Towards a Zero Waste Christmas

-- THIS EVENT HAS ALREADY OCCURED --

Sunday 1st of December 2019 9:00 am

It’s that wonderful time of the year once again as many people celebrate Christmas and New Year with family, friends and loved ones.
Unfortunately, it has not been so wonderful for Mother Earth and our fellow creatures as our behaviours and consumption around celebrating have traditionally brought in huge amounts of unnecessary waste.
Australians spend an estimated 60% more of our incomes and generate 30% more household waste over the Christmas period on top of our, on average, 5 planet lifestyle.

In Australia alone, we use around 8,000 tonnes of wrapping paper every Christmas which is the equivalent of 50,000 trees and we create 125,000 tonnes of waste in plastic packaging alone. According to research, Australian adults spend on average $475 on presents, with only half of them being appreciated. As a whole, the nation spends an extra $554 million on extra food, with a third of it going to waste. In fact eliminating food waste is globally the third biggest thing we can reduce to reverse global warming (from the book Drawdown).

It’s our Mother Earth, all our fellow creatures and eventually us who bear the consequences of all the wrapping paper, ribbons, decorations, Christmas cards, unwanted presents, packaging and food waste with it’s associated emissions, (not to mention debt) that have been part of our habitual behaviour for these holidays. The good news is that behaviour is changeable and that it can be fun.

So how do we create a zero-waste Christmas? By rethinking and changing our holiday consumption patterns and getting others on board. Of course this can be a big challenge especially in negotiating with family. However, with a little knowledge, it can definitely be done. We can and must change business-as-usual and get creative! We can retain the joy and love in Christmas and include our planet in that.

We are excited to have Meg and Katie from Zero Waste Geelong come along and share ideas, tricks and recipes for a conscious Christmas. They have years of experience between them to help us with.

Some of the topics will include:

– conscious gifting and wrapping, with a special Furoshiki workshop from StellaStellina

– the psychology of gift-giving and how to troubleshoot

– plant-based summer recipes and ideas

– Christmas trees: the greener alternatives

– DIY gifts, upcycled goods for sale and more!

As usual we will have a delicious plant based morning tea and will also have some Plant Based Christmas Main Meals to try.

This is sure to be a great workshop and you will leave with lots of great ideas and recipes.

When
Sunday 1st of December 2019
9:00 am to 11:30 am

Where
Grovedale Community Hub, 45 Heyers Rd,
Grovedale, VIC 3216

Contact
Janina Lear
events@transitionstreetsgeelong.org
411131064

Event/Ticketing Links
https://www.facebook.com/events/467532337197431/
http://bit.ly/TSG1DEC

Affiliated Groups
Transition Streets Geelong

Areas of Interest

-38.2082705
144.33344669999997