Tips for having an ecological and economical green Christmas

Use LED Christmas lights and cut down on your electricity bill. You can buy LED lights in Ireland from LED Vista.

Recycle toys or books that are in good condition and give them as gifts.

Make recycled cards from last years cards or cut and paste decorations that you find in seasonal magazines onto coloured card. Learn how to make recycled cards here. Alternatively you can send an electronic greeting card. To send a FREE Egreeting card click here. (With this link you can even create your Egreeting cards in advance and they will automatically be sent the day you wish to send them :)

Make or grow a gift this Christmas. We are rearing ten turkeys organically that will be given as presents to family and friends this year. Organic and free range turkeys typically cost around €80 each. They were purchased as 13 week old poults for €20 and will have cost around €10 each to rear so we are giving an €80 gift to each family and friend that will have cost us €30. We will also freeze some for quality winter meat. These turkeys have a good outdoor life, unlike the majority of supermarket turkeys that see no daylight and are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics :(

Make Christmas wreaths and give them as gifts. They are very easy to make. Use sally rods (willow) for the circular frame, evergreen foliage and sprigs of holly. You can secure these with cord twine and old ribbon or tinsel. spend an evening making them with the kids to give as gifts to your neighbours, friends and relations.

Try and buy gifts that do not use batteries or if you do, try and buy a battery recharger to accompany the gift. 1000's of tonnes of small batteries are still going to land fill after Christmas each year.

Buy or make beeswax candles this Christmas instead of burning parafin (petroleum) candles. Local beekeepers will be able to help you source sheets of wax. Beeswax candles are surprisingly easy to make and are excellent gifts for friends and family.

Compost all your vegetable peelings this Christmas. It is a good time of year to start preparing for new years resolutions and learning to care more for the environment and future generations. Buy a wormery for Christmas that will provide excellent soil conditioner for your organic garden !

Donate your old clothes to a local charity. We highly recommend www.Arc-Eireann.org who are doing great work for autistic children and the environment. 90% of the funds raised from recycling your clothes go to providing therapies like horse therapy, gardening and surfing to heal. Contact details on the website.

Recycle your Christmas tree after Christmas. Or how about buying a potted Christmas tree that will last you a few years. You can then plant this tree in your garden and even use it for firewood during the winter months in the future.

Use cotton shopping bags this Christmas and forget about the plastic ones.

Buy local and buy less. Produce and gifts from local suppliers and artisans support the local economy and sustainable employment.

Turn all your electric appliances off at the mains when you go to bed rather than leaving them on stand by.

Turn down the thermostat by 1 degree and put on your wooly Christmas jumper. Get into the seasonal spirit of things !

Recycle gift wrapping from last year or if you didnt keep your wrappers from last year keep the wrappers from your gifts this year to use next year. Caring for the environment is the trend now so don't feel like you are being a scrooge. You are caring more about the bigger picture which is an honourable thing.

Buy in bulk. Buy as much of your grocery shopping as you can in bulk. Less packaging and more economical.