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Head of Team Green, Anna Campbell, has given
her best tips for an eco-friendly Christmas!
1. Use reusable wrapping - 226,800 miles of wrapping paper is thrown away in the UK each Christmas - enough to circle the planet nine times! Try using reusable wrapping materials, like gift bags or boxes.
2. Don’t waste food - We all know Christmas is a time for eating too much, but avoid having eyes bigger than your stomach and buying more food than you are going to use. And if you do have left over after Christmas dinner, don’t just throw it away. The following website has loads of ideas for meals you can make with Christmas leftovers: www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/christmas_leftovers
3. Buy local - Buying food from local sources can reduce the distance your food has travelled enormously. This means that the emissions from the road and air freight needed to get the food to your plate are also reduced.
4. Bring reusable bags on your Christmas shopping trips - Plastic, and especially plastic bags, are incredibly damaging to the life in the world’s oceans. Try using a reusable shopping bag instead - fabric bags are even better, as they have a much smaller effect on the environment than their plastic counterparts.
5. Switch off your lights - Christmas tree lights left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas produce enough carbon dioxide to inflate 12 balloons! Turn off your lights when they are not needed, and you can also switch to more efficient LED lights. Merry Christmas!
a very eco christmas