The following list comes from Rev. Pat Watkins. He is a missionary with the Board of Global
Ministries of The United Methodist Church serving as a Church and Community Worker in the
Virginia Annual Conference, where he is executive director of Caretakers of God’s Creation.
The Low Carbon 12 Days of Christmas
This Christmas Let’s Keep Coal Out of Our Stockings!
1. Send Electronic Christmas Cards: Sending your Christmas greetings electronically is good for
Creation because it saves trees. If you want to send a personal Christmas greeting to close friends and
family, use recycled paper to make your own Christmas Cards.
2. Make Your Own Decorations: This can become a wonderful family tradition. Use
recycled materials or natural materials like pinecones, leaves, vines. Making your own
Christmas wreath out of materials you collected is carbon neutral and positively fun!
3. Buy a Living, Local Christmas Tree: Start a tradition of planting your Christmas tree in
your yard or on your church grounds after Christmas. You can even put a message in a bottle
underneath the tree thanking God for the year’s blessings. Your planted tree becomes a
Christmas gift for creation and a living family memory for years to come!
4. Use LED Christmas Lights: These lights use around 90% less energy than incandescent
Christmas lights. Look for lights that are Energy Star approved. Remember to conserve energy
and not to leave them on all day or overnight.
5. Do Your Christmas Shopping with Reusable Bags: Less plastic bags means less energy is used to
produce them, and therefore less carbon is released into the atmosphere.
6. Give Responsibly: Buy gently used gifts like books and toys or nonmaterial gifts like a national
parks pass or event tickets rather than products. If you are good at making crafts, consider making gifts
for your loved ones.
7. If you buy traditional gifts, minimize your carbon foot print by purchasing Local and energy
efficient gifts that are minimally packaged. Click www.nccecojustice.org/greengifts.htm for ideas.
8. Use Reusable or Recycled Gift Wrap: You will save energy by reducing the need to produce
wrapping paper and help reduce global warming pollution.
9. Practice Alternative Giving: Donate to a charity in a friend or family member’s name.
10. Limit Your Travel: If you need to travel to be with family ride with other friends and family to
reduce the per person carbon emissions or take the train. In general, driving results in fewer carbon
emissions than flying, especially when driving a moderately fuel efficient vehicle at or below the speed
limit with properly inflated tires.
11. Serve Local Food for Christmas Dinner: Consider serving a locally raised main course, but if a
local ham or turkey is too pricey, serve a few side dishes made with local vegetables. This is a tasty way
to reduce the number of miles food has to travel to get to your plate, which in turn helps reduce carbon
emissions.
12. Remember Why We Celebrate! Christmas is a time to celebrate God’s gift of Jesus Christ, a
savior who will bring peace to Earth (Luke 2: 11-14), through whom all things came into being (John
1:3) and through whom God reconciled all things (Colossians 1:19).
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