'Tis the season for cheap tat and bad food. Or - why not try a truly jolly green Christmas? | Isabel Losada

The holidays as we know them can be bad for us and the planet. Here are some ideas to make your winter celebrations joyfulChristmas may look like it's beyond redemption. Very few people in the UK are genuinely celebrating the birth into abject poverty of a refugee boy who they believe was God become human. And as for Saint Nick and the invitation to deceive young children, that's equally dubious. Adults don't usually lie to children - it's not kind.The whole day/week/month/two months is hopelessly lost in consumer capitalism. It's all anticipated with dread by many of us who don't have the perfect family, the perfect living conditions and the money to spare, or aren't able to look away from both the obscene overconsumption and the poverty crisis. So how can we start to redeem the season? I have a few ideas.Isabel Losada is the author of The Joyful Environmentalist: How to Practise without Preaching Continue reading...