ecobites.com

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

Turn off appliances - if you're not there, you won't be using your hot water system. If you're going away for more than a week, turn off your electric storage hot water system. Turning off appliances, like tvs and stereos at the power point while you're away will save you loads of energy.

Holiday Locally  Travelling by plane emits on average three to four times more greenhouse emissions compared with travelling by train or bus. Choose a location near to home, or in your own State to cut down on greenhouse pollution

GREEN GIFT GIVING Avoid the stress and hours spent in crowded shops searching for the right gift for each member of your family and organise a Secret Santa, you can buy one good quality eco-friendly gift.

Avoid shopping altogether and make your gifts - handmade comes straight from the heart.

Knitted tea-cosies and add some organic tea, embroided napkin holders, serviettes and tablecloths. Patchwork placemats and table runners, beautify any table setting.

Things that are less practical, such as hand-stitched dolls for the little ones, or a stocking or combine craft and cooking... home made organic cakes, jams, sauces, biscuits and treats are always welcome with those who are too busy. You can pick up boxes and baskets at the local thrift store to turn your culinary delights into hampers And, the baskets are reusable!

Give - gifts of time, decorate old cards or cut cereal boxes etc, for vouchers - 1 x lawn mowed, 1 x car washing etc.

Give to those who really need it. How about making donations to worthwhile charities instead, or giving to the plight of the beautiful Orangutans.

http://www.thetithingtree.org.au/

How about buying school books, fresh water or health care for a person in a developing country?  You receive a photograph gift card of your special purchase to fill in and give to your friend.  Sponsor an animal or give a membership to a charity or environmental organisation for Christmas. http://www.tear.org.au/giftcatalogue/page2.htm#work
 
With a little planning anyone can give Christmas presents that are thoughtful, original and make a difference to the environment.

Make Christmas the opportunity to make a difference. At the end of the celebration, your friends and family will have a smile in their hearts, happy memories, and the confidence that comes from helping others. That's worth more than anything money can buy.

Instead of buying gifts for each other at Christmas, pool all the money you would normally spend on presents, and donate it to charity. This saves all the hassle of Christmas shopping. For children buy something they really need and a special gift.

Or organise a Secret Santa for all the adults, where you buy only one quality eco-friendly gift - you nominate the value, write down your choice of gift and each pull out of a hat and christmas brings happy smiles, alternatively write a list of food supplies for the Christmas celebration.

Eco-Friendly Gift Giving

Consider the power requirements for your gift. Batteries that can’t be recharged are a dangerous addition to landfills because they contain toxic chemicals. Batteries don't biodegrade and are difficult to recycle...a Christmas gift that doesn’t use power or can be recharged is best.
 
Consider the life span of the product. If you are giving something that won’t last, you are creating waste.
 
Purchase Christmas gifts out of naturally made products. A wood toy train, purchased from your local craft market will do less damage to the environment when it gets thrown out than a plastic toy. Hemp products are also increasing in popularity.
 
Do your research. If your gift isn’t made from natural products,  research the environmental impact of the material it is made from.

Is it made from renewable resources?

Is it biodegradable?

Is it recyclable?

What kind of processes go into making it?

What kind of effects will it have once it reaches a landfill?
 
Find out where the product comes from. The amount of waste created and energy used in the manufacture and transport of products can have a real impact on the planet. Buying locally contributes to the economy of your community and reduces the amount of pollution created by trade. The manufacturer should also have an environmentally friendly operation.
 
Give Christmas gifts that teach. Show your loved ones how they can contribute to helping the environment. Many people don’t participate in eco-friendly processes because they don’t know enough about them and worry that they are difficult.
 
Teaching your friends and family how they can do their part, is a Christmas gift on its own!

Choosing an eco-friendly Christmas gift is not difficult or expensive. It’s certainly worth the time to be environmentally friendly! When purchasing gifts look for items that have the following eco benefits: minimal environmental impact; minimal packaging; recyclable; made from recycled materials; little energy/water usage for its production or use; made in your own country, durable and can be repaired!
 
Share with your family memories of Christmas past. What meant the most to you? Was it the presents or something else?

Are purchased gifts of things necessary?

Consider purchasing items to save the environment: buy a worm farm to dispose of your Christmas food scraps; give a household compost bin for Christmas; take a Christmas walk, not a Christmas drive (especially after that heavy lunch). On picnics, take food in re-useable containers and take other recyclable material home with you.

Read American Mania: When More is Not Enough by psychiatrist Dr. Peter C Whybrow  http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/24545

Sites listed below have many hints for alternatives:

Ethical consumption for the holidays: you don't have to buy stuff to be loved. It's better for the environment if you don't. We in Western countries are 20% of the world population, but we are consuming over 80% of the earth’s natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth.  http://www.tikkun.org

Ownership can be a burden. Once you buy something, you have to carry it around, fix it, remember where you put it, and keep it clean. Experiment with the freedom of buying nothing and embrace Henry David Thoreau's sentiment that "he who owns little is little owned."

http://www.ehow.com/how_111392_buy-nothing.html

http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/

http://www.xmasresistance.org/

http://www.adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd/ 
 
CARDS + WRAPPING PAPER
 
There's no point recycling rubbish if we don't buy recycled products. Make sure that we use recycled cards, tags and wrapping paper or make your own, send texts or e-cards, after the big day, make sure your Christmas cards don't go to waste - take them to a recycling point.

Wrap presents with ribbon or string instead of sticky tape.

Wrap a gift in a gift. For example, put kitchen utensils inside an attractive tea towel, or, give a child a backpack with more treasures inside.

Instead of using Christmas paper to wrap presents, find a decorative box or decorate one yourself- they're reusable and a present in themselves.

Put the kids presents in a stocking or a Santa Sack - it will save you hours of wrapping. For large, hard-to-wrap gifts, just add a large fancy bow.
 
E-mail your friends a festive message with a Christmas picture instead of sending a card, it saves time, money and paper. http://www.care2.com/send/categories

Vouchers for services like massages and gardening have a low eco-impact as do gifts like movie, concert or sports tickets. Also consider giving someone GreenPower or offsetting their carbon emissions.
 
CANDLES Paraffin candles are made from petroleum residues. Neither are good for your health or the environment. Soy, beeswax or natural vegetable-based candles are preferable because they biodegrade, are smoke-free, and are so more eco-friendly.
 
DECK THE HALLS WITH REAL HOLLY. Drawing on an age old adage of having a natural Christmas. Instead of spending money on artificial Christmas decorations that won't biodegrade, let nature decorate your home.

Christmas decorations can be made from organic, recycled and scrap materials. Try organic popcorn, dough, cinnamon sticks, bows, gingerbread, seasonal berries, fruit and vegetables, ivy and evergreen branches, pinecones, gumnuts - once you have finished with them, you can put some in the composter and reuse others.
 
BUY AN ORGANIC TURKEY Feed your guests a more healthy fare this season. Many holiday classics such as ham, turkey, green beans and even Figgie pudding can be made organically, leaving a more natural footprint on our earth. Make organic and natural treats. Try to find products without excess packaging. Keep these ideas in mind and you may feel better now and tomorrow.

Try to make sure your turkey has been reared in humane conditions or go vegetarian and create an organic bean loaf!
 
Try to buy Christmas food locally. Shopping at farmers markets or buying direct from the organic farmer is best. Think of the benefits - the taste of chemical-free food, the reduction of food miles and C02 emissions and reduced dependence on oil. Buying locally produced organic food also boosts rural jobs.

CHRISTMAS TREE

If you already have an artificial tree, use it! The resources needed to create it have already been expended; throw it away and you're just adding to the landfill.

We dislike fake trees because (a) they just plain look fake and (b) they are made of plastic which releases polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into the atmosphere and soil during production (not to mention that it won’t decompose in the landfill if you one day end up pitching it).

 According to the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition, PVC creates and disperses dioxins, which include the most toxic manmade chemicals known. The dioxins accumulate in fatty tissues of both people and animals, causing risks for cancer, lowering immune functions and impairing children’s development.

We are not too keen on cutting down real trees either (though at least they can be replanted and are not toxic) I think the most eco-friendly option would be to buy a real evergreen tree with the root ball still attached, put it in a pot indoors for a short time while you celebrate and then plant it outdoors afterwards.
 
Buy a living Christmas tree in a pot - it may start off small but will grow and it is environmentally friendly. If you don't have a tree yet, look around your home at what you may have - a potted evergreen, topiary, fallen tree branch.

If you want to revisit a more traditional time, you can even adorn a tree in your yard. You can decorate any of these and have them to enjoy for years to come. For outdoor light decorating use solar powered Christmas lights.

If you must have a real tree, buy from a small-scale sustainable grower and choose a tree with roots so that it can be replanted  www.soilassociation.org/christmas if replanting isn't an option, most local councils run Christmas tree recycling schemes, Contact your council or visit www.letsrecycle.com

Consider planting a tree to replace the tree or find an alternative tree from nature in your garden! Instead of buying new ornaments create a “trashy” tree. Use fallen tree branches for the tree and decorate with recycled items from around the home or thrift stores - old silk shirts cut and tied in bows etc and items found from mother nature - gumnuts, pine-cones etc.
 
It takes a little extra work to keep your holiday celebrations environmentally friendly, but it is certainly worth the effort. Your friends and loved ones can share your eco-friendly celebrations and you can all work together towards reducing some of the 300,000 tons of waste created by the Christmas season.

Every "green" little bit counts.

Finally, make a New Year's resolution to incorporate some of these principals well into next year. You will find that the warmth of the holiday season will be much easier to hold on to.

We wish you a Eco Christmas and a happy Green New Year.