Many people dream of a white Christmas each year... but what about a green Christmas?

While Christmas may be a time of peace and goodwill, goodwill for the planet is often ignored.

Each festive season sees the UK generating over 12,000 tonnes of rubbish from plastic packaging*, and throwing out around 83km² of wrapping paper*. However, there are many ways you can reduce the amount of waste produced.

Aim for a green Christmas and you might find yourself saving money along the way too.

Get the look - green decorations

If your tinsel and baubles are getting a bit tatty, rather than buying new ones year after year, why not opt for collecting your own green decorations? You may only need to look as far as the garden:

• Holly, berries and ivy can be draped over mantelpieces and banisters to add some festive colour.
• Pine cones, dried fruit (slices can be dried in the oven on a low heat) and berries look and smell great – place them in wreaths, use as table decorations, or string them together to hang from the tree.
• When buying a Christmas tree, consider getting one that can be re-potted for next year, or recycled into woodchips. Artificial trees should only be bought if you plan on reusing them each year. Read more on Recycling Christmas Trees.

Finding green Christmas gifts

You may automatically think of homemade biscuits and knitted scarves at the mention of green Christmas gifts, but there are plenty of other environmentally friendly ways you can give:

• Gadgets make great presents. Those that use solar power are better for the environment than iPods, cameras and phones, for example, yet even these can be made a little greener with solar chargers. Solar keyhole lights, solar powered torches, lanterns or fairy lights, and light up solar drinks coasters also make fun gifts.
  
  Visit www.gizoo.co.uk or www.greenandeasy.co.uk for more ideas, such as wind up rechargeable power shavers, wind up media players, and solar powered toy cars.
• For sustainable gifts, such as those made from recycled or recyclable materials, think about looking in local craft markets and Fair Trade shops. Gifts made from local materials reduce transport-related emissions, contributing to a green Christmas. Try http://www.ecotopia.co.uk for recycled gift ideas.
• Rather than giving a regular gift, you can use the money to benefit people in other parts of the world. Visit www.oxfamunwrapped.com for gifts that help protect the rainforest, or provide someone in the third world with clean water or school fees, for example, on behalf of a friend.
• To reduce transport pollution when buying your gifts, shopping online is more efficient than indiviual car journeys to the shops. Of course, walking to the shops is emission-free.

Reduce packaging

With wrapping and packaging accounting for a large percentage of Christmas waste, the presents you give can have a significant impact on the environment.

• Presents that can be experienced, such as a cinema voucher or a meal out, need no packaging.
• Gift bags, gift boxes, and wrapping paper can be reused where possible, to reduce the amount thrown out.
• When wrapping gifts, you can reduce packaging by cutting the paper to the size needed.
• Reducing the amount of presents you buy automatically reduces the amount of packaging used, as well as saving money. For example, a ‘Secret Santa’ between six people, whether family members, work colleagues, or a friendship group, will result in a total of six presents, rather than 30 – a huge reduction in the amount of packaging used.

And eat your greens...

In the UK alone, 230,000 tonnes of food is wasted over the Christmas period. You can save money and reduce waste by considering how much food will realistically get eaten, before buying and cooking accordingly.

* Information taken from the Recycling Consortium.