Have Yourself a Greener Christmas

Published by JenCooke for Acceleris Marketing Communications in Environment and also in Communities, Housing

With festive waste increasing by ¼ million tonnes families urged to use top eco-friendly and money-saving tips for a Green Xmas

 8.3 million tonnes of food waste is produced every year in the UK, with a massive 80 per cent increase in wasted food during the festive period to 230,000 tonnes. In addition, over 80 square kilometres of wrapping paper is used on presents at Christmas, which would wrap a football pitch 40,000 times! With the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference well under way to discuss real ways each country can reduce its environmental impact it seems incredible that waste is still increasing. With this in mind, environmental kitchen manufacturer, Rixonway Kitchens, is advising families to think more ecologically as the festive season approaches – and save money!

Families, particularly in the recession, will be looking for a number of ways to reduce costs this Christmas, such as cutting down on how much they spend on gifts or food or staying at home rather than taking a festive break away. But simple environmental measures may be overlooked in their attempt to save money. Based in Yorkshire, Rixonway Kitchens has found that adopting a consistently green approach brings a wealth of benefits.

Sonya Bateman, Rixonway’s Marketing Manager, commented: “Even the savviest recycler can let good ‘green’ habits falter around Christmas time. But some measures are so simple that there’s really no excuse not to consider the environment this year. Taking a green approach in the run-up to Christmas and on the day itself, will not only help the environment but reduce the amount we spend.”

Rixonway suggests a number of easy ways to help the environment, and save money, this Christmas:

1) Save energy in the kitchen
The way in which we use kitchen appliances can drastically affect how much energy we use. It’s important to plan how we use electrical equipment in order to conserve energy and therefore save money. For example, dishwashers can create 500kg of greenhouse gas each year, so make sure it is fully loaded before running it and use the ‘economy’ cycle where possible.

Use efficient cooking methods, such as putting lids on pots, simmering instead of boiling, and avoiding repeated opening of the oven door (the Energy Saving Trust estimates an oven can lose 20 degrees Celsius of heat each time it’s opened). And – simple but true - cooking a festive feast can warm up the areas surrounding the kitchen, so turn off the heating during those times.

2) Greener Food
‘Food miles’ can drastically add to the carbon footprint of your Christmas dinner. Food mileage refers to the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer - the ingredients for a traditional Christmas dinner can travel up to 30,000 miles from producers around the world to reach our dinner table.

Why not shop locally for ingredients. This not only reduces ‘mileage’, but also helps support local industry.

3) ‘Tis the season to recycle...
One of the easiest eco-friendly boxes to tick is recycling and reusing. However, an average Christmas in the UK can generate the equivalent of the land area of Guernsey or Hong Kong in wrapping paper waste alone. A few tips to combat this potential mountain of litter this Christmas includes using cloth or Christmas stockings to wrap gifts, or securing wrapping paper with ribbon instead of sticky tape so that it can be reused.

4) Choose sustainable products and companies
Choose a gift with a difference by purchasing ethically-sourced, natural or recycled products. The same goes for trees - buy a real one (with roots still attached for replanting and reusing) from an ecologically sustainable supplier.

Rixonway practices what it preaches when it comes to being green. It salvages 100 per cent of wood waste from its production process which is all sent for recycling.
Another key part of the company’s environmental stance is the protection of the natural environment: it only uses timber that has received the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation in the manufacturing process.

Rixonway’s committed energy-saving policies mean constant monitoring of energy usage to reduce diesel, gas and electricity consumption levels. All of its delivery vehicles meet stringent Euro 4 and 5 standards for the control of CO² emissions. In October, the company announced the investment of over £370,000 in new environmentally considerate vehicles and an eco-upgrade of its entire commercial vehicle fleet.

The company’s industry awards and accreditations for its environmental tools, policies and strategies include an ISO14001 accreditation and two prestigious GroundWorks Environmental Awards (2007).