Are you planning a Green Christmas?
Here at Planet Princethorpe we believe that for Christmas 2023, green should be the new white. Here are some ideas to help you put the environment at the heart of your decision making.
Gift buying is a great place to start. Consider buying second-hand gifts from charity shops or sites such as Vinted for example; this is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, reduce plastic packaging and save money. If you want to buy something new, try something that helps save the planet, such as a nice reusable coffee cup which could save disposable coffee cups going to landfill; or some beeswax wraps to store food which saves people using cling film. Giving a gift of time or help and making a pretty voucher that you can give is a really thoughtful alternative, for example, offering to babysit; taking the dog for a walk once a month or cooking your Nan a meal. These gifts cost nothing but could mean a lot to the recipient.
If you want to spend money then you could buy experiences instead of gifts e.g. cinema vouchers for families; a coffee voucher card, local restaurant vouchers – these can be a great way to create memories and support local business while reducing waste.
How about making gifts? I enjoy making foodie festive gifts for my friends and family for example clementine marmalade, biscotti or jars of chilli jam. Again get the children involved and if pupils send me pictures of foods they have helped to make, I will gift them with merry merits.
Finally, obviously my area of expertise and most favourite part of Christmas…. the food!
Try making your own food instead of buying heavily-packaged Christmas food that could contain ultra processed ingredients. BBC Good Food website is a great place to go to get ideas and plan ahead. You can make Christmas day cooking easy if you plan ahead and you can get started this month by making your own Christmas pudding. Stir up Sunday this year falls on the 26 November. It’s a great activity to do as a family and if you are being traditional, you could add coins - just warn your guests to take care!
Consider going plastic-free and saving money by buying meat, loose fruit and vegetables (with no plastic packaging) from your local butchers and greengrocers and farm shops instead of the supermarket. This supports local producers and you only buy what you need and reduce food waste. Also, in that glorious post Christmas fog, I suggest making a big pan of Boxing Day soup, using all the left over vegetables and turkey bones, reducing your food waste even further.
Hopefully this has given you some food for thought. However you plan your Christmas I hope it will be full of blessings and joy and hopefully a sprinkle of green.
Jacqui Scott
Teacher in charge of Food Technology
