A sparkling and sustainable Christmas

Reuse and wrap up

Reuse old newspapers, magazine pages or fabric from old clothes to wrap gifts or make decorations. More waste gets collected during the festive season, so get creative and up-cycle as much as you can. Get started by taking part in the Ministry of Sustainability, Climate Resiliency and Wellness ‘Read, reuse, WRAP!’ social media competition. Simply share a photo or video on Instagram or Facebook of your DIY decorations or gifts wrapped in reused newspaper, tagging @mscrcayman and using #GiftGreener, and you could be in with a chance to win one of three $50 gift cards courtesy of Foster’s Supermarket. Competition ends Friday, 27 December.

Love your lights

Save on your electricity bill by switching to energy efficient LED or solar lights. Solar-powered lights are a clever alternative which eliminate pulling costly power from the grid without compromising your holiday display. The type of bulb on your lights will affect the energy consumption. If you haven’t changed your lights in a while, you might have incandescent lights, which typically consume the most energy. If that’s you, a quick switch to LEDs will save you some money on your bills. On average, LED lights use around 70% less energy than incandescent bulbs and that’s not all – LED Christmas lights also last longer and burn brighter too. For more information on energy saving visit www.gov.ky/energy and download a free DIY Energy Audit for more on how to make your home more energy efficient.

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Treat a tree

Instead of buying a real or artificial Christmas tree, consider decorating the trees or bushes that grow in your yard. Native trees and plants traditionally used as Christmas trees in the Cayman Islands include Lancewood and dried Corato blooms, so evoke the spirit of yesteryear and festoon your garden fauna. Or do the environment a favour, and cut down the invasive Weeping Willow (aka Casuarina) tree, which has also been used in the islands as a Christmas tree.

Decorate for a cause

Visit the on-island thrift stores to buy baubles and bows, with the money from your purchase going towards their charity.

Shop locally

Support local vendors by doing your Christmas shopping in Cayman. While it might be tempting to hop on a flight and shop abroad, backing homegrown businesses helps to support a robust economy here in the Cayman Islands.

Offset your travels

If you are jetting off-island or travel is just unavoidable, consider offsetting your individual carbon emissions with Island Offsets. Island Offsets is a non-profit NGO created to mitigate climate change by supporting projects that benefit the Cayman Islands. The organisation currently delivers two projects that you can choose to support: The Solar for Schools Programme and the Prevention of Deforestation. The Solar for Schools project funds a solar array for a local school, with the amount of energy produced by the panels offsetting carbon emissions, while the Prevention of Deforestation programme uses funds raised by Island Offsets to purchase land that would otherwise have been deforested and cleared of life-giving trees. To learn more about offsetting visit, islandoffsets.org/ or email [email protected].

Leave the car

Walk or cycle to see family and friends, or carpool if you can. Ditching the car for even one day, minimises congestion on the roads and can reduce the amount of harmful greenhouse gases that enter our atmosphere.

Give gifts that keep on giving

Skip the presents this year and donate through a local charity to support a worthy cause or people in need.

Trees that last beyond Christmas

Sponsor a tree planting and you can give native trees that will last a lifetime. The Ministry of Sustainability & Climate Resiliency and Wellness run a year-round tree planting programme to plant native and endemic trees. If you’re looking for a unique gift or a corporate social responsibility initiative for your organisation or colleagues, then email [email protected], or visit www.gov.ky/national-tree-planting for more information.

Bank it

After the festivities, remember to recycle bottles and boxes by taking them to the recycling bank. For information on what you can recycle and your nearest facility, visit www.gov.ky/deh/recycling.html