Friday, December 16, 2011

Eco-friendly tips for Christmas



by Annalisa Tancredi

This year the Christmas tree is made of recycled cardboard and decorated by fairy lights and reused ornaments, because producing a plastic one emits more than 23 kilograms of CO2 and it’s biodegradable in more than 200 years; at that moment, Santa Claus' beard will be too long and it is better to be eco-good with him if we wish to receive any Christmas gift, obviously ecological and packaging-free.

The best practices for an eco-friendly Christmas lunch are: cooking slowly and in a simple way, with fresh foods, avoiding precooked and frozen foods; be careful with food wastage because 1/3 of it ends up in trash tripling the amount of waste disposed during the holidays. You have to be very patient to cook handicraft polenta and traditional lentils (which could be greener if cooked without sausage, usually excessively packed). Reducing meat consumption is also good for health and the environment, because producing it emits much CO2 and half of it is generally trashed. The same about fish, don’t buy it if not local. Do not buy exotic fruits, otherwise prefer kiwi, persimmons, mandarins and made in Italy dried fruit. Prefer seasonable and biological vegetables, better if bought by GAS (Purchase Solidarity Group).

Let’s take a look to sustainable Christmas events: Legambiente Young Energy Liguria will organize on Saturday, December 17, a Christmas dinner with dance and music to present the Ligurian Purchase Solar Group to those citizens interested in installing a photovoltaic or solar plant. The initiative is promoted by Legambiente Liguria and the Genoa Municipality and it’s part of the measures envisaged by the SEAP (Sustainable Energy Action Plan) of the Covenant of Mayors. "We organized a series of public meetings, issued to all concerned citizens in collaboration with the Municipalities - said Stefania Pesce of Legambiente - We are collecting subscriptions for reaching the minimum needed number of participant.". The advantages are discernible not only about prices but also about higher guarantees, higher plants’ quality and transparency (competitive tenders are open to all businesses).

The City of Corchiano
instead, winner of Five Stars Municipalities Award 2010 and City for Green Award 2011, organized on Sunday, December 11 a Christmas event dedicated to the ecological footprint, the rediscovery of ancient tastes and jobs. Christmas decorations and illuminations are obtained from the reusing of iron and plastic bottles. In addition, it’s possible to taste biologic red wine and the typical cake made with raisins and local craft beer, along a path to the rediscovery of medieval jobs.


Chistmas is welcome to Mother Nature only if eco-friendly!

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