Let's have a jolly Green Christmas

Yes, the shopocalypse is here again - that time of year when the money under the nation's mattress will be blown on random gifts bought at the last moment, because no one wants to pitch up at Christmas lunch with empty handsand an improbably broad grin.

And yet all this frantic gift-hunting seemingly comes to naught: Deloitte's latest Yuletide shopping survey has revealed that most South Africans will, in fact, waste their money on cosmetics and perfume when what people actually want is cold, hard cash.

Perhaps it's time to start thinking of an alternative Christmas, one that Anna Getty, author of I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas (Chronicle Books), suggests will also ease your impact on the Earth.

"It's amazing how the simple things also happen to be the most environmentally sound choices, such as choosing to spend time with family, cooking, baking, talking or making decorations instead of driving to a mall and spending hours shopping," Getty says. "Establish a connection to nature, family and your community."

Eco-wise practices for the holiday season include using canvas shopping bags , burning candles rather than lights and choosing charity gift cards.

Supporting charity could be one of the greenest things you do this Yuletide. Major wildlife organisations such as the Born Free Foundation and Worldwide Fund for Nature offer animal-adoption kits, which include a range of related merchandise and which start in the region of R250.

The WWF gift centre's menagerie includes anything from tigers to Harry Potter's snowy owls and, while you don't own or look after your animal of choice, the proceeds of your adoption-kit will contribute towards your furry friend's conservation (see www.worldwildlife.org/giving).

Based on travel, shopping and eating patterns, each First World citizen will release a large volume of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere this Christmas - 650kg per person, or the weight of 1000 Christmas puds, research by the Stockholm Environment Institute indicates.

So investing in carbon-friendly LED Christmas lights (Game, R199; Makro, R269) could be the best idea of all: as Lapland's most existential elf points out in one internet video, the North Pole is melting but, hark - let's spare a thought for Santa, who probably doesn't even know how to swim.

• For alternative Christmas carols, go to www.atom.com/fun_games/north_pole_melting/ and MC Lars's I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas on YouTube.
• Tell us: Would Jesus have been an environmentalist had he lived in 21st-century SA? Follow Green Life on Twitter via @sundaytimeseco

Santa's little helpers

Michelle Garforth-Venter, environmentalist

My husband, Riaan, and I will be giving his two daughters the gift of experience, rather than things. We are both avid divers and will be taking San-Marie and Margot diving with great whites at Gansbaai.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangcu, talk-show host

Everyone of my friends is going to receive a packet of vegetable seedlings. I'm all for growing my own vegetables and I'm trying to get my friends to do the same.

Braam Malherbe, extreme adventurer

This festive season I'm taking 20 kids from disadvantaged backgrounds to my cabin in the Winterhoek mountains for a week to show them how we're all connected to the universe.