Hemel Hempstead residents encouraged to think 'green' this Christmas

Hertfordshire County Council, as part of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership, has launched its sustainable Christmas campaign, encouraging residents to make cleaner, greener choices during the festive season.

The month long campaign, which will largely be driven through social media, will focus around three key themes of sustainability; decorations and Christmas trees, gifts and cards, and food and drink.

Research shows that on average 250 tonnes of Christmas trees are thrown away each year, that’s the equivalent of 20 double decker London buses. An estimated 21 million of us will receive at least one unwanted gift this Christmas and the paper used to wrap those and more, can be wrapped around the island of Guernsey.

Sustainability is a collaborative effort, which is why the county council is committed to working with its district and borough councils, partners, local businesses and residents to tackle the climate emergency together.

Teresa Heritage, Deputy Leader of Hertfordshire County Council, said: “For many of us Christmas will be celebrated a little differently this year. We may not get to see our families face to face meaning for some, buying more online.

"We want to encourage all residents to think more sustainably about the choices often made, subconsciously, that can have negative impacts on our environment.

“We will be sign-posting residents to local sustainable options for their Christmas this year, this includes; eco-friendly Christmas decorations, tips on how to recycle your excess food and drink and local Christmas markets you can support.

"As consumers we have individual purchasing power and can consciously choose to make a difference by purchasing sustainable services and products.

"If we all make this step change, the collective environmental impact across the county, can be great.”

Terry Hone, chairman of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership, said: “Christmas is the time of year when many of us naturally spend more on food and drink, gifts for loved ones and decorations for our homes and places of work.

"For many it’s a great time of the year and we believe this tradition can still be kept but in a more WasteAware way.

“Through deliberate greener, recyclable purchasing choices, we as consumers can reduce and recycle our waste across the whole county, ensuring a Christmas that’s better for all.”

The campaign will run primarily on the WasteAware and county council social media channels and will include highlights such as:

- a daily Green Christmas Bingo game

- links to local online markets and second-hand shops

- an alternative gift list

- environmentally themed videos and books

- top tips on how to be more sustainable.

The sustainable Christmas campaign supports some of the objectives set out in the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy.

To read more about this and take the residents survey click here.