Give your Christmas extra meaning

by Benoît Bleau translated by Sheila Lord  (December 2012)

Since the day after Hallowe’en the stores have had their sights set on the next and, for them, the most important period of the year: Noël. What used to be a season of goodwill and simplicity is becoming one of overspending and waste. We know all about the social pressure which induces normally reasonable people to emphasize materialism rather than spirituality. We are constantly confronted with this dilemma, and if we give the impression of having forgotten it, our children, the media and the shop windows make it their business very quickly to remind us.

How shall I observe this special period? Shall I offer something I already have (or maybe do not yet have!) or shall I make a personal gesture or offer my time? When my wife asks me what I would like for Christmas as she has no ideas, I just tell her time for us to do something together.

In the last issue I asked you to come up with some simple ways for saving the planet. I received one answer from someone I appreciate a lot. This person said: “I thought that if I used matches instead of a disposable lighter, it would create less waste and less pollution” This is a very simple idea which affects us all, more especially in winter and during this holiday period.

A lighter is considered to be 30 times more polluting than a book of matches. However, striking a match to produce a flame is about 2.5 times more polluting than using a lighter to produce a flame, on account of the tip of the match and the striking surface of the boxes which both contain harmful chemicals. The lighter wins the garbage contest hands down if you take into account the fact that 7 billion disposable lighters sold annually are impossible to recycle and take more than a century to decompose.

Here are a few solutions:

• Choose refillable lighters, or lighters which will light up at least 3000 times.
• Smokers – light your cigarettes ecologically with a solar lighter! A small parabolic mirror captures the sun’s rays and focuses them on a central point at the end of the cigarette. This is certainly an excellent way to discourage smoking!
• Use matches which comply with safety standards, and are non-toxic.
• Discard: matches containing sulfur, white phosphorus or heavy metals; matches originating from underde- veloped countries likely to have been produced by young children working in unhygienic and dangerous conditions; packaging (boxes or books) containing plastic or heavy metals.
• Choose matches made from wood cut from certified forests (FSC) which are not rare or tropical species and boxes and books made from recycled materials.

I wish you a happy ecological holiday season. Enjoy time with your loved ones and if you have any surplus food or money remember the organizations which provide assistance to the underprivileged. Christmas is after all a festival of love and sharing. So do your part. Your comments are always much appreciated. Thank you for all you do.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year 2013.
Benoît Bleau
benoit.bleau@gmail.com, 450-247-0137