I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

It's been interesting over the past several years to witness the "greening" of Christmas with flowers and foliage more commonly adorning the Christmas table and people acknowledging the waste that can be created at this time of the year when thoughtful consumption is not employed.

We all know too well how easy it is to reach for the synthetic offerings of Christmas decorations, festive serving wear, gifts, wrapping and the like. Certainly, stores like Temu don't help this with the availability and ease of transactions for these "one and done" type purchases. Perhaps also the "Americanisation" of our society has led us to believe every occasion needs to be a themed event. 

So this festive season I ask that before you click on the checkout button over the next few months be it for Christmas gifts or festive decorations take a minute to think what substitutions you could make that will be better for your immediate environment, reduce waste going to landfill, provide a unique point of interest that may become the talking point of Christmas and that will put dollars back into the New Zealand economy instead of a faceless international company.

Decorations: Use the garden as your inspiration and forage locally for eucalyptus, holly, bay, pine, rosemary, ivy, willow and olive to create wreaths and garlands. Craft stars and snowflakes out of twigs. Dry citrus to make ornaments for the tree. Use fresh florals on the table and tree. Wreath tutorial here.

Food: Use the seasonal produce in your garden to provide the base for your Christmas Day meal. Don't force recipes that are out of season and that play to the Northern Hemisphere's availability of produce in their Winter. Check out some great Kiwi Christmas Recipes here. 

Drinks: Create refreshing drinks and mixers using water or seasonal fruit as the base. This limits the number of plastic bottles required to quench the thirst of your guests. Here is an interesting one to try: Watermelon & Lime Soda. 

Gifts: Seeds are always a winner (of course!), but we've worked hard this year to offer a beautiful range of gardening gifts that go far beyond a single seed packet. From soothing hand creams and cosy gloves to growing kits, wool pots and beautiful books filled with seasonal inspiration, there's something here for every type of gardener. Digital gift vouchers make it easy for those with very particular tastes, while themed seed bundles like Bring on the Beesand Best of Salads seed collections take the guesswork out of choosing. For a living gift, sow the seed now and gift a plant - great for thanking teachers, coaches and colleagues.

Gift Wrapping: DIY instead of buying to save money and reduce packaging waste. Use children's drawings or paintings, pieces of fabric that can be reused. Use fabric ribbons, raffia or natural twine. 

And once Christmas is all over… If you've used natural sources for your decorations, wrapping, and the like, much of it can go straight into the compost or be left to decompose in a hidden section of the garden.   

Wishing you all much fun as you get creative over the next couple of months and use the garden's bounty to create a sustainable Christmas!