Sponsored by Repak Most people dream of a white Christmas, but we are hoping to have a green one ourselves. Sure, Christmas can be a time of excessiveness, but there's no reason why we can't be eco-friendly when we are living it up. Wrapping Paper It is well known that the amount of wrapping paper used by the average Irish family has enough mass to cover a small South American country. In short, we use a lot of it and we should always, always recycle it. Stick it in your green bin lads. Or, if you want to be a little bit thrifty, try not to rip it and use it to cover someone else's present with. The perfect crime! Shop Responsibly One of the easiest ways you can shop green this Christmas is by shopping with a Repak member. Repak is a for purpose company set up by Irish businesses and owned by its members (ie SuperValu, Lidl, Kellogs, Tesco, Aldi, Marks and Spencer’s, Primark to name but a few). Did you know Repak members help pay for your household recycling and local bottle bank. Since 1997, Irish businesses have invested over €350 million through Repak to support packaging recycling in Ireland which is an exceptional number. So, keep an eye out for Repak stickers in your local shops. You can find a full list of Repak members here.  Support recycling in Ireland by shopping with a Repak member this Christmas. Presents We all get presents we don't particularly like. Whether it be the Power Ranger boxer shorts or the compilation CD full of familiar farm noises, there is no doubt that not all presents will be greatly received. Man up, take it on the chin and re-direct the present to someone else. Someone you don't really care too much for obviously. Christmas Tree The centre-piece for everybody's Christmas, it is the one thing that dominates a room when it's put up. I think we can all agree however, that there is no Christmas tree quite as nice as a real one. The smell of pine in the room adds to the Christmas buzz and when your Christmas is over, you can recycle it. Maybe don't throw it out the window though. Turkey Save energy and money by buying a smaller turkey. Yes, we know there are 45 people due over for dinner, but come on, the smaller the bird, the less time to cook and the quicker we can get stuck into the dinner and get watching Only Fools And Horses for the 372nd time. Leftovers Do not throw out leftover food. One of the great bastions of a successful culinary Christmas is our ability to recycle the leftovers. It cannot be a proper Christmas without having a turkey sandwich later on Christmas night. Did we mention Brussels sprout curry? Don't knock it till you've tried it! Games Games? Yes, proper old-fashioned games. Yes there are loads of brilliant games out there for whatever console you happen to have, but there is nothing quite like a game where you can actually interact with other humans who are present in the room with you. There is no electricity involved so straight away the carbon footprint doesn't even come into play. You might even get to know the people in your life a bit more.

This article is brought to you by Repak.