| For many people, Christmas is a time of joy and celebration, for sharing gifts and feasting with family and friends. It’s certainly a lavish time of year, so here at Circular Ecology we have put together a few simple tips to help you enjoy a greener Christmas: Turkey’s a winner: Christmas wouldn't be complete without an elaborate roast dinner. If you eat meat, the modern tradition of turkey is a winner. It has a low water footprint (for a meat) so it's a good option for the centrepiece of your meal. |  |
o Turkey Water Footprint = 4,300 litres of water per kg (of meat)
o Ham Water Footprint = 6,450 litres of water per kg
o Beef Water Footprint = 15,400 litres of water per kg
Newspaper as wrapping paper: Using newspaper to wrap Christmas presents is an obvious choice. But just how much of a benefit is it? From an embodied energy perspective (the amount of energy consumed to produce the paper) it's a large gain:
“To produce 1 kg of paper requires more embodied energy than is requires to produce 1 kg of steel”
So to enjoy a greener Christmas, just grab that used newspaper for wrapping gifts. Oh, and don’t forget to recycle your wrapping paper after Christmas. On that note, if you don't like the idea of newspaper wrapping paper, it's important to avoid the shiny / foil faced wrapping paper. This paper is not recyclable and is often mixed paper and plastic, meaning can only be sent to landfill.
Food waste: The average family wastes £700 worth of food a year and more than 50% of this could have been avoided. Cutting down food waste will save you money, which comes in very handy for Christmas. Love Food Hate Waste have some great resources, for example to help plan portions and recipes for Christmas leftovers. So to enjoy a greener Christmas don't cut down the amount you eat, just cut down the amount you throw away.
Enjoy: Finally, let's not forget that it's a time of enjoyment and rest, so we hope you enjoy a Great Green Christmas and have a very Happy New Year.
o Ham Water Footprint = 6,450 litres of water per kg
o Beef Water Footprint = 15,400 litres of water per kg
Newspaper as wrapping paper: Using newspaper to wrap Christmas presents is an obvious choice. But just how much of a benefit is it? From an embodied energy perspective (the amount of energy consumed to produce the paper) it's a large gain:
“To produce 1 kg of paper requires more embodied energy than is requires to produce 1 kg of steel”
So to enjoy a greener Christmas, just grab that used newspaper for wrapping gifts. Oh, and don’t forget to recycle your wrapping paper after Christmas. On that note, if you don't like the idea of newspaper wrapping paper, it's important to avoid the shiny / foil faced wrapping paper. This paper is not recyclable and is often mixed paper and plastic, meaning can only be sent to landfill.
Food waste: The average family wastes £700 worth of food a year and more than 50% of this could have been avoided. Cutting down food waste will save you money, which comes in very handy for Christmas. Love Food Hate Waste have some great resources, for example to help plan portions and recipes for Christmas leftovers. So to enjoy a greener Christmas don't cut down the amount you eat, just cut down the amount you throw away.
Enjoy: Finally, let's not forget that it's a time of enjoyment and rest, so we hope you enjoy a Great Green Christmas and have a very Happy New Year.
RSS Feed