The Wildlife Trust has some fantastic activities for you and your family this Winter. Take a look at their 12 Days Wild Activities to keep little hands busy and help wildlife in your area.
At this time of year, birds can struggle to find food. Check out our handy tutorial on YouTube that shows you how to make a bird feeder made from items you can recycle from your home to hang in your garden. Or make it festive with this wreath bird feeder!
Make some wildlife-friendly reindeer food for Rudolph and his pals with this video
Makes some eco-friendly Christmas decorations
Make some eco-friendly Christmas Crackers
Make a glitter free snow globe
Go on a Wild Winter Scavenger hunt
Make Ice decorations for your garden
Recycle for charity
Many charities now run Christmas tree recycling schemes where they collect your tree in exchange for a donation. The collections are often done by volunteers and usually start in the first week of January. Try searching the term ‘christmas tree recycling scheme for charity’ on the internet to see if there are any near to you, or check your local paper.
Green gold
If you have a garden, you might also have a green waste bin. These are usually used for natural, pesticide-free garden waste and grass clippings. Once collected, they are taken to a composting site and are used in a variety of different ways including being made into nutrient-rich compost. If you have the tools for it, you could (carefully) cut your tree down to size and pop it in your green waste bin. Just make sure to take off all decorations so it can be processed easily.
Feeling chipper
Many councils run a scheme that turns your tree into lovely wood chippings for use in local parks and green spaces. Head to your local authority website to see if they’re running a scheme or try the Recycle Now website.
Christmas critters
Why not use your old tree as a festive wildlife hideaway for minibeasts? You can use the branches and chopped up trunk, bound together and placed somewhere in your garden. A bit like our insect hotel activity, it can be a great way to attract wildlife to your garden. The spaces made by piling the sticks and branches together are perfect spots for invertebrates to shelter.
