Last year, scientists at the Stockholm Environment Institute reported that the carbon footprint of Christmas – including food, travel, lighting, and gifts - was 650 kg per person in England. That is the equivalent of the weight of one thousand Christmas puddings for every resident of England. [newyorker.com]

A large contributing factor is the miles that food, gifts, decorations and other travel to reach you. Reduce the miles that these things travel, and your Christmas will be greener for it (although even this theory has its critics – read Green your diet, particularly the paragraph on 'miles in the balance'). Support local – locally made gifts, locally grown food, local wine, locally made decorations and travel that doesn't cost the earth, literally.

Green trees – the real versus fake debate
Last year we gave a list of reasons why a 'real' tree is better than a fake:

• Real trees are grown here, fake ones are shipped in from China
• Most artificial trees are made from metals and plastics
• Fake trees are not better for the environment [christmastree.org]
• Fake trees are not biodegradable
• Real trees are a little poor on biodiversity, but their product can be recycled

However, the Christmas Tree Association (can you believe there is such an organisation in America?) advocates that an environmental study has found that using an average artificial Christmas tree has a smaller carbon footprint than a consumer using an average farm-grown Christmas tree. The idea is that buying and using an artificial Christmas tree for at least ten years reduces one's carbon footprint (if you can find a tree that last that long, that is). [christmastreeassociation]

Go one better – buy an indigenous tree, in a pot, and plant it in your garden, or in a public area if you don’t have a back yard, after Christmas. If you’re a business and you really want to earn brownie points, contact Food & Trees for Africa and they’ll plant trees for you.

Christmas cards
Last year, roughly 2 billion holiday cards were sent by Americans, and the UK well over 750 million (the equivalent to 248 000 trees). That’s a lot of paper and air miles. But you don’t have to sacrifice the celebration of Christmas to make it sustainable. Send Christmas ecards:

World land trust
Friends of the Earth
care2.com

Or buy charity, recycled or locally made Christmas cards instead of imported cards.

Green gift ideas
Once one really starts trying to buy things locally, it isn't difficult. Making local markets your main source of gifts is really a lot of fun. It does entail a little more planning, it's true, and leaving it for the last minute is probably not going to work in your favour, but there are many local Christmas markets now in cities in South Africa and you can easily give overcrowded shops, playing overzealous music a skip!

What to avoid:

• Plastic, PVC, or unsustainable goods
• Overly packaged items
• Anything made from endangered wood

What to buy:

• Durable gifts (quality, long lifespan)
• Think less materialistically – see below for a list of ideas
• Support the little guy - avoid big brands and supermarket chains
• 2nd-hand (books, clothes, CDs, antiques, local markets)

Some green gift ideas:

Make or bake your own
Magazine subscriptions - Shared Earth, Simply Green
Books - Scorched by local journalist Leonie Joubert; boiling point, also by Leonie Joubert, and if that doesn't grab you, then her most recent book, Invaded, will; green books, dvds on amazon or get really 'active' and buy these 'must sees' on Activist.
Clothing – hemp clothing (hemporium) is sustainable, it requires no pesticides, herbicides and little fertiliser; vintage clothing and locally made items from markets [more green clothing] [green your clothing]
Edible gifts - locally made or organic chocolate, local organic cheese and wine or an organic vegetable and fruit box delivery [ubergreen directory]
Eco bodycare - look for organic, local and free of harmful chemicals. Local organic brands include Enchantrix, Esse, Rosa Organics, The Victorian Garden, Camphill Village, Ecoproducts baobab seed oil, Malikana, Pure Earth

Green gadgets- solar-powered devices, wind-up radios, eco toys, torches, water clocks and more online at The Green Shop For other gadget ideas [urban sprout directory]
Sustainable gifts - solar lights, low-flow showerheads, geyser timers and hot bags [sustainable.co.za]
Edible gardens Have your own organic vegetable garden and eat it is catching on fast. Why not sponsor the initial month or part thereof for someone you love?[4 top edible garden growers]
Support Fairtrade coffee and order a gift from Bean There Coffee Roastery
Alternative transport - buy an electric bicycle or an electric scooter and help lower carbon emissions
Shop online for organic products here or here if you live in KZN, and avoid the manic rush completely.

A note on re-gifting: passing off unwanted gifts as if they’re being bestowed for the first time. If you use your imagination, this is putting idle presents back into circulation, and, whilst this might have been a social ‘no-no’ for years, it is now more than a little fashionable. Giving gifts that have past lives is the epitome of green gifting. There is just one rule: don't get caught!

Alternative packaging ideas

• Try these innovative klikety klik boxes made from recycled two-litre drink bottles
• Use handmade paper [phumani paper] or [kuyasa] or paper made from hemp [hemporium]
• Get creative – use old magazines or catalogues to come up with innovative wrapping (despite what you think, this can look quite incredible – check this site out
• Recycle your old wrapping paper (sprinkle with water and iron – it actually works!)
• Use string, ribbon or wool instead of sticky tape, which is a bane for landfill

Green Christmas dinner
The most important element when choosing your Christmas meal is to know where your food comes from. Support local, organic food. It is an individual choice, when it comes to deciding between an imported organic item and its local non-organic counterpart. Each of us needs to weigh up the health benefits versus the cost to the environment.

The meat debate continues unabated, but the main issue is not so much the eating of meat (although vegans may strongly oppose this indulgence) as many of us choose to eat meat on special occasions. When you do so, know where your meat comes from. Look for organic meat, free-range, or meat from animals that are farmed kindly. [SA kind food guide]

• Consider avoiding meat – [green your diet] or [the case against meat]
• Boycott the turkey if you’re doing a cruelty-free Christmas
• Avoid over-packaging – buy loose rather than pre-packed vegetables and fruit. It helps cut down on all that waste after Christmas
• Buy organic wine [support our local organic wine farmers] and chocolate
• Support local farmers’ and food markets like the Porter Estate produce market , Neighbourgoods market, the Earth Fair Market, Wild organic trading store, the Bryanston Organic market , Shongweni Farmers Market, Jozi Food Market and many more...
• Compost any vegetable peelings and leftovers [get a worm bin]
• Avoid disposable plates and cups as these only end up in landfill

Low-carbon holidays
Your choice of transport is a chance to exercise environmental values. And there are ways to travel over the silly season that are environmentally-friendly:

Stay local – instead of jaunting overseas, holiday in the next province [green your holidays]
Go on a cycling holiday – this speaks for itself!
Share a car – sharing petrol between four of you makes more sense than taking 2 cars
Travel slow – cut down on your speed, and you cut back on your emissions (take the scenic route and get there later, but happier)
Go by public transport When last did you catch the train or greyhound somewhere?
Offset your travel if you must travel, then offset your emissions by planting a tree or two [Food & Trees for Africa]
Respect your ecosystem wherever it is you visit – be it the seaside, the mountains or a local community, respect your environment – don’t litter, don’t disrupt local life and buy local.

Make your Christmas matter
Finally, make this Christmas count by supporting a local cause – see urban sprout's directory for causes to support or visit [greater good SA]

pic: http://www.inhabitots.com