeping the house warmer means less heating needed.
• So as not to have the oven on too long, once cooked turn the oven off and cover dishes and replace them in the oven – they will stay warm.
• Switch off lights at night, especially outside.
• According to Flipper, using incandescent light bulbs on your Christmas tree and around the home can cost up to 90 times more to power than LED bulbs, as 90% of the energy is wasted as heat. So a really easy and effective way to reduce your energy bills and help the environment is to switch all of your lights over to LEDs in the run up to the big day.
• Plug a number of pieces of electrical equipment into a single extension socket so you can switch them all off overnight.

• If you are looking at buying electrical equipment such as TVs, lamps and fridges as a gift, then consider the energy use across their life span. More efficient equipment can sometimes cost more up front, but will save money from energy bills in the long run.
• If you are getting a console for Christmas, then think of getting games that the family will all want to play. If several family members are together playing on the console, this means they are not all using different pieces of equipment, resulting in a lower carbon footprint.

• Maybe this year I re-wear what I have, or I could swap with friends or buy second-hand instead of buying new.
• Reduce impulse buying of things that will go to waste.
• Do I need those elf slippers or santa jumpers? 

Research from environmental charity Hubbub showed that, last year, Brits spent £2.4 billion on new clothing for Christmas, with the Christmas jumper being one of the worst examples of fast fashion. 

Two in five Christmas jumpers are only worn once over the festive season.