Southampton Sustainability Forum

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Green Drinks evening. We were well fed and watered, ready for the green quiz, which got our minds turning over some startling facts about trying to enjoy the festive season without a planet damaging hangover. Its difficult to keep an eye on sustainability when we’re being tempted to over indulge, but here are some top tips to remind us that the environment still matters at Christmas.

• 20% more waste is created at Christmas than at any other time during the year. Make a special effort to sort card, paper, bottles, plastic and foil for recycling and ensure that any house guests know where to put your recyclables.
• When buying presents, give priority to those with a minimal amount of packaging, or packed in recyclable materials e.g. cardboard. Buy fair trade products visit the Fair Trade Shop in Shirley high Street in Southampton, click here.
• If you don’t already have one, put a composter or wormery on your Christmas present list click here.
• Re-use carrier bags when shopping and recycle them when they are no longer fit for use. Many supermarkets now have plastic bag recycling facilities or better still remember to take an organic Fair Trade cotton bag with you when shopping visit Southampton based Vandanamu Fair Trade.
• Make your own decorations. Alternatively, buy a small collection of good quality items that will last many years, sometimes many generations.
• Make your own Christmas cards. Alternatively, send e-cards, the Environment Agency has a fun card you can send click here.
• Buy a locally grown Christmas tree and then recycle it afterwards. Try putting Christmas tree recycling and then the name of your county into a google search to find local facilities for doing this. Better still, buy a tree with roots, pot it and you can reuse it next year. You could even try growing your own tree in preparation for next year.
• Use ribbon or string instead of sticky tape to wrap presents. Sticky tape is not biodegradable and also prevents wrapping paper being reused. Each year more than 8,000 tonnes of wrapping paper (50,000 trees worth) is used on Christmas presents in the UK.
• Christmas food. Buy organic, local and fair trade wherever possible. If you are not already vegetarian then consider having some vegetarian days over the Christmas holiday period, click here. Have a very sustainable Christmas.