TheGreenGazette
Earth Friendly Christmas Event By Jenny Howell, Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society
Left: Here, a rag wreath is created from reused materials. This is one of the many types of wreaths to be made at the Earth Friendly Christmas Event. Right: Make natural wreaths from local boughs of fir, pine, cedar, and grasses, provided at the event. Photos: Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society
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Here comes Christmas again. Already. I have the friends who are excitedly hanging lights, planning menus, buying expensive presents… and then there are the rest of us. Who, while not exactly grinches, have in our heads images of oceans full of garbage, an awareness of the debt issues Canadians will face after the holidays, a sense that somehow Christmas has been hijacked along the way by distant business forces. We are not alone, judging by the frequency of radio phone-ins each year of how to get back to a ‘simpler’ Christmas, with enthusiastic callers sharing their revised versions. Usually these focus more on family and re-building simple traditions, and often changing expectations around gift-giving. For the last two years, the Healthy by Nature movement, (the Conservation Society, Scout Island Nature Centre, Cariboo Growers, and the Williams Lake Environmental Society) has been hosting an Earth Friendly Christmas Event, offering opportunities for people to visit and make their own crafts, such as bird houses, decorations, and the very popular bicycle wheel wreaths. This year the venue has been moved to the Old Fire Hall to accommodate more craft options, and more groups have jumped on board, including Cariboo potters, spinners, and weavers, local artists, and the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society. New crafts on offer will include weaving projects,
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print your own Christmas cards, and air dry pottery projects, with all supplies provided. Favourites from past years will also be back, with a choice of wreaths to make from local boughs, bird feeders, bird cards, and other items. (Please bring your bicycle rim from last year, if you have one). All activities are free, though there will be a donation box if you wish to contribute towards expenses. There will be beverages provided and also a ‘shop local gift store’ with local artisan’s products available. Music throughout the event is being arranged by the Community Arts Council, and all are encouraged to sing along and be merry! So come and bring some friends. You can make some Earth Friendly gifts that you can give away with no nagging guilt about the associated carbon emissions, get some new ideas, munch on goodies, and just slow down for a while. This is a good chance to reconnect with what you value most about this time of the year; yes, a cliché but the funny thing about clichés is how often they are true. Join us at the Central Arts Centre (old Fire Hall), at the corner of 4th and Borland. Friday November 29 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. and Saturday November 30 11:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. For more information on Water Wise or Waste Wise and any of our school and community programs, contact the Cariboo Chilcotin C o nse r va tio n So c i et y at su s tain@ccconserv.org or visit the website at www.cconserv.org.
November 2013