I had the realisation yesterday that it was two months since Christmas. That means it’s ten months until next Christmas. And I know it seems far too early to be mentioning the C-word immediately after Pancake Tuesday, but I wanted to take a moment to pass on an environmentally friendly trick a friend shared with me.
Because one of the biggest barriers to acting in a more sustainable manner is the failure to plan ahead. We forget our reusable water bottles or reusable coffee cups. Our reusable bag gets left in the kitchen or tossed in a closet. We don’t pack a lunch and buy a packaged meal instead. Society’s lack of forethought, combined with a desire for convenience, are probably the largest contributors to the mess we now find ourselves in of highly polluting fast fashion, never-ending rivers of plastic waste, and a culture where everything is disposable but nothing ever goes away.
However, it was great to hear from Laura that she started planning for Christmas in January with these wonderful reusable gift bags. She’s a crafty cookie and has started sewing them now so they will be ready by the time December rolls around. For those who sew, her instructions were as follows: “I just cut a yard of fabric into four pieces, turned one long end under twice, hemmed it, put wrong sides together, and stitched it into a bag.”
So if you’re looking for a craft project to tackle this year, perhaps give this a go? If you start now and just do a few each month, the holiday rush gets that little bit easier!
And if you have a few going spare, perhaps you would consider selling them to your friendly neighbourhood eco-blogger who can’t stitch to save her life?
While we’re on the subject of Christmas, I also want to thank Laura for introducing me to the Four Gift Rule for buying gifts for children. Perhaps something to consider this year?
