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What to do with unwanted Christmas pressies?

“Oh thank you... no honestly, it’s just what I wanted. It’ll come in so handy, you really shouldn’t have.” Sound familiar? Most of us have the good grace to accept whatever ill-fitting garments and musical socks come our way on Christmas Day. Come Boxing Day, we scoot down to the nearest charity shop with a Santa sack full of unwanted, unloved items. According to research by Ebay, a third of the presents we are given each year are unwanted and we dispose of later. London is the capital of unwanted gifts, with an expected 1 million, while those in the Northeast are most thoughtful, giving less than 300,000 of the wrong gifts. But never mind the figures, here's how to dispose of crap presents...

Feeling happy? You should be.

Not because Father Christmas is packing his sleigh. Or because you are turning your back on the office for a week. Or even because you’re on your fifth glass of brandy-spiked mulled wine. But because, if you’re reading this, you are probably eco-conscious and therefore likely to be happy. So says research from Imperial College London. Far from being a moaning, finger-wagging bunch of grumps (yes, okay there are some that are like that), it suggests that greenies are cheerful. Another run to the recycling centre? Hurrah. Time to feed the worms again? Yippee. And oh good, another box of muddy organic vegetables. Mirth is rife in the homes of the planet-friendly.

Fancy whacking this guy with the Stern report?

Click here to hit climate change deniers on the head. This game is addictive and I'm unbelievably bad at it. I keep bashing David Attenborough by mistake. So far, 26 is my top score. I don't believe that Jonathan Porritt got 196 as the Hall of Fame suggests. Has anyone else got anywhere near that? If you're confused, I recommend you try it out for yourself.

Thank you to my colleague Camilla Cavendish for providing me with this important way of spending an afternoon.

Why chutney is the answer if you’re stuck for an ethical Christmas gift

And not just chutney, other pickled delights, biscuits, spiced nuts and fudge all get the thumbs up as green alternative to the inevitable set of Boots smellies. For a blog of inspiration, click here. This is eco-worrying made tasty. This month’s Waitrose Food Illustrated also features mouth-watering recipes for edible gifts. Not only does this give you a way of using up old jam jars that have been multiplying in corners of the kitchen (soak them in boiling water and then scrub the old labels off) and other random bits of packaging and ribbon but it’s super cheap. The receipt from my nine jars of roasted garlic and onion chutney was £4.20.
The recipe came from Keith Abel’s fantastic book Cooking Outside the Box. I can also heartily recommend his lamb stew with parsnips and carrots. It manages to be both simple and a crowd pleaser.
However, having only made chutney twice, I’m quite conservative with the recipes I choose. They have to simple and foolproof. But I’d like to expand a bit, does anyone have any good ones that work as Christmas presents?
And sorry about the delayed posting of my list of UK’s greenerati; it’s coming I promise, but these eco-celebs are hard to pin down.

I recommend turning to Treehugger TV for some light relief. This particular episode covers American clothes swap parties. A similar online phenomenon takes place in the UK on What's Mine is Yours, which I wrote about here. Stand-by for my next post: top ten leading lights from UK’s greenerati

Scared of home composting?

Don’t be; this post on a green blog demystifies the process. Although, personally, I stand by my claim that wormeries are far cooler. As well as doing the job faster, more efficiently and with less of a pong, a thousand wriggly house pets are thrown into the equation. These days, I feel quite emotional about my worms – and most concerned that they might actually freeze solid over winter. Now I've found a blog devoted to composting, I can spend even more time obsessing over the subject. It says things like ' who doesn't love pictures of a compost bin' to which I can relate.
What else? Ah, yes, Howies.

To fly or not to fly

In my newspaper column this week, I printed your responses to my flight dilemma as well as my decision to fly to Gabon, West Africa, in January. I must admit, I’m nervous about how you’re going to respond.
Here’s the story so far: I was asked to visit the country for The Times travel section, some weeks back. But I’ve been trying to wean myself off flying - since it’s impact on your carbon footprint is second to none.
In the end, I accepted. Do I feel guilty? Yes. So I was delighted to hear from Chris Breen, who missed the boat on being published in the column. You can read his letter below. His argument is that responsible tourism in Gabon is important for conservation reasons - although it's worth mentioning that he runs a travel company. Am I just scrabbling around for excuses to justify my flight? Or is this a valid one?

Technorati Profile

If you were the Chancellor, what green taxes would you impose?

Like the one already operating in Ireland, I’d have no problem slapping a fee on carrier bags. The money raised could be invested directly in community recycling projects. Then there’s the controversial bin bag tax. As a proud owner of a wormery which cuts the amount of waste I send to landfill, I can’t say I’d be sorry to see my ten-bags-a-week neighbours paying for their habit. But then these days I’m turning into a green bully.
I’d also slip in a tax on those hefty planet warming patio heaters, following it up with a victory dance in the (cooler) garden. A colleague tells me no one dares use them anymore for fear that they’re living next to George Monbiot. So it would be down to pubs and restaurant to stop encouraging people to sit outside on freezing days.
My weakness would be that I’d relish the chance to sting eco-criminals instead of emphasizing how these measures give financial incentives to people who are environmentally responsible.
Would you do the job any better?

Quiz: how green are you?

This questionnaire doesn’t take long to fill in – you have to register first and then Global Action Plan, the campaigning organization behind it, will email you a link to get to it. At the end you get a report, suggesting ways you could improve.

I got 60 per cent - not great for a professional eco-worrier. Obviously it’s not the most accurate way of assessing your greenability (I like to think) but while filling it in I did realize which areas I should do more in. I’m good at rubbish and shopping; much worse at knowing whether our boiler has a jacket on to save heat and whether we have cavity wall insulation.  Let me know your scores.

Global warming mug...

... the perfect pressie for eco-worriers that don't want to forget their planetary mission - even over morning coffee. As the heat of your drink warms the mug, it reveals what the world will look like after the polar ice caps have melted. To see it change, click here.

And here's Treehugger's guide to green gift giving while we're on the subject.

Thank you to green queen Joanna Yarrow, founder of sustainability company Beyond Green and eco-lifestyle specialist. This is what she says about the quarrels that emerge in her house. Plus she’s included her favourite gadgets for maintaining peace.

“I guess the most regular issue in our household is the degree of attention to small, day to day habits - turning lights off, not overfilling the kettle, putting absolutely every tiny piece of waste in the right recycling system, leaving the plug in the bath when you've finished so the warmth from the water heats the house overnight rather than going down the plughole, having shallow baths if you must have them at all, keeping showers short, remembering to take shopping bags with you when you go out so we don't need plastic ones.

I'm pretty anal about the details, whereas my partner tends to have his mind on bigger, more strategic issues. The kids are fine when prompted, but need regular prompting!”

Click below for a couple of gadgets that Joanna recommends.