Merry Xmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa & Happy New Year, everyone!

It is fantastic to see that there is so much sharing during this time of the year. You watch the news and all these Salvos are out there wrapping presents and giving Xmas lunches to the needy. Lots of people are donating to the Starlight Foundation and other good causes. People are buying presents for eachother. Generosity is abundant right now as it is the time of year to think of others.

It all sounds great on the surface but why is it that there is only one time of the year where we actually get off our arses to be generous? To think of the needy during this time that they'll be 'lonely' because they don't have any friends or family or a supportive circle. And once this is all over, it's back to our own busy lives and we'll worry about these people again next year. I'm not saying that it's bad to be giving so much during Christmas et al, but you'd be surprised how these things are ignored during the rest of the year.

It is not dissimilar to AIDS Day. It is like people who don't think about AIDS every damn day are supposed to take a moment (once a year) to reflect on it. Why not have a "No AIDS Day"? And so Xmas is like a day for people to think about the needy... "Remember to think of the people who don't have families to share this joy with", etc etc. I'm not a Christian but isn't it part of the religion (like any other religion) to be generous and thoughtful of others ANYWAY? I propose an all year 'Xmas' where all year round we are to think of others and willingly support the community and the Environment and on December 25th, we are to think solely about ourselves. For one day. Now wouldn't that be the perfect stairway to heaven!

This brings me to the second issue: So we help and give to the community during Christmas but at the cost of the Environment. I'm sure of it because I saw a short footage of volunteers wrapping presents for the homeless kids and they use SO MUCH paper! Why do you need so much paper for a Batman action figure? Seriously! Think of the trees too why don't you!

Australians throw away an additional 2 million tons of trash - 25% more than usual during the festive season. All that excess consumer goods, packaging, food waste, and Christmas trees take a real toll on the Environment. More paper and plastic packaging means more trees are cut down and more petroleum is extracted. More consumer goods means more energy is used for manufacture and for transport. Many unwanted gifts end up in storage or even in the garbage, and excess packaging of consumer goods also adds to the waste stream. Now imagine all that magnified by including all the other countries around the world who are celebrating this season.

So in order to lessen the effects on the Environment, I suggest:

1. Don't buy people useless presents that they will only throw away. Xmas is not about HAVING to buy presents for people. It's about WANTING to.

2. Wrap your presents with eco-friendly paper and tie a ribbon around it. That's just as pretty as wrapping it with bleached wrapping paper with all those fancy prints. Or use the following things that you may find in your house that you do not need anymore: Old maps, sheet music or colorful ads from old magazines, baskets, Reusable tins, scarves, and handkerchiefs, leftover fabric or fabric gift bags, lightweight wallpaper, pages from a child's coloring book taped together, newspapers (foreign newspapers are great) and Sunday comic pages, last year's holiday paper (press with warm iron if wrinkled).

3. Use minimal wrapping. Put all your presents that you want to wrap together with the wrapping paper in front of you and plan how you want to wrap them. Is it possible to wrap two presents with x amount of paper instead of one? And remember, you do not need to overlap the paper more than 2 cm.

4. If you don't trust the receiver of the present to recycle, if possible, remove the packaging of the item (i.e.: take the item out of the original packaging that you purchased it with) yourself before wrapping it. Then you definitely know that the packaging will be recycled because you'll be doing it yourself!

5. If you have problems wrapping, put the present in a box. That will save on wasteful 'mistakes'.

6. Reduce, reuse and RECYCLE! After opening all the pressies, recycle all that packaging either in the recycling bin or save the good ones for next year. It'll save you money too! ;)

And for that festive lunch/dinner:

1. Buy snacks and beverages in bulk, to reduce packaging

2. Try to avoid disposables when entertaining, and instead set your table with china, silverware, glasses and cloth napkins.

3. Recycling cans, glass, cardboard, paper and plastic is especially important during this time since such a huge amount of waste is generated.

Okay, so get on with it peoples. Oh and don't roll your eyes at me for going on about Mother Earth... because that just means you're selfish. SELFISH! Have a Safe & Merry Eco-Friendly Holiday season! And think about yourself on 25th December... because you've got the rest of the year to contribute to the community ;)

x

- Read a report "The Hidden Cost of Christmas" about the high Environmental price we pay for Christmas gifts.