The following articles appeared in the Longford Leader from October 2007 as part of "How We Live Our Lives" series.
-Have a Green Christmas-
By Noreen McLoughlin
Every year, people all over Ireland cross their fingers and hope that this year will bring a beautiful and magical white Christmas. This enduring image has persisted throughout many generations and hopefully this year we might be lucky enough to see a few snowflakes on Christmas Eve.
However, having a white Christmas doesn’t mean we still can’t have a green Christmas. Looking back on 2007, it seems that it was the year of the environment. Never has there been so much talk about the environment and how it will be affected by climate change. People and governments finally seem to be realizing the importance of climate change and how it has the potential to affect every living thing on our planet. Other issues such as waste management and biodiversity have also become issues that people are increasingly aware of. The people of Co. Longford should be extremely proud of themselves as recent figures from the Department of the Environment revealed that Co. Longford achieved the highest rate of recycling in Ireland in 2005. Hopefully this trend has continued into 2006 and 2007.
This is the time of year when everything seems to be done in excess so it is extremely important that you do what you can to lesson your impact on the environment. Here are some tips to help you and your family have an environmentally friendly Christmas:
1. Make your own decorations;
2. Buy low energy or LED Christmas lights;
3. Re-use wrapping paper and gift boxes;
4. Buy a battery charger and re-useable batteries for the toys and gadgets that require them;
5. Give hampers of local, organic or Fairtrade produce to your friends and family;
6. Buy loose fruit and vegetables from a local producer if possible;
7. Compost all your vegetable and fruit waste. You can also compost your paper napkins;
8. Put leftover turkey and ham into reusable lunch boxes or containers with lids instead of using non-recyclable aluminium foil or plastic film;
9. Recycle all your cardboard, cans and plastic packaging and bottles in your blue bin or at your local recycling centre;
10. Bring all your bottles to the local bottle bank. If it’s full, don’t leave them lying there but bring them home again and return when the bank has been cleared;
11. If you have a real tree, shred it and use it as mulch in your garden otherwise bring it to your local recycling centre if they are taking them.
12. Re-model your old Christmas cards into unique gift tags or cards for next year.
Longford Environmental Alliance would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and green Christmas! For more details on our organisation and for upcoming events, check out www.l-e-a.org. New members welcome.
Noreen McLoughlin is a member of LEA and an Environmental and Ecological Consultant. She is also a member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. You can contact her at noirinmc@eircom.net
Other Articles in this Series
- Transport
- Security of Supply
- Sustainability
- Housing
- Can We Patent Life?
- Swans, Snails and Tree Huggers