Bunchland

Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada gives some suggestions on how to celebrate the holidays while having a low impact on the planet

In our society, what was once a religious observance (and still is to many who celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas) has become an orgy of consumerism. The messages of peace and good will have been overtaken by indexes of consumer confidence. We are expected, practically as a matter of national duty, to max out our credit cards. We stress out finding things we can’t afford to give to people who may or might not ever use the stuff we all feel obliged to buy.

We all know it’s the thought that counts. And the ecological footprint of the thought, the expression of love and caring, is zero. But the impact of buying, wrapping, spending and spending some more puts a serious boost to our carbon footprint.

So here are some tips to reduce the ecological impact and to expand the network of compassion this holiday:

• Give a meaningful gift to fight poverty. Oxfam, Unicef and World Vision all have great on line catalogues.  Tell you aunt or college buddy that you bought them a goat for a family in a developing country. Our go the whole hog; give them a pig. Or solar panels too.
• Shop local. Go to the local craft fairs and support local artisans.
• Support local writers. Go to your independently owned local bookstore. Support Canadian writers!
• Make a gift! Bake a gift!
• Give a membership in an environmental group, or make a donation in the name of a friend.
• Reduce the waste in wrapping. Give re-usuable wrapping – cloth bags.
• Take a shopping cart worth of goodies to the local food bank.
• Donate parkas and snowsuits to the snowsuit fund.
• Be a secret Santa for a family in need. (In my town, the local RCMP organized this. See if there’s such an effort in your town).

• Search out Christmas cards on 100 percent recycled paper.

The big ecological question– the tree!

• For life cycle ecological impact, your best choice is a live tree you can re-plant.
• But a cut tree, grown without pesticides, and chipped after the holidays is a good choice.
• Artificial trees can be re-used, but are made with plastics and metal and petroleum by- products and eventually end up in a land fill.
• Make your own ornaments. A string of popcorn and cranberries make a great decoration, and a great gift to the birds, strung outside after the holiday.
• Be sure your Christmas tree lights are energy misers. Replace any old wasteful bulbs with LED lights.

• For Christmas dinner, order ahead and have a locally grown, organic free range turkey, duck or goose. Or have a vegetarian Christmas dinner (we do!)
• Make your holiday a 100-mile diet cuisine. Holiday menus are usually big on root vegetables, a great Canadian winter staple. Get to know turnips, parsnips, potatoes, carrots and jerusalem artichokes. Stock up on fair trade organic cocoa for home-made hot chocolate (ok, I know it’s not 100-mile, but after out door winter activities, nothing beats a cup of hot chocolate!)

• Slow down. Slow way down. Plan ahead for quiet family activities. Cook together. Let the kids try to prepare a boxing day brunch (free range eggs!). Card games, chess, Scrabble. Go skating together. Try for less TV and more time being together.

Have a wonderful holiday. Hannukah was early this year, but if you celebrate it,  have a Merry Christmas. And may we all have a wonderful, peaceful and very green New Year.

Elizabeth May is the leader of the Green Party of Canada and was recently named one of the most influential women in the world by Newsweek.

What steps have you taken to have a more environmentally-friendly holiday? Let us know!