Dreaming of a 'green' Christmas?

Areyou dreaming of a 'green' Christmas? Well, even if you're not, you canstill enjoy the festive season by taking inspiration from our ideas forpresents, parties and decorations which won't cost the Earth.

GIFTS

Buy presents that don't cost the earth and where possible choose gifts that support positive social and environmental change.

1. Try flea markets, antique jewellery and vintage clothing shops for gifts - you'll be giving a unique present, as well as recycling.
2. Indulge with a local, organic hamper made up from the local farmers' market or give gifts of locally-brewed beer or organic wine.
3. If you're talented in the kitchen, you could make chutneys, cakes, or chocolate truffles as presents. Or make your own flavoured organic olive oil, adding dried chillies, garlic or herbs to a pretty bottle and filling it up with oil.
4. Treat people to a special experience instead of an item - such as theatre tokens, annual membership of a gallery or a weekend at a sp. Or what about a gift membership to Friends of the Earth Scotland.
5. For budding eco-enthusiasts, 'Save Cash and Save the Planet', published by Friends of the Earth, is packed with ideas on how you can save money and help the planet.
6. Take your own re-usableshopping bags with you when you do your Christmas shopping. Around125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging are thrown away over Christmas.
7. Take unwanted gifts to charity shops or swap them online.

FOOD AND DRINK

Use home-grown, local, organic ingredients as much as possible for meals.

1. If you can, opt for seasonal localfood and drink. A traditional Christmas dinner uses seasonal Britishproduce and buying your food from a local market or grocer helps thelocal economy and cuts down on 'food miles', which contribute toclimate change.
2. Buy loose rather than pre-packed vegetables - it'll help cut down on waste packaging.
3. If you're having a party, avoid serving food and drink on disposableplates and cups - they will just add to our growing mountain of waste. Borrow extra crockery from neighbours. Many wine shops lend boxes of wine glasses, if you're buying supplies from them.
4. Around half of the waste produced by households at Christmas could easily be recycled, but last year almost 90% ended up in the dustbin. www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk is a good website .
5. Instead of throwing away all those sprout peelings, why not putyour vegetable leftovers in a compostbin? Around 4,000 million sprouts are bought in the week beforeChristmas, so there's a lot of composting just waiting to happen.
6. It's tempting to over-buy food at Christmas, but save yourself somecash by trying to plan menus for the holiday season. The average familywastes around a third of the food they buy.
7. If you do cook too much ensure all spare food has cooled before putting it in the fridge as this will help save energy.
8. More than 10 million turkeys are bought and 4,200 tonnes of aluminiumfoil are thrown away in the UK each Christmas - if you can't re-use the foil for cooking, make sure you put it in the recycling.

TREES, LIGHTS, CARDS & WRAPPING PAPER

Christmas generates millions of tonnes of extra waste most of which ends up in landfill. Do what you can to minimise your waste.

1. Last year we sent around 744 million Christmas cards. If all these were recycled instead of thrown away, it would help to save the equivalent of 248,000 trees. You can recycle your Christmas cards at WH Smith, Tesco and TK Maxx from the 2-31 January 2007.
2. More than 8,000 tonnes of wrapping paper will be used on Christmaspresents, using the equivalent of approximately 50,000 trees. LastChristmas, DEFRA estimated that 83 square km of wrapping paper ended upin UK rubbish bins. If you send cards then choose charity cards andwrapping paper which have some recycled paper content.
3. Try the Natural Collection'snew paper range made of raffia fibresfrom the bark of the mulberrytree, coloured with sugar cane or banana. www.naturalcollection.com No trees are cut down to make it, as the fibres keep growing back.
4. Avoidoutdoor Christmas lights and decoration - they waste energy. However,indoor strings of Christmas lights don't use a lot of energy. If youreally want to cut your energy use,you should swap your ordinary light bulbs for energy saving ones, whichuse a fraction of the energy and last on average 12 times longer. Ifevery UK household installed just one energy saving bulb, they'd saveover £80 million per year.
5. A nicely decorated yukka plant is a nice alternative to a tree. But ifyou buy a real tree, and more than 6 million of us do, check with yourlocal council if they will recycle it. Many localauthorities grind the trees into wood chips and use them to mulchgardens or parks, instead of dumping the trees in landfill sites.
6. Instead of buying your decorations, make them out of waste packaging. The kids will have fun.

FINALLY

Whatever you do this festive season, remember to enjoy it. Then in January make your New Year's resolution to join Friends of the Earth Scotland. Or if you are alreday a member, to recruit one of your friends.

Isn't it time you joined Friends of the Earth?>>>