This morning, discussing in our class if Christmas is a sustainable festivity or not, my 13-year-old students found this article and they'd like me to share....
"....about the advertisement of an e-commerce company: "The End of Reason Sale" they called their promotion. Creative!! But unfortunately that is precisely the direction where much of life and many of our festivities are headed these days.
We've got to ensure that this Christmas is not an 'End of Reason' Christmas. Christmas is nothing without a spirit of caring, and affection and joy and generosity. Christmas must be about people rather than things.
On the practical level what is it we can do to ensure that we do not end up celebrating an 'end of Reason' Christmas? The things that come immediately to my mind are the following:
1. Try and make Christmas decorations from materials that do not harm the environment. After Christmas take down this decoration carefully so that it could be used again with a little creativity the next year.
2. Buy new clothes this Christmas only if one has to. Ask oneself how many times did I use the dress/suit that I bought last year? Did I use it often enough after Christmas to justify its price? Could I perhaps use it this year as well for Christmas? Is there anything in my wardrobe that I could pass on to a friend or another member of a family? Or is there something I could borrow from a sibling or parent and use for Christmas instead of buying something altogether new that I am not likely to use much after Christmas?
3. Do not be wasteful with food. Enjoying a good meal with other members of one's family and with friends is very much part of Christmas; but throwing away food because one could not eat it or one was stuffed to the gills is contrary to the spirit of Christmas. Share food with some poor family or with some poor people discreetly and purposefully ensuring that the other family or person does not feel humiliated in any way. However, giving food away because it has begun to go bad or as an afterthought is not truly Christmas sharing.
4. Let Christmas be about presence rather than presents. Things that one buys for oneself are not presents strictly speaking, if they are things we do not really require it would be indulgence rather than anything else. Spend time with parents, siblings and good friends, enjoy their company, listen to them, make meaningful conversation. Presence is the best present!!
5. This Christmas, while ensuring that we are sensitive to the special situation of the aged and the sick, let us try to ensure that we do not cause discomfort.
....Let's bring back the magic of Christmas! Let's contribute to create a better world for all of us."
seconday students with their best wishes made this Christmas tree 
nice presents made by 3rd grade pupils
Thank you so much, María de la Yedra Martínez Expósito ! The care and ethics shining through this warms my heart personally. Would love to contribute with some illustrations of what you so nicely outlined to inspire with some examples. But creativity knows no bounds!
1. Try and make Christmas decorations from materials that do not harm the environment.
>>> a small advent calendar made out of used matchboxes
>>> very popular where I come from: decorated whole walnut shells for christmas tree decoration & straw stars (the simpler ones are fun to do with kids!)
>>> salt dough ornaments
3. Do not be wasteful with food.
>>> Have a look around where you live and identify inclusive organisations that help all-year-round with dignity in mind. For Brussels, there are solidarity kitchens & local solidarity fridges. And nevertheless, some Christmas spirit with special shoe box actions. Hit me up if you want more details for the specific city.
What are others suggesting?
Susanne, thank you so much for all these inspiring ideas!!!?
I'd like to make advent calendars with my pupils to decorate the classrooms (I have just found video tutorials), and the salt dough ornaments are great for my secondary students to make with 4th to 6th primary pupils. We'll use this web page https://www.bhg.com/christmas/ornaments/salt-dough-ornaments/
Ah! and, of course, a Christmas tree using toilet paper rolls!!!!. Tomorrow the art teacher, some students and me will get down to work!
Last week we started "Operación Kilo" in our school. The students bring food which will be taken to Cáritas or other NGO.
They can bring whatever food they want, but in order to have variety, each class focuses on one product: pasta and rice, olive oil, canned food, cereals and biscuits... and, of course, all sort of Christmas sweets.
On the 23rd of December the older secondary students will carry out "Operación potito" (baby food and products such as nappies, feeding bottles, children's dummies ....). They stand in front of pharmacies and shopping centres and ask people to buy something for babies.
At the end of the day, it's wonderful to see them surrounded by lots of baby products!!!! ??
Thank you so much for all these wonderful ideas!
Instead of cutting trees, why not participate to a hedgerow planting in your local community?That's the ideal moment to do it. Be careful to select local trees. In our region (Northern France), the Tree festival has just begun with a selection of participatory planting events that you can join to give a hand. 200 trees were planted in Bailleul this Wednesday: hormbeam, dog rose, hawthorn, red twig dogwood, blackthorn, maple tree, hazel tree, etc.
And creativity is key! One of my teacher friends likes to pick up natural elements during her walks in nature and then creates little characters (Dubanci's characters are great too!).
Me too. I don't have many opportunities, but I'd love to participate more often in tree planting and reforestation in the mountain, in fact, Sierra de Cazorla (a natural Biosphere Reserve) is not far from where I live.
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