Steward Community Woodland - Seasons greetings

We wish everyone the best of times over these festive weeks!

People have celebrated at this time of year for eons, and for good reason. The days will soon be getting longer and a new year approaches. The festivities rejoice the return of sunshine, life and the good times to come. An uplifting time for communities, family and friends to share.

While traditionally the season to be merry everyone knows it has now become more a season of excess than one of good will. Too much food, unwanted presents, discarded packaging and wrapping, plus millions of xmas trees - it all represents a waste of precious resources and a headache for environmentalists.

If you 'do Christmas', how will it be for you? Will you have a relaxed holiday with family, friends, a few board games and some great conversation? Will you eat too much, suffer from indigestion and a boxing day hangover? Will you have been working until the last moment and rushing out in your lunch breaks to make frantic last minute purchases? Will you be worrying about how much you have spent and dreading a hefty overdraft? Will you have deliberated on how much to spend on each person you - and find yourself uneasy at having assigned them a 'worth' or 'cash value'?

Does it have to be the way it is now? One thing is for certain, the current state of Xmas celebrations is a fairly new phenomenon. Christmas didn't become popular until the 19th century and only became a public holiday in most countries in the 20th Century. Only in the last few decades has there been the rapid acceleration into excess and consumerism. However, there are a growing number of people who are returning either returning to the traditional roots of Xmas, or even dropping out of the Xmas thing altogether.

While probably everyone knows that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, he was not born on the 25th of December. No one is sure in which month or even which year Christ was born. Evidence suggests it would most likely have been in March 6BC. For more than 300 years, people observed the birth of Jesus on various dates. However in the year 274AD, the winter solstice fell on 25th December and Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed the date as "Natalis Solis Invicti," the festival of the birth of the invincible sun.

In 320 AD, Pope Julius I specified the 25th of December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ and five years later the first Christian Roman emperor, introduced Xmas on 25 December. He also introduced Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day week, and Easter. Almost thirty years later, Bishop Liberius of Rome officially ordered his members to celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25 December but recognising the date as a pagan festival, most Christians refused to participate until quite recently and some Christians still refuse to celebrate Xmas

The winter solstice celebrations begin on the shortest day of the year and looks forward to the lengthening days and the new year. Many people who are uncomfortable about celebrating Christmas because they are not Christian are choosing instead to celebrate this Yuletide celebration which requires no religious faith. Many of the traditions enjoyed as part of Christmas celebrations predate Christianity.

Ancient Egyptians brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year in December as a symbol of life's triumph over death. Romans adorned their homes with evergreens in December during a winter festival in honour of their god of agriculture. Druid priests decorated oak trees with golden apples for their winter solstice festivities. During December in the Middle Ages, trees were hung with red apples as a symbol of the feast of Adam and Eve, and called the Paradise Tree. Other evergreen plants such as holly, ivy and mistletoe have also been used in winter festivals before being adopted into Xmas festivities.

The roots of Santa Claus can be traced from Father Christmas to Saint Nicholas (270 - 310AD) the patron saint of children and prostitutes. During the Middle Ages, many churches were built in honour of Saint Nicholas and the anniversary of his death, 6 December, became a day to exchange gifts. In the 16th century, Martin Luther tried to stop the worship of saints and abolish the feast of Saint Nicholas. This drove the Saint Nicholas underground, taking on aliases such as Father Xmas in Britain. In 1860, American illustrator Thomas Nast borrowed from the Saint Nicholas legends to create Santa Claus as we now know him but he didn't really make the big time until co-opted into a Coco-Cola advertising campaign in the 1930's. Now Santa Claus is loved by children in the same way as they have grown to love the McDonald's marketing tool Ronald McDonald. Santa's job as a salesman continues with businesses always eager to cash in.

Many people will freely admit that they celebrate Xmas not because of any religious or spiritual belief but simply because its traditional and because everyone else seems to do it. For most people Xmas simply represents the only time of year when they have time off from work during which they can spend time with family and friends. Those with children often feel forced by the commercial hype, duty, and even nostalgia, to make Xmas extra special. The unsustainable modern consumerist side of the seasonal celebrations are not however compulsory, whether you are Christian, have children, or otherwise.

Are your festivities ever-green?

Gift giving
Do you really need or even want most of the stuff you get given at Xmas? If you are giving a gift, is it needed or wanted by the person it is intended for? Much of what gets given at Xmas is briefly examined and then never used. Many Christmas gifts, especially toys, are of inferior quality and designed to have short lifespans. If you feel you must buy gifts, you could try to buy things that will be used and that will last. Alternatively you could make gifts or simply come to a mutual agreement not to exchange gifts at all. Better yet, why not continue to give gifts but do it throughout the year and give to people what they actually need when they need it!

Drop the wrap
If you are giving people gifts, do you really need to cover it in expensive wrapping paper, or worse still, plastic shiny foil stuff? Perhaps you could reuse gift wrap from presents that you have received or not wrap the gift at all.

Forgot those cards?
If you really feel the need to send cards to everyone you've ever known, perhaps you could reuse the cards you received last year. Just stick some paper over last years greeting and write a new one. Remember that nobody except perhaps your immediate family will really be upset if you didn't send any cards. If you feel that this is the time of year to let people know you are thinking of them, you could always phone them or pop round for a visit.

Batteries not included?
Batteries use over 50 times more energy to produce than they give out and so rechargeable batteries make a little more sense then disposable batteries - both in terms of value for money and impact on the environment. If you are buying battery operated gifts then perhaps you could also give rechargeable batteries and a suitable recharger (perhaps even a solar charger). Electrical goods that use mains electricity are more efficient.

Food for thought
People tend to buy far too much food for Xmas and excessive meals often produce large quantities of leftovers. Take care not to buy or prepare to much food and if you can, why not compost any waste food rather than add it to land fill. If you don't have composting facilities you could get a worm bin or find out about council or community composting schemes in your area.

Reduce, reuse and recycle that waste
Millions of tons more waste gets sent to dumps after Xmas You can do much to reduce your burden on the land fills. First of all, reduce your waste at source by avoiding over packaged products and thinking more carefully about what you buy. Before you throw something away, ask yourself whether you could reuse or repair it, or whether somebody else make use of it or repair it? Separate and sort your wastes so that you can take bottles, jars, cans, tins, paper and card to your nearest recycling center and take unwanted items to charity shops etc.

Xmas trees
Over 23 million pounds is spent on Christmas trees in the UK every year. They are cut down long before they mature, contributing nothing to reforestation attempts or to carbon sinks and efforts to curb global warming. At Xmas are covered in cheap plastic decorations and electric lights before sent to the dump in the new year. Instead of buying a Xmas tree or using plastic substitutes, how about planting a tree in the garden or paying for one to be planted elsewhere? If you feel you must have a tree, contact your local council to find out how you can have it mulched rather than have it end up rooting in the land fill.

New years resolutions?
If you are already thinking about resolutions for the new year, why not step up your efforts to become more sustainable: reduce your over all consumption; repair and reuse what you can; recycle more; start a compost bin; grow some of your own food; quit consuming animal products, eat more fruit and veg, especially organic locally grown produce; avoid super markets; reduce your food miles; cancel your newspapers and magazines; plant trees; become CO2 neutral; walk cycle and use public transport more and cars less......

Whatever you do over the festive period, may it be a good one.