A Simple Christmas

I am sure I don't have to remind any of you that Christmas is now just around the corner! There seem to be a plethora of websites and magazine articles out there telling you how to green your Christmas as well as celebrities like Kirsty Allsop showing us how to make our own decorations and bake gingerbread tree decorations. They are full of good ideas of how to reduce your wrapping paper waste, recycle your tree, make your own gift tags by reusing old cards from last year and buying a goat as a gift.

This is all good stuff and I would support all of it, but it doesn't address that general unease that many of us have which is that Christmas has lost its way. Us greenies bemoan the glittery sell-out, the rampant consumerism, the disneyfied charade, the bloated feast of waste. This year there is also the uneasy undercurrent of austerity, revolting students and the prospect of swinging public sector cuts to add to the malaise.  


I, however, still love Christmas and love it most when I don't worry about it. I have an advantage in that I am never happier than when I am making something, so a festive season of foraging for greenery, sticking sequins on things and making gifts is something that nourishes my 'ready-for-a-holiday' work mind. There are many reasons why it is good to make things at Christmas - thrift, recycling, the creative personal touch etc. - but for me it is fundamental to my enjoyment of the season. However, this only really works if you take a different and more simple approach to the whole shebang. For example, sending Christmas cards to 300 people including the postman who delivers them (if I was him that would be annoying given the amount of cards he has to carry) is unrealistic and takes all the pleasure out of it. Receiving two handmade cards is worth twenty of those multipack ones that were thrown into the trolley during the weekly Tesco run. I like getting presents, in fact I probably get more excited about my two year old's presents than she does, but I could really do without many of the 'token' gifts that I receive. Except for edible things, those I like!

Make your own decorations because you enjoy it and because it gives you pleasure to dress your home for a celebration, not because you have to or because the fashion this year is for white LEDs with cinnamon sticks.

Natural decorations at the Green Wood Centre

I think that the joy of Christmas can be rediscovered through simplification. These are some of my small solutions:

• Send fewer cards and make them more personal. Not everyone will want to make their own cards but you can spend time writing a personal message in each instead
• Buy fewer gifts, we don't need them
• Go out into the woods or the garden and collect greenery for decorations
• Make some stuff; it is not just about being worthy, you might even enjoy it!
• Play games
• Eat good food with friends and family
• Go for a walk 
• Shop less
• Worry less
• Have a rest

For some Christmas is a hard time and for my family it carries a deep sadness at the tragic death three years ago of my young cousin. For this reason it is even more important that we are all together, supporting each other and remembering what it is that makes us strong, resilient and loving. It's often said that 'well, it's really about the kids isn't it'. Children are an important focus at Christmas but there is something in it for all of us if we allow ourselves the space and the chance to enjoy it.

Above all, I am looking forward to having a nice rest after a busy and eventful year at the Sustainability Centre. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this special place and long may it continue, sustainably of course.