Top tips for a Sustainable Christmas
Posted by Richard Lupo on Tue, Dec 20, 2011
The Sustainable Homes team would like to wish you a great Christmas. We hope you enjoy a tonne of delicious food and some good relaxing time with your families.
Most people already use leftovers from Christmas dinner for the next day, rather than throwing them away. This is a great start to an eco-Christmas, but why not continue by trying some of these Christmas tips?
- Turn off the Christmas tree lights and other appliances at the end of the day – leaving TV’s, lights and other electrical appliances, especially phone equipment with transformers, can use up significant amounts of energy. As well as costing you money, it also contributes to climate change. As an alternative, Light Emitting Diode (LED) Christmas tree lights are now available which run at 90% of the energy of normal lights.
- Christmas trees – about 6 millions Christmas trees are bought each year and only about 10% of them are recycled, which means 90% ended up in landfill. Most councils now have a free Christmas tree collection service. They collect the trees and shred them for use as natural mulches or soil improvers, which saves waste and enhances the environment.
- Buy Fairtrade food and treats – food with the Fairtrade mark on it means that the people who produce it have not been exploited and are getting a fair price for supplying. They are generally encouraged to adopt environmentally friendly growing practices, helping to protecting our planet. Some charity shops sell these goods so it’s helping charity as well.
- Turkey and other meat – if you can, get hold of ethically produced meats. You’ll know these by either seeing that they are organic, free-range or have a Soil Association label on them. As well helping the environment, the meat tastes better.
- Recycle unwanted gifts – we all get them but we can’t always find a use for them, except to clutter up the home. Instead of throwing them away in the bin, give them to a charity. As well as raising money for charity, it also diverts waste from landfill and saves the worlds resources. Even better, simply ask the person what they want! It may take a little of the surprise out of it, but you’ll both be happy and there’ll be no waste.
- Recycled cards and wrapping after Christmas – many places do this now so there is no real excuse not to separate this waste out from normal.
- Try and buy gifts that’s don’t use electricity or batteries – Last Christmas, 214 million batteries were bought in the UK. Because of the metals and acids used in batteries, this makes them environmentally damaging when disposed of incorrectly. If you must buy them, first recycle any old ones and second consider investing in a battery charger – it’ll more than pay for itself in the long run.
Have a tremendous break. We look forward to seeing you in 2012 for another great year!
I hope these help.