Just the words 'climate action group' feel super intimidating. Surely that's like some kind of exclusive club for the uber greenies. I feel like it definitely involves a slightly musty smelling church hall and those uncomfortable plastic chairs. And presumably it's full of Boris' 'crusty greenies'. And they're all organising their next protest march or what they're going to glue themselves to next.
(Please know this is tongue in cheek and I have huge respect for crusty greenies, and especially those who slow march and/or glue themselves to stuff - huge thanks to you for being braver than me and taking direct action).

And some climate action groups might be like that.
But that's not what all climate action groups are.
I guess really, a climate action group is simply a group of people coming together to take climate action.
That action could be...

•  Helping people to repair their broken stuff, in the form of a Repair Cafe.
• Swapping clothes they no longer want or need for ones that they do, in the form of a 'swish'.
• Getting together to plant some trees in the local park.
• Joining up together at work to create a 'green team'.
• Helping to re-distribute food waste from your local supermarket via a FareShare scheme of similar.

We might not think of these as 'climate action groups' but they ARE groups of people coming together to take climate action! And if you're anything like me, they feel a bit less intimidating than what we might traditionally think of when we think about 'joining a climate action group'.

The power is not necessarily in what you do in your climate action group.
The power lies in joining up with other people.
In realising that you're not alone.
In making connections, having a chat, and a cuppa, and a laugh.
In making friends.
In encouraging each other to take the next step, do the next thing, keep going.

So go one, have a look around - what 'climate action groups' might appeal?

And on the one hand, it all feels hugely overwhelming.
Making big lifestyle changes is a big ask. Most people fiercely defend their right to choose what they want to eat, to use their car, to fly as much as they want. And may have very valid reasons for not either being able to, or wanting to, make changes.
And I get it. It's hard. I am personally very far from perfect.
People (most people?) want to do something.But the things that will make the biggest difference, can feel too much.

And on the other hand, it all feels way too little.
"Me stopping flying won't make any difference - the plane will still go anyway"
"My individual actions won't make any difference, why should I make all these changes, which feel really hard when the government are doing FA?"
"Are you seriously telling me that in the grand scheme of things, looking at the aftermath pictures of the wildfires in Hawaii and the destruction being wrought around the world, that me doing Meat Free Monday is going to help?"

And I get it. 
Of course we need systemic change.
We need massive government intervention. We need our politicians not only doing the right things, but being seen to be doing the right things.Is this paradox of individual climate action feeling like too much, and simultaneously not enough, stopping people making changes?

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
And it's why we need, urgently, to recognise that individual climate action is about so much more than any reductions to our individual carbon footprint.
It's about the people around us who see us taking that action, and wonder if they could have a go too.
It's about the conversations we have about the action we've taken.
It's about the fact that having taken one action, we're motivated and empowered to take another, and another.
It's about social norms - there's a growing body of evidence that suggest that once 25% of a population start doing things differently (eating less meat and dairy, walking and cycling more, flying less etc etc) that's when we reach a 'positive tipping point' and these things quickly become the norm. We can't reach that 25% without individual people choosing to do things differently. And then talking about it.

And once social norms start to change, social license for climate UN-friendly behaviours, organisations, policies and governments starts to fade.
Once businesses realise that people want something different, they change (we've seen this already with the rise in availability of plant-based options in supermarkets and restaurants).Once politicians realise that people want something different (and are willing to vote accordingly) they'll change.

So maybe there's another paradox at play here too.
It's not all about the individual changes you make. And at the same time, it totally is.

2. Keep the receipts!

Really encourage people to be honest in their reactions to your presents. Emphasise that no offence will be taken, and that you'd rather return it and either get them something else (after consulting with them!) or give them the money, rather than something sitting there unloved and wanted and possibly ending up in landfill.

3.Reduce food waste

Food waste is another of the big chunks of the Christmas carbon footprint, and we waste around 7million tonnes of food at Christmas (3).
Make a meal plan for the festive fortnight - where you'll be when, and how many you're expecting for meals when you're at home. Factor in leftovers, and make good use of your freezer! Lots more food waste reduction tips here.

5. Green your fairy lights

With energy prices at record levels, we're all watching the bills this winter.
Check out your fairy lights to see if they're LED - these use way less energy than the old-fashioned types. Make sure you take any older style ones to the WEEE recycling at your local recycling centre.
Turn your lights off overnight and when you're out, and if you have a timer plug or a smart plug, use this to make sure you don't leave them on overnight accidentally.

6. Trim your Christmas dinner

This is a great graph from this article here that dives into the carbon footprint of our Christmas dinner:

So beef and lamb are the highest carbon options. And turkey has 3x the footprint of chicken!
There aren't any veggie or vegan options shown on here, but clearly they would have even lower footprints. It's also worth noting:
- Organic veggies will have a lower impact than conventional
- Avoid air-freighted and out of season foods if you can - so no mange tout, strawberries, blueberries etc
If you're feeling super geeky, you can even work out the carbon footprint of your very own Christmas dinner using the Floop app! They've got a brilliant blog post where they've broken down the footprint of a typical Christmas dinner.

8. Stay grounded

Potentially this one is tricky if you have family abroad, BUT for anyone else, not flying at Christmas (unless you have a reindeer powered sleigh) is key. I genuinely think we need to question whether a 2 or 3 day trip to Lapland is a good use of our remaining carbon budget. I feel Scrooge like saying it, and I'm sure it's super magical, but there are loads of good 'winter wonderlands' here in the UK that don't need a flight.

10. Reduce your heating

If you've got lots of extra people in the house and the oven is on a lot, you should be able to get away with reducing the thermostat a degree or two. Not only will this reduce your gas usage and associated greenhouse gas emissions, it will save you money too! According to The Energy Saving Trust "turning your room thermostat down by just one degree could save £60 on your heating bills and 310kg of carbon dioxide a year from your household carbon footprint". Even if you just manage if for a few days over the Christmas period, it will still make a difference!

- Can we be ready with a list of things we think our kids will actually love and enjoy playing with when we're asked by relatives what they want for Christmas?
- Can we wrap our own gifts 'furoshiki' style in reusable fabric and rave about how quick and easy it was?
- Can we send an e-mail to our kids school asking them if they'd be up for hosting a Christmas jumper swap for all the kids?

If you fancy it, here's a suggestion for you that might help to take some of the stress out of trying to make Sustainable(ish) changes at Christmas.
Make 3 lists:
1. Things I can control (this is where you can start to make some sustainable(ish) changes!
2. Things I can't control
3. Things I might be able to have some influence over

And keep referring back to it whenever you feel your stress levels start to rise over the festive period..!