Going Greener Together
Give the gift of learning new skills with our Greener Kirkcaldy Gift Vouchers. These can be redeemed against all of our workshops, or on local, seasonal fruit and veg boxes in our Fife Food for Fife Folk scheme.
Vouchers can be purchased in multiples of £5 and £10 from our High Street Hub (in cash). We’re hoping to have an online ordering system set up soon.
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Every year, billions of Christmas cards end up in the bin when the festive season comes to an end.
This year, instead of adding this, why not donate the cost of cards and stamps to help a vulnerable person in Fife stay warm this winter.
Simply keeping warm in winter is a challenge for many people in Fife, who are already struggling to afford increasing and expensive fuel bills. In addition, the cold winter months threaten ill health and isolation. According to the National Record for Scotland, in 2016/17, an additional 163 people died due to winter-related causes in Fife.
We’re appealing for your donations to help us support those in need to stay warm over the winter. Your donations will be used to provide vital measures including low-energy electric heaters, electric blankets, warm thermal curtains, reflective radiator panels and emergency fuel top ups. #HelpFuelFifeFolk
Donate directly to our campaign, or send Christmas e-cards and donate through our Don’tSendMeACard account.
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Christmas is just around the corner which means we’re starting to get out our Christmas decorations and buy food for our Christmas dinner. Christmas can be one of the most expensive (and wasteful) times of year. If you are worried about spending too much (and would like to reduce your impact on the environment), then here are a few tips which might help!
In order to save energy and money on your electricity bill this Christmas, why not use solar powered lights 
for outside as they will charge during the day and not cost you a penny.
If you’re using regular lights, get a timer switch so they’re only on when you want them. Timer switches will ensure that the lights outside turn off at a time of your choosing, avoiding unnecessary costs.
Another useful thing to remember is that LED lights use up to 90% less energy than standard lights so it’s worth using these for decorations and in your home! Something else to remember is to wrap up with jumpers and blankets before turning your heating up!
Save foodBefore going shopping, remember to plan thoroughly, including things like how many people you will be cooking for (whether you’re hosting a party or just cooking for the family), and write a list of exactly what you need to buy so that you don’t end up buying too much food and throwing it away once it goes out of date.
Remember to also buy your meat from your local butchers. This reduces food miles and helps the local economy. The quality of the meat will also be much better.
You should also plan your cooking, so you never have only one thing in the oven at a time. This will save energy and save your electricity bill going through the roof, but be sure to leave enough room for the heat to circulate.
Reuse and recycleIf you are planning on replacing anything for Christmas, such as a TV or laptop, then be sure to give the old one to charity where it can be of use rather than throwing it away or keeping it in a cupboard collecting dust for who knows how long.
Sometimes, once the presents have been opened and you’re cleaning the mess that has undoubtedly been left, it is easier to just throw everything in the bin and call it a day, but if you take the time to organise your rubbish, sometimes you can find something that can be reused for another purpose e.g. aluminium cans and tins, or jars can be used to store small plants, bottles can be used as fancy looking candle holders, and gift bags can be saved until next year.
There are ways to make the lead up to Christmas easier on the wallet and the environment, and more fun at the same time. A few examples are:
So, these are some things to consider in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Hopefully these tips can be of some help. I hope you have a great Christmas.
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For our Christmas Fair at the Mercat Shopping Centre last Friday we made some nibbles for people to taste using recipes from the Love Food Hate Waste website.
We made tasty Turkey and Cranberry Spring Rolls that went down a storm. This is a great recipe for any Christmas left-overs you have. You can change the recipe to suit what you have leftover. You can even make larger parcels that you could serve on Boxing Day. See the recipe here.
We also made Macaroons – a delicious way to use up leftover mash potato. They are really easy to make and make lovely presents for people too. You can see the recipe here.
Don’t get caught out with food waste this year – here are some great resources to help you have a waste-free Christmas!
The Greener Kirkcaldy office will close at 5pm on Friday 21st December and will reopen at 9am on Thursday 3rd January.
The High Street Hub will close at 4pm on Saturday 22nd December and will reopen at 10am on Thursday 3rd January.
Our Cosy Kingdom energy advice service will also be closed during these times. If you’re looking for help, advice or support over the holidays, please see the links below.
Thanks to everyone for all of your support over the last year! Wishing you a very merry and greener Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Greener Kirkcaldy.
Energy Advice
Energy Supplier Contact Information
Food Banks, housing support, money advice etc.
Fife Adult Support & Protection Committee have also put together a handy guide to Surviving Christmas and New Year. This includes contact information and opening times for various support organisations in Fife.
Fife Council
Fife Council have created a Winter in Fife website with information about Fife Council services over the holidays and tips and advice. Fife Direct will also be available throughout the festive period.
Scottish Welfare Fund
The Scottish Welfare Fund team 0300 555 0265 will be available on the following days for new Crisis grant applications:
Community Care Grant applications should be made online throughout this period by going to www.fifedirect.org.uk/welfarefund
DWP Freephone numbers (website)
New benefit claims – Telephone: 0800 055 6688; Textphone: 0800 023 4888
Existing Benefit Claims:
Did you know that not all Christmas wrapping paper is recyclable? In fact, a lot of it isn’t. There are lots of reasons why the paper may not be recyclable. Certain dyes used, glitter, foil, plastic backing, laminated patterns, ribbons, sellotape….all of these can make the paper non-recyclable. Even some of the thinner papers can’t be recycled because they don’t contain the amount of fibres to render it useful enough.
This year, I decided to give home made wrapping paper a go! You can buy recycled wrapping paper if you don’t want to make your own, but it does tend to be quite a bit more expensive than the regular stuff. Instead, I bought large rolls of brown paper, inks and stamps and got to work. Fun to get the kids involved as well! The paper is completely recyclable, looks unique, and you can even source paper tape online, so you don’t have to peel off the sellotape.
I have to admit… my first few attempts were not pretty. You need a flat surface and to dab at the ink, not sink the whole stamp in, or else you end up with lots of half stamps/corners of stamps… but once you get the hang of it it’s actually really simple!
I chose to roll my paper out and stamp it before wrapping, but if you have a simple box to wrap, you might be able to decorate after, although this is a little bit more tricky!
You can also buy plain brown gift bags and tags in various sizes, and then decorate these however you like with stamps or pens etc. too. You can get all of these resources in any craft shops. I also found some really nice twine that you can use in place of ribbons. It can be reused and if it goes in the bin it is going to degrade a lot faster than ribbon!
Another option which is a bit more creative, and cheaper, would be to make your own stamps. You can do this by cutting a potato in half and cutting a shape into the end of it. Use this to dip into ink or paint and decorate your paper that way. The kids might find this more fun!
If you don’t fancy the stamping option, you can always wrap your gifts in some nice material that can be used time and time again. This is the norm in places like Japan, and if you ever shop in Lush you’ll notice they have started to promote this as part of a waste reduction incentive as well.
Hope you like some of these ideas and have fun creating your own environmentally friendly Christmas wrapping!
