Have a Greener Christmas
by Suzy
Our Project Manager Suzy has listed her Top 5 tips for a greener Christmas. Having a great holiday season needn’t cost the earth…
1. Make sure your Christmas lights are LEDs – they cost six times less to run than traditional bulbs! And remember to switch them off when you go to bed – you could use a timer switch to automatically turn them off at night.
2. Try a ‘living’ tree, or a real tree from a local supplier, rather than buying a plastic tree. The Council will pick real trees up for recycling in the New Year.
3. Think local when you’re buying Christmas dinner – look at the Fife Diet’s map of local food suppliers. Our favourites are the Farmer’s Market (next ones are Saturday 29th November and Sunday 22nd December) for meat and for winter veggies.
4. Choose gifts that reduce your festive impact without becoming Scrooge. Our favourites are Fair Trade chocolate (we sell lots of that in our High Street Eco Shop); anything homemade, especially biscuits or chocolate truffles (hint, hint); charity gifts like Oxfam’s where your gift can give a child in the developing world an education. Other great ideas are to give a fruit tree (e.g. from http://plantsandapples.co.uk), a magazine subscription, a book token. And for the energy-saving enthusiast, how about an energy monitor to help you keep your bills under control?
5. Most importantly, remember that Christmas should be about peace, love, and spending time with friends and family – not just spending money on them! You could make a No Unnecessary Present Pact (Nupp) with friends, or agree to a Secret Santa with a price limit or a ‘made, found or under a pound’ rule.
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