Yes, it’s true…technically speaking our Christmas lights (and those of all our customers) could be powered by reindeer poo.
How is that possible I hear you ask? Well, we know for sure that some of the power we buy is made from cow poo. Both our gas and electricity come from a process called anaerobic digestion, which is similar to what happens inside the stomach of a cow when digesting food. Put simply, the anaerobic digester (a sealed tank) is fed with organic waste (like food scraps and reindeer poo!) and then starved of oxygen.
The end result is Biogas. Biogas is a green and renewable energy source. It can be used to generate electricity, fuel vehicles and also injected into the gas grid in the same way as fossil-fuel generated gas. For a more detailed explanation head over to our Biogas blog here.
Find out below how we made our window display to help light up our town
#WeLoveWare
This year we have gone all out with the sustainability theme for our window display. Having been asked by our local town council to add some magic and sparkle to the street by lighting up our windows this Christmas, we decided to get the whole team involved.
We asked everyone at 100Green to rummage through their lofts and cupboards and dig out old Christmas decorations, wrapping paper and other festive off-cuts so we could bring our office windows to life in a truly sustainable way.
Here’s what our treasure trove of festive left-overs allowed us to make!
How to make a scented festive garland
~ Kelly, our finance manager sliced up a bag of oranges and popped them in the oven.
~ She discovered the trick to drying them out (and not burning them!) was to bake them at 135 degrees for 40 minutes
~ And then leave them to continue drying out in the oven as it cooled down.
~ We dug out some used twine and thread the oranges through. They smell absolutely amazing!
How to make mini Christmas present decorations
~ Amy, who looks after our marketing at 100Green, found some left over favour boxes and tissue paper.
~ Together with the string brought in by the team, we wrapped each little box and tied it up with a bow.
~ We even avoided using any Sellotape as well by using the string to keep the wrapping on.
~ Some have been used as a hanging garland in our window and the rest to decorate our tree.
How to make a gingerbread garland with leftover parcels
As we head closer to Christmas, many of our homes start to fill with boxes and packaging. But there’s a simple way to make the most of your leftover cardboard with a new viral trend that’s already amassed millions of views. You can watch the 'how to' guide on TikTok here.
- Cardboard
- Pencil
- Scissors
- White marker
- String
- Sellotape or hot glue gun
Gather your cardboard, and rip it apart into squares or rectangles. Grab as you think you’ll need for your chosen length of garland.
Draw the outline of your gingerbread houses onto the cardboard with pencil - you could also include some gingerbread men to add to this traditional Christmas set up.
After using the pencil, go over this outline in a white marker, as this will be the border of the gingerbread houses.
Next, add the details to your designs. Be creative and incorporate snow, wreaths, dots and swirls - think of an ornate gingerbread house for inspiration! You could even try to recreate your own home for an extra personal touch.
Then take some scissors and cut each gingerbread out from the cardboard, being careful to cut as close to the white outline as possible.
Attach each design to your string. To do this, flip the gingerbread over so the designs are facing the floor, and lie the string over the top area of the house. Then, grab some sellotape or a hot glue gun, and stick them together. Continue to do this for each house, leaving roughly the same gap in between each for symmetry. You can also use a hole punch and thread your string through - if doing this, create a loose knot around each design to keep your gingerbreads in place and make sure they don’t flip or warp.
The last part of the DIY is to choose where you want to place it. Some suggestions could be across a mantlepiece, on the wall, or across a headboard. Just remember to keep this away from an open flame, a water source, or radiators!
How to make a forest with twigs and twine
This was a super simple idea.
~ We collected the twigs left over from Storm Bert and used an array of leftover twine.
~ You need string with some stiffness, so your little branches stick out straight.
~ Cut your twigs to various sizes and snip your string, starting with some longer lengths for the bottom and get progressively shorter for the top.
~ Remember you need enough length to double knot your string round the trunk.
How to make a festive fabric star garland
~ Joe, from our customer service team went to town with these little festive star garlands.
~ He cut out lots of little stars from an array of festive fabric off cuts the team brought in
~ He then sewed two stars together leaving a little gap big enough to poke a couple of fingers through
~ Using some wadding he had at home (but you can use any old, soft material) he stuffed each star
~ Then sew up the gap.
~ You can add them to a garland or individually hang on your tree
How to make festive decorations with muffin cases
A quick rummage through our kitchens and we found an assortment of muffin cases. This is really simple but needs a few pictures to explain the process.
Because this is a little more complicated, here's a how-to video to help you through!
~ You need 20 muffin cases and some glue
~ Turn the muffin case inside out and fold in half
~ Glue just the centre of the muffin case closed
~ Do this for each case
~ Then glue a line about a ¼ of the way along the muffin case.
~ And do the same the other end of the case.
~ Add another muffin case so it lines up and sticks to the glue
~ Keep doing this until you have all 20 done
~ Fix your string to one end of the flattened decoration (you may opt for a little bit of tape)
~ Wait for the glue to dry
~ You can see in this picture how, when you have done them all, you can open it up into a bauble and glue one end to the other!
Lighting up the display
~ We used traditional lanterns round our windows to light up the display. They are LED lights so very efficient and each string has a timer so they are only ever on for a maximum of 8 hours at night time.
We love a simple way to save energy!
