Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Recycle All the Way
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With Christmas around the corner, the madness in stores and the rush to buy presents is well on the way. This is the occasion when even more men and women swarm shopping centres to make full use of Christmas bargains and deals. On the other hand, retailers rely on this time of the year to make up their annual sales.
This is also the time when wastage and excessive expenditure is at its highest. Most of the time one feels compelled to buy a gift for friends and families, just for the sake of satisfying that ‘need for a present’ at Christmas time. Think of all those gifts you’ve received which are now shoved at the back of the cupboard. How useful were they?
This Christmas, instead of buying more ‘stuff’ and wasting more of earth’s resources, we (here at SUMO) are making a conscious effort to cut our environmental impact. And you should too.
The best way to do this is to start with simple specific targets. It does not have to be elaborate or involved, just realistic and counts towards achieving a greener future. For example, one of our goals is ‘To not buy Christmas gifts in packaging’. This makes us deliberately look for ‘unpackaged gifts’ such as locally handmade presents or ‘experiential gifts’. Another is ‘This year’s Christmas dinner leftovers will not fill more than one garbage bin’ – makes us think about how much food we actually need and cater to the number of people so that food is not wasted.
So, our tips for a Greener Christmas are:
· Send e-cards rather than purchasing cards, or better still make your own from recycled material. It will be more appreciated
by your friends and family.
· Instead of a gift this year, make a donation to a charity on the recipient’s behalf.
· Give an ‘experiential gift’ such as tickets to concerts, dinners, spas, sport events, car washes, etc. Also consider e-books or
e-magazine subscriptions. These can usually be found online and require virtually no wrapping. No driving around and
no waste.
· Buy locally – this helps sustain the local economy and reduces transport-related greenhouse gas emissions.
· Remember to take your reusable bags if you do go shopping - avoid plastic bags.
· Be creative with your wrapping ideas – use materials you can find around the house, such as old magazines / comics, old
music sheets, etc. Or why not wrap the gift in another gift such as wrapping kitchen utensils in an apron.
· Do use energy efficient Christmas decorations and lighting. And please turn them off at the power source after.
The SUMO team wishes you ‘A very Merry Green Christmas and have a Happy New Year’.
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