Selfsufficientish.com

I just wanted to point out something which might be obvious to a lot of people but also not quite so obvious to many people.

When buying for xmas are you aware of the environmental issues involved?

Do you like to have a real Tree for instance?
Do you know there are certain organisations that sell sustainable xmas Trees? And that you can get your Tree picked up by the local council after xmas to have it re-cycled?!
Or how about buying a Tree that is still growing. Pine Trees are relatively easy to grow, just pop it outside in a big enough container after crimbo and you will have a reusable real Tree year after year.

We send 1.7 billion Christmas cards each year. That's the equivalent of 200,000 Trees and use a further 50,000 Trees worth of wrapping paper. Altogether, it all mounts up to create around 3 million tonnes of rubbish over the festive season. Try and cut down the amount of rubbish by sending virtual christmas cards, wrapping presents in recycled or reused paper. Sticky tape doesn't degrade so use string, ribbon or wool instead. Stockings or gift bags are also environmentally practical as they can easily be reused.
I have a friend who wraps their gifts up in newspaper, the first time they gave me a gift wrapped in newspaper they apologised about it! I told them it was the most thoughtful thing ever and nothing to apologise about.

How many times have you received a gift that you just chucked in the back of the wardrobe and let sit there for years and years?
Take it to the charity shop instead. One man's trash is another man's treasure
And why not make your own gifts! It needn't be time consuming though of course if you have time they can be as elaborate as you want.
Recipes in jars are a great idea and so personal. I will post some recipes for this purpose if anyone's interested. How about giving Plants as gifts? Everyone loves these. I allways sow extra Seeds in the spring and summer solely for this purpose. Cuttings can be easily propagated as well. Christmas Cacti and African Violets are especially great for this as they are so easy to do. You could even paint the pots they're in yourself.
Or why not bake a gift? Xmas cake, xmas puddings, mince pies, yule log they allways go down well and certainly won't get chucked in the back of the wardrobe!
Sweets are a nice gift to make as well. Toffee, fudge ( drooool!) marzipan fruits, truffles...they won't last long trust me, and you could decorate a little box to put them in too.

Make your xmas decorations. Salt dough is a wonderful thing and so very versatile, you can make almost anything with it and if you give it a good coat of varnish will last years and years. get some Pine Cones and decorate them, with a glue gun attach a piece of string or ribbon and voila! Pretty, unique natural decorations. The same can be said of gluing small pieces of sticks together to make stars ( though I know they're pentagrams ) And how about baking some cookies to hang on the Tree. The ideas are endless and I hope you will add your own ideas for a greener xmas.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper, I just wanted to try and make people stop and think about the unnecessary waste that goes on at this special time of year and the damage it can do to our precious Earth at a time when we should be taking care of her, when She's sleeping.

thanks Hedgewitch, these are really good ideas.....I always have a real tree and then the council recycle them but I feel bad about it each year, but can't bring myself to have a plastic tree, especially as many people tell me to get an artificial tree for all the wrong reasons...real trees make such a mess!!!.....I will get a living tree in a pot this year, you have converted me, i do recycle wrapping paper but I don't think I could wrap pressies ( mainly homemade jams and pickles and chutneys) in newspaper, especially as I don't have much newspaper....please do post some recipes

We did wrap gifts in newspaper one year... although I think we lost the environmental edge by using a spray can of metallic paint to stencil stars all over them!

Wulf

Country Vegetable Soup

1/2 cup barley
1/2 cup dried split peas
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
1/2 cup dry lentils
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dried sage

Directions

1.In a wide mouth pint jar layer the barley, split peas, rice, and lentils.
2.In a small plastic bag combine the parsley, garlic, pepper, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and sage.
3.Decorate jar lid and attach seasoning packet with ribbon or string to jar. Attach a recipe card with the following directions: 1. Empty jar contents into a colander and rinse. 2. Place contents in a large stockpot and cover with 10 cups water. 3. Stir in 1 chopped medium onion, and the seasoning packet. 4. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Check after 30 minutes and add additional water if necessary.


Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
(clean inside of jar with dry paper towel after this layer)
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup raisins
2 cups oats
1 cup flour mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon baking soda and
1/2 teaspoon salt ( or you could put these in a little sachet and tie to the jar lid with string or ribbon.)

Layer ingredients in order given in a 1 pint jar. It will be a tight fit, make sure you firmly pack down each layer in place before adding the flour mixture.

Attach these instructions to the jar:

1. Empty cookie mix into large mixing bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly blend mix.

2. Add:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

3. Mix until completely blended. You will need to finish mixing with your hands.

4. Shape into walnut-sized balls. Place 2" apart on a parchment lined or lightly greased cookie sheet.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 11 to 13 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to baking racks to finish cooling.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Cranberry-n-Spice Cider Mix


1/2 cup dried cranberries
12 cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon crushed whole cloves
2 tablespoons whole allspice

In a small bowl, stir the cranberries and spices together. Place in a pint jar and attach the following recipe:

Cranberry-n-Spice Cider
Makes 12 servings
Use within 3 months

2 quarts apple cider
1 quart water
1 package Spiced Cranberry Cider Mix
2 oranges, sliced

In a large saucepan combine the cider, water, and Cranberry-n-Spice Cider Mix. Heat through but do not boil. Add most of the orange slices, reserving some to garnish mugs of cider. Serve warm.

Here's a link to a site with some more ideas, this site is GREAT!

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/index.shtml

We're all with you Hedgewitch!

I am trying to keep my Christmas green by buying prezzies from World Vision for family and the Centre for Alternative Technology for the kids. But finding recycled cards and wrap locally is very hard. Usually I get my children to make last years cards into new ones to send out, but we moved house in the summer and they have all disappeared! So I have just bought a load of charity ones (non recycled) as a compromise.

I find I seem to do quite a bit of compromising...but at least I think about it instead of going for the major sickening over consumption that most people I know seem to go in for!

Great post - ok.. I know, I'm behind the times, but didn't officially celebrate xmas this year, although still received the traditional xmas cards from some people... will reuse these in the craft box for something or other, and those that we can't reuse, we'll stick in the recycling boxes at T***o etc. Please, don't shove your used xmas cards in the bin.

Mind you - I think that the after christmas sales are even worse than xmas it's self for WASTE... how many people buy things that they think are bargains without a thought for how they are produced and even in fact whether they will be of use !! It's not a bargain if you won't use it!!

There was a xmas tree bloke near us in Aberdeenshire who grows trees, pots them up with roots and then encourages people to bring them back for replanting, if suitable... or chipping if not... will be interesting to hear an update from him in the new year!

Shirlz

How did your kids cope with not "officially" celebrating Christmas? I must admit I love buying presents for the kids in my neighbourhood... I only buy solid wooden stuff, though, no cheap plastic. And I do send Christmas cards; I feel I do enough to be "different", I don't want to exclude myself from the community altogether. But I will try to recycle some of them next year.

For myself - the best present I got was from one friend - a jar of local honey, a hotwater bottle, and some horticultural fleece. All useful, none dust-collecting. Another friend gave me home-made handcream - also brilliant! Some nice cheese and biscuits from the neighbours, equally appreciated. So I think it's slowly getting across to folks that I am not in need of pretty but useless trinkets.

I had no Christmas decoration in the house at all. As a child, we often had a tree from the garden - we always had a few growing out there, and when they became the right size, my father brought one in for Christmas. Later we only had bunches of green, rather than a big tree.

What I hear and read about the Christmas spending madness is enough - I don't have to go and see it for myself... Tomorrow I'll venture out to the local shop, to pick up some milk. And that's all for this year.

Ina

thanks, Hedgewitch for the recipes, especially the cookies recipe.....I will make them for myself (just to see what they are like ,of course!)