SMALL CHANGES THIS FESTIVE SEASON CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
SNP MSP Natalie Don is urging people across Scotland to enjoy a zero waste Christmas by making small changes to their festivities.
The MSP is encouraging households to consider simple ways to help meet Scotland’s world-leading climate change ambitions. Ms Don has said ‘we can all choose better, greener alternatives to our usual habits that can typically have a harmful impact on the environment.’
There are many easy adjustments that can be made to reduce festive food waste, gift wrapping and excessive emissions of travelling to see loved ones.
Natalie Don MSP is highlighting Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS)’s “10 tips for a waste-free Christmas” that include planning meals before you go food shopping and remembering to turn your Christmas lights off.
ZWS has also produced a “Sustainable Christmas Guide” to help reduce the impact of their own research which showed Scots expected to use upwards of 19,000 miles of wrapping paper this Christmas and estimates that 50,000 tonnes of food and drink is thrown away from Scottish homes in December alone.
Commenting, SNP MSP Natalie Don said: “After a challenging year, we all want to celebrate this holiday season with our loved ones and enjoy the usual festive fun – and we can do this while making some simple changes to reduce our levels of waste at the same time.
“It’s clear that people across Scotland are willing to play their part in helping tackle the climate crisis so I want to highlight some better, greener alternatives to our usual habits that can typically have a harmful impact on the environment.
“It can be as simple as planning meals before you go food shopping, recycling wrapping paper, car sharing or just remembering to turn your Christmas lights off – these are all ways we can make our Christmas more sustainable and at a time when people are experiencing huge financial constraints, these small steps can also help to make small savings.
“It can be hard to see how much of an impact our individual contributions can have but it’s clear that the little things mount up. The difference we can all make this Christmas should not be underestimated and every little helps so it is important that we all play our part.”