Dreaming of a Green Christmas?

We’re busy planning ahead for our Christmas party season. We can cater for your party exclusively, or you can take advantage of one of our ‘joiner’ nights for smaller groups.

Here at the Green House Hotel in Bournemouth we’re already excited about the Christmas party season. We’re here to take the stress out of planning your party!

As with everything we do, we’ve put some thought into how we can make our Christmas events as sustainable and ethical as possible. So here are the Green House’s top ten tips for making your festivities a little more environmentally friendly.

Make memories not landfill

Do your friends and loved ones really need more stuff? Why not give them a lovely experience instead? Here at the Green House, Bournemouth’s most luxurious boutique hotel, we offer fabulous breaks that make ideal gifts – treat a loved one to an exhilarating surf weekend or a relaxing beauty break.

Eat local

Christmas food notches up enough ‘food miles’ to circumnavigate the globe, even though all the ingredients for Christmas Dinner are generally in season in the UK at this time of year – which is why we traditionally eat them then! Save carbon and support your local economy by buying seasonal and local: find your local Farm Shops and Farmers markets here.

Choose homemade

Try dough, cinnamon sticks, bows, gingerbread, holly, seasonal berries, ivy and evergreen branches for fab homemade decorations – once you have finished with them, you can put them in the composter!

Talk turkey

Ten million birds are bred each year for UK Christmas consumption – most in dark cramped conditions. At the Green House’s Arbor restaurant, we serve free-range Norfolk Black Turkeys. But even among free range and organic British turkeys, standards of welfare can vary quite radically. Look here for more advice on where and what to buy.

Keep it real

The jury has long been out on whether a real or artificial tree is the greener option. Although artificial trees last for several years (six on average) they are made from metal and derivatives of PVC, which require large amounts of energy to produce and create harmful by-products such as lead when they end up in landfill. The best option is probably a real tree from a small-scale, sustainable grower – preferably certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Here at the Green House we are buying planted trees this year which we will replant at the end of the season and re-use next Christmas. If this isn’t an option for you, you could always rent a tree that will be replanted for you after you’ve finished with it (go online to find a supplier near you).

Plant seeds of change

200,000 trees are felled each year to supply the 1.7 billion Christmas cards sent annually in the UK – it’s a habit many of us find hard to break! Why not make this the year you send out e-cards? Or for something really different, send cards that can be planted to grow into a Christmas tree.

LED by example

It’s said 100-string Christmas tree lights left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas produce enough carbon dioxide to inflate 60 balloons. If you want to be more environmentally friendly, try switching to LEDs (or even solar powered if they’re outside)– they can save you up to 90% on power costs and will last longer than traditional bulbs.

Mind your beeswax

We all love a bit of flickering candlelight at Christmas, but paraffin candles are made from petroleum residue which is no good for you or the environment. Go for candles made from soy, beeswax or natural vegetable-based wax – they are much more health and eco-friendly because they biodegrade and are smoke-free.

Wrap up well

We Brits use enough Christmas gift paper each year to wrap Guernsey! The materials that go into making some wrapping paper mean it isn’t always suitable for recycling – then there’s all the sticky tape attached to it. Some councils will accept wrapping paper for recycling, but not others. Check out this idea for recycling your wrapping paper into cute gift bags.

Give ethically

Each Christmas, 4,000 tonnes of products arrive from China – most of them will end up in landfill. To keep it green, buy ethically and buy less. There are loads of ethical gift websites around – like this one where you can choose by brand or by “Ethic” – eg Organic, Fair Trade or Sustainable.

Give us a call on 01202 498900 or email events@thegreenhousehotel.com to enquire or make a booking for a more environmentally friendly Christmas party at the Green House!

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