A Green Christmas – Presents

Ahh Christmas time, the season of goodwill and giving! It’s also a time when we seem to generate a bit more waste than usual as we go about the usual rituals of shopping, eating, drinking and family time!

So in this consumer-driven time of year, how can we go about making our Christmas a bit more generous to the environment? Here I’ll look at some alternative options when thinking about presents..There’s loads of ways to be smarter about your present giving this year that can help both your pocket & the planet.

If like me, the thought of shopping on Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon typically sends you into a cold sweat, you’ll be pleased to hear that new research has shown that shopping online results in much lower emissions than heading out to the shops.
So you’re already in the right place to do your pressie shopping – why not give someone a gift from one of the many green stores now online, such as Green Shop, Nigel’s or Ecotopia for an even more planet-friendly present. Check out the links below for some more ideas.

If you have a little more time, why not create some gifts for your nearest & dearest? For example, food or clothing are ideal home-made gifts. About.com has a large list of ideas and recipes for hampers and foodie-gifts, especially if you source the ingredients locally.

Home-made scarves & hats are also great ideas if you want to learn a new skill (but perhaps plan to give them next year!) – just search YouTube for videos on knitting or other techniques to learn how to get going.

Don’t forget to make the effort with your wrapping paper & packaging too – metallic paper and non-recycled gift wrap will just be torn off and end up in land-fill.
Instead, look for recycled & recyclable paper such as these from The-Green-Apple.co.uk or Oxfam.
Although it might sound dull, un-bleached brown paper can also look really attractive, as shown by eHow, and is a great alternative.
This year’s cards can easily be turned into gift tags for next year too, so remember to keep the suitable ones!

Next stop – Summary of links:

What?	Where to look
Presents	Nigels Eco Store Ecotopia Green Shop Ecoutlet Good Green Gifts The Green Store Unicef Fair-trade gifts
Craft Resources	YouTube Craftzine eHow
Cooking Links	BBC Food HomeCooking – About.com Allrecipes.co.uk Delia Online Jamie Oliver Online
Packaging & Paper	TinyBox Company The Green Apple Ethical Superstore