5 step guide to a greener Christmas - Step 5 - Entertainment

It seems traditional at Christmas to flop down in front of the Television after dinner, the Children might go and play on their Wii or Playstation and our electricity meters start spinning at an alarming rate. 

One of the best Christmases I can remember we suffered a power cut and were forced to resort to more traditional entertainment. We spent the evening playing 'Trivial Pursuit' by candle light. This year Cranium, Connect 4 and Kerplunk are on the cards. If it isn't already a tradition of your family to take a walk after dinner, why not try it? It's a beautiful winters day here in Athy and I for one intend to take a stroll by the river this afternoon. So, today on Christmas day, why not make a resolution to switch it all off for a couple of hours and spend some quality time as a family, you are not only saving electricity and the environment but it gives you a chance to really bond with those closest too you.

Have a great Christmas everyone and I'll see you back here in the new year.

Christmas Carols for Charity

If your ears can bear it, you can listen to my version of 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' for a small donation to the Children’s Medical Research Foundation - Crumlin Children’s Hospital  at: Mumcentic.

5 step guide to a greener Christmas - Step 4 - Presents

This years must have gift, the Nintendo Wii, is flying off the shelves, but what are it's green credentials? According to Green Peace, who have recently launched a new website: Clash of the Consoles, games consoles "contain toxic chemicals and can contribute to the massive growth of electronic waste that's often dumped, causing widespread environmental pollution and health problems for unprotected workers." So I guess to be green we should look else where.

If you live in the Kildare area, there is still a chance to buy one of my organic gift hampers, you can collect or buy at the Naas Farmers Market on Christmas Eve.  For other green gift ideas, you could visit the Eco-shop in glen of the downs which is open until 5pm on Christmas Eve, or the Cultivate centre in Dublin city centre, which although closed on Christmas Eve is open on Sunday the 23rd of December 2007 from 12-5.30pm. 

Online, but sadly too late for this Christmas, have a look at  Nigel's Eco Store. I sent the link out to all my friends in the hope that they would get me something from there. Be warned you could spend the best part of a day browsing through all the great products on offer on his site.

Another lovely idea, is the gift of a tree. Either delivered to your door, sent as a gift certificate so that the recipient can choose their own, or planted on your behalf   this is the ultimate environmental gift. 

For gift wrapping Klee paper do a good range of recycled wrapping paper and cards. For a list of retailers stocking their products check their website. And remember to recycle and reuse your gift wrap.

5 step guide to a greener Christmas - Step 3 - Dinner

Eating has become the thing that I look forward to the most on Christmas Day. But in the midst of all the gluttony it is possible to be a bit greener. 

Firstly, try not to buy too much food. I know myself that it is a hard to resist the mountains of food in the supermarkets at this time of year, but wasted food is a disaster for the environment. The population of the UK throw away about a third of the food they buy, I haven't been able to find a statistic for Ireland but I would imagine that it would be quite similar. The problem is that a lot of our food waste ends up in landfill and produces methane as it decays. As we are now all aware thanks to the belching cow phenomenon, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. The more worrying and less obvious consequence, according to WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) Is the "embedded energy used to produce, package, transport and deliver the food to our homes which produces the equivalent of at least 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year." 

If you are a meat eater I am sure that turkey and ham is a must. Try and source organic meat if possible, if you can't source organic try and buy locally to cut down on the food miles. 

For vegetarians, again try and source local and organic produce. A lot of the ingredients for my own veggie feast can be found at Farmers Markets and health food stores. By shopping here as well as having the best variety of organic and local foods you can also avoid all the packaging that often comes with supermarket vegatables.

If you have a garden it's worth investing in a good compost bin so that you can compost your peelings to help your garden grow in the new year.

5 step guide to a greener Christmas - Step 2 - The Tree

The scent of the pine tree, to me is the smell of Christmas. But are Christmas Trees eco friendly? The good news is that it can be. Christmas trees are farmed and replanted every year so even if you get a cut tree you can rest assured that you are not depriving the earth of a CO2 absorbing tree. Try to buy locally in order to cut down on the amount of fuel consumed getting it to your house. If you buy one in a pot with a view to replanting it at the seasons end, be aware that our warm houses are not neccesarily the best environment for keeping them in, to help it survive make sure you give it plenty of water. The most important thing is to remember to recycle it after Christmas. There are lots of council run recycling stations which will take in your christmas tree, mulch it and use it to help new things grow.

So what about artificial trees? Unfortunately, although as they are reusable artificial trees consume massive amounts of energy during manufacture. This means that they create CO2 during production where as a real tree absorbs it. They are also made from PVC which is derived from oil. If you have one already, don't throw it away, it would be a shame to think that all that CO2 would have been wasted. They make great second trees. 

Although an Irish grown living tree is the more environmentally friendly of your choices do be aware that trees are often sprayed with chemicals and as yet I have been unable to find an organic tree here.

For more information, I found this great article on the Christmas Tree Debate.

5 step guide to a greener Christmas - Step 1 - Christmas Decorations

It’s easy to put aside your good habits when it comes to Christmas but being green can be fun too.
Organic Yum Yum has compiled an easy step by step guide on how to have an eco friendly Christmas

Making your own Christmas Decorations is a great way to bond as a family. Try painting patterns on used paper, cut it into strips and make paper chains with them. They are a great alternative to tinsel. If you are a bit more adventurous you can be more creative with your paper chains, try these ones. Pine trees shed their cones throughout the year and if you live near a wood with lots of evergreens you should have no problem collecting them. They make great Christmas Tree Decorations, or if you are creative you can add them to some fresh cut holly or other garden foliage to make a Christmas Wreath.

You can even bake your own Christmas Tree decorations. Subscribe to Feelgood Organic Hampers recipe of the month service for free by emailing recipe@feelgoodhampers.com and you will get a recipe for shortbread Christmas shapes just in time for the big day. There are plenty of LED, low voltage fairy lights available at the moment which will help cut down on the amount of power you use, try to remember to switch them off when you go to bed.

Famous at Last

Just thought I'd let you all know about some press coverage we have had recently.

The Sunday Business Post

The Kildare Nationalist (scroll down to the bottom of the page)

And Liz Fuller, who has an excellent blog "More Than We Know" has written a profile on me.