12 Ways to a Climate Friendly Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate, to give and to spend time with your family and friends. Our 12 Ways to a Climate Friendly Christmas is designed to encourage us all to still enjoy the fun and festive side of Christmas while also thinking about the part we can play in managing climate change. Check out our top 12 tips!

1. Shop locally - Supporting our local businesses not only helps to maintain a healthy local economy and encourage local jobs. It also helps to reduce the need to travel long distances in our cars and cuts back on greenhouse gas emissions.

2. Get a real Christmas Tree - The best alternative for a sustainable Christmas tree is a live one – consider a -native species or use a Christmas Bush or Christmas Bells. You can visit a tree farm for a cut tree or plant your own in a large pot to use year after year. If you use a synthetic tree take good care of it so it lasts a long time.

3. Buy sustainable gifts - Think sustainability in gift giving and you’ll discover some interesting new ideas. There are many unusual and useful products available that have been designed with the benefit of modern technology and a desire to reduce our impacts on the planet.

4. Give gifts which keep on giving - Many charities and environmental organisations offer gift services that not only solve the problem of buying for the person who has everything, but also help others, or the environment, for years to come and avoids unnecessary purchasing.

5. Wrap with recycled paper - Use wrapping paper that is made from recycled paper, or else use paper that can easily be recycled. Avoid foil papers, plastic ribbons and other materials that can’t be reused or put in your recycling bins.

6. Turn those Christmas lights off overnight - One of the delights of Christmas are the lights cheering our streets and homes. Turning lights off whenever they are not required reduces greenhouse gas emissions because of the reduced energy use – it’s also a great habit to get the family into. Why not try out the new LED or solar powered lights that are available.

7. Buy Green Power - Green Power is electricity guaranteed to be sourced from renewable sources, like solar, wind and hydro. This electricity produces no greenhouse gas emissions. Everyone can choose to source some or all of their electricity from Green Power all year round. Contact your electricity supplier for more information and support our Australian renewable energy industry.

7. Don’t Over cater during the Holidays - We all love our Christmas feast but try to keep the amount of food in line with the number of guests! Food wastage is a big issue in Australia where throw out $5.2billion worth of food every year.

8. Compost or Worm Farm your Leftovers - Why not use some of your spare time to set up a worm farm or compost system. Your Christmas and New Year leftovers will give your system a great kick start and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases generated when food is disposed of to landfill.

9. Give charity or e-cards- Giving charity cards is giving twice because it supports a good cause while sending a festive message. E-cards are also a great idea as there is no paper, ink and transport involved – not to mention they are cheap to boot!

10. Plan Your Trips- Avoid flying unless it’s necessary, and when you do offset your emissions. If you are driving plan your trips to make best use of your petrol and always drive to minimise your fuel consumption by accelerating slowly and keeping your tyres inflated.

11. Shutting Down- Save energy in your home or office by shutting down all of these appliances and items that you won’t be using over the Christmas break. If you are going away for an extended period of time think about what items won’t be required and turn them off at the wall to make big energy and greenhouse savings.

12. Use less shopping bags- Remember to take your reusable bags with you this Christmas and avoid plastic bags altogether. If you forget then try to consolidate your shopping into fewer bags and say no to extra bags at the checkout. In doing so, you will reduce the impacts on the environment from the manufacture and disposal of plastic bags.