Keep Christmas green
Christmas is all about conspicuous consumption, but you can still keep your global footprint in check on the big day with eco friendly gifts and energy efficient ideas. By Erika Gelinard and Sarah Norris
Cards and giftwrap
Send your best wishes this Christmas on eco cards. Make your own creations out of natural materials (for ideas see www.ecostudio.com.au) or purchase Biome cards featuring funky Australian designs printed using vegetable inks made on 100 per cent recycled paper (www.biome.com.au $12.95); or wrapping paper made from 100 per cent post consumer waste, chlorine-free paper also printed with vegetable inks ($14.50 for three sheets). Or better still, wrap your pressies with old magazines (we'll even allow you to use Time Out pages) and other scraps of colourful paper you have laying around. For something with an after life, try plantable cards. Once you've read the message, pop it in a pot of dirt and bingo, out grows basil or a marigold tree. Plantable greeting cards are $6.95, available at Todae, 83 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe 2037. (1300 138 483 www.todae.com.
Carbon offset
Although abstaining is better than reducing after the fact, you can offset the carbon you produce this Christmas by investing in emission reductions elsewhere. According to the not-for-profit organisation Carbon Neutral, the average Australian can completely offset their emission for as little as 60 cents per day. The money invested goes to energy-efficient projects and developing technologies and the planting of trees, which absorb carbon, as well as helping combat salinity, reduce soil erosion and provide habitat for wildlife. See www.neco.com.au; www.carbonneutral.com.au; www.climatepositive.org
Waste
It's estimated that over three million tonnes of waste are created through Christmas alone, many of it dumped in overflowing garbage bins on Boxing Day. Just think of all those once-used shopping bags filling landfill.
Avoid adding to Australia's growing mountain of non-biodegradable waste if you're throwing a party by not serving food and drinks on disposable plates and cups. Instead, brave the washing up and use crockery, or buy BioPlates, which are 100 per cent eco friendly. Made from the frond of Areca Nut palm, which falls from the tree - meaning no trees were cut down to make it - they will biodegrade like any plant matter. According to the Australian Institute, a quarter of all food purchased by Australian families ends up in landfill. So instead of simply dumping your waste, turn it into something productive. Try a Bokashi Bin Indoor Composter ($45 to $199, from Todae), or build a worm farm (see www.reln.com.au). The Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre runs hands-on workshops about composting and worm farming, along with offering great tips on how to set up
a more sustainable and efficient house. At 218 King Street, Newtown
(02 9519 6366).