Test Photo Album
On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
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- A HOMEMADE DECORATION FOR MY TREE
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Encourage the family do make their own Christmas cards and decorations using recycled materials. Natural materials such as twigs and pine cones can also be transformed into decorations.
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
- TWO 'BAGS FOR LIFE'
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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When buying presents in the mad rush up to Christmas, remember to SNUB! (Say No To Unwanted Bags!) Take a strong bag with you when you ' re out buying presents - and use and re-use ' bags for life ' whilst doing your shopping.
On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me,
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- THREE GREEN GADGETS
- Two 'bags for life'
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Buy green gadgets as presents -e.g. solar powered mobile phone charger, a battery charger or a wind up radio. Or if your gifts require batteries why not used rechargeable batteries? Think also about practical, valuable gifts such as smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarms , kits to turn old newspapers into seedling pots or to grow your own mushrooms.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
- FOUR E-CARDS
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Send recycled or charity Christmas cards or send cards electronically. Recycle your Christmas cards through your kerbside recycling collection or you could reuse them next year as gift tags. And you can either re-use envelopes instead of throwing them away or recycle them with your paper in the kerbside recycling collection as well.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
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- FIVE HOURS OF TIME
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Pledge to spend time with, rather than money on, family and friends. For example offer to help in the garden, babysitting etc.
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
- SIX LOCAL VEG
- Five hours of time
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Buy food from local farmers markets, organic suppliers and vegetable box schemes to avoid excessive food miles and packaging. Make cakes and sweets at home and give them to friends instead of buying high priced factory made items. You could also use a home shopping delivery service to help reduce your carbon emissions as one van makes several deliveries in one journey.
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
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- SEVEN FAMILY PASSES
- Six local veg
- Five hours of time
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Purchase tickets to concert, sport events or annual subscriptions to societies/ clubs. Think of gifts that don't have to be wrapped at all.
On the eighth seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
- EIGHT POTTED PLANTS
- Seven family passes
- Six local veg
- Five hours of time
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Give a beautiful living gift that helps purify indoor air. Take some cuttings from your own favourite plants & pot them up in pretty planters as gifts for friends . Similarly, if you want a real Christmas tree, why not use a potted one, and then plant it in your garden? Or, decorate a tree in your garden or a large house plant instead.
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
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- NINE FAIRTRADE GOODS
- Eight potted plants
- Seven family passes
- Six local veg
- Five hours of time
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Buy from companies and producers that give a fair wage and healthy work conditions to third world producers. Look for products with the Fairtrade Mark.
On the tenth seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
- TEN GOATS AND COWS
- Nine Fairtrade goods
- Eight potted plants
- Seven family passes
- Six local veg
- Five hours of time
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Purchase a charitable gift- e.g. you can pay for a goat, chickens, cattle or tree seedlings for someone in the developing world. Or you could give a donation to their favourite charity or cause.
On the eleventh seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
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- ELEVEN ROLLS OF GREEN WRAPPING
- Ten goats and cows
- Nine Fairtrade goods
- Eight potted plants
- Seven family passes
- Six local veg
- Five hours of time
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Use wrapping paper sparingly - and try to buy recycled paper. Instead of indulging in a frenzy of paper shredding - unwrap your presents carefully! Then paper can be kept and re-used - for wrapping up presents, flower bouquets and wine bottles, making decorations or even covering books. If wrapping paper cannot be used again, recycle it. You can put wrapping paper in with your paper for the kerbside recycling collection.
On the twelfth seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
- TWELVE LESS BAGS OF RUBBISH
- Eleven rolls of green wrapping
- Ten goats and cows
- Nine Fairtrade goods
- Eight potted plants
- Seven family passes
- Six local veg
- Five hours of time
- Four e-cards
- Three green gadgets,
- Two 'bags for life',
- And a homemade decoration for my tree.
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Christmas is the season for giving and receiving and this year New Zealanders will receive around 9 million Christmas boxes, use 20 million meters of wrapping paper and exchange an estimated 100 million Christmas Cards. The amount of wrapping paper which we use alone would reach from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
After Christmas a lot of this ends up as waste in landfill, please remember to recycle your paper and cardboard. We tend to do things to excess at Christmas but we can all do our bit by having a greener Christmas.
Why not carry on your 'green' habits into the New Year? Or adopt a Green New Years Resolution…..
Set up a compost scheme - Around 30% of the rubbish in the typical rubbish bag could be composted and there are different ways that people can choose to do this rather than just binning it.