It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year … but it can also be the most wasteful.
As the festive season approaches, it’s worth thinking about how you can make Christmas a bit more sustainable this year. Whether you’re looking for eco-friendly ways to Deck the Halls or find greener ways to do your Christmas wrapping, Dorset Wildlife Trust’s wilder communities officer, Emma Barfoot, has a few tips on getting into the spirit of things to have a Wonderful Christmastime, without (quite literally) costing the earth.

Start the conversation
As household budgets for many remain under pressure, there are things we can all do to be kinder to the planet, reduce the gift-giving pressure and help our pockets at the same time. Sometimes all it takes is a chat with those around us.
It might be about choosing a theme such as buying local, giving homemade or pre-loved presents, agreeing an affordable budget or buying gifts that help good causes.
With a bit of planning and a few conversations, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised to find that those around you are happy (if not relieved!) to jump on board.
Handmade cards and gifts can also be a wonderful way to give to those you care about – but be sure to go glitter-free. Not only does glitter contain harmful microplastics, it also means that cards decorated with it can’t be recycled.

Save on postage and reduce your footprint
Why not send e-cards this year? E-cards are an easy way to reduce your environmental impact, and great for sending last-minute festive greetings. They’re also more cost effective, often free to send. Did you know that Dorset Wildlife Trust provides a selection of e-cards, and you can choose to donate the cost of stamps and cards to help protect Dorset’s wildlife? Take a look!

Share your favourite book
The beautiful thing about books is that, unless they’re new releases, most can be sourced second-hand, with lots of websites dedicated to pre-owned books. You can put a lot of thought into gifting a book and it’s such a meaningful gesture to pass on one of your favourites – your own copy, with or without a handwritten note. Then of course there are e-books, audiobooks and tokens which could all be given as a variety on the bookish theme.

Digital wildlife adoptions
If you’re looking for a gift that gives something back, why not support the work of a charity close to your heart, or a cause that means something to the person you’re buying for? Dorset Wildlife Trust digital wildlife adoptions, which now include a new hedgehog pack, are a great gift idea for nature and wildlife-lovers of all ages, and 100% of your donation goes towards protecting Dorset’s wildlife and wild places.

Cut down on waste
Food waste reaches new levels over Christmas and New Year, and adds tonnes of food that we should have eaten to landfill each year. A part of the planning that’s often forgotten is storing and using up leftovers. In the weeks up to Christmas try to use what meals you have in your freezer in case you need to freeze anything over the festive period. Try not to buy too much, and buy loose rather than packaged wherever possible.

Wildlife writer Jane Adams explores the fascinating history and potentially fragile future of Dorset’s ancient yew trees

Yews are a common sight in Dorset, but how many of us truly appreciate them? I admit I often haven’t. So, when a friend told me about an ancient yew growing just a few miles from my home, I felt a strong urge to pay it a visit.
The oldest yew in the UK is thought to be the Fortingall Yew in Perthshire. Estimates put its age at a mind-boggling 2,000 to 9,000 years old. Although the tree I’m visiting is not as old, it is still likely to pre-date the 800-year-old church next door.
As I pick my way through the churchyard towards the yew, its sheer size takes my breath away.
In a parish magazine from 1897, the rector of the time recorded it as being 24 feet around the trunk. The following March, after heavy snow, one side of the trunk collapsed. I run my hands across its warm, red bark, and the healing that has taken place in the intervening years is obvious.
Yews have a remarkable ability to send up new shoots and roots: if the trunk dies or is damaged, a new one emerges inside, bringing the entire tree back to life – they can literally regenerate. No wonder the yew tree came to symbolise immortality.
I wish they were immortal. But like any tree they are still susceptible to disease and damage, be it environmental or through human stupidity. In fact, it’s a miracle so many remain.
One area of Dorset particularly rich in yews is the eastern area of Cranborne Chase. Here there is a whole grove of mighty yews, and some of the oldest individual yew trees in Dorset. From late Saxon times, this was an area that came under the protection of large ecclesiastical estates. Then, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, their guardianship fell to wealthy landowners –something that continues today.
Though these ancient giants may be on private land, the yews in our local churchyards are still accessible – and touchable. But what protection do they have? Please ask your local parish or town council if your local yew has a Tree Protection Order. We protect buildings … we should be protecting our ancient natural heritage as well.

Did yew know?

• Yews are evergreen with needle-like leaves, and they are dioecious, meaning they have male and female trees
• Blackbirds, thrushes and dormice eat yew seeds, enclosed in the berry-like red ‘arils’, but the seeds are poisonous to livestock and humans.
• During mediaeval times, thousands of yew trees were felled here and in Europe to supply the English army’s 5,000 to 7,000 archers with longbows.
• In the last 60 years, scientists have discovered a compound in yew bark which is now used in chemotherapy drugs to target lung and breast cancer. However, this remarkable discovery sadly led to the decimation of all American yew woods and many in Asia.
• Almost 85 per cent of our veteran (over 500 years old) and ancient (over 800 years old) yews in the UK are growing in churchyards. Of the 406 churches in Dorset, 197 have large yew trees growing nearby. These trees are scientifically, culturally and nationally important … and mostly unprotected.
• Romans believed yews grew in hell, while in Spain people placed yew branches on windows for lightning protection. Julius Caesar observed that Druids considered the yew tree a sacred symbol of immortality and the Celts believed yew twigs held healing powers and preserved the dead.
• To learn more about Dorset’s yews – and yews in general – go to ancient-yew.org