The 12 Green Days of Christmas
On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘Wear your Christmas jumper, give me a hug and dim those lights.’
There’s a great Scandinavian tradition of ‘hygge’ which roughly translated means spending more cosy, relaxed time with friends and family. It’s an antidote to the rush and stress of our everyday lives. Follow the Swedes’ and the Danes’ approach and not only will you feel more relaxed, you’ll save a bit on your heating and electricity bills.
On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘I’m timing you!’
Christmas lights are the centrepiece for many of us. But you can’t see them if you’re tucked up in bed waiting for Santa at 3am. So buy a timer for your illuminations and switch them off when you switch off. It’s much safer that way, too.
On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘Are you making Bubble & Squeak tomorrow?’
One of the best bits of Christmas is the leftovers. But a few quick tips, and maybe a bit more planning, could save you some money. Here’s how to minimise your food waste.
1. Wait for leftovers to completely cool before putting them in the fridge - or you’ll have the poor thing working overtime to bring its temperature back down.
2. Wait for food to completely defrost before you reheat or cook it in a new dish.
3. Don’t throw that Turkey carcass away! It makes a beautiful stock, as a base for soup for all those leftovers.
4. Don’t throw your sprouts and cabbage away. Mash them up with leftover tatties, pigs in blankets and bits of stuffing to make a fantastic Boxing Day Bubble & Squeak.
On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘Can you just put a lid on it?’
While we’re in the kitchen, a really simple way to save energy is to put lids on your pans when you’re boiling away on the hob. This way you can lower the heat down a bit.
On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘What’s with those rings?’
Still in the kitchen. If you’re boiling food and not trying to reduce a liquid, there is no difference in temperature between a simmer and rapid boil. They’re both 100 C. You can save an awful lot of energy by getting into this simple habit.
On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘Shut that door! Open that door!’
Ok, last kitchen tips:
Keep your oven door shut. One of the biggest energy losses in the kitchen is constantly opening your oven door to check if your food is done. There’s a simple solution. Clean that door so you can actually see how crispy your tatties are without opening it for a peek and letting all that heat escape.
And now the exact opposite advice. Once all the cooking is done, and providing there are no little children running around, keep your oven door open and let out all that lovely heat into your home.
On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘How’s Santa getting down the chimney?’
If you have a working fireplace, first of all make sure you get your chimney swept before you chuck more logs on the fire. But also consider putting a chimney draft excluder in. Heat loss when your fireplace is not in use can be considerable. And don’t worry, Santa won’t mind. He has ways of navigating chimneys that none of us understand.
On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘Are they all coming over at the same time?’
While Uncle Nigel might not get on with Granny Katherine, and you didn’t bank on all the neighbours accepting your invite for Chrimbo eve mulled wine and mince pies, there is a silver lining. More people in the house creates more ambient heat.
So you can quite safely take your thermostat down to 18 or even 17 C and still have a happy house of Christmas cosiness.
On the 9th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘Why do you always switch off?’
Standby for Christmas! Actually, don’t. Leaving all our gadgets, TVs, stereos etc on constant standby is a huge money burner. The average family can save up to a whopping £147 per year by just switching off when not in use.
On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘I need to recharge.’
Cut waste, help the environment and save money by buying rechargeable batteries for all those toys and gadgets Santa got you. On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love said to me:
‘I thought you said switch the lights off at night?’
Well, we did. But if you’ve scattered the front garden with fairy lights, you can save a lot of energy by buying solar powered ones. Even on a grey December day, they’ll charge up enough to light up at night.
On the 11th day of Christmas, I said to my true love, so romantically:
‘Do you know by following all of your suggestions this Christmas, I calculate that I’ve saved £87.22’
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love replied to me:
‘Well I hope you invested that wisely - in my stocking.’
