Be Sustainable in December
Now that winter is definitely set in it’s time to get the garden ready for next year.
Rake up leaves to help your grass grow strong and pile them up where they can be a cozy home for garden visitors. Keep up with your hedgehog-friendly chores over Christmas and put out fat balls and seeds for wild birds.
As the shops fill with attractive gifts, food and decorations it’s easy to get carried away and spend cheerfully, only to discover that you have too many presents of the wrong kind, far too much festive food and more decorations than your home can accommodate when you unpack those boxes you carefully stashed way back in January.
When shopping this Christmas think: Presents – is it something I would like to receive? Is it genuinely useful or just an expensive gadget? And don’t forget, shop local! Food waste – how much do we actually need? So much food is thrown into landfill over just a few days. Traditional Christmas dinner is basically a big roast (or nut!) with seasonal trimmings. Do we really need eight types of cheese, a jar of pickled walnuts and a huge, non-recyclable plastic tub of sweets? Decorations – haven’t we already got a box somewhere with 132 multicoloured baubles and enough tinsel and fairy lights to festoon the Forth Bridge?
Making gifts and decorations at Christmas is a lovely past time for families and individuals. Hand knitted toys and accessories are fun to give and if you like to sew there are “sew” many beautiful items you can create. Be careful when choosing crafting supplies – try to avoid plastic items and embellishments that can’t be reused. Cards are a great project to involve children. Try recycling cards from last year to make unique and personal gift tags.
Have a Crafty Christmas!
