Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Some tips from Greening Steyning

Thursday 1st December


When we consider how to be Green at Christmas, there are a few things we can think about – most especially the gifts we buy, the decorations we choose and the food we consume. And stopping to consider even a few small changes to these annual habits can make a difference to the planet, to our pockets and to our communities.

Gifts:
It is possible to have a Green Christmas without resorting to hand made cards and gifts. Instead of rushing to the Internet and furiously ordering off Amazon.

Can we research our local producers and buy sustainable products?

If we give ourselves enough time, can our high street order them in?

Can we give ourselves a day to do one shopping trip instead of multiple deliveries from online suppliers?

Can we buy most of our gifts locally to avoid using fuel at all? And in doing so, we support our local shops and help keep our wonderful high street going strong.

Sustainable gifts fall into a number of categories from earth friendly material items to vouchers or experiences.
• Gift vouchers - ask our high street
• Cafe/Restaurant vouchers/food hamper ask our high street
• Charity vouchers
• Make a donation on behalf of your loved one.
• UNICEF and Oxfam have long established packages that come with their own Christmas card.
• Contact your favourite charity to see what they offer.
• Make a contribution to St Barnabas House, The Trussell Trust or the local food bank to help closer to home.
• Experiences - has your friend or loved one always dreamed of trying something new but just needs a nudge? There are lots of classes locally offering vouchers. Also the West Sussex Experiences Initiative has been set up to support our local tourism industry.
• Secret Santa with family members to reduce the number of unwanted gifts. Set up a Secret book Santa from Steyning     bookshop.
3 The gift of time. Maybe your funds are low and you can’t afford to spend money, but you want to give something. How about time tokens promising a dog walk, a bike ride, some babysitting or just a coffee and a chat? Give it a date limit so they know you’re serious about giving your time to them.

Trees & Trimmings:
According to the Forestry Commission, real trees use ten times fewer materials and five times less energy to produce than fake ones, but a tree without roots won’t survive and comes wrapped in plastic netting.

Sustainable Christmas tree options: Make your own wooden tree with reclaimed wood. Grow your own tree from seed in a pot; buy a ‘Pot-grown’ tree to reuse every year; Rent a tree; decorate an existing houseplant.

Decorations: up-cycle old decorations by painting, sticking fabric, wool or string around them. Search charity shops for second hand decorations. Trim foliage from your garden and bring it indoors.
 
Wrapping: Use old fabric to wrap your gifts, make fabric bags to reuse every year, ensure any wrapping paper is fully recyclable,

Food:
Food waste at Christmas is a huge problem.
Our Community Fridge is working hard to redistribute food and save it from a landfill, but individual consumers need to change habits for supermarkets to change theirs.

Trying to buy only the food we can consume within its use-by dates and looking for different ways to use leftovers will save waste but also save money. Remember to support your local food bank if you can and don’t forget the support is needed well after Christmas has passed.