It would take dedication to follow all the ideas to the letter, and no-one is suggesting that.  Being St Albans, a lot of people reading this blog will do many of these suggestions already – the words bleeding obvious come to mind.  But the size of post-Christmas bin bags provides dramatic evidence of how easy it is to push Christmas to excess, we’re all facing tougher times, and the Transition list is so comprehensive that it provides all sorts of ideas which should resonate.

Chez Walkington, we have favourite bits of wrapping paper which go round and round to roars of family approval, until they are too tattered for continued use.  We always cut up last year’s Christmas cards for present tags.  Sloe gin as a present? – too good to give away.

But a meat-free Christmas?  I love turkey too much, it’s the only time of year that we have it, so we try to reduce meat eating outside high days and holidays.  It’s a case of chacun à son goût - but if we each did something extra, the collective impact would be very powerful, and it would be a present for the planet.

Happy Christmas!

Last year, Transition St Albans asked its members how we could make Christmas more
sustainable. Here are your answers. There are loads of different idea here; no-one will do everything, but everyone can do something.
Happy Christmas from everyone at TSA!

Trees and Decorations
If you buy decorations, buy ones made from wood or other natural materials
Buy low energy LEDs or solar lights is you need new ones
Find a large branch and decorate it, rather than a tree
Make your own decorations (there are lots of ideas on-line) i.e. dried oranges, or biscuits. Use the little trays from your mince pies. Raid your recycling box!
Buy a living tree with roots in a pot, then keep it in the garden during the year.
Remember to water it well.
Make your own wreaths using plants from the garden

Cards
Buy charity cards not commercial ones
Buy cards made from recycled materials, and then recycle them!
Use eCards or email. Buy an Oxfam Good Gift (or similar) with the money saved
Deliver local cards on foot or bike
Don’t stick down the envelopes, then it’s easier to reuse them
Recycle postage stamps at the post office

Gifts you can make
Chocolates, biscuits, vinegars (there are lots of ideas online)
Spirits with foraged fruits
Chutneys and jams
Personalised calendars
A book of youfavr ourite recipes
Sewing and knitting
Gifts that you buy
Give events / tickets / your time / subscriptions not objects
Buy second hand from charity shops and eBay (especially for young kids … they just don’t care!)
Give “good gifts” like Oxfam Unwrapped and the Woodland Trust trees
Shop locally from independent shops, like the craft shop in town, and school fairs
Think about the embedded energy in a gift; is it made in China and shipped here?
Is it made of plastic? Buy things that last.
Buy edible, wearable and/or FairTrade products (try Oxfam and the farmers’ market)
Look for presents which don’t need electricity
Check the energy efficiency if buying electrical goods
Can last year’s unwanted gifts be given to someone?!
Get a gift receipt, so the gift can be swapped if unwanted

Wrapping and packaging
Turn last year’s Christmas cards into this year’s gift tags or gift boxes
Wrap parcels in brown paper and use pretty ribbon or potato prints to brighten it
Wrap parcels in newspaper and ribbon or rafia
Use string, ribbon and raffia instead of sellotape
Use decorative bags and boxes that are reusable
Keep hold of useful boxes and bags during December to help with wrapping
Have a treasure hunt instead of wrapping paper
Save the wrapping paper to use again
On Christmas Day, have separate bin bags / boxes ready to recycle paper and card in, and another bag for general rubbish. Do it straight away!

Food and drink – what & where to buy
Buy veg from a local grower e.g. Carpenters in Sandridge Road
Try and buy British food, the more local the better
Don’t drink bottled water
Grow some of your own; parsnips and carrots can be harvested in December
Make your own mulled wine

Food and drink – planning meals
Plan some meals, so you don’t buy too much
But don’t plan too many meals, because there will be lots of leftovers
Plan to use seasonal veg
Plan some rabbit or venison; seasonal British meats that are low energy to produce
Substitute some veg dishes for meat dishes (try http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/vegetarian/vegetarian-christmas/)

Leftovers
Use leftovers in bubble and squeak
Serve left over Christmas pudding with hot custard
Make stock from the bones etc
Try http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/favourites/leftovers/
Don’t waste energy
Make full use of the oven when it is on
Cut down on decorative lights
Have rechargeable batteries ready on Christmas day for gifts that need them
Go out for a walk, your house feels warm when you get home!
If you have a woodburner, ask neighbours for wood

Travel and transport
Buy warm enough clothing that you can still walk in cold weather
The Trainline website is good for train timetables
Offer to share your car with friends, and ask to share
Or just give the car the week off

Involving friends, family, and neighbours
Send a card to a neighbour who you wouldn’t normally
Put the word round about a Boxing Day football match at the local park (and then play!) Or maybe a Boxing Day walk.
Arrange a baking circle; you each make a big batch of one cake/pudding and then give some to each person in the circle
Swap decorations with friends rather than buying new ones
Invite neighbours around over the holidays, or agree a walk to a local pub and invite others to come along.
Get children involved; they love helping with making decorations, cards, gift tags, food preparation, even making a meal.
Make the Christmas pudding together (stir up Sunday)
Play more games together, a little less TV
Go for local walks (around St Albans there is Verulamium Park, Heartwood Forest, the Wick, Gorhambury, Childwickbury, Redbourn Mill, etc!)
Do something together locally, like the Abbey Theatre’s Christmas play, a carol concert or church service.

And finally, question “the rules”
Make it your own festival, start your own traditions
Talk to your family about what they want Christmas to be like
Agree with your family rules that work for your family
Ask people (nicely!) if they really want a gift
Tell people (nicely!) if you don’t want a gift
Ask people if they are just as happy with something second-hand
Agree price limits
Discuss shared buying
Make more of the meal vegetarian; do you really like turkey?!

Gordon Brown did well in my estimation, at least he tried – he seems to rise to the occasion at these big international summits in marked contrast to his lumbering cackhandedness at home.

But if we cannot rely on national governments to get a grip on the issue, that tells us even more that we must not sit back and drift at a personal level.  We need to grab and reshape our own versions of the future.  Transition St Albans is one way forward.  So is signing up to the 10:10 initiative – committing to do our best to reduce our own carbon footprint by ten percent in 2010.

This latter is somewhat challenging on a personal basis.  I am already obsessed with turning off lights and appliances.  We’ve turned the thermostat down to 19 degrees in the public areas of our house and close the doors and switch off the rads in bedrooms not being used while our children are away at uni.  We don’t use a tumble dryer and have few other gadgets though our collective computing power is admittedly rather energy hungry.

My car is reasonably economical – a little diesel Peugeot 206.  When four of us drove home from Italy a couple of years ago, we only need 100 euros of fuel to complete the journey.  But getting round a constituency which stretches from the Grand Union Canal in the west to the A1(M) in the east does rack up the mileage.

As a family we have almost stopped flying.  We did nip over the Berlin to see son Edward a couple of weeks ago and that was our first flight for four years.  I felt rather guilty about it, we did the carbon offset calculation (just over half a tonne for three travellers), and chose to support the Woodland Trust and their appeal for the new Heartwood Forest at Sandridge since that seemed reasonably close to home!

We went to the farmers’ market this morning and our own allotment provides much of our vegetables throughout the year.  Every little does and will count.

On a recent Any Questions the panel were asked what was the chief moral issue of our age.  They went down the road of social justice – and certainly the lack of equality of opportunity in this country is very disturbing.  But surely the big moral issue is that we are borrowing thi planet from our children and grandchildren – do we believe we are returning it to them in as good a condition as we received it?