All I want for Christmas
.. is a future - and no more coal fired power stations – and certainly not 8 new ones to be built (the carbon capture and storage technology is years off) – Can I have something else please Gordon Brown? I’d love a demand-side public education campaign instead and a little more support for green business and green energy thrown into my stocking please?!
In return I’d give you the promise that I’ll put on an extra sweater and turn down the heating, stay out later on cold nights in communal places, switch lights off in rooms we’re not using – I’ll resolve to switch my energy supply to Ecotricity in the New Year. No more sooty Santa footprints in my name please. Coal gives off far too much Co2.
This Christmas has taken on a creative, participative green theme for me – I only buy Fair Trade, organic practical things – and everything else comes from my local charity shop. I go there so often that they have started offering me discounts (I’m sure that’s not right is it?) “Baubles are 20p each, but you can have the whole lots for 50p” – perhaps I look down on my luck… I’ve brought some beautiful nearly new looking stuff. I washed a couple of sweaters and will wrap them up as new – I wonder if they’ll guess – shall I tell them?
I made Christmas crackers – which involved putting in nicer bits of tiny handicraft, Fair Trade, beady rings and organic chocolates into beautiful gift-wrapped toilet roll innards. The insides are so luxurious compared to the usual tat that falls out that I am hoping no one minds shouting “bang!” Jokes and paper crowns – no time – perhaps I could get everyone to tell their favourite joke over the dinner instead? (I am walking on thin ice – but so is the planet – my family love me, so they’ll hopefully take my handmade offering in their stride). Maybe my homemade Christmas crackers will be so successful that I’ll commercialise them next year and have handmade Fair Trade Christmas crackers in 1 in 10 British households – who knows?
My greenie attitude did relent once to buy my daughter an electric guitar on ebay! Special gifts don’t have to cost the earth.
The kids have worked out that they can use their skills not their precious pocket money to give a unique Christmas present of a home cooked meal from table laid to cleared up afterwards hopefully this will be a win win - rather than stomachs rumbling hungrily whilst they argue in the kitchen.
This Christmas is a time for experiments and it seems like a lot of us are trying out a different type of Christmas this year.
Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a great start to a greener new year
Love Saf x :)