A Creative & Eco Friendly Christmas List 101

 We have been spending a lot more time in the house due to the pandemic. With year end around the corner, we can gather the family members at home and decorate the space to create a festive mood . My sibling and I made a wreath by collecting sticks and leaves around the garden and neighbourhood.   

The suggestion list below consists of eco-friendly and low budget recommendations. Try to spot my wreath !

Have lots of fun! 

Christmas Tree Ideas

1. Book Christmas Tree

Stack your favourite books up to create and decorate christmas ’’tree’. It can be a colourful one or just one color green if you have enough books in green! You might find yourself with too many favourite books, that you can’t decide which one to stack up. To help with the decision try putting together your favorite books that match (eg: by colour, category or even alpathbaticly!) 

 

2. Picture Christmas Tree

Put up some pictures on the wall to resemble a christmas tree shape, turning it into a memory tree.. It will be a meaningful experience, going through pictures and reminiscing good old times. The family trip, a birthday party, gathering, it makes a fun activity to go through old pictures and at the same time creating a christmas tree. 

Eco Tip: Don’t use fairy lights to decorate your christmas tree, Because using fairy lights or any christmas light will create wasteful burning of oil, natural gas and coal, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes the environment. Did you know that the carbon dioxide produced by christmas lighting is enough to fill up 15,500 hot air balloons!

3. Ladder Christmas Tree

Using a ladder in your house can be a quick, no set-up christmas tree. You can put planks on the ladder to put decorative items on it like the picture shown below. Or decorate it by wrapping it with garlands and tying ornaments to it. Do remember to clean your ladder before using it, otherwise you might end up cleaning more than just your floor! If you don’t have a ladder leaning two boards securely together to create an A-frame will also resemble a christmas tree shape. Eco Tip: If you wish to have christmas decorations, keep reusing the same decoration every year. Making sure you don’t buy decorations that use light. Another option is to make compostable or biodegradable ones with leaves and dried fruit. Or use your own unbreakable household decor to decorate your tree.

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4. Tree Branch Christmas Tree

If you have a garden and have some old tree clippings or found some tree branches in a park, why not use them as a christmas tree? This is an idea my sibling and I did this year. Make sure the branches have something to secure it, otherwise it might fall over like ours! It is not easy to find a big branch to decorate, I had to use two branches tied together to create a bigger look. Small note: if you can’t find a branch, please do not tear or cut off a branch off a tree that doesn't need trimming or isn’t yours!

Christmas Decor Ideas

1. Scrap Cloth & Ribbons Garland

If you sew and have some scraps of cloth or just have those too-short-to-do-anything ribbons, tie them on a piece of string to create a unique christmas garland. It might be hard to find a lot of short ribbons or scrap cloth, so try looking for things to tie with in different areas. Ask a supermarket for a free jute bag and cut it up to create a rustic look, or use an old t-shirt you never wear.

2. Keychain Ornament

Have a lot of random keychains that have no use (I do!)? Put them to use by hanging them as Christmas ornaments. Try arranging them in different sections (eg: travel keychains, animal keychains, event keychains) or arranging them by putting different textures and shapes mixed up for a more balanced look. If you are hanging this on the branch christmas tree idea (see above), try not to put big heavy keychains at the tip of the branches and more to the center bottom of the branches, or not your tree might tip over!

3. Wreath Christmas Garland

Collect twigs from your garden or a park and tie them together to create a hexagon like frame. Using plants from your garden or a park attach them to the frame to create your own compostable, fresh christmas garland. You might want to make this only 2-3 days before christmas otherwise the plants will wilt before it reaches christmas! Or you can just keep putting on fresh plants onto the frame of the wreath, though this might be tedious and you might neglect the wreath for a few days before it has fresh plants again.

Greening Your Work-From-Home Routine

 

PENCINTA ALAM DECEMBER 2020

GREEN LIVING COLUMN

GREENING YOUR WORK-FROM-HOME ROUTINE

By Wong Ee Lynn wongeelynn@yahoo.com / gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com

 

As the world grows more accustomed to the idea that the Covid19 pandemic is here to stay and that the precautions we have adopted as part of “the new normal” are gradually becoming an essential part of our lives and daily routines, we will need to make arrangements for working and studying from home, either as a permanent arrangement, or as something we may need to do intermittently for certain periods of time whenever there is an outbreak and a Movement Control Order and a school closure order is declared.

 

If you are working from home, you may find that it is not as sustainable and economical a lifestyle change as you initially thought it would be. You may find that your electricity use has gone up, or that you are still driving almost daily to eat out or run errands, or that you are accumulating a lot of unwanted plastic and paper packaging from online shopping and food deliveries.

 

Here are ways you can make your work-from-home and online learning situation more sustainable and less wasteful:

 

1.     CARVE OUT A WORKSTATION OR HOME OFFICE FROM YOUR EXISTING SPACE.

 

Ikea and other popular home furnishing stores are full of shoppers buying cheap desks and chairs so that they can create workstations and home offices for working and studying from home. This increases consumption and waste. In addition, we should not be spending money unnecessarily at a time of global economic uncertainty. Cheap furniture is often not built to last and is constructed out of plastic, laminated fibreboard, or Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF), all materials that are not durable, compostable, or biodegradable, and may contain toxic or harmful compounds such as formaldehyde.

 

Instead of buying new furniture, carve out a workspace in your home by decluttering, tidying up, and organizing your existing space. A dining table, dressing table, or breakfast nook will provide you with the space you need once the clutter has been cleared. “Shop” your home for boxes, binders, writing materials, scrap paper, and other office supplies. Choose a spot that already has lighting and a fan, so you don’t have to buy a table lamp or standing fan.

 

 

2.     HAVE A SHARED WORKSPACE WITH FAMILY MEMBERS OR HOUSEMATES.

 

It is only logical that your home energy consumption will increase if each family member is working in his or her own bedroom or a separate workstation, as all the lights, fans, and air-conditioning units will be switched on. Try to see if you can agree on working in a shared space to cut down on energy consumption. Perhaps the dining table or a large table in the living room can be cleared and designated as the family workstation where everyone does their work. Earphones or headphones can be used by those who need to listen to music or webinars as they work. Alternatively, separate workstations can be carved out in areas such as the family room, living room, or dining room, and the bedrooms can be designated as work-free zones, except when someone needs to attend a zoom meeting in a room with the door closed.

 

3.     LIMIT YOUR WORK AND STUDY HOURS.

 

As there are no restrictions as to what time we need to commence and stop working, we may find that we are working late into the night, or on the weekends. This is not only physically and psychologically unhealthy for us as we are then mentally constantly switched on, it can also be bad for the environment if our devices and appliances are constantly left running.

 

Decide on the major tasks you need to complete before the day is over and block off the time for work. Stop when the tasks are complete, and tidy your space and switch off your devices, screens, and appliances entirely. Setting clear boundaries on work hours and rest hours will be better for your health, as well as reduce your energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

 

4.     VENTILATE, NOT AIR-CONDITION, YOUR SPACE.

 

 

The biggest energy vampire in our homes as we work from home more frequently is almost certainly air-conditioning units.

 

A window air-conditioning unit runs on 1.2 kilowatts. A ceiling fan uses only 30 watts. A fan, therefore, uses less than 1% of the energy it takes to run an air-conditioning unit! Switch to using a fan instead of air-conditioning.

 

If your fan does not feel cool enough, remove clutter out of its way, clean your fan blades regularly, and place your workstation under a ceiling fan or in front of a standing or tabletop fan.

 

Take a cold shower before you start working to keep you alert and feeling refreshed, as well as cool your body down.

 

You can also DIY a “poor man’s air conditioning unit” by putting bottles of ice water in front of your table fan so that it blows cold air in your direction.

 

If the room really is too stuffy and warm without air-conditioning, switch the air-conditioning unit on for around 1 hour until the room cools down. Then switch off the air-conditioning unit and let the fan circulate the cool air in your work area.

 

 

5.     REDUCE TAKEOUTS AND FOOD DELIVERY.

 

Having food delivered to you can save time, especially when you need to focus on work, but it can also have a large carbon footprint and generate waste. Food delivery riders consume fuel to deliver food to you, and the food often comes in excessive plastic and paper packaging. While paper and cardboard food packaging may be compostable and less harmful to wildlife, their production process consumes a lot of land, water, and resources, and requires the cutting down of trees.

 

Practice prepping food in advance for the week, e.g. by cooking larger portions of pasta, rice, soups, and curries, and freezing them (in freezer-friendly reusable containers, not in plastic bags!) so that they can be reheated and consumed throughout the workweek.

 

Freezing food for reheating later also works for when you are buying food from restaurants. Make one trip out to run errands and purchase food every 3-7 days and bring your own containers with you to take out food from your favourite restaurants and food courts. Label your food containers before putting them in the freezer so you remember what you have available and when it was purchased. Leave a note to yourself on your refrigerator door or whiteboard to remind you to eat the food in the freezer or refrigerator.

 

If you have no other choice but to have food delivered to you, choose restaurants that are nearest to you to reduce the amount of fuel used by the delivery riders or drivers. Since you are working from home, be sure to inform the restaurant or delivery platform that you will not be needing disposable utensils. Try to order from restaurants that use compostable food packaging. Plastic takeout containers that are undamaged and have been used only for halal food can be donated to What A Waste Malaysia for their food rescue missions. Wash and dry the containers and match them with their lids, and drop them off at any of What A Waste MY’s designated collection points (Check their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/whatawasteMY/).

 

 

6.     LIMIT DRIVING AND RUNNING ERRANDS TO DESIGNATED DAYS.

 

We should not be driving as much as we used to when we were working in offices, yet here we are, driving out to run errands each day. Combine your errands and get them done on the same day. Instead of driving out to the shops when you need a break from work, do some gardening, engage in housework and home improvement projects that require physical exertion, or take a walk and go plogging when you are bored. Designate at least 1 day a week as a No-Drive or Car-Free Day.

 

 

 

If you found these tips useful and have feedback to share, or if you have ideas of your own on how to make working from home more sustainable, email us at wongeelynn@yahoo.com and gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com!