Eco News Christmas
 

 It seems right to concentrate on Christmas in December so here are tips from the WWF on how you can celebrate in an eco-friendly way!
Presents: think quality not quantity.  Around half of UK adults say they’ve received gifts they don’t want and this can cause waste.  Maybe think about gifting an experience instead and try to buy products that are made of sustainable materials.  When you’re wrapping your gifts, avoid glittery wrapping paper or any paper that doesn’t tear easily (as this normally means it is made of a layer of plastic as well as a layer of paper).  Try using reusable ribbon or string rather than tape or you could do what my sister-in-law does and use fabric to wrap your presents.  Check out “furoshiki” on the web 😊
Food: be realistic about how much you think you will eat and how much you normally throw away during this season.  Plastic containers to fridge or freeze leftovers are better than clingfilm and overall, eat more plants!  Those lovely root veggies and citrus fruits are in season!
Decorations: ask Helen B about her family tradition with crackers!  Mostly these are not recyclable, but you can buy some that you assemble yourself where most parts can be put in your paper recycling afterwards.  I suspect a lot of us reuse our decorations year after year, which is great; a lot of mine are very meaningful because of who or what they represent.  If you buy a real tree, you can pay to have this recycled and raise money for charity at the same time with Just Helping.  (If you’d like more details about that, please ask me.)
Parties and how to recover from them: in Liverpool, when I was growing up, you were always asked “When are you getting your Christmas clothes?”  If you like to get a new outfit for Christmas, try looking for sustainable fabrics, buy something you will wear multiple times or buy second-hand.  And to recover from the parties, boozy or otherwise (!), reconnect with nature and go out for a walk or maybe kick off 2025 with a parkrun on New Year’s Day!
For further reading, there’s a very though-provoking article here: https://greenchristian.org.uk/reclaim-christmas/
An Advent prayer from https://www.faithandworship.com
To you O Lord we bring our lives
Troubled, broken or at ease
A sacrificial offering
For you to use
Take away our selfishness
And teach us to love as you loved
Take away our sense of pride
And show us the meaning of humility
Take away our blindness
And show us the world through your eyes
Take away our greed