Dreaming of a Green (and Frugal) Christmas
With the cost-of-living soaring, the last thing anyone needs is to waste hardearned cash on unwelcome gifts. It has been estimated that around 60 million unwanted Christmas presents are exchanged every year. All that packaging. All those miles from wherever they were made. All the energy and resources that went into making them.
Time to think outside the (gift) box? Give gifts that can be experienced. A haircut voucher from Coco’s Style or Shades in Lintot Square. A pamper session from Mollycoddle. A tasty treat from The Little Tea House. Not only are you gifting a lovely memory, you are supporting local businesses, too. Give gifts that can be consumed. Who needs more ‘stuff’ that will just end up at the charity shop in January? The novelty tea pot that doesn’t pour properly. The motivational sign to hang in the downstairs loo. The nodding dog for the back of the car (remember those?)
A gift of good food or drink, as long as it gets eaten or drunk, will always go down well. And if you buy locally produced consumables, so much the better. Talking of food... Why not swap your turkey for a nut roast or mushroom wellington? With another bird flu epidemic hitting the UK this winter on top of all the other soaring costs being faced by our farmers, those Christmas turkey prices are set to go sky high.
Eating less meat is better for the environment, better for the turkeys, better for your bank account and you won’t still be eating turkey sandwiches well into the new year! Real vs fake tree? Most artificial trees are made in China from a mixture of plastic, PVC and metal, and are shipped from the other side of the world. They can’t be recycled and they have a carbon footprint equal to ten times that of a real tree.
In other words, you’d have to use your fake tree for a minimum of ten years to negate it’s carbon effect but the average lifespan is estimated to be around four years. A real tree, grown in the UK, can be recycled into compost by the local council or even kept and grown on in your garden (if bought with roots intact), or, if kept in a large enough pot, brought in again next year.
After the party‛s over: For tips and advice on how best to recycle your Christmas trees, Christmas cards and Christmas wrapping paper, go to the West Sussex County Council website www.westsussex.gov.uk/ and look under the Recycling tab. Here’s wishing you all a merry and green Christmas.