Oliver Heath, former presenter of Changing Rooms now eco-friendly interior architect/designer with new online shop ecocentric, reveals how to have a green Christmas
- Decorate your home with natural and recyclable materials - just think, what did we do before we had plastic tinsel and Christmas
decorations?
Try using sprigs and branches, incorporating berries where possible; holly, mistletoe, fir tree sprigs, and pine cones. Make a festive mobile with some of these materials for a more dynamic spin. Remember the current trend for the romantic interior and inspiration from fairytales. Make your own cut-out decorations from coloured papers. Remember the snowflakes you used to make as a kid? Fold a piece of paper into quarters then cut out bits before unfolding to reveal the individually designed snowflake. Or make other hanging paper ornaments, incorporating the shapes of leaves, birds and animals. - Buy recycled-material gifts
There's something for everyone at www.ecocentric.co.uk. If that's not for you, then try to buy positive presents that will make a difference to the lives of the recipient or those around them, such as bicycles, juicers, photovoltaic chargers for gadgets, or even a wind-up radio. - Save food scraps, peelings and cuttings onto a compost heap for a blooming marvellous garden next summer
Get information on what you can and can't compost and how to do it from Garden Organic, the national charity for organic gardening. - Recycle your Christmas cards
Approximately 1 billion Christmas cards are sent every year - that's 17 for every man, woman and child in the country. These don't have to go straight into the bin but can be used to raise money and create new woodland areas (as scrap pulped paper) for the Woodland Trust. Find Woodland Trust - use the recycling bins in branches of WH Smith and Tesco. - Recycle your wrapping paper
It's estimated that 83 sq km of wrapping paper will end up in the UK's bins this Christmas. Recycle it with curbside recycling schemes. Make sure you also recycle all your old bottles, cans paper and plastic both before and after Christmas so that local councils don't get too inundated in the post Christmas clean-up. - Dispose of your Christmas tree properly
More than 6 million trees were bought last year in the UK, creating a staggering 9,000 tonnes of rubbish. Most DIY centres have disposal systems that shred the tree to turn it to chippings. Or even better, buy a Christmas tree with roots and plant it in your garden after the festive period. - Buy your Christmas dinner from a farmers' market
Buying organic will be fresher, taste better and you'll be buying local produce too. Look for Soil Association accreditation, which guarantees that what you're buying meets high standards for animal welfare, conservation and the use of pesticides and fertiliser. - Reduce your waste
Avoid buying food or presents with excessive packaging, don't accept a plastic bag every time its offered, and use rechargeable batteries - not disposables - for all toys, electronics and other battery-operated gifts. - Bring out the candelabra
For a real sense of atmosphere, light your Christmas dinner using candles, and forget the electric light bulb for a couple of hours. This simple task, if carried out across the country, would dramatically cut energy useage. Make a new year's pledge to change your old light bulbs for energy efficiency ones and watch your electricity bill drop.