Go Green

Max Bentley looks at how you can enjoy an eco-friendly Christmas in Barcelona.

Organic Christmas Dinner

Every year, supermarkets are filled with eager customers trying to buy all the ingredients for their family Christmas dinner—if you’re cooking up lunch here this year, why not try something new? Biospace (Valencia 186) is an organic foodstore that specializes in environmentally-friendly foods at an affordable price. With a wide selection of organic vegetables and meats (including your traditional turkey, of course), why not opt for a healthier and chemical-free Christmas meal this year?

Eco-friendly Christmas Markets

Barcelona prides itself on its sustainable development projects and has a range of Christmas markets that adhere to this "green" philosophy. The traditional Fira de Santa Llucia is on now until December 22nd in front of Barcelona Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter and has a good selection of sustainable Christmas trees, handmade nativity figurines and greenery such as holly and mistletoe to decorate your house, plus much more. Drap-Art ‘11, the International Recycling Art Festival of Catalunya, is being held at the CCCB between December 16th and 30th and is dedicated to showing us how we can recover, reuse and recycle domestic materials for an enjoyable and useful purpose this festive season, while its market features a funky range of cool Christmas gifts!

Feeling Charitable?

Intermon Oxfam has branches across the city that sell fair trade Christmas decorations and gifts such as a nativity set made of wood from Indonesia (€29.90), jewellery from Peru (from €8.90) and silk and cotton scarves from Vietnam (€14.90). Through the charity, you can also send donations or gifts to unprivileged communities abroad to improve their living standards via an array of sustainable, environmental schemes such as irrigation systems. Alternatively, head to charity clothes shop, Humana. You may have grown out of some of your clothing or just want to renew your wardrobe, so why not donate any unwanted clothing to them and do a different kind of giving this festive season? It’s also an ideal place to find original gifts for friends and families, or pick up items whose material can be reworked into home-made decorations or presents.

Got more suggestions for celebrating Christmas while staying eco-friendly? Leave a comment with the details here.