Green Christmas

I’m dreaming of a green christmas

So might that old swooner Bing Crosby have crooned. Ditch the bling for a sustainable shopping basket and pack eco-friendly attitude into your festive break
Words: Ann Warnock

Trim the Tree

Say no to non-biodegradable bling. Wire large red or orange peppers and chillies onto your Christmas tree then throw them on the Boxing Day barbecue. Bake traditional white-iced gingerbread biscuits to hang, thread wreaths of cranberries and cinnamon quills and strings of popcorn. For recycled glam bring out old costume jewellery. Swathe your tree in LED Christmas lights; these incorporate the same computer-chip technology used to light calculators and watches. They use 90 percent less electricity and last up to 10 years longer than traditional Christmas lights. Kiwi specialist lighting company Flexilight NZ suggests double-checking with your retailer that you are getting LED lights. They may cost a little more but they’re worth it.

My Angel

Trade Aid is grateful that the only loss it sustained in the February earthquake at its Christchurch headquarters was stock. Check out its attractive range of sustainable Christmas decorations handmade under Fair Trade conditions in developing countries. Hang an abaca angel from the Philippines at the top of your tree – it’s made from a fibre which can last for up to 100 years. www.tradeaid.org.nz

Say it with a card

English inventor Sir Henry Cole commissioned the world’s first Christmas cards in 1843. E-cards entered our orbit in the 1990s, fuelled by concern at the environmental impact of printing, mailing and delivering conventional cards. Emailing your Christmas wishes is eco-friendly but does it have emotional resonance? If you prefer traditional salutations, make your own, choose those made from recycled paper (it will say on the back if they are) or buy a brand that shows a commitment to protecting forests. Hallmark’s 2011 Christmas card range is Forest Stewardship Council accredited; the paper is sourced only from sustainable forests. A clutch of Kiwi designers and artists produces a range of eco-friendly Christmas cards without the clichés. Check out www.kinoo.co.nz

Inks, dyes, glues, postage, felled trees and fuels consumed in manufacturing and distribution are all part of the Christmas-card madness. A graphic-design company in Devon, England, has devised the ultimate environmentally friendly Christmas cards for its clients: they can be eaten! Printing its cards on paper made from potato starch and using edible inks, Oxygen Creative says it wants to highlight the fact there are many ways to help protect the environment.

Wrap it Up

Brightly coloured foil-type Christmas paper looks great but it’s difficult to recycle and break down. Pack gifts in reusable shopping bags or decorative gift boxes instead. Make your own wrapping paper using old calendars, posters, catalogues, pattern tissue, brown paper or newspaper. Wrap travel gifts in the travel section pages, sports gifts in the sports pages, kitchen gifts in tea towels. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Real v Fake

The real Christmas tree: biodegradable with a low carbon footprint. Those grown in sustainable specialist Christmas-tree nurseries are harvested when about three years old and replaced with a seedling the following winter. Post-Christmas the trees can be mulched so their nutrients are recycled. Ask your Christmas-tree farm, council or green-waste disposal company about a mulching service. If you cut down your own Christmas tree, plant a replacement.

The artificial Christmas tree: made from petroleum-based products and mass produced overseas. It’s essential to buy a high-quality product with longevity – you don’t want it clogging a landfill in three years’ time.

Recycle

We accumulate three times more bottles and cans than usual over the holidays and in coastal areas it’s an additional 400 percent, says the Packaging Council of New Zealand (Inc). If you’re going away, check what the local arrangements are for recycling. For the latest data on the volumes of waste going into our landfills, check out the Ministry for the Environment website here

The Green Gift

Check out your local organic store for green ideas. For the socially responsible foodie, Wellington-based Commonsense Organics has an eco-friendly Christmas hamper ($149) and delicious Eat Right mince pies handmade in Nelson ($12.99 for a six-pack). Fair Trade cotton bags ($3.99) are great little stocking fillers while Eco Art’s all-natural New Zealand beeswax candles from the Coromandel give out a heart-warming Christmas glow (from $1.40 for tea lights to $18.99 for a table pillar). Take a look at the Commonsense Organics website

The ultimate Christmas present for the person with everything, including environmental awareness, the Hungry Bin is a fast and convenient way to compost food scraps. Its innovative design is highly efficient and can process up to two kilos of waste per day. It’s ideal for urban living, it’s clean and it’s chic ($295, available online or from selected retailers). www.hungrybin.co.nz

Head to your local farmers’ market for fresh, sustainably grown fare for the Christmas table and a raft of eco-friendly foodie gifts. You’ll be supporting the planet, your community and your health.
www.farmersmarkets.org.nz

For picnic plates for your Christmas crowd, choose the only New Zealand-made environmentally friendly disposable plates and cutlery. After use they can be composted or fed to the birds. www.potatoplates.com

For your Christmas table centrepiece, browse online meat supplier Gourmet Direct’s wide range of sustainably farmed, free-range and organic poultry including organic chicken from Kipdale Farms, Clevedon, and free-range duck from North Canterbury, delivered to your door. www.gourmetdirect.com