Have yourself a very ethical Christmas

Christmas is an opportunity to splash out on lavish gifts, attend numerous parties and consume copious amounts of food and alcohol. It is therefore a time of indulgence for many. In the midst of this extravagance, it’s easy to push any ethical concerns about the season to one side. However, with an abundance of ethical alternatives to Christmas must-haves currently as easy to get your hands on as a Michael Buble CD, we can all make the effort to have ourselves an ethical little Christmas.

The indulgence of the season is particularly prevalent when it comes to traditional festive food. What screams Christmas more than turkey and pigs in blankets? Not to mention the mountains of Quality Street and Celebrations tubs that begin to pile up in every supermarket as soon as autumn hits.  Not just harmful to our waistlines, the meat-heavy and dairy-laden nature of Christmas food is detrimental to the environment.

This year has seen a surge in the Christmas options available to vegans, meaning that cutting down on meat and dairy consumption is no longer a struggle…

Being a vegan, Christmas has admittedly been awkward in the past. From advert calendars to all-butter mince pies, traditional festive delights are far from vegan-friendly. This is in addition to Christmas dinner, which for me usually means a plate of vegetables, if they haven’t been honey-glazed, that is. However, this year has seen a surge in the Christmas options available to vegans, meaning that cutting down on meat and dairy consumption is no longer a struggle, but a treat.

Tesco has launched two vegan Christmas dinner centrepieces, turmeric spiced cauliflower wellington and pecan and peanut roast. Sainsbury’s is selling a vegan cheese-board, and Asda has become the first UK supermarket to sell mince pies that carry the Vegan Society trademark.

Whether it’s meat or not, there is a shocking amount of food wasted over the festive season…

Furthermore, there’s been a massive improvement in the vegan Christmas sandwich situation. This year’s seasonal offerings include Boots’ parsnip fritter and butternut squash sandwich, Marks and Spencer’s chestnut roast wrap and Caffe Nero’s falafel wrap with chestnuts and spiced slaw, the latter of which even made it into the Boar Lifestyle’s Christmas Sandwich Showdown.  Enough to tempt even the most ardent turkey and stuffing fan over to the veggie side.

Also, whether it’s meat or not, there is a shocking amount of food wasted over the festive season. This includes Christmas dinner leftovers and the surplus of fresh food that supermarkets do not sell before the big day arrives. In an effort to combat this waste, supermarket chain Aldi hit the headlines last week for announcing its promise to donate any surplus stock to the less fortunate on Christmas Eve, and I believe that we can all take a leaf out of their book.

Instead of allowing this shameful waste to take place, we should all make the effort to donate it to our local food banks so it can go to those in need …

Each year we all stock up on Christmas food, often ending up with enough mince pies and twiglets to last until Easter. These are then often pushed to the back of the cupboard once the annual January health-kicks commence or, even worse, binned. Instead of allowing this shameful waste to take place, we should all make the effort to donate it to our local food banks so it can go to those in need of some food over the festive and new year period. The same applies to unwanted gifts, especially toiletries and clothing which, when donated to a homeless shelter, could bring a touch of festive comfort to the life of someone in need.  

So, I hope that everyone reading this has a wonderful Christmas, and that the only Grinchy aspect of your Christmas spirit will be your festive green glow.