I love Christmas! I’ve said it before and will no doubt say it again. You won’t find me going all bah-humbug at this time of the year: I love the celebrations, the family time, the presents, the friend-visiting, the food… it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.
But I do want to enjoy all of those things in a way that doesn’t simply feed the ‘monster god of materialism’, as Gandhi once put it, and I am aware that whilst I am privileged enough to have a positive experience of Christmas, for others it can exacerbate family breakdown, health problems and debt, and that our wider environment is often what pays the price of the festive season.
So this year, A Rocha UK has provided us with a natural remedy to all that festive fever: an eco-friendly online Advent Calendar!
I am really proud to have been part of the team that has put this together. From December 1st there will be a daily dose of advice to settle those seasonal challenges, from the thorny problem of Christmas trees to the drastic plastic of shop-bought decorations. Each day will provide a practical plan to soothe the stress on both pocket and planet, and will include tips on choosing a ‘happy turkey’, re-using your cards, eco-friendly wrapping, and many more suggestions for a Christmas that is kinder to the natural world.
Please do take a look and I hope you will like what you see as much as I do. You can get daily reminders during December by joining the A Rocha UK FaceBook page and twitter feed, and please do spread the word around your friends, family, neighbours and church so as many people as possible use it.
Together, let’s reclaim the meaning of this special time and enjoy the true peace on earth of Christmas.
(Thanks to Clive Price for help with the wording of this post; Photo: Toria/Shuttlecock
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