Christmas: skating, woods, shopping and madness

I do like Christmas and this year it has been less stress-free than many - I did get a glimpse of the hectic madness that some face - when at the recent Climate Change march (see blog & photos on 10th Dec) I caught the tube from Oxford Circus and saw folk shopping - it was madness - do people enjoy that?

Photo: Shopping in Oxford Circus

On Saturday I went to Gloucester and came across the same madness - the Mall so solid with people and shopping bags that you could hardly move - the same with the High Street - a frenzy of consumption - I thankfully wasn't there for the shops but the ice skating - my partner is Norwegian and I was taking her grand daughter to experience the ice for the first time. Now I don't know about the carbon footprint of the temporary outdoor ice rink there but it was cold enough I'm sure not to need to do much freezing of the ice.

Photo: Skating in Gloucester

As a child my Mum took me to Queens Skating rink in London each Christmas holidays - it was such a treat and I have v fond memories - sadly my skating abilities have gone a little rusty in the intervening 30 years - or perhaps they were never as good as I remembered??

I only fell over twice yesterday - both times caught on camera by people filming from the edge - not sure what for....anyhow we both enjoyed the skating very much indeed - and the coffee and choc milkshake afterwards on the terrace.

Photos; 'Enchanted Christmas'

The other recent delight as a special Christmas treat was the 'Enchanted Christmas' at Westonbirt Arboretum - this is when the trees are lit up with coloured lights - photos don't do justice - much of the lighting enhanced the trees and allowed us to see them in different ways - some was much to 'Disney' for my taste - I was also not expecting such a huge area to be lit - I thought there might be a few different groups of trees but there was one and a half miles of lit woodland and one and a half miles of people walking the route! It apparently finished today - I was unable to find out if the lights were powered by renewable energy...

So it seems I am not having a totally 'green Christmas' whatever that might be - indeed I've seen some dodgy claims about how to have a green Christmas that still seems to be about consuming...

Bill McKibben said: "The problem with Christmas is not the batteries." He writes about Christmas and whether folk are "brave enough to say no to a high-stress holiday?" Read him here - he makes some basic but important points like "replacing regular stuff with green stuff isn't getting very close to the root of the problem....that our environmental problem, at root, isn't that the stuff we're buying uses too much energy or too much plastic, or that its paint has lead in it, or that it's been shipped too far. Our environmental problem is that we consume way too much because we've agreed to try and meet basic human needs - status, respect, affection - with material ends."

The tradition of giving presents in winter dates back at least to Roman times, when officials presented the emperor with evergreen branches and, later, honey, cakes and gold. Christmas presents, by one account, date back to the medieval legend that Jesus gave presents, though they started modestly with cakes, fruit, nuts and clothes. Later the tradition was linked to the Bible story of the kings who visited Jesus shortly after his birth.

A survey last year for the auction website Ebay estimated that £4bn of gifts are unwanted - £92 per person - and with the country throwing away 100m tonnes of waste a year, it is great that we have websites like freecycle (see my blog 20th June for more info) as an environmentally friendly way to cut down on often toxic rubbish and the energy needed to recycle or manufacture more goods.

I've not used Freecycle for presents - infact at moment frustratingly can't get on the site - however finding free Christmas presents is as old as the tradition itself - there are few who will not confess to stealthily passing on last year's unwanted socks or bath salts as presents this year. Certainly I welcome anything that moves away from the mad consumerism that Christmas has become - simple presents are great- if they are made then even more special.

Photo: Randwick woods today

In fact my walk this afternoon in Randwick woods could not have been better - beautiful - not sure I'll need to see all those lights at Westonbirt again!

See a great poem on my blog on 14th July 2007 that sums up much about shopping - Danny Chivers, the author has kindly given me permission to reproduce it... see it here.

Anyhow I've run out of steam now - and this ramble has probably gone on too long already - however you spend Christmas, alone or with family, I hope you have a good one - seasonal greetings to all and all the best for 2008.