How to be kind to the planet

The holiday season is a time of giving, so give to the Planet too by remembering to be kind to the environment.

Grace Green of Greenworks.co.za, an environmental awareness website, has some suggestions to help make this Christmas a green one.

She says many families end up with leftover food, bottles of consumed champagne and wine, food packaging and gift wrapping, most of which ends up in landfills.

"Being aware of our waste and making conscious decisions about what we use and how we dispose of it, is part of making the holidays green," she says.

Green recommends reducing your consumption wherever possible, reusing and repurposing items you have within your home, and recycling food and gift packaging by dropping them off at your nearest recycle depot.

Here are her other ideas for a merry green Christmas:

TREES AND DECORATIONS

Use an indigenous tree that you can plant after Christmas, or decorate an outdoor tree.

Create your own home and tree decorations made from recycled, scrap and organic materials.

Reuse items you have at home or use flowers and leaves from your garden.

Light up the tree with solar lights.

PACKAGING

Be conscious of the amount of packaging food and gifts come in.

Limit the amount of wrapping paper you use for gifts.

Reuse wrapping paper or gift bags from past gifts you've received. Keep wrapping you receive for future use.

Use fabric, old scarves and bandannas for gift wrapping.

Use brown paper or newspaper with ribbons or raffia instead of wrapping paper.

FOOD

Make your own meals instead of purchasing prepacked meals to decrease your packaging waste.

Be conscious of the amount of food you prepare - don't over cater.

Use organic foods for your Christmas meals.

Use homegrown vegetables and herbs if you were savvy enough to have planted some earlier in the year.

RECYCLE

Separate your glass, cans, plastic and paper and recycle.

Recycle whatever you can, including packaging, food and beverage containers, paper and gifts.

Drop off all your recyclables at a recycling collection depot after Christmas.

GIFTS

Create your own Christmas cards or send e-cards.

Give gifts of food or make a donation in someone's name to an environmental or animal welfare organisation.

Plant a tree in someone's name and give them a certificate. This is a gift that will last a lifetime. Visit www.greenworks.co.za/plantatreepage.html

If you receive gifts that you have no use for, re-gift it to someone who will benefit from it, or give it to a welfare organisation to use or sell.

Shopping

Remember to take your reusable shopping bags when shopping.

Try to do your shopping in as few journeys as possible to avoid additional transport emissions.

For more ideas and suggestions visit www.greenworks.co.za

• This article was originally published on page 21 of The Star on December 18, 2009

Source : Babynet